Chasing the Joneses Part II

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As promised, Part II. I warn you, this reads like it was a cross between an economist and a sociologist. Except possibly more obfuscatory. In case you wonder, if you cross the two, you get a political scientist.

TED talk, which aired a piece mentioning a Mexican is the richest man in the word, said Gandhi, the Indian leader who is massively misunderstood by most, suggested there are two economic choices in the world. Well, Niall Ferguson said it, but it was broadcast as part of the TED Talk.

1) Accept disparity and wealth gaps.

2) Institutionalize poverty.

Neither is a pleasant concept to me.

OPTION 1

What worries me more is a different nightmare scenario, is a universe in which a few geniuses invent Google and its ilk and the rest of us are employed giving them massages. Chrystia Freeland. See TED Talk above

Oy.

Karl Marx did examine human nature and the rejection of Option 1. He got things twisted like Ayn Rand. Both substituted their own person view of how humanity should be for how humanity actually is. Neither were willing to admit a basic tenet of human nature which can  be summed up in two acronyms - NIMBY and CAVE. (CAVE is Citizens Against Virtually Everything).

They also ignore matter of simple physics which translates directly across to humanity - Nature abhors a vacuum. Witness Somalia for the human social-economic-political version of this physics statement.

And, yes, they also ignore something else. Human beings are fundamentally lazy. Scream, yell, holler, complain and call me an idiot all you want to. But the fact remains if you were given everything you needed to be satisfied, you’d do nothing. Argue all you want, but below I’m gonna prove my point. Yes, there are the rare exceptions, but exceptions are just that.

OPTION 2

As best I can see with my intense myopia, this is now the case in the United States. We have achieved multiple generations living off the public dole. If this is not institutionalized poverty, I ask how you define it.

And here is what has set the United States apart from the rest of the world and the history of civilization. We reward those who have never done anything except exist, never will do anything except exist and will not do anything except exist at the expense of others who have never met these “existence only” entities. Further, we use violence to extort support from the others for the “existence only” entities. Call ‘em EOE (which fits in far more ways than one).

PROVING THE POINT

I bring to you a shining example of this mentality.

Ages 2 and 3. Left home alone. Took two of ‘em to take the other person home. And she's worried about food stamps.

I give you another. Angel Adams. Google this woman and see the enormous number of legit news stories which crop up about here.

These people are not aberrations. These people are not isolated incidents. These people are not skewing the bell curve. These people are increasingly typical.

They are the EOE and they are growing.

EN MASSE

When I say EOE I mean large masses of EOE, not isolated incidents like a monarchy or dictatorship. Anthropological studies of societies which do not have wealth as a concept show those people under study do precisely enough to make sure they have enough. No more, no less.

Some other nations have since followed suite, but we led the way.

If Marx was still around and witnessed the EOE, I wonder if he would revise his social-economic theories. Just for the record, true communism as espoused by Marx has never existed on a national scale. For that matter, true capitalism on a national scale has also never existed, but I suspect Somalia comes closer than any other country.

OVERHEARD

Lemme slap some quotes on you

"The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money."
- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

This one has been twisted a bit over time and then attributed to Benjamin Franklin. He never said it that we know of. But here’s the twisted version - When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
- Norman Thomas (US Socialist Presidential Candidate)

"There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow.   Our destruction,
should it come at all, will be from the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government."
- Daniel Webster