> Behalf Of Dean Forster
[snip]
> But above all, in a free market economy, the Big
> Nasty Baby Killing Soul Sucking Corporations make what
> they love most, money, by doing one thing.
>
> They give people what they want.
>
> Let me say it again.
>
> They give people what they want.
I have the same problem with this argument as with cost-benefit analysis.
Not that it is wrong, but that it is incomplete. Nothing is entirely
justified by saying it is what people want, for the same reason as
cost-benefit analysis cannot be the final argument: incomplete, imperfect
knowledge. The way you state this as if it were the final argument is a
form of idol worship -- treating feedback as though it were the ultimate
source of truth in the universe. Although feedback has done wonderful
things over the last five centuries, it is not the end of human reason, it
does not reveal ultimate truth. Feedback is only as good as the information
that goes into the system, which is why systems based on feedback
(democracy, capitalism) evolve institutions that control what information is
available, corrupting the feedback loop itself.
For example, how can feedback about the presidential election be trusted
when the political parties and television networks agree to offer just two
choices, despite the growth of third parties?
When the invisible hand of the market becomes a censor, the marketplace is
corrupt.
Nick
