[MD] Dynamic Development at all costs?

[Platt Holden]

Hi Magnus, 

> pholden at davtv.com wrote:
> > Believing that the free market social pattern is better than the socialist
> > social pattern has nothing to do with intellectual values that I can see.
> > One need only cite the intellectual vitality of the U.S. vs. socialist
> > countries to squash the idea that free markets "decapitate" intellectual
> > values.
> 
> The free market per se *does* decapitate intellectual value because of its
> sole goal of generating more money. Any intellectual "vitality" is merely a
> bi-effect or promoted by other parts of the society, such as the government.

I demur. (I like that phrase.) The sole goal of the free market is to provide
goods  and services that people under conditions of free choice will find 
of value.

> > That "communist societies we've seen on earth need some work" has to be
> > the understatement of century. But, I welcome your devil advocate role. It
> > gives me a chance to extol the virtues of individual freedom. 
> 
> But that only takes you back to where we started.
> 
> With "individual freedom", you mean the freedom of the 4 level person,
> right? And that sounds all moral and nice.
> 
> But when you use that "freedom" to advocate a loosely tied society, 
> you're actually promoting a return to a non-society.

A society will always occur even if no larger than a family. Further, a 
human society is needed to prevent biological forces from destroying the 
fabric of human survival. 

> And this is possible because humans shows the rather peculiar aspect of the
> MoQ, that not just biological things can be a part of a society, but also
> intellectual beings. So, we have 4-level intellectual persons getting
> together to form societies for some reason, and that reason can hardly be to
> just throw that away and grow apart again, which you seem to be promoting.

I'm promoting individual freedom within a social structure that keeps 
biological forces of destruction at bay. Incidentally, Pirsig reserves 
"society" as he uses the term to human society.

Platt