FreedomPatriot @[email protected]

@h4890 @korsier @freepatriot

The ideal leadership would take care of a few things well and leave everything else up to nature.

But to do that, you need culture to fill in for the nanny state.

@h4890 @korsier @freepatriot

Who is Karl Hedin? I feel like I knew this and then forgot.

@h4890 @freepatriot

I might add here that external control is a different beast from having shared and overlapping goals.

I see civilization as a force-multiplier for the individual.

If I write a great symphony, I can have it performed for centuries, where otherwise it would exist only on paper in my office.

@h4890 @freepatriot

I do not think offices are inherited in the West, despite the goofy "dynasties" we have. That I think is a temporary thing.

The advantage of aristocracy is that the leaders come from the people, are dedicated to the success of the organic nation as a whole, and therefore, tend to make long-term decisions however unpopular they are.

Popularity is usually a sickness.

> unwarranted overconfidence

James C. Scott - Seeing Like A State

Also some of Taleb's early work...

@h4890 @freepatriot

I like discussion. Debate requires judges and rules. It also narrows focus from what is real to what is proven in language at one moment, and this is not fully accurate.

It is partially true, and partial truth like partial intelligence may be the most dangerous form...

I have learned a lot since the AE days through the present from talking to interesting people online.

Sometimes I have to test them. This looks to outsiders like debate. It is me getting clarification on minor points or framing.

@korsier @h4890 @freepatriot

I always use this riff, but back when Windows 7 was the standard, people were hoping for something called "MinWin."

Basically, it would be Windows without all the adornments, a no-frills version designed to maximize speed instead of convenient interface.

I think people want the same from government.

@korsier @h4890 @freepatriot

In other words, democracy is in fact the worst system.

The others are survivable.

I think people overcomplicate this however. There are five forms:

1. Monarchy
2. Timarchy
3. Oligarchy
4. Democracy
5. Tyranny

Plato says 3-4 shuttle back and forth; tyranny is rule for the sake of government (state, bureaucracy) and not its people.

@korsier @h4890 @freepatriot

The problem with democracy is that once you offer free stuff, government takes over, and you end up at socialism.

@korsier @h4890 @freepatriot

@korsier @h4890 @freepatriot

I think you should at least come visit. Texas is 50% Hispanic.

You see quickly how culture/genetics really matters.

It is analogous to the situation in Israel: if you want to protect a culture, you must protect its genetics by excluding all outsiders.

Palestinians would be happier in Syria; Mexicans would be happier in Mexico. So it goes.

@h4890 @freepatriot

The wisdom of Israel is that it upholds the formula of ethne=culture=religion.

This is how you make societies that not only have cohesion, but can have direction.

Any society that fails to undertake this path will eliminate itself (become Brazil, Mexico, Russia, etc).

@h4890 @freepatriot

The problem with virtue ethics however is the problem of voluntarism.

Those with the capacity and will to be self-directed and not self-focused are few, and they are quickly absorbed and bred out by the rest.

@h4890 @freepatriot

Thus, it helps to have leaders, and to have a framework of values/aesthetics, which we commonly call culture.

Also mono-ethnicism because culture is genetic and can only be firmly tied to a national identity.

> social engineering, micromanagement, and scientific administration are dead ends

These are tools, applied carefully and correctly they can be useful, but used poorly they are lifeless and depressing, e.g. Brazil (1985).

Social engineering can make people better people, and in some Asian countries we've seen it used with some amount of success. Micromanagement has it's place too, in prisons and insane asylums, where people who can't self-manage are placed. Scientific administration can also be beneficial BUT, there is a HUGE HUGE HUGE risk of unwarranted overconfidence.

Everything is a dead end in the hands of a bad leader. But I don't think we can afford to cast them into the fire entirely.

@h4890 @freepatriot

Really awesome analysis here:

https://agora.echelon.pl/objects/7b70d54f-f866-4599-9f0d-8ecfb8611f56

From @kravietz

And a bit on how more capitalism works out better

https://noc.social/@todayilearned/114934898118058035

via @klaatu

@cjd @h4890 @korsier @freepatriot

I have to disagree here: these things become runaway quests in themselves.

Social engineering has no end point. You are constantly trying to force people to behave as if they were intelligent, good, and introspective.

All this does is offload the bad into the future.

Agreed on the unwarranted overconfidence (Peter Principle + DKE) of scientific management.