Political Economy and Geopolitics of the 20th Century
Notes
Im am reading Courier from Warsaw and Thinking the 20th Century trying to synthesize some ideas of philosophy of power in the 20th century. The 20th century is relevant in the 21st because doing better in the 21st century - potentially towards the Collaborative Singularity - requires one to understand the major trends that arise as a legacy of the 20th century. Random notes here.
- There is
- Postwar appears to be important.
- Aron seems to be important
- Hobsbawm appears important.
- Major contribution of Keynes. Keynesian economics is government's hand in stabilizing the economy. [1]. The response was Hayek.
- Major contribution of Smith - give a middle finger to the invisible hand, it's the people, stupid!
- Welfare/warfare state provided some security
- Security is missing in the wast, giving fuel to demagogues such as in the War on Terror, War on Drugs, etc, which is all War on People
- Hayek's main contribution - that big gummit is The Road to Serfdom, discussed in this book. Thus, free market proponent with level playing field. Only problem seems that he was a stupid asshole in his disbelief of an unlevel playing field [2]. Hayek wished well that true open markets would prevent monopolies. He believed in proactive antitrust measures as opposed to government breakup of monopolies [3]. Hayekian thought on competition seems to be bullshit a priori, as it well-wishes for free markets, which do not exist. Further, his model assumes scarcity.
- Many in the USA want low taxes for the rich because they think they will be rich themselves.
- Why is there no discussion of Ethical Economics? It is another aspect of the One Dimensional Man
- Marxists and other philosophers were never in a good position to execute because they were largely thinkers only, and state capitalism was a poor business model
- What mechanisms are required for excess production to be committed to eradicating poverty, as opposed to looking for ways to fractional-reserve further and further market to people who do not need?
- Tax Rate for the Rich
