Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Latest from Greece
A late report from Greece:
Whoopsie! I lied! This is from March 1947, on NBC's Story Behind the Headlines.
We wouldn't be surprised by this if we weren't stupefied by the false Marxist view of humans as Identical and Changeable. We assume all humans are simple passive linear mechanisms like grains of sand. People have no distinct or lasting characteristics; all of us simply respond in the same way to changing external forces. If you want to change behavior, you change the external forces.
None of that is true. In fact humans are Different and Constant. When you truly understand how one person works, or how one culture works, you can predict its unique behavior in broad strokes over a very long period. Details and fashions may change [IF the permanent characteristics of this person or culture include a willingness to change details and fashions!], but basic responses don't. ¶ 3:49 AM
Well, what about Greece? Internal violence, excesses on the Left and persecution on the Right. Even a freely accepted and efficient government could not restore order without massive outside help, but successive Greek governments have been inept, inefficient and corrupt. The civil service has been purged of all non-partisan competent bureaucrats; this is one reason why tax collections have been slow, and few people buy government bonds. Inflation is rife and black markets rampant. So, to the other Europeans, it must have seemed that they were pouring money into a bottomless trough. Our government sent a small payment to Greece with a warning that they must put their financial house in order if they wanted more. A United Nations commission was sent to Greece and is stuck in an endless chain of testimony. Half-hearted attempts to restore a functional government have led to a coalition led by an ex-banker.
Whoopsie! I lied! This is from March 1947, on NBC's Story Behind the Headlines.
We wouldn't be surprised by this if we weren't stupefied by the false Marxist view of humans as Identical and Changeable. We assume all humans are simple passive linear mechanisms like grains of sand. People have no distinct or lasting characteristics; all of us simply respond in the same way to changing external forces. If you want to change behavior, you change the external forces.
None of that is true. In fact humans are Different and Constant. When you truly understand how one person works, or how one culture works, you can predict its unique behavior in broad strokes over a very long period. Details and fashions may change [IF the permanent characteristics of this person or culture include a willingness to change details and fashions!], but basic responses don't. ¶ 3:49 AM
