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View Full Version : Report on use of apathy in control of the masses




lynnf
03-27-2010, 06:29 AM
Written for foreign countries, but applies to the U.S as well.

sorry, no excerpt due to technical difficulties

http://www.scribd.com/doc/29003742/CIA-Afghanistan


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lynn

tremendoustie
03-27-2010, 08:26 AM
Yes, there was an interesting lecture at the Liberty Forum this year. I only had the cliff notes version related to me -- you know the nash equilibrium? People use this to justify government intervention. The idea is that sometimes, when everyone makes decisions which benefit them most personally, it actually leads to suboptimal results for the group. This occurs because the decision an individual makes, in these cases, affects not only them, but others -- however, the individual only experiences the personal effects.

An old fashioned pike line might be one example -- the cavalry is charging the line -- what is an individual pikeman to do? If everyone stays, and he runs, he's more likely to survive. If everyone runs, he'd better run, or he'll be killed first. But, as a group, if everyone holds the line, they are far more likely to survive.

The point this speaker was making was that while these situations occur rarely in the market, they occur all the time in government - almost every political decision affects far more people than oneself. Because a person's individual vote is unlikely to affect an issue greatly, and because any one issue only causes a small amount of tax, or other damage, per person, it is in the individual's best interest to remain ignorant, and uninvolved. If you're one of the few people who benefit greatly from a program, however, it is in your best interest to be very involved. Likewise for the politicians. They benefit most by selling out their vote to special interests, and then lying about it, or otherwise justifying it later.

That is, the problems of politics are almost inevitable. If everyone acts in their own personal best interest, you have corruption and apathy.

In short, an undesirable nash equilibrium can be a real problem in the market -- but politics makes the problem far worse, rather than better. To solve the problem, people need to be personally responsible for other damage they cause. For example, the soldiers might sign a contract with each other before going into battle, with severe consequences for those who break it. Those who pollute should have to pay restitution to their neighbors, etc.