Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19970601061737.00b00600@aloha.net> Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 06:17:37 -1000 From: "Jay Hanson mailto:mailto:j@qmail.com" <j@QMAIL.COM> Subject: Re: average American's perception of the US role in the 1st To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
At 11:18 PM 5/31/97 -0400,Steve Eskow wrote:>If enough people in Hawaii had wanted to organize to stop the spread of
>tourism they could have do, Jay.
They can't for at least five reasons (two of which you mentioned).
#1 Your point about bribes. In a private money based political system, those who are not influenced by money, don't get elected.
#2. Your point about corporate propaganda. No culture has been able to withstand seductive corporate images. Ultimately, the mass media defines the values of its viewers.
"It is not necessary to construct a theory of intentional cultural control. In truth, the strength of the control process rests in its apparent absence. The desired systemic result is achieved ordinarily by a loose though effective institutional process. It utilizes the education of journalists and other media professionals, built-in penalties and rewards for doing what is expected, norms presented as objective rules, and the occasional but telling direct intrusion from above. The main lever is the internalization of values." [P. 8, Herbert I. Schiller, CULTURE INC; Oxford, 1989. ISBN 0-19-50678 ]
#3. Hawaii is a state -- not a country. We can't restrict immigration or create jobs for residents only. Thus, we create jobs by tearing-up the landscape that go to immigrants. It's a treadmill that will only stop when Hawaii is no longer attractive -- at which time we have unemployment numbers many times higher than we do now (many, many more people).
#4. In system dynamics, there is something called the "attractiveness principle" that states an "attractive" community will attract people until it is no longer attractive. The only solution is to keep people from moving in (which we can't do).
Basically "development" means exchanging problems that can be solved (such as infrastructure) for those that can't be solved (such as crime). [ See: http://csf.colorado.edu/authors/hanson/page23.htm ]
#5. A "nice place to live" is a public good. Civic-minded citizens (volunteers) will not supply public goods. For those who do not have an economics background, here is an abridged version of "public goods": ------------- "Public goods" are goods and services that can be shared by a whole group of people. Some examples of public goods are national defense, police protection, government, and environmental services.
As a rule, government must provide public goods for two reasons:
A. Private investors won't supply public goods because they can't make a profit on them.
B. Voluntary efforts won't supply public goods because the voluntary contribution of any one person exceeds the services received by that person. For example, suppose the cost of national defense to each taxpayer is worth the services each taxpayer receives. But if the entire cost were spread out evenly among only those who will voluntarily pay, then the individual cost will exceed the individual services. Thus, only government can supply a national defense through its taxing powers.
This same principle applies to voluntary efforts at cleaning roads, parks, and so on. Voluntary efforts will ultimately fail because those who don't contribute (called "free riders") can use the services anyway. So there is little incentive for volunteers to contribute over the long term. Ultimately, they will "burn out".
"Private goods" are restricted goods. A couple of examples of private goods are gated communities and toll roads (only those who pay can enjoy the services).
American's political system is based on private money: whoever can raise the most money usually wins. Our private money political system naturally exhibits a strong bias towards private goods -- and private profits.
The bias towards private goods leads to less public infrastructure and more private infrastructure (e.g., private police, gated communities, etc.). Unfortunately, this leads to a two-class society: one with private infrastructure and one with no infrastructure; and ultimately, these will lead to the disintegration of the state. -------------
Jay -- http://dieoff.org ------------------------------------------- Pluto (pluoo-toe) noun 1. Roman Mythology. The god of the dead and the ruler of the underworld.
2. American politics. The family of corporations that bought America's political system.