At 07:50 18/12/2003 -0500, you wrote:
Why doesn't all economics education and inquiry start with the
principle:
Friends hold all things in common.
(--Desiderius Erasmus, and others)
?
Since we have markets and such, the first
lemma one seems forced to deduce from this principle
is that "the economy" is a realm of social
relations which are at best not friendly (and
which in fact often are in varying degrees
positively(sic) unfriendly).
I am being entirely serious here.
You've got the picture in one! Congratulations!
When the leader of one group of early man saw the leader of the neighbouring group in war paint -- that is, with whom he was having a difference at the time -- of a particularly virulent shade of orange (iron ochre), he badly wanted some of the ochre for himself so that he, too, could look so splendid. But he couldn't lay his hands on any because there was none of this desirabvle rock in his own group's territory. So he had to he had to parlay with the neighbouring group's leader one fine sunny day when they were not at war (for, of course, warfare is only an occasional event) and decided to exchange one of his recently \post-puberty daughters whom he'd restrained (because she was about to leave anyway to find a partner elsewhere -- disposed to do so by what is called the 'patrilocal instinct' by the behavioural pscyhologists) for some "leadership paint". The deal was done and during the trading transaction the two leaders were pretty friendly.
The next day, or perhaps a month or two later, the two groups were at war again -- perhaps one the group had invaded the other's territory and stolen a pig -- and this time both leaders were wearing war paint. They made sure that they didn;t kill each other -- leaders seldon do that. They make sure that the honour falls to an underling.
And, while they were wearing their war paint -- or perhaps retained it for days or weeks after wards -- both leaders would have been very attractive indeed if any post-puberty girls from yet a distant third or fourth group had come wandering by looking for a mate.
Keith Hudson
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Keith Hudson, Bath, England, <www.evolutionary-economics.org>
