Interestingly, the quantification of culture seems to support this view. People in developed countries tend to be more individualistic than those in less developed countries. WEIRD [Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic] people also tend to be more skeptical of autocracy and more receptive to norm-shirking behavior (behavior that economists would call ‘innovation’). This evidence seems to support the narrative (cherished by economists) that economic development is a product of the free market.
A paradox
Although WEIRD psychology fits well with the free-market narrative, it’s not clear that this narrative is actually true. In fact, there’s good evidence that economic development involves not the spread of the market, but rather, its death.
Industrialization is associated with the growth of large institutions — big firms and big governments. (See Energy and Institution Size for a review of the evidence.) Look within these big institutions and you won’t find a free market. Instead, you’ll find a chain of command that concentrates power at the top. In an important sense, then, economic development involves not the spread of the free market, but the growth of hierarchy [entailing market power resulting in monopoly and monopsony]. (For details, see Economic Development and the Death of the Free Market.)
If industrialization involves the growth of hierarchy, we’re left with a paradox. Developed countries are both more hierarchical and more individualistic than their less-developed counterparts. How can this be true?
I explore here an interesting possibility. What if individualism does the opposite of what we think? Rather than promote autonomy, might individualism actually stoke the accumulation of power? This idea sounds odd at first. But I hope to convince you that it’s plausible.
Hierarchical organization implies social stratification and class structure, and asymmetric power and distribution.
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ReplyDeleteIndividualism (i.e sink or swim), is prevalent everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIndividualism (i.e. freedom to be yourself), is a cultural phenomena.
Hierarchy and power-seeking are behavioral.
ReplyDeleteIs is weird -
ReplyDeleteLiberals are very collective and yet stand up for the individual (LGBT, minority rights), and conservativess are very individualistic (I'm alright Jack, there is no society) but demand conformity and subservience to the state.
It’s division not individualism that they are seeing...
ReplyDeleteThey are confusing individualism with division/discrimination....
The scripture is “a house divided AGAINST ITSELF cannot stand”... it’s not “a house divided”... it’s a house divided AGAINST ITSELF...
You need a proper division of responsibility/labor to properly run a household in the figurative language of the scripture here..,
It’s the ‘against itself’ part that fucks it up...
The division/discrimination is necessary for success: “ 51 Are you supposing that I came along to give peace to the earth? No, I am saying to you, but rather division,”. Luke 12:51
You Platonist synthesizers are always trying to bring people together at all costs... even if the people are WRONG..,.
Fuck the people who are wrong... discard them....
That’s the way it works..,
How about technology (the mechanization of farming) pushing people off the land after 400 years of primarily non-monetary serfdom and the move to towns and cities resulted in more technology innovation the products and services of which had to be sold through a monetary economy.
ReplyDeleteHere this is what qualified people train in when they get a BS in management:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_breakdown_structure
“ WBS is a hierarchical and incremental decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables and work packages. It is a tree structure, which shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an objective; for example a program, project, and contract.[4] In a project or contract, the WBS is developed by starting with the end objective and successively subdividing it into manageable components in terms of size, duration, and responsibility (e.g., systems, subsystems, components, tasks, subtasks, and work packages) which include all steps necessary to achieve the objective.”
If you study finger painting like you uneducated liberal art guys this all seems spooky and hard to understand what is going on...
Maybe go get a real education....
“ No, I am saying to you, but rather division,”. Luke 12:51
Division works... what you guys are trained to do just fucks everything up...
“ 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;”. Ephesians 4:11
ReplyDeleteThis is DIVISION of function.... not you Platonist asshole’s synthesis...
“ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,” Rom 12:4
Textbook management 101...
How hard do you uneducated morons have to make this?
Paradox is only a product of a Platonist synthesis ... that always includes parts of BOTH the thesis and anti-thesis...
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination never results in paradox...,
Get an education...,
"but demand conformity and subservience to the state."
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case why are you demanding lockdowns and conformity to standards?
I can't believe there is anybody on the modern progressive left who can say with a straight face they are defending individualism while demanding everybody does as they say, talks the way they say and only talks about things that are not "taboo".
They need to watch the "We are all individuals" sketch from the Life of Brian until they realise what the joke is actually telling them.