tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post819258547646511079..comments2024-03-19T08:42:45.690-04:00Comments on The Delaware Libertarian: Does society exist?Steven H. Newtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09097470960863103473noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post-72722937651749752262009-06-21T15:14:32.637-04:002009-06-21T15:14:32.637-04:00You frickin' rock, Steve.
Collective will is ...You frickin' rock, Steve.<br /><br />Collective will is longhand for totalitarianism.Tyler Nixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03009459340275592274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post-80846709087856658032009-06-20T20:12:56.574-04:002009-06-20T20:12:56.574-04:00Dana
To answer your questions
1. Societies exist ...Dana<br />To answer your questions<br /><br />1. Societies exist in any meaningful sense of the term?<br /><br />Societies exist; my point is that the metaphorical sense in which a society is "making decisions" for the NYT author is a chimera.<br /><br />2. The notion of societal choice is meaningless (which is not answered by simply saying be careful when people use this language?<br /><br />Societal choice exists in the same sense that evolutionary choice exists, not in the sense that decisions made by elected or un-elected leaders are.<br /><br />3. If the notion of the common good is meaningless.<br /><br />The notion of a common good is not meaningless; the devil is always in the details: who decides what is the common good, and who decides which members of society will sacrifice for it?<br /><br />4. If the notion of a collective will is meaningless.<br /><br />Collective will is exactly that: a notion. What we mistake for collective will is far too often what each of us personally wants to impose, the results of a poll, or the results of an election.<br /><br />Collective will as a concept scares me because it is inherently less honest than the idea of majority rule.<br /><br />I just got back from a 12-hour hegira for my daughter's soccer tournament, so if these sentences do not make sense I will check them again tomorrow. :)<br /><br />But my intent is to answer you without equivocationSteven H. Newtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09097470960863103473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post-52445605958259682322009-06-20T14:10:40.395-04:002009-06-20T14:10:40.395-04:00I'm still not clear if for you, Steve:
1. Soc...I'm still not clear if for you, Steve:<br /><br />1. Societies exist in any meaningful sense of the term.<br /><br />2. The notion of societal choice is meaningless (which is not answered by simply saying be careful when people use this language.<br /><br />3. If the notion of the common good is meaningless.<br /><br />4. If the notion of a collective will is meaningless.<br /><br />We can ask these questions about the meaningfulness of these terms even though we dispense w/ the spectral silliness that there is some abstract entity to which they refer. So the question is are these terms meaningful in any sense according to you?Delaware Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619357338844485803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post-80956940811823543242009-06-20T06:09:35.357-04:002009-06-20T06:09:35.357-04:00Most of the statements using "society" t...Most of the statements using "society" tend to be collectivist arguments, which limit individual freedom. One of Leonhardt's lines in the NYT article "The choice isn’t between rationing and not rationing. It’s between rationing well and rationing badly." is really disturbing. It promotes more government control over health care, which will ultimately be less freedom of choices for the individual.Bradnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893272060787897238.post-59108939345349490072009-06-19T23:47:43.291-04:002009-06-19T23:47:43.291-04:00I agree that "society" is usually a code...I agree that "society" is usually a code word for "small cadre of politically-connected elites," but society most definitely does make choices. These choices are made through countless individual decisions, but they nonetheless amount to a societal choice. If 100,000 people choose to buy a certain type of car, the maker will step up production, prices will come down, their presence on the road will act as free advertising, and so on, so that future consumers will be more likely to make the same choice. Likewise, cities form along rivers when massive numbers of people all decide to make the same choice. And if the government ceased to exist tomorrow, people would no doubt still reach a consensus on which side of the road to drive on.<br /><br />Call it stigmergic decision making. Society does exist, but those who claim to speak for society are in fact doing the opposite, by directly acting against its capacity for self-organization and self-regulation.Mikonoreply@blogger.com