Civilization Basics:
Politics and Economics
There are a number of ideas about how the politics and economics which hold civilizations together should be structured. These ideas are argued all the time. Unfortunately, most of the time the arguers have no conception of the basic assumptions which are inherent in their arguments. On this site the basic basics will be covered. You won’t have to take my word for it, the basics will be obvious when illuminated.
• The most basic question of social organization is, what should you be able to force me to do or not do. Everything starts here. A bad answer to this question can (and has) give hideous results. Click force me for this short basic discussion.
• Is the value of a good or service inherent in its nature or a function of the amount of labor needed to produce it—or something else? Since economic activity is a trade of money for goods and services or vice versa, as a moral ideal should both parties to the transaction receive equal value? Most people give the wrong answer to these questions, This leads to foolish and dangerous policies. When you examine the nature of trade in Moral Trades, you will be far wiser than most of the people discussing and legislating on the subject. A bonus: it will help you understand how to improve your career, among other things.
• Socialism and similar ideologies claim the high moral ground for their viewpoint. Correct? Read "The FATAL Error of All Leftist Ideologies" and decide for yourself.
• Should all human effort be concerted toward human happiness? Sounds like a great moral idea, doesn’t it. Read how this idea has caused more massive human misery than almost any other. The problem is easy to understand and easier, in principle, to solve. Read Public Morality.
• If ‘concerting all human effort toward human happiness’ resulted in misery and disaster, what is a better way? What about people voluntarily doing favors for each other. This is what happens under freedom, which is explained in “Economic Truths in a Free Society: Why Freedom Produces Wealth”. Illustrated here is the nature of real wealth, the impediments to it, and how economic principles can be applied to vastly improve your life in other non-economic areas.
• Very many people talk about alleviating poverty. Why are they almost always totally on the wrong track? Find out at Why is poverty like a vacuum?
• How do we create enough jobs? You may be very surprised to learn that in a free economy (we’re slightly closer to that in the United States than many places around the world) it is automatic. Read: How Do We Create Enough Jobs.