----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 9:19 AM Subject: Re: christian dreams of murder...
> On Sun, Nov 16, 2003 at 09:08:07AM -0600, Dan Minette wrote: > > > So, the fact that the US won the last two great battles doesn't mean > > that our system of human rights is a logical byproduct of evolution, > > any more than extreme nationalism would have been proven by a German > > victory or the historical dialectic by a Communist victory. It was a > > lucky break, just as > > Well, there's lucky and then there's LUCKY. If I'm playing 5 card draw > and I take 3 cards keeping a pair of aces, I still need luck to win > against someone who draws one card to a 5678. But the odds are in my > favor. Cards are well known. > I think it is pretty clear that neither pure competition nor pure > cooperation is likely to work as a way to run a society. While it is a > good book, the society in Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_ is unlikely > to prevail in the world for several reasons, not the least of which is > that not many people would WANT such a society. On the other extreme, > socialism/communism has repeatedly failed to produce any stunning > successes. The inevitablity of history in hindsight is about as valid as the inevitability of the stock market moving in a given direction in hindsight. Was it inevitable that Lincoln was skilled in international affairs, or was that lucky? Was it inevitable that the third officer of the Soviet nuclear sub. being depth charged by the US said no to launching these missles, or was it luck? > I think it is pretty clear that a balanced system, like the pair of aces > above, has the edge. The optimal balance may not be clear, whether it > leans toward the American side or toward the Scandinavian side, or in > between (Britain?). Statistical analysis from one case is not really that sound. 30 years ago most people at universities around the world thought the historical dielectic proved that Communisim was the superior system. Now, with a bit more data, we differ. But, most people in the field who were brighter than us thought otherwise. IMHO, that should be a lesson against hubris for you and me. The US has been singularly dominant for about 20 years. That's an extremely short time to write about obvious historical systematic advantage. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
