Hello everybody. Time to dive in!
On 03/30/11 09:44, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote:
> The astrologer who predicts good fortune and happiness isn't actually
> prophesying, he's a placebo for the soul. So too these books.
>
> Indians and other third worlders seem to drink from the bottle of
> placebos more than most.
The human tendency to be attracted to comforting thoughts, and the
also-human tendency to take advantage of that in order to take advantage
of people are, I think, the main problems with libertarianism. The
meddling of "society" (be it government, or just informal groups of nosy
neighbours) in ones' affairs is irritating and limiting for rational,
educated, intelligent people ("why can't I do X if I'm willing to be
responsible for the consequences?"), but seems an essential safeguard
against exploitation for the masses...
I think the challenge, rather than trying to find a form of society that
is Best For Everyone, is to try and find ways for different people to
live in different kinds of societies... without then trapping people in
the wrong one due to birthright (I wonder if you Indian chappies might
have something to say about caste systems here ;-)
In general, I suspect that better education (not just science and maths;
philosophy and rhetorical technique) is a better approach to making
people less easily swayed by people who want their money, than Yet More
Laws. However, forcing education on people is arguably a violation of
individual liberties; particularly education that attempts to tell you
*how to think*.
I've written up some thoughts on this and related areas before:
http://www.snell-pym.org.uk/archives/2010/07/03/society/
...I'd be interested to know what folks with experience of Eastern
society make of my conclusions ;-)
>
> Cheeni
>
ABS
--
Alaric Snell-Pym
http://www.snell-pym.org.uk/alaric/
