To: Douglas P. Wilson and friends on several mail lists In a thoughtful note of 99-07-04 11:42:09 EDT, Douglas P. Wilson <http://www.SocialTechnology.org/index.html> wrote, in part: >> "I use the term social technology to include all social applications of technology and all things that we "know how" to do to keep society running. Is that consistent with your use of the phrase?" << (WSB: Very much so. The world turns on such social technology. WSB) Douglas P. Wilson, again: >> "I mention this as an incentive to encourage you to write a very clear summary of your views. If it is clear enough then I'll try to make sure the simulator can run it as a model and provide some evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. Does that interest you?" << (WSB: It certainly does interest me, and I will be looking forward to the further development of your simulator. WSB) As you say, Douglas P. Wilson, the use of biblical references does chill some of the audience, but it remains our oldest and best known history book. The Pentateuch, or first five books in the bible, is the only place in the literature of Western Civilization where I have been able to find a written definition of the financial structure used by American corporations to calculate the selling price of their products and services. Since that part of the bible is shared in common by Catholics, Jews, Muslems, and Protestants alike it should be possible to research the five books of Moses and discuss it in some detail without anybody's nose getting bent out of shape. We might wonder, however, how religious teachers from all four faiths could omit this bit of interesting knowledge from their teaching for 3,000 years. But they say one to another, "Moses commanded us a law for our inheritance, it is our inheritance, not theirs." It is a great loss to all concerned when we throw out the baby with the bathwater. The excerpt below may shed some more light on my point of view which had its origin in the 1940s decentralization program of the General Electric Cmpany, which in turn, followed Alfred P. Sloan's financial reorganization of General Motors in the 1920s. From those rather substantial origins, my point of view on "social technology" was further refined by my participation in GE's 1953 new product program to automate the dispatching function on interconnected systems of soveriegn electric power companies. As you know, the eastern interconnected system covers all of the U.S. and Canada, east of Texas, with probably more sovereign corporations within the interconnection than there are soveriegn nations in any similar area on earth. Of course, electric power is a unique commodity governed by natural laws, but most of that law applies also to the production and flow of all commercial commodities produced in industrial nations with an advanced division of labor dispatched by a circulating medium of exchange. A particular exception being: Storage capacity for electric power is quite limited in comparison with current consumption, so supply must be kept equal to demand in "real time," without the convience of leveling production by building to inventory during low demand, and drawing from inventory during periods of high demand for the product. I try to keep in mind, while exploring this subject, the fact that if this were not a simple subject, not in its literature of course, but in its fundamentals, I would not have been able to formulate such a robust global model as is shown at <http://www.freespeech.org/darves/bert.html>, nor defend it as effectively as I do. Your detailed review of the model was most helpful, and sincerely appreciated. Regards, WesBurt >>>>>>>> Begin excerpt from a six month old post <<<<<<<<<<< Subj: The Whole Divine Law (Fig7-9b.GIF) Date: 99-01-03 15:25:38 EST From: WesBurt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snip ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since the word, CAPITALISM, has been made meaningless by the advocates of postmodern relativism, we might find it useful to call our present condition, commercial democracy, as Henry Carter Adams did one-hundred and twelve years ago. That is to say, we live in a society that has all of the mechanisms for effective democracy still in place, and still in working order, but yet the commercial interests exercise an undue influence on public policy, to the detriment of the environment and our quality of life. The closest analogy I can think of to illustrate our condition is the biology experiment which begins with a stable and healthy colony of laboratory rats. Rats, as you know, are in the middle of the obnoxious species continuum, somewhat larger than cockroaches but smaller than poor people, and we can learn a lot about poor people by experimenting on rats. Anyway, the experiment calls for restricting the rat-colony's living space and reducing its daily food supply. I have never seen the experiment performed, but I hear that all sorts of complex social pathologies are demonstrated and I also hear that it takes a strong stomach on the part of the experimenter to continue the process to its logical conclusion, or "die-off." Our human condition is much like that of the rats. There is no direct connection from the experimenter to the individual rat, nor from our public policy to the individual citizen. The experiment imposes less space and less food. Our public policy has imposed for the last hundred years, and more, 4-10% unemployment and a 2-3%/year decline in the value of our money. But the single imposition on either the rat colony or the nation produces a different response in each rat, and a different response in each citizen, so it is a mind stretching intellectual effort for the rat or the citizen to reason from his own experience back to the root cause of his experience. People can see the cause of the rat's experience because they are outside the system. They cannot see the cause of their own experience until they find a conceptual framework, and make the intellectual effort that lets them view the whole system from a vantage point outside of the system. This is what drawings, charts, and visual-aids help people to do, that is, to stand outside the system under discussion and look at the whole system in operation. Notice that the system operates under natural laws, regardless of whether or not we look at it, understand it, neglect it, or change it to our heart's desire. The attached file Fig7-9b.GIF has been re-sized to display properly on your monitor and print properly on 8.5x11 inch paper, so the outsized image of previous posts is no longer an excuse for not discussing the systemic defect of omission in our public policy which is illustrated by the three charts. That defect of omission is the lack of a dependent allowance adequate to remove from the family budget the "head tax" on parenting families of $5,000/year/dependent, which is the root cause of social disorders in a society founded on a well developed division of labor, a circulating medium of exchange, and free markets. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snip ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>>>>>> End excerpt from a six month old post <<<<<<<<<<<
