Posted on 07/09/2006 1:10:38 PM PDT by WOSG
What are the key principles that explain Mankind, Society and the Universe best? If you were to give a few general principles, easily stated, what would they be? I have been thinking of how to explain things simply to the next generation, ie my kids, and I have just been reading Bastiat's "The Law", a book that has clear and cogent thinking about how Government ought to work. Bastiat explained that Governments overstepped their bounds when they engaged in 'legalized plunder' which all forms of protectionism and socialism fall prey to, and that all errors in Governance flow from violation of the simple Law that Bastiat observed: "The law is the organization of the lawful right of self defense."
I would like to elaborate on what Bastiat did. In science, there are a few key examples of Laws that explain much: Laws of Gravity, "F=ma", The Hamiltonian, The 2nd law of thermodynamics, the conservation of matter and energy, Maxwell's Equations, quanutm mechanics and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
When it comes to mankind, economics, business, society, etc. there are a few principles that come to mind; they are often argued and they are what underly many ideological disagreements, since we don't all agree with the nature of man or what a 'just society' is.
Consider in terms of descriptive principles, not just prescriptive ones. For example "That Government is best which governs least" is a good maxim that prescribes good Government, but what principle observation lies underneath it? What in man's nature suggest the above maxim is a good one? First the nature of man:
1. People behave based on perceived best-interest. Corrolary: People respond to incentives
2. Power corrupts. (ie those who gain power often use it for illegitimate purposes).
3. All things of value require some effort to obtain.
4. All achievement is a result of concentration.
Consider these as possible principles that undergird a (American conservative) view of society:
1. There are moral absolutes and certainties. There is right, there is wrong, and there is a difference.
2. Real freedom requires responsibility that exists on the individual level.
3. There is wisdom in tradition. (eg Russel Kirk's formulation)
4. There are not rights without property rights.
5. "Law is organized justice" - Bastiat. ie, Justice comes through the enforcing of the laws.
6. A just Government would maximize freedom through the proection of 'life, liberty and property'.
Another way of looking at the societal organization principles might be something akin to this "Habits of Highly Successful Societies" which might be:
1. Rule of Law
2. Capitalism
3. Freedom
4. Strong families
5. Competition
6. (Christian) Faith & Morality
7. Universal Rights & concern for all
I am bookmarking this for later reading and response. FWIW, Bastiat is on my To Read list.
Guess Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You should be on the list, although that is in your #6.
From the 3-laws of thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win.
2) You cannot even break even.
3) You may not leave the game.
A wizened engineer taught me one rule of the workplace that seems to be universal (i.e., works outside the workplace):
In any group or organization of people working towards a common goal, there are really only a handful of people holding it all together.
At our business, it's the janitors...
There are clearly things that can't belong to anybody, yet society enables individuals to claim property of concepts they did not invent but only described in a certain scientific context as the first person.
I'll try to revisit this thread later and give a more thought out view of that.
"In any group or organization of people working towards a common goal, there are really only a handful of people holding it all together."
Pareto Principle - yes! 80% does 20% of the work, 20% does 80% of the work.
Reminds me of another law: Parkinson's Law -
Work expands to fill the time alloted to it.
And the Peter Principle:
People rise to their level of incompetence.
Those 3 explain the functionings of many bureaucracies.
You mention Self Defense in the beginning, but I didn't notice it in your lists anywhere, so I would recommend putting Liberty in you list beside Freedom even though, as I understand them, they are competing principles.
All rules have exceptions. (Except for this one.) ;^)
Everyone likes to win.
Corollary.
Nobody likes to lose.
That certainly applies to our Revolution.
It's well worth buying a paperback version, but you can read Bastiat's "The Law" on the web:
http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
Ping!! Great thread - continue to track.
My humble submission.
Naughtius' Law of Free Stuff:
No matter what liberals may tell you, in this Universe there's no such thing as Free Stuff. All stuff has to be paid for by somebody, sometime.
"Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You"
That would be a primary principle of morality, true.
The primary principle of morality is: That which exists has greater value than that which does not. Everything else logically follows.
> And the Peter Principle:
> People rise to their level of incompetence.
Although Clausewitz beat him to that ^^
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