
Who Really Rules? - twampss
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whoreallyrules
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michaelkeenan
Aaron describes the problem of governments being controlled by special
interests (in this case, a group of local businessmen). That is indeed a
serious problem - a problem with how politics works at the moment. I'd like to
see some proposed solutions. Libertarians would suggest that reducing the
scope and power of the government would help, because a shadowy cabal won't be
interested in capturing government power if there's little power to capture.
But that seems to be a uniquely libertarian point of view. Recently, Aaron
proposed that activists become politicians and attempt to win elections. Is
that a practical, sustainable, and/or complete solution?

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cousin_it
Aren't "activists" also a case of special interests trying to control
government? Your comment uses unwritten assumptions that I'd like to be made
explicit. :-)

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michaelkeenan
Actually I agree with you; I hold the libertarian view I described, and
replacing shadowy cabals with left-wing activists is not my idea of an ideal
solution. But I know that some people hold the view that those who are elected
have legitimate power (as opposed to any unelected group). I wanted to know
whether anyone would argue that "more democracy" is the solution to the
problem of special interest groups having undue political influence.

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olefoo
Except that the libertarian vision just means that there is no formal
negotiation tool that the diverse special interests can use to settle their
differences and arrive at a _modus vivendi_. All that is left is money, power
or naked violence; and the vast majority of people have little money, almost
no power and are unwilling to risk violence. So the 'libertarian' vision
results in less freedom for most people.

To use a metaphor from physics, the libertarian ideal is not a stable
equilibrium, it isn't even on the path of a stable cycle. It's trying to
balance a pencil on the pointed end.

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dantheman
Wrong, there can be a lot accomplished without money through voluntary
collaboration. In fact that is the essence of libertarianism. Respect that
others may disagree with you, and that you have no right to point a gun at
their head to make them obey you.

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olefoo
I have no interest in compelling others to do more than leave me alone; the
fact that this is not universally true means that I must either be prepared to
meet violence with violence, or delegate the job to others.

As I said libertopia is not a stable equilibrium. It collapses into violence
and warlordism if there is even one defector.

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ajju
Very interesting. I have discovered an incredible number of interesting books
on social sciences that have changed my beliefs about very fundamental issues
through Aaron. Punished by Rewards was one. I am just beginning to read
"Explaning Social Behavior" and this one will probably be next.

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DanielBMarkham
For those wanting the short version: powerful businessmen really rule the
government.

<<Sigh>>

