Thursday, March 10, 2011

It's all been said before

I can't tell you the number of times I hear people tell me that all you have to do is explain things to people and it will change their minds. It won't, and for proof I offer the simple fact that nothing I say is original. Truth of the matter is that everything I say, pretty much everything I will say, has already been better said.

I'll give myself a little credit and say that my thoughts are not exactly the same as others, but the point is that everything you read here about economics and politics can be found throughout history. Hell, that's where I get a lot of inspiration from.

My point is not to diminish my uniqueness, but to say that if you believe lack of knowledge is what drives people, and that someone like me providing that knowledge will change people, you are dead wrong. Most political blogs preach to the choir, and the choir loves to sing. It's not about debate, or rationality, but adherence and propagation of dogma. We all love to hear that someone agrees with us, and we seek out that approval. It's a good feeling.

For me however, that's not interesting. I actually want to change things and I am not interested in dogma. I don't care if liberals or conservatives are hypocrites. I don't care if something is "unconstitutional" or not. What I care about is how can we make things better. Better, not perfect, but within reason and reality, better.

I firmly believe in the supremacy of free markets. Sound economics dictates that that is the best way to allocate resources. But I also believe that human nature doesn't give two shits about sound economics. They care about fairness, and dignity and life in general. Perception is reality. Not something I like to admit, but it's the truth. I write with that in mind, I write, act, to make things better. That's my only goal and it's what interests me most.

1 comments:

The Skip Bureau said...

Well, it is not quite so bleak. Years ago, when I used to argue extensively online (Kuro5hin mostly), after about a year, we noticed a precious few converts from the governing liberal socialism to the libertarian/anarcho-capitalistic view. I do not know if you would think that a good idea, but the truth is that, while a Jeffersonian/David Friedman anarcho-capitalist myself, I would dearly love to see simple, competent administration. I am not against progressive ideals; I just have seen too many go wrong, and, at this point in time, hacking anything off the federal government seems like a good idea, as it is way too large by any standard.

But, and this is the important part, to me, there are those who read, understand and change their minds online, so hope is never lost, and, almost more importantly, there is nothing quite like putting an idea online to find out just how daft it is...

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