[MD] Are we the people stupid?

[Michael Hamilton]

On 4/21/06, Platt Holden <pholden at davtv.com> wrote:
> Mike:
>
> > A low view of human nature is not exclusively a leftist
> > characteristic, as Platt would like to make out for his partisan
> > purposes. Thomas Hobbes, one of the most prominent conservative
> > philosophers, held a very low view of human nature.
>
> I doubt if Hobbes influences today's conservatives. His
> view that humans are mere mechanisms lacking spirt is more a leftist
> view, as was his idea that a single monarch (dictator) should rule.

Hobbes is outdated - on that we can agree. I've no idea who these
monarchist leftists are, though.

> > A measure of
> > suspicion of human nature also underpins capitalism, which is
> > considered valuable because it gives 'layabouts' an incentive to work,
> > when they could otherwise leech from the welfare state.
>
> Capitalism is considered valuable because "A free market is a Dynamic
> institution." (Lila, 17)

In words that would make sense to someone unfamiliar with Pirsig....?

> > On the other
> > hand, communism is often held to be based on a view of human nature that
> > is 'too idealistic'. This may be true at the present time, and it may
> > explain why large-scale communist experiments such as the Soviet Union
> > have so far tended to descend into brutal dictatorship.
>
> When you say "This may be true at the present time" do you mean that in
> the future communism will become the favored political and economic
> system?

I mean that, at the present time, a functioning society requires
incentives, preferably the carrot provided by capitalism. In the
absence of this carrot, the stick of coercion becomes necessary.
Communism becomes feasible in a society in which people are
self-motivated - motivated to contribute without being pressured by
the need to earn money, or to avoid a stick-beating. At the present
time, this is a pipe-dream. So, I would argue that totalitarianism is
based out an outdated and degrading view of human nature (see Hobbes),
capitalism is based on a realistic view of human nature, and communism
is based on an idealised view of human nature.

Regards,
Mike