I will use this as both a journal, and to see other points of view on the many thoughts I have on a given day.
I often sit and think about why things are the way they are today, and why I see the world in my own unique point of view. I often do this after a night out or in discussion with friends and family over a glass of bourbon and maybe a smoke.
So feel free to put your point of view on my daily thoughts, as this could give me more perspectives on how others think.
So for today I found myself quietly contemplating why a free market is the only market which works.
In the farthest reaches of human history, or in a collapse of governing structure, we came from/descending into absolute free markets. A familiar form is bartering.
In the absence of regulations and enforcement, the value of goods being traded is set by the individuals who poses the goods. This leads to supply and demand. Man throughout history has tried to get the most out the goods and services they are offering. This leads to two different types of individuals. Those who want more, but lack the initiative to get it. Then those who want more and take initiative to get it.
The latter branches off aswell. Those who are successful and those who are unsuccessful. This is the very primal basis of free market capitalism. It also leads to ups and downs as one individual gains a successful practice and pushes the values up and down of certain products. Without the interference of rules, these ups and downs are fairly frequent and harsh, but they tend to end quickly.
This separates good practice from bad as those who weather the effects are copied and the practice becomes pervasive in society. Thus leading to constant innovation.
Post neolithic era society gives us very few examples of real free markets, as the introduction of governing structures forced societies to do things in ways even when the ups and downs were to occur. The introduction of welfare and stimulus, especially for the sake of the Roman Empire, shows how ups and downs could be weathered with older practices and made farther apart.
Lack of incentive to innovate pushes society to be stagnant, and to be set in ways less superior ways. So when a more innovative society, even with similar rule of law comes around, economic collapse becomes inevitable. The introduction of la seizze fare capitalism, between 1800's and early 1900's saw some of the most radical changes in human history.
This was the beginning of the end of the majority past human struggles. Whether it be subsistence or disease or the production of energy. This is when the transition from multi skill workers to specialization took place for most of the western world which practiced this. Those that didn't soon found themselves defeated in war or pushed into collapse/revolution.
Post 1920's, (more specifically after the last true capitalist president, Calvin Coolidge, left office.) You begin to see the few La Seizze fare societies turn into socialistic ones. Societies begin to allow their governments to introduce government run welfare and regulation of the economy. The introduction social security and Medicare/Medicaid spells the end of the USA being a true capitalist society.
However, the introduction of socialistic ideas simply prolongs the ups and downs, and makes them more severe, as history shows. The great depression, or the recession during the oil crisis in the 1970's is prolonged due to regulation making it too difficult for competitors with or without innovation to come up. Perpetuating failing institutions through stimulus and indirect monopolies with government protection insures sub-par ideas carry on through the downturns.
Ups and downs are inevitable. As the for the USSR proves. You can speak to the babooshkas of Russia or eastern Europe, and they will tell you "there was always food, always a job, always a source of income." However, not only did that highly socialized society experience a downturn so severe it let to utter collapse, people failed to see their living standards or business practices improve over an 70year period unlike other, less socialized societies.
This can also be applied to individuals. When social security was first introduced, the government workers/volunteers went through the Appalachian mountain towns to inform the very very poor folks of the new benefits they were now eligible for. However, they soon became perplexed by the absolute rejection they encountered. In layman's terms, broke and starving people were turning down free money.
This only carried on for so long, as human will is simply incapable of turning down free help for so long. The results of this is what we can see today and for the last 50 years. A society where when one person is down on there luck, in need, jobless, or disabled, they do not think of creative ways to get by. Instead big brother is always there. This safety net ontop of a high specialized labor force has produced a population largely unwilling to try new things, whether it be a career change or having one's family being responsible for taking care of their loved ones.
The end result is a population less capable of self sustaining itself, less adaptable and less willingness to work, outside of their terms. Society is also so bound by rules (primarily from governing institutions), that dept is creating a constraining effect the ability to innovate on the micro level. Most innovations have been on a macro level, and macro innovations, in general, require large sums of investment beit time or resources.
My conclusion from this long thought
When the inevitable collapse comes, will people be able to adapt? Is the current population in most parts of planet capable of living in an unstructured, unrestricted societies?
I don't think so in my opinion.
I often sit and think about why things are the way they are today, and why I see the world in my own unique point of view. I often do this after a night out or in discussion with friends and family over a glass of bourbon and maybe a smoke.
So feel free to put your point of view on my daily thoughts, as this could give me more perspectives on how others think.
So for today I found myself quietly contemplating why a free market is the only market which works.
In the farthest reaches of human history, or in a collapse of governing structure, we came from/descending into absolute free markets. A familiar form is bartering.
In the absence of regulations and enforcement, the value of goods being traded is set by the individuals who poses the goods. This leads to supply and demand. Man throughout history has tried to get the most out the goods and services they are offering. This leads to two different types of individuals. Those who want more, but lack the initiative to get it. Then those who want more and take initiative to get it.
The latter branches off aswell. Those who are successful and those who are unsuccessful. This is the very primal basis of free market capitalism. It also leads to ups and downs as one individual gains a successful practice and pushes the values up and down of certain products. Without the interference of rules, these ups and downs are fairly frequent and harsh, but they tend to end quickly.
This separates good practice from bad as those who weather the effects are copied and the practice becomes pervasive in society. Thus leading to constant innovation.
Post neolithic era society gives us very few examples of real free markets, as the introduction of governing structures forced societies to do things in ways even when the ups and downs were to occur. The introduction of welfare and stimulus, especially for the sake of the Roman Empire, shows how ups and downs could be weathered with older practices and made farther apart.
Lack of incentive to innovate pushes society to be stagnant, and to be set in ways less superior ways. So when a more innovative society, even with similar rule of law comes around, economic collapse becomes inevitable. The introduction of la seizze fare capitalism, between 1800's and early 1900's saw some of the most radical changes in human history.
This was the beginning of the end of the majority past human struggles. Whether it be subsistence or disease or the production of energy. This is when the transition from multi skill workers to specialization took place for most of the western world which practiced this. Those that didn't soon found themselves defeated in war or pushed into collapse/revolution.
Post 1920's, (more specifically after the last true capitalist president, Calvin Coolidge, left office.) You begin to see the few La Seizze fare societies turn into socialistic ones. Societies begin to allow their governments to introduce government run welfare and regulation of the economy. The introduction social security and Medicare/Medicaid spells the end of the USA being a true capitalist society.
However, the introduction of socialistic ideas simply prolongs the ups and downs, and makes them more severe, as history shows. The great depression, or the recession during the oil crisis in the 1970's is prolonged due to regulation making it too difficult for competitors with or without innovation to come up. Perpetuating failing institutions through stimulus and indirect monopolies with government protection insures sub-par ideas carry on through the downturns.
Ups and downs are inevitable. As the for the USSR proves. You can speak to the babooshkas of Russia or eastern Europe, and they will tell you "there was always food, always a job, always a source of income." However, not only did that highly socialized society experience a downturn so severe it let to utter collapse, people failed to see their living standards or business practices improve over an 70year period unlike other, less socialized societies.
This can also be applied to individuals. When social security was first introduced, the government workers/volunteers went through the Appalachian mountain towns to inform the very very poor folks of the new benefits they were now eligible for. However, they soon became perplexed by the absolute rejection they encountered. In layman's terms, broke and starving people were turning down free money.
This only carried on for so long, as human will is simply incapable of turning down free help for so long. The results of this is what we can see today and for the last 50 years. A society where when one person is down on there luck, in need, jobless, or disabled, they do not think of creative ways to get by. Instead big brother is always there. This safety net ontop of a high specialized labor force has produced a population largely unwilling to try new things, whether it be a career change or having one's family being responsible for taking care of their loved ones.
The end result is a population less capable of self sustaining itself, less adaptable and less willingness to work, outside of their terms. Society is also so bound by rules (primarily from governing institutions), that dept is creating a constraining effect the ability to innovate on the micro level. Most innovations have been on a macro level, and macro innovations, in general, require large sums of investment beit time or resources.
My conclusion from this long thought
When the inevitable collapse comes, will people be able to adapt? Is the current population in most parts of planet capable of living in an unstructured, unrestricted societies?
I don't think so in my opinion.