What Do You Think About Communism?

[Asher]

Dude, 19th century Japanese history is way more interesting than US politics.

[Drake Tungsten]

What is your field anyway? Linguistics? History? Sociology?

BA in History/IR, master's degree in IR, concentrated on international security policy and quantitative analysis.

e.g. 19th century Japanese history

Yes, that's one of them.

[Kuciwalker]

Dude, 19th century Japanese history is way more interesting than US politics.

esp. when he can goad molly bloom into arguing about it

[Asher]

What is your field anyway? Linguistics? History? Sociology?

BA in History/IR, master's degree in IR, concentrated on international security policy and quantitative analysis.

e.g. 19th century Japanese history

Yes, that's one of them.

So you would be the go-to man if I had any questions pertaining to what Japan should've done with its Russia relations in 1880?

[Drake Tungsten]

esp. when he can goad molly bloom into arguing about it

That was a fun thread.

So you would be the go-to man if I had any questions pertaining to what Japan should've done with its Russia relations in 1880?

Yes, although that's not a very interesting question.

[bc1871]

Well, I know this will totally derail the conversation (but then again most of the OT Regulars seem to do a good job of that already), but since the whole subject of Russo-Japanese relations was brought up…..could it have been possible for the Russians to have defeated the Japanese at Sea, or perhaps turned the tide at the Tsushima Straits?

[Asher]

KH

[bc1871]

Contrary to Asher's ramblings, I'm not Krazy Horse!

[Rafe]

I actually think communism or socialism can't work but that those that want to enter into that sort of arrangement should even if it reduces efficiency globally. I'm a great advocate of socialism for socialists. I just don't want to be forcibly integrated into their hyper-egalitarian social order, and i certainly don't believe democracy is a valid tool for deciding if the minority should be forced into it.

[KrazyHorse]

KH

It's almost too easy...

[Kidlicious]

I'm more of an expert in boring crap that no one in their right mind wants to discuss.

That's delicious. Thanx.

[Ben Kenobi]

Interesting. So Drake and I have the same degree. Didn't know that.

[Asher]

What a difference Columbia is from the University of Northern BC, right?
Plus, he has a Masters.

[Drake Tungsten]

I also look down on my liberal arts *** past and long to be something more.

[Heraclitus]

I'ts loaded with contradictions.

Also since Von Mises Economic calculation argument many of the intellectual socialists have abandoned eliminating cardinal value scales which emerge from capital markets to varieties of market socialism or voucher based socialism. Under communism the social order makes decisions via democracy. Democracy is simply binary where as a market permits a greater degree of signal fidelity in the form of a magnitude variable, 1, 2 , 20.71, 3.77 ^65. Also markets enhance an exit choice variable where as under democracy your forced to consume the products/ services winners would select. In this sense you can actually look at democracy as a form of market that is highly attenuated. It has some choice flexibility, it has the Schumpetarian notion of creative destruction = retrospective voting, it has capital in the form of the vote. It's extremely simplistic and discounts signal complexity for equality, competition exists alive in well in debates etc which serve a critical f(x) for the political discourse that generates decisions. Also Galbraith's criticisms of advertisement must be moved into the public process with aspects like propaganda or campaigns as institutions/parties attempt to sway opinion to buy or in this case become loyal to one product or another.

I'm just wondering what you think about the Robin Hansons idea of Futarchy as expressed by him or in some variation?

BTW Excellent posts I hope you keep coming to this forum.