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drscottThe Wall Street Journal is running an excellent dialog on economic illiteracy here. When I first joined LJ, I would jump in and try to educate people when they posted angry comments that sprang from a misunderstanding of how the economy works. Over time I have realized that it is impossible to explain complex systems behavior -- the interaction of law, politics, and economics -- to people who don't know (or want to know) anything about economics. It is much easier to assume dark forces of The Rich or The Republicans or (less commonly, here) the Jews are manipulating and conspiring to squeeze the little guy.
It was that misunderstanding among the majority of the populations of developed countries in the 30s that led to years of depression as the international trading system shut down under an assault of beggar-thy-neighbor trade policies, then fascist or communist movements which further exploited the ignorance, then the millions of deaths and destruction of most of Europe and Japan in World War II. So it really does matter when you let yourself fulminate about supposed injustices (high gas prices? price control'em! ... high rents? slap on rent control! ... rich people? Tax'em until they bleed!). You end up not only impoverished but see your freedom, or even your life, vanish. This kind of thinking (the attractions of socialism) is always near the surface, barely restrained by the slim majority that has enough grounding in the real world, or education in history and economics, to realize it's a trap and a delusion to believe you can create wealth and equality through regulation and politics. East Europeans understand exactly why it doesn't work, having had recent experience, but some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet here still believe in fairies.
It was that misunderstanding among the majority of the populations of developed countries in the 30s that led to years of depression as the international trading system shut down under an assault of beggar-thy-neighbor trade policies, then fascist or communist movements which further exploited the ignorance, then the millions of deaths and destruction of most of Europe and Japan in World War II. So it really does matter when you let yourself fulminate about supposed injustices (high gas prices? price control'em! ... high rents? slap on rent control! ... rich people? Tax'em until they bleed!). You end up not only impoverished but see your freedom, or even your life, vanish. This kind of thinking (the attractions of socialism) is always near the surface, barely restrained by the slim majority that has enough grounding in the real world, or education in history and economics, to realize it's a trap and a delusion to believe you can create wealth and equality through regulation and politics. East Europeans understand exactly why it doesn't work, having had recent experience, but some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet here still believe in fairies.
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Date: 2005-09-23 08:47 am (UTC)