Posted on 09/05/2002 7:57:39 AM PDT by hedgetrimmer
Twice now I have heard that communism failed because those tasked to run things had "imperfect knowledge". For example, the head of a hungarian shoe factory when it was a communist country, would make only one size of shoe all year. If you did not wear size 11, for example, you would have to buy a shoe that didn't fit or go shoeless.This has been explained to me by (by a local communist) as a failure due to imperfect knowledge. He claims, now we have perfect knowledge and if we try communism again we will have a perfect, sustainable system to live under.
I am flabbergasted anyone can claim perfect knowledge of anything, and very much afraid when people like this fellow, with some influence over our county government says he has perfect knowledge with a straight face!
I did a short search and came up with a quote from George Soros. What I am looking for is, what is "perfect knowledge" exactly, where did it come from and why are people acting like this is something that will be acheived in America soon?
Please note that open society does not preclude the pursuit of self-interest; on the contrary, in the absence of perfect knowledge, it is best left to the individual to define what his interests are and it is best left to the market mechanism to reconcile those interests. But, in the absence of perfect knowledge, it cannot be left to the individual to protect the common interest. You need institutions which take precedence over the individual. These institutions are bound to be flawed but, if they belong to an open society, this fact will be recognized in their constitution and there will be a never-ending endeavor to correct the deficiencies. That is what makes open society such a subtle and sophisticated concept.
http://www.soros.org/textfiles/speeches/063095_Crans_Montana_Speech.
When a world-wide super computer is wired into everyones brains, "Perfect Knowledge" will have been achieved and Communism may work. I hope to never live in that world.
In the mean time, all I gotta do is ask the bar tender for what I want, and BINGO! I gotta Bud.
Communism's use of "perfect knowledge" to plan everything is just an inefficient effort at eliminating my efficient judgment.
Ludwig von Mises demolished the "perfect knowledge" conceit in his book Socialism. That was 1922. It would be nice if we could move on to some other rationalization for economic lunacy, after a mere eighty years. Sigh.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
For all intents and purposes, the commissar's knowledge was "perfect" as well: he knew he wanted size 11 shoes, and it was illegal to counteract his decisions. (For now let's assume the commissar is honest and intelligent.)
The commissar probably had a size 9 shoe factory out there someplace, too, so theoretically the shoe needs would have been satisfied by the set of factories.
The real problem has to do with allowable responses to imperfect knowledge. For example, the commissar may not have knowm of the corrupt factory manager over at Size 9. Nor, perhaps, of the flood that disrupted the transport of size 6 shoes from the factory to the distribution points.
Given the freedom to respond, the Size 11 plant could have covered the size 9 shortfall. But the system didn't allow it.
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