From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Mon Jul 11 2005 - 12:37:10 BST
Hi Arlo,
> What Platt has still yet to produce is one example (outside brutal military
> dictatorships and small island economies subject to embargos), either
> historical or global, where "less CEP" (or defined here as "government
> interference in business") has led to "higher Quality" lives for the
> majority of citizens.
Whoa. Stop right there. If you had read "The Road to Serfdom" you would
know that Hayek's thesis, borne out by history, says that Central Economic
Planning (CEP) inevitably leads to brutal dictatorships. Thus, any
discussion of CEP must include the examples of such dictatorships.
> That is, private wealth interests and wealthy capitalists can "say" all
> they want that we would all be better off without anti-trust laws (as one
> example), but where is any supportive historical or global example showing
> this?
In recent years, Hong Kong.
> Or more exactly: "The conservatives who keep trumpeting about the virtues
> of free enterprise are normally just supporting their own self-interest.
> They are just doing the usual cover-up for the rich in their age-old
> exploitation of the poor." (in LILA)
Not to be obstreperous (thank you Merriam-Webster), but could this be a
case of quoting out of context?
And remember that Pirsig is not against "social planning". He states "
> There’s a place for them but they’ve got to be built on a foundation of
> Quality within the individuals involved." It is not an abolishion of social
> planning, but a revisioning of the foundation upon which social planning
> occurs.
Reference please.
> Pirsig's own motivation was to get individuals seeing the "Good is a noun,
> not an adjective" and that "Quality is the source of subjects and objects".
> He'd say, I believe, that before we waste time building more social
> programs based on the current ideology, we need to get individuals seeing
> this new way. He would NOT, I'd argue, say that the solution is abolish
> social planning and let business and private wealth run rampant. Within our
> materialist paradigm, such a thing would prove utterly disadvantageous for
> the majority of citizens. History bears this out.
I'd say that's quite a stretch in putting words in Pirsig's mouth,
especially given what he said about any CEP city "being always a dull
place." (Lila, 17)
Platt
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