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re: Interesting link, thanks Robert
Robert — (archived)

I found that report a year ago, and it's full of fascinating information that sheds some light on the realities behind all these abstract theoretical discussions.

What's behind all the intellectualized debate about economic systems is really just the diversity of individual dispositions. That psychological study of conservatives was about how people choose an ideology that they find most congenial. Some people are naturally risk-takers, so they gravitate toward the dog-eat-dog philosophy of capitalism. The majority seems to prefer security to risk, and they gravitate towards liberalism and its promise of safety nets to smooth out the peaks and valleys. What the table ranking overall standard of living really reveals is that the European countries have chosen a different balance than the US, favoring more security for more people over increased opportunity for a few, with its commensurate risk of impoverishment for many.

Neither approach is inherently (or objectively) superior. I would observe, though, that it's somewhat unfair for the risk-taking minority to force risk upon the risk-averse majority. It's necessary to strike a balance so that the rewards from risk-taking are spread around enough so that the majority (the ones who do the work for the risk-takers) have a degree of the security that they desire. It's as much about freedom of choice for the risk-averse as it is about freedom of choice for the risk-takers.

I think that the balance has swung too far in the direction of risk in America; a lot of people are in a world of hurt because too many of the risky schemes of the late '90s collapsed. The capitalists who promoted the games are relatively unscathed--I can't shed any tears for the former billionaires who are now trying to "get by" on only a few hundred million. It's the millions of people who enlisted in their schemes I feel for. Their only mistake was trusting capitalism too much.

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