Tuesday
The fine folks on The Line is Here (subtext: an anti-nanny state collective) have started something called the Picador Project which may be of interest to our USA based readers.
The Picador Project was started in order to combat what many of us see as a root problem underlying the pernicious rise of the nanny-state mentality in our society. Namely, that too many people believe they are entitled to gifts from the government, coupled with a government all too willing to hand those gifts over in return for a few basic human freedoms and a monopoly on “truth.” This sort of trouble being a perennial consequence of basic human nature, utopian schemes of running off and starting over are never the ultimate solution. Thus, if we want to preserve our way of life, we have to face these troubles here at home and conquer them.
Check it out.
his sort of trouble being a perennial consequence of basic human nature,
I wonder if that is a flawed assumption. Look at these graphs and the accompanying article. To me they imply a fundamental change of state occurring in the early 20th century, not a consistent process throughout history, as the article addresses.
To use an historical analogy; if you drew a graph of state spending on religion by the Roman Empire, you'd find (probably, I haven't done this, heh) a constant low figure until the reign of Constantine, wherein and whereafter it would ramp up and up. That would not be an indicator that all societies will spend increasing sums on state religion; it was due to a particular historical event.
Posted by Ian B at March 5, 2008 01:02 AM
There was some increase in spending on religion by Constantine - but it was mostly "just" a matter of looting the other religions of their gold, land (and so on) to give to the Christian Church. Not everything was stolen - but a lot was.
There was tax subidy on top of this - but not a big percentage of total government spending.
As for modern times.....
Two big things.
19th century - the growth of state edcuation.
Before then it was rare, by 1900 it was almost univeral.
Not much as a percentage of the economy - but it seems to have set a precident for everything else.
If eduction is too important to be left to people themselves, then why not old age provision, health care, unemployment provision, housing subsidies, and ..........
Even in the Roman Empire "bread and games" was something for the people in Rome itself and a few other cities - not the vast majority of the population who lived in the country.
The idea that the government could provide virtually everthing for virtually everybody would have struck even the worst Roman Emperors as crack brained.
Human nature may desire such things - but humans have normally NOT been given them.
On the other hand.
Although city folk have traditionally demanded "cheap food" at the expense of the rural majority - the cities of Europe demanded government action to provide cheap bread and the men with guns were duely sent out as late as the 18th century.
Britain was an exception - here the landed gentry (who controlled Parliament) were not afraid of the urban mob.
Interesting that it was the profits from domestic farming (not slavery as the school text bood teach) that actually provided the capital for investment in the British industrial revolution of the 1700's.
Posted by Paul Marks at March 5, 2008 08:50 PM
Before someone mentions it:
Yes I know that farmers have often demanded and many times got restrictions on imports - in order to try and keep up prices.
Indeed in the 20th century farmers have even accepted direct subsidies (i.e. welfare) from the government.
This would have astonished Aristotle who taught that a state dominated by farmers is the only form of democracy not likely to degenerate into mob rule - indeed he did not even use the word "democracy" for a state dominated by the rural majority, reserving the word for a state under mob rule.
The Romans looked back fondly to times when the "rural tribes" (or colleges) had really been made up of citizen farmers - not dominated by the same mob that made up the "urban tribes" in the voting system of the Republic (small scale farming near Rome having been undermined, although not destroyed, by the slave labour system - the evil fruit of Rome's victories in war).
Since the New Deal many farmers have turned into welfare junkies dependent on money from the taxpayers - but New Zealand shows that the process is reversable.
Let us hope it is also reverseable for old age provision, health care, and......... and yes education - where the rot started.
Posted by Paul Marks at March 5, 2008 09:10 PM
Paul:
The idea that the government could provide virtually everthing for virtually everybody would have struck even the worst Roman Emperors as crack brained.
Human nature may desire such things - but humans have normally NOT been given them. Maybe it's because the Emperors simply couldn't afford it, as there was no such prosperity as we enjoy today, and that was made possible by the advances in technology.
Posted by Alisa at March 6, 2008 06:19 AM
OK, tags botched - second try:
The idea that the government could provide virtually everthing for virtually everybody would have struck even the worst Roman Emperors as crack brained.
Human nature may desire such things - but humans have normally NOT been given them.Maybe it's because the Emperors simply couldn't afford it, as there was no such prosperity as we enjoy today, and that was made possible by the advances in technology.
Posted by Alisa at March 6, 2008 06:42 AM
