The God of the Machine - Tranche 14

Posted by mshupe 1 year, 5 months ago to Economics
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Chapter VI, Excerpt 2 of 2
Liberty, Christianity, and the New World

Primitive ignorance is not alarmed by novelty. The savage tribes were less submissive than the most civilized because they had no concept of the mastery of energy, although they were equally doomed by the superior potential. Empires are made by private enterprise. Energy in human affairs tends to flow by natural law . . . between points fixed by raw materials. The differential is in the time-space equation, which offsets primitive manpower.

Though much of the energy which Spain drew from the New World served only to fuse Spain into agonized rigidity, some had to go on through, and thus returned to productive channels elsewhere in Europe. The money circulated and stimulated rival nations and rebellious provinces to break the Spanish monopoly. The balance of power fell to England because England allowed the energy to flow most freely, which is to say that England conceded the most liberty to the individual by respecting private property.

The energy had a dual effect on Europe, disrupting the feudal compromise . . . and merging free cities into national forms. Of course, England did not desist from granting monopolies, which precipitated the American revolution. The British empire ended three hundred fifty years later when England again debased her coinage. The possibility of a short circuit occurs in the hook-up of political organization to the productive processes. This is a specific physical description of what happens.


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  • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 5 months ago
    Elsewhere in Chapter VI I found an interesting passage regarding the "fall of Spain". I have seen much in various outlets comparing the US to Rome preceding the fall, but I found the comparison of the current US to Paterson's description of Spain to be quite chilling.

    The passage I refer to (from page 59 in my book) is as follows:

    "Every ordinance now recommended and applied in the name of a planned economy was tried out in Spain during that period on the same pretext of public necessity, with the inevitable consequences of stopping production. Business could be done only by license; manufactures and trade were restricted; mines in Spain were shut down by order; real money was seized from private owners, who0 were forced to accept government paper in exchange, and imprisoned or executed if they attempted to refuse. Taxes and tariffs multiplied. Everything went into government; and the government was always bankrupt. Yet the functions of government, alleged as the pretext for such measures, were carried on with grotesque inefficiency. The greatest military exertions incurred the most disastrous defeats, and when victorious, Spain could not obtain peace."
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    • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 5 months ago
      Excellent catch VetteGuy. The parallels between Spain then and America now are truly frightening.

      Paterson wrote in the first chapter “Pythaes ranks among the notable discovers, an exemplar of the free mind. He could not know that that he was looking toward America.”

      I wonder if it would be proper to say that she could not know that she was looking at America 2023?
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      • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
        Actually, a small part of that was included in the third paragraph of the previous installment of this series. Regardless, its also possible to say that Paterson was looking forward to the 1960s decade that is now manifesting itself in its third-generation times ten. Or as Ms. Rand would say, the day after tomorrow.
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        • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 5 months ago
          What I am struggling to understand is whether a precise connection between Human Nature and the brute fact that all forms of governments since the Phoenicians have, sooner or later, taken so much from their energy circuit that led, inevitably, to their demise as a functioning system.

          Clearly using government as a noun is incorrect since no entity called government is directly observable. Rather it is the people (elected or hired or who have seized power) who are most responsible for the fortunes of the countries or empires they lead and destroy.

          The principles laid down in our DOI and Constitution are of no value if these people ignore the principles or actively work to destroy them.

          This is why I believe the Founding Fathers crafted a system (a republic) that constrained the worst impulses of Human Nature. And yet, America 2023 is rotting from within – its demise only a question of when. I’m just trying to understand why.
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          • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 5 months ago
            Bureaucracies always tend toward expansion. From my experience, this is true whether business, education, or government is the home of the bureaucracy. Government is probably the worst, because they just pass taxes (or print fiat money) to cover the cost.

            If we don't find a way to eliminate the siphoning off of the "energy" very soon, we will go the way of Rome and Spain.

            While I don't think it is inevitable to stop the siphoning, reading GOTM has me convinced it is VERY unlikely. The pertinent question to me is "how long have we got?"
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            • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
              I think this is where Ayn Rand's thesis that all progress or regression is the result of ideas, of philosophy, of the thought leaders is most valuable. The mission of these bureaucracies is "the common good" and its philosophical premise is self-sacrifice, meaning the sanction of the victim. Its starts with preschool and the primary goal of indoctrinating kids with "sharing" in direct opposition of their desire to create and own what they create.
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              • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 5 months ago
                The bureaucracies may claim to be "for the common good" and some individuals within them may even believe it. But in reality, bureaucracies' primary goals become the continuation and expansion of the organization itself, thus expanding the power of those in charge.
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            • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 5 months ago
              "Bureaucracies always tend toward expansion." Correct. I once wrote that all governments tend toward dictatorships. Many of us realize that many, if not most, humans cannot control their impulses to take more than they need. This is the basis for limited government (limits on the power of individuals employed in government to control the lives of their fellow citizens.)
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              • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
                I think that "humans cannot control their impulses to take more than they need" is based on a false premise. Need is irrelevant, but in today's culture, it is treated as a virtue. No one should take more than they have earned unless it is offered by the rightful owner.
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                • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 5 months ago
                  Actually, taking is present at birth. The child must learn what is his and what is not his. Adults who continue to take (criminals, politicians, etc.) have never accepted that most basic compact of civilization; What is yours is yours and what is mine is mine.
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          • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
            Why! The ultimate question. In this context, I think, why do even the most well structured societies devolve? Is it something about human nature? Why does force eventually overrun voluntary trade? What is the hideous creature destroying society in The Fountainhead? I've got a few possibilities.
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    • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
      Yes! Yes! Yes! It was hard not include this as I limit my excerpts to a certain length hoping that people who take an interest, like you, will find this.
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  • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 5 months ago
    BTW, thanks for heading up this study. This is exactly the kind of discussion I can imagine happening between John, Francisco, Ragnar, Midas and Hugh Akston, sitting next to the fireplace, wine in hand, in the Gulch.
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  • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 5 months ago
    In regard to this statement:
    "The balance of power fell to England because England allowed the energy to flow most freely, which is to say that England conceded the most liberty to the individual by respecting private property." I wonder what Paterson would say about the current balance of power between the US and China.

    I had this thought. Maybe China, as restrictive as they are on individuals, actually has less restrictions on INDUSTRY. With all the regulations imposed, the US certainly does not allow the "energy to flow freely."
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  • Posted by 1 year, 5 months ago
    This excerpt ignores the Dutch Golden Age and the role of The Netherlands and Dutch military entrepreneurship in the transfer of power from Spain to England.
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