When I started this blog, I thought I’d be writing frequently about the economy. I’ve always liked the subject. It’s the easiest way we have to quantify human behavior, and therefore fascinating. And given the current economic state of the world, analyzing it should prove especially interesting. Which money/banking system really works? Will these bail-outs hurt or help the economy as a whole, and will they help the right people? And on and on.
Yet somehow, every time I sit down to write, I can’t come up with anything that’s not half-baked, worthless, or irrelevant. For a time, I thought my problem was lack of knowledge. Perhaps by observing more, by reading more, by increasing my understanding of how the world work, I could begin to really understand the economy.
But I’m not getting it. Things don’t make any more sense now than then. And the more varied economic points of view I read, the more confused I become. Here’s an incomplete list, plus the attendant problems:
Socialists – More government – of the right sort!
So… how do we control it?
Communalists/Ecofeminists – Local Government, and don’t call it that!
Bigger groups always absorb smaller ones.
Neo-Anarchists/Socialists – The government is an evil conspiracy!
And you’re suggesting… what? Anarchy? Really?
Mainstream Liberals – Tax and Spend!
Where’s it coming from? Also, see the next one…
Mainstream Feminists (I’m only talking about economic policy here) – Tax and Spend on the right things!
Who determines that? And how to remove the capitalists without destabilizing everything?
Neo-Conservatives – Spend w/out taxing!
How on earth is that even possible?
Real Conservatives – Status Quo…!
Yes, these people still exist.
Libertarians – Smaller Government! (I still call myself this, by the way.)
What are we going to replace the government with? Private enterprise? My left ear…
All of these groups do have some good ideas. They are all right about some things, even if some are more delusional than others. But none of them really have the answer – not in a way that can be proven, or even truly understood.
But I think I’ve finally decided on the problem (partly inspired by this post): It’s pretty obvious. The world is a powercracy. You can gain an advantage with any of the following:
Capital (In some places)
Intelligence (of the right sort)
Class/Race/Gender/other privilege factors
Physical/Athletic Ability
On the whole, the people who have these things insist on exploiting those who don’t. And no amount of government regulation, philanthropy, or education of the oppressed can change that.
Because the trouble with capitalism is the capitalists.
The trouble with socialism and commualism is the demagogues. (Not lazy people, as some like to say!)
The trouble with anarchy is violence.
And so on. Even if you could somehow remove the capital, the privilege will remain. If some miracle could remove that, the economic intelligence and physical differences remain. Unless you clone all identical people, you can’t get rid of it! (You can’t really regulate it out, either – so long as most people are trying to oppress, regulation just gives those in the government more power, most of whom are also potential oppressors, and so it continues) Some people are simply better at taking advantage than others. That’s the root cause of power, and unless those people decide to stop using their advantage, the world will continue as it is. Unfair, favoring the few.
Here’s what it boils down to: If you’re consuming more than you’re producing, if you’re exploiting more than you’re exploited, you are part of the problem. Not part of the solution. ‘Economics’ doesn’t matter. All that counts is individual influence.
Thus, worrying about ‘money’ is completely pointless.
From an economic point of view, all we need now is a way to correctly measure one’s influence. (And a way to convince the exploiters to stop – but that’s a different subject)