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Thoughful and Dangerous Utopic Masturbation: Integral Government Regulation:

Posted December 23rd, 2009 by GameOfThriving in economics
In Reference to:
Integral Economics: Understanding our Economic Institutions

Love the work Kevin! You have laid down a context and defined many key terms which are almost certainly mandatory to create a shared and in school conversation around the issue. Bravo. Thank you!

 

We certainly need to clarify the issues, and I am glad for your work. AND, I hope we remember that the best of intentions can create hellish consequencs. Where angles fear to tread comes to mind. Let's not count the stock price of the company that sells the chickens...before they eggs are even laid. Let's not pretend a little understanding gives us the capacity to make effective decisions - with the fate of economies and nations. You of all people know how flimsy/tentative our Macro understandings are!
 
Idea: The central challenge faced by integral economics as you have described it is the combination of
1) ignorance/dogma and lack of critical thinking skills in our electorate
2) significant lack of understanding on how we can effectively/successfully regulate an economy among our economists.
 
These are non-trivial issues.
 
A mentor of mine used to say " a people get the government they deserve." When the populace votes for populist demagogues, they get corrupt legislation and legislators.
 
When there is no rational standard against which to judge legislation and legislators (other than the sound bites/memes that are dominating the media at any particular time), there cannot be an integrated/integral (WholeSum/Thriving) system of government regulations. It will be a patchwork of pork, ready made for corruption and inefficiency.
 
Until and unless the electorate can (and demands to) follow a logical train of thought more than one or two steps, we can bet that any supposed "rationality" will really be "rationalization"" used by politicians to gain power and funding.
 
Given this state of affairs, to describe "integral government intervention" in the economy is a very dangerous form of utopic masturbation. Fun certainly. Even artistic, and good for building community and even clearing the ground to prepare for a foundation.