RT @ComicDaveSmith: @ThoBishop @DrMarkThornton We are libertarians because we believe in peace, prosperity and civilization. Others are lib…
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-24 20:04:54 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650591668356128794
OLIGARCHIES?
–“Q: Curt, how you define an Oligarchy? Is it true that western Europe are countries ruled by Oligarchies? Is that bad?”–Soldat catala @cavaller_humil
A: (below)
Short answer:
(a) oligarchies are deterministic and will emerge (evolve) in any decision hierarchy of… https://twitter.com/curtdoolittle/status/1650509029838405639
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-24 14:53:56 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650513409178316804
Aristotle writes that -“Aristocracy is rule by the best-qualified citizens, those with the highest virtue and wisdom, rule for the common good. Oligarchy is when men of property have the government in their hands… wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and where the poor rule, that is a democracy.”
So Natural Aristocracy consists in a legacy of demonstrated competency in service of the polity. For this reason ancients prefered men of breeding (wealth, eduction), courage (war, fitness), and character (virtuous contribution to the commons).
And natural aristocracy requires a market for ascent into politics (elected monarchy (one) or nobility (many)).
So the primary measure is moral: whether you rule in the common interests of the people across the classes or not. Or whether you rule for self interest at their expense. (This is the reason for aristotle’s ethics being taught in public schools in britain, because that is what it teaches., As do the germanic myths, legends, and fairy tales, and even Aesop’s fables.)
In practice Oligarchies form when the financial interests that are allowed to prey on the people are merged with the political interests that switch to serving their ‘bribers’ among the wealthy.
Russia is an explicity oligarchy run as an organized crime syndicate. China is a much larger one run as the same. Most of europe still retains some class distinctions where there are oligarchs but the democratic process works well enough to contain SOME of the malincentives. America is clearly a financial oligarchy buying its interests from the state at the expense of the people.
Note that we are (I am) fairly certain we (the institute) have solved this problem in the only way possible – and if no other interruptions in my health, we should get it to final draft this year.
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-24 14:36:32 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650509029838405639
Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650469709165350914
Aristotle writes that -“Aristocracy is rule by the best-qualified citizens, those with the highest virtue and wisdom, rule for the common good. Oligarchy is when men of property have the government in their hands… wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and where the poor rule, that is a democracy.”
So Natural Aristocracy consists in a legacy of demonstrated competency in service of the polity. For this reason ancients prefered men of breeding (wealth, eduction), courage (war, fitness), and character (virtuous contribution to the commons).
And natural aristocracy requires a market for ascent into politics (elected monarchy (one) or nobility (many)).
So the primary measure is moral: whether you rule in the common interests of the people across the classes or not. Or whether you rule for self interest at their expense. (This is the reason for aristotle’s ethics being taught in public schools in britain, because that is what it teaches., As do the germanic myths, legends, and fairy tales, and even Aesop’s fables.)
In practice Oligarchies form when the financial interests that are allowed to prey on the people are merged with the political interests that switch to serving their ‘bribers’ among the wealthy.
Russia is an explicity oligarchy run as an organized crime syndicate. China is a much larger one run as the same. Most of europe still retains some class distinctions where there are oligarchs but the democratic process works well enough to contain SOME of the malincentives. America is clearly a financial oligarchy buying its interests from the state at the expense of the people.
Note that we are (I am) fairly certain we (the institute) have solved this problem in the only way possible – and if no other interruptions in my health, we should get it to final draft this year.
Reply addressees: @cavaller_humil
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-24 14:36:32 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650509029628575744
Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650469709165350914
RT @curtdoolittle: @fucktheNSA1979 Nonsense view.
This proxy war is the cheapest way of defeating one of the three remaining empires that p…
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 21:55:33 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650257125212401673
RT @curtdoolittle: @SoulSentinel89 @fucktheNSA1979 GREAT QUESTION
(counter intuitive answer)
a) Our ‘care of our own’ requires preserving…
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 21:55:25 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650257091104210974
GREAT QUESTION
(counter intuitive answer)
a) Our ‘care of our own’ requires preserving the advantages that we’ve spent since 1945 creating, ending the age of empires and monopoly trade routes and massive wars, by converting to nation states, federations, and free trade routes, limiting the scale of wars.
b) to accomplish this feat we ‘burned down’ the advantages of our laboring, working, and middle classes by bribing countries into free trade, and weaponized our upper middle and upper classes through financialization to pay for it, and using the military to insure it worldwide (largely because economics = petroleum(energy) per capita).
c) Since Trump’s election we have been (he has been) trying to force the developed world to share the burden of the cost of policing the world.
d) But we didn’t expect china or russia or iran to double down on imperialism. But they saw the opportunity to preserve their authoritarianism and privilege as we gradually withdrew. In other words, we were too optimistic about the ‘lagging civilizations’.
e) So the only way to prevent a restoration of empires and world wars, and poverty that results, we are trying to wear out the last breath of these wanna-be empires.
f) Israel and Ukraine (somewhat like South Korea and Japan) are extremely cheap means of preventing these empires, exhausting them, until the natural weight of their political failures causes (what we hope is) the transformation to nation states and federations that equally value the extraordinary value of free trade, and the end of and prohibition on empires that destroy the returns on that free trade.
So to summarize, no, there is no better cheaper way with fewer deaths, than repatriation of production and restoration of laboring, working, and middle class incomes, but at the same time, preserving the rules based world order of free trade, respected borders, and natural (human) rights, tehreby directing all state energies to domeistic improvement rather than foreign aggression.
We are doing the right thing.
The fact that It takes this particular philosopher and social scientist to explain such a thing is the only thing that bothers me – the politicians for some reason think americans are too stupid to grasp this rather simple argument.
Reply addressees: @SoulSentinel89 @fucktheNSA1979
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 20:34:12 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650236651824721927
Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650233259660328961
GREAT QUESTION
(counter intuitive answer)
a) Our ‘care of our own’ requires preserving the advantages that we’ve spent since 1945 creating, ending the age of empires and monopoly trade routes and massive wars, by converting to nation states, federations, and free trade routes, limiting the scale of wars.
b) to accomplish this feat we ‘burned down’ the advantages of our laboring, working, and middle classes by bribing countries into free trade, and weaponized our upper middle and upper classes through financialization to pay for it, and using the military to insure it worldwide (largely because economics = petroleum(energy) per capita).
c) Since Trump’s election we have been (he has been) trying to force the developed world to share the burden of the cost of policing the world.
d) But we didn’t expect china or russia or iran to double down on imperialism. But they saw the opportunity to preserve their authoritarianism and privilege as we gradually withdrew. In other words, we were too optimistic about the ‘lagging civilizations’.
e) So the only way to prevent a restoration of empires and world wars, and poverty that results, we are trying to wear out the last breath of these wanna-be empires.
f) Israel and Ukraine (somewhat like South Korea and Japan) are extremely cheap means of preventing these empires, exhausting them, until the natural weight of their political failures causes (what we hope is) the transformation to nation states and federations that equally value the extraordinary value of free trade, and the end of and prohibition on empires that destroy the returns on that free trade.
So to summarize, no, there is no better cheaper way with fewer deaths, than repatriation of production and restoration of laboring, working, and middle class incomes, but at the same time, preserving the rules based world order of free trade, respected borders, and natural (human) rights, tehreby directing all state energies to domeistic improvement rather than foreign aggression.
We are doing the right thing.
The fact that It takes this particular philosopher and social scientist to explain such a thing is the only thing that bothers me – the politicians for some reason think americans are too stupid to grasp this rather simple argument.
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 20:34:12 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650236652013453312
Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650233259660328961
RT @DecodingTrolls: @Gerashchenko_en It is hardly surprising that our unevenly distributed future would evolve in eastern Ukraine. Out of t…
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 18:45:31 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650209299967139843
Nonsense view.
This proxy war is the cheapest way of defeating one of the three remaining empires that poses a risk to western civ and our transformation from empires and monopoly trade routes to nation states and federations with open trade. Just as Israel was the cheapest way…
Source date (UTC): 2023-04-23 18:02:46 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650198543251001344
Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1650197587889369090