From: gorney@picard.med.ge.com (Felix Gorney Mfg 4-6983)
Subject: Socialism/Liberalism
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Magnetic Resonance
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 12:51:15 GMT

I haave often been dismayed by the self righteousness of socialists,
and liberals. They have a holier-than-thou attitude because many
people who call themselves scientists have wonderfull theories as
to how to structure a less chaotic, and more compassionate society.

If these theories are based on a false premise, then all of the 
theorizing involved leads to a false conclusion. 

Marx based his opinions of capitalism on something that was actually
quite a different animal indeed. In "The other Path" by Hernando
DeSoto discusses mercantilism. This is a system where the means of 
production are tightly controlled, by none other than the Burgoise.
If the king or the aristocracy determine who will be allowed to 
produce a given product, and at what price theuy may sell it ,
then we obviously don't have free enterprise here. Unfortunately,
many governments, and socialist societies, simply replace regulation
by the aristocracy with equally stifling govt. regulation. This 
somehow gives the means of production to the people. As we have seen
these systems never work, even after untold pain, and suffering,
and even after millions have died in the attempt to create a true
socialist system. 

These socialist theories seem to subscribe to the notion that a
society can be created, and regulated just like any machine. The
theories of thermodynamics, and statistics are great for building
machines, and bridges, but they cannot devise or control a human
society. Much like the weather, and nature, human society consists
of many STRONGLY interconnected parts. As Sadi Carnot discovered,
statistical analysis breaks down in systems where the elements
have more than a weak interaction with one another. 

This leads me to an article in the Jan issue of Scientific American.
"Adapting to Complexity". Much of the research is being done at the 
Santa Fe Institute. I have no doubt that many social(ist) 
scientists will try to find ways to make the theories of chaos,
antichaos, complexity, and self organized criticality fit their 
socialist mold. However, I hope that the folly of the socialists/
liberals , and their theories may one day be relegated to the 
anals of social alchemy. 

In any complex system, each of the elements must be able to change
their response to given sets of inputs. If a system is on the verge
of chaos (where these systems seem most efficient) I fail to see how
any economist can accurately predict it's behavior, especiallly with
250 million elements. It is noted that a chaotic system will organize
itself if each of the elements react to only 2 or 3 inputs. 

There is no centralized plan in New York city, yet millions of people
are fed every day, even when hundreds of companies are doing the 
work, with nary a few days inventory. Supply, and demand do the work.

Companies, and/or consumers become the elements in these complex 
systems. The outputs of one element leads to the inputs of many 
others. The resulting feedback mechanisms become highly complicated,
and one researcher states that they can only be studied in 
computer simulations. 

With these feedback mechanisms, a complex system bordering on the 
edge of chaos, and order can itself make decisions it would take 
an econmist years to formulate. 

I have to wonder if this isn't the "Invisible hand" Adam Smith 
wrote about. Also, how can anyone think that a few peole can  
devise an entire econmy without such feedback systems?

Finally, after millions have suffered, and died in the name of 
a more orderly society, science may be on the verge of showing that
a little chaos is necessary for a strongly interacting society. 
Businesses, and countries can cooperate with one another, and 
at the same time be at odds in strong competition. 

Wealth can only be created by free enterprise. Wealth cannot 
even be redistributed by govt. as it is destroyed in the process. 
The problems we have in this country do not stem from too little
govt. created stability, but rather from too much govt. created
instability. 

Felix Gorney

gorney@picard.med.ge.com

 
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