From: Dehede011@aol.com
Date: Fri Jun 20 2003 - 16:05:25 MDT
In a message dated 6/20/2003 11:16:23 AM Central Standard Time,
cryofan@mylinuxisp.com writes: And I disagree with the poster who earlier said that lack
of capital is NOT a problem for the average citizen of a TWC. That is a BIG
problem. 20K dollars is very hard to come by there. And 20K gives you a lot of
power in a TWC. 20K in my bank account here makes me no big deal. But 20K in
India puts me in an elite group. Now, as someone else pointed out, and to
which I elaborated, most TWCs are strangled by a parasitic bureaucracy. This
**could** be a problem for Americans who wanted to seize upon the opportunity to
start a business in a TWC.
Cryofan,
Let me address those comments. Let's start with "I disagree with the
poster who earlier said that lack of capital is NOT a problem for the average
citizen of a TWC." You have just encountered one of the chief points made by
de Soto after years of study with a team of investigators.
The point is subtle enough that you and de Soto are not necessarily
saying the same thing but the distinction is sometimes hard to detect. De Soto
is saying that the necessary capital exists in each of those countries to lift
them up -- but listen to the other comment you made, "Most TWCs are strangled
by a parasitic bureaucracy." Therein lies the nub of de Soto's argument.
BTW, we once had the same problems all across the Western Nations and especially
here in America. We had an on going war for most of a century before we
settled the affair.
Those bureaucracies you say are strangling countries are in fact
strangling TW countries and furthermore that is exactly what they were designed to
do. Our old guild system and the medieval governments were designed to keep
control in the hands of a favored few. So are the bureaucracies of the TWCs.
They keep things in a state so that no outsider can start any kind of a new
business. One of the chief ways they do that in modern terms is to keep
individuals from getting clear title to private property.
The individuals form protective associations to protect their
ownership in their homes or small businesses. But that is where the problem starts.
If I cannot get a title to my property then I can't sell or borrow against it
to raise capital to start a new business. De Soto makes the argument that
this method is the chief way people raise the cash to start a new business.
Nowadays if I want to start a business I can get a mortgage on my house and I am
up, up and away. A TWC citizen can't do that because he has nothing admissible
in court to prove ownership.
Furthermore people are more reluctant in a TWC to sign a contract with
you. In this country if you fail to live up your contract I can have a
private detective follow you home. I can look up the ownership in your property,
automobile, etc., and sue your hip pockets off. In a TWC I can't do that
because there is no paper trail showing what you own.
That is the subtle difference. De Soto also points out that mostly we
need education because once a revolutionary or politician on the make
understands de Soto's argument they have found the citizenry pick up on the idea
fast. At that time the revolutionary or politician has found himself a win-win
situation. No vast sums of money or the heavy arm of Uncle Sam is necessary.
In fact we would probably be counter productive if we were present at all.
Now, if you please I want to reach way out in left field and pull in a
personal idea. Let me put it in the form of a question.
Many have commented that we have a brighter than average group here on
the Extropian list. Herrnstein in the Bell Curve argues that bright groups
like this are coming together all over America. That is all he had statistics
for but it seems plain to me that the same is happening in Europe, indeed
across the globe.
In the old days before a hundred years ago the bright people were
scattered through the population according to Herrnstein. Without getting tied
down in an argument about whether he was an adequate statistician ask yourself
two questions:
1. Do you see sufficient evidence around you to make you believe bright
people might be communicating with each other more intensely that in the long ago
past -- pre 1900 AD? As I said, I think this is observably true at least as a
trend.
2. What do you suppose the effect will be of these people congregating in
places like the Extropy list and exchanging information? Once upon a time even
some very bright people didn't get to converse with a Robin Hanson on
Economics or Investing. There are other discussions on these pages about longevity,
health, etc. I say these discussion will have a profound effect upon people
and eventually our entire civilization. Have you been exposed to the ideas of
John Taylor Gatto on public education? What he says is having a tremendous
effect for either good or ill and the rest of us had best inform ourselves.
Ron h.
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