[ExI] retrainability of plebeians

[Lee Corbin]

Stathis wrote:

> 2009/5/2 Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com>:
> 
>> Same with GI - the problem is in feeding the parasites and punishing
>> workers over long time. At first just a few parasites, and not
>> punishing much but as parasites breed, they vote for more money, so
>> the burden on workers is higher, so there are fewer workers and more
>> parasites, and the positive feedback effects feed on each other, until
>> something breaks.
> 
> Something breaks when, after a few years of this, the population
> realises they are becoming increasingly worse off relative to those
> countries that have better economic systems. So in the end every
> country in the world should converge towards low taxes and low
> government spending, if that does indeed lead to better outcomes.

Peoples' belief systems play too strong a role
for this to happen as expeditiously as we'd like,
or rather, as you are implying would be the case.

For example, any German who looks into it becomes
well aware of the differences between the American
economy and his own. Everyone knows about the
differences in productivity and unemployment.

Yet, typically, a non-libertarian German will just
retort that "American conditions" are too high a
price to pay for a better economic situation. Most
want to keep their job security and social welfare
safety net measures, and so on.

So---if you are right, and the allure of greater
economic prosperity in the end always dominates
---one might envision a completely fanciful
development one hundred years from now in which
(somehow) everything else has remained the same,
but the U.S. economy has grown at a rate one or
two percent higher than the German economy.

But you may be wrong: even though in this scenario,
vast, vast differences would be all too obvious,
there is no guarantee that the economically superior
system would be admired by all.

Lee