Friday, September 16, 2011

Does evil "cancel out" in big groups?

I think a big myth that underlies the flawed reasoning of statists, when trying to justify their desire for a State, is that stupidity, evil, and poor character cancel out in big groups. Kind of like multiplying two negative numbers gives a positive result.

I think that is not the case at all. This gem from Larken Rose illustrates that point quite well.

I think The State attracts the worst of the worst- but mostly those who are smart enough to do things "legally" instead of freelance. Plus, on the chance a decent person is attracted to become a part of The State, and succeeds, I think the inherent corruption he finds himself swimming in corrupts him sooner, rather than later. Even if a hypothetical "good politician" existed, he would be too outnumbered to have any real effect. (Still, if you are a good person who feels a need to be political, I think it is better to run for office than to vote.)

I think a "good group" with one bad person is more likely to do evil, and a "bad group" with one good person in it will not do less evil because of the one good person's influence. It's that old "compromise between food and poison" thing Ayn Rand mentioned.

The State is evil because of the types of people who are drawn to power, and the results of The State will always be evil. Even if decent people were the vast majority in government (just as they are in everyday life), mistakes and bad decisions compound problems until evil is the result.

You don't need The State. Grow up.


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5 comments:

  1. Hi Kent,

    Good point and good Larken Rose link. Thanks.

    Dave

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  2. "I think the inherent corruption he finds himself swimming in corrupts him sooner, rather than later."

    If you treat an honourless dog honourably all you do is make yourself a victim. The program 'Tit for Tat' was the best at surviving a repeated-prisoner's-dilemma environment...but behaves indistinguishably from a pure deviator unless they can build an enclave of like-minded programs.

    Even the most noble human behaves like despicable scum when surrounded by despicable scum.

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  3. Even the most noble human behaves like despicable scum when surrounded by despicable scum.

    Yep.

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  4. Ghandi, Luther, and MLK come immediately to mind.

    -sofa

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