From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Fri Jun 16 2000 - 12:30:15 MDT
From: Max More <max@maxmore.com>
>Poverty has multiple causes, not all of which will automatically
>be eradicated by free markets. But governments usually make things
>worse. The welfare system (especially in Europe) has perpetuated
>poverty by subidizing it. State schooling which stifles
>competition for good education works especially badly in poor
>neighborhoods. There's a clear correlation between degree of
>education and income (though it's not perfect). Putting some
>competition into the (pre-university school system would immensely
>help the least well off gain real skills that can help them in
>life. It would also make my part-time college teaching more fun.
>I'm frustrated that in philosophy classes I have to first explain
>factual basics (whether in physics, biology, or finance) before I
>can even tackle the philosophical issues. The United States still
>has a rigid industrial style of education in an information
>economy.
I agree that free markets are not an automatic cure for poverty,
which as Max has pointed out has multiple causes. The effectiveness
of the government being an important one. But I believe free
markets supported by a democratic/republic are the best way of
getting there.
I also agree that our education system isn't what it should be,
which has lead to my interest in hyperlearning systems.
I just had an interesting idea for your class Max. You were
mentioning how your students lacked many of the fundamentals, what
if you gave an initial test of some of the basics that a potential
student would have to pass in order to take your class?
Probably a political nightmare for the school, but it would make an
interesting point.
>In the "Third World" (an increasingly outdated term), the state is
>usually pervasive, or else fails in the job it has taken on of
>enforcing the rule of law, thereby making markets ineffective, and
>making it hard to get out of poverty--unless you can become one of
>the rulers.
Agree completely.
>Free markets are not the whole answer. Some unfortunate people do
>poorly because of psychological disorders. Extropians of
>benevolent disposition look forward to a time when medicine has
>advanced to the point where Prozac and Zanax will look as
>primitive as ECT, and we can truly offer people the chance to
>function effectively.
Free markets populated by benevolent people who live below their
means would have sufficient resources to help those less fortunate.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
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