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Pink Martini - Sway
May. 29th, 2016 07:43 pmOne of the original versions
A cover by The Pussycat Dolls
May. 29th, 2016
One of the original versions
A cover by The Pussycat Dolls
(no subject)
May. 29th, 2016 08:24 pmSociety has to be considered with its more or less complete value system, i.e. citizens' "inalienable rights" and mechanisms/institutions for their enforcement and/or protection from the government and market forces.
Historically, rights considered to be inalienable in the US, Europe, and Russia/USSR differ significantly. Unfortunately for Russia, she ended up with a bad combination of her traditional authoritarianism and european Marxism.
...the domain of rights is full of infringements on the calculus of economic efficiency. Our rights can be viewed as inefficient, because they preclude prices that would promote economizing, choices that would invoke comparative advantage, incentives that would augment socially productive effort, and trades that potentially would benefit buyer and seller alike.
...
The imperialism of the market’s valuation accounts for its contribution, and for its threat to other institutions. It can destroy every other value in sight. If votes were traded at the same price as toasters, they would be worth no more than toasters and would lose their social significance. Society refuses to turn itself into a giant vending machine that delivers anything and everything in return for the proper number of coins.
-- Okun, Arthur M.. A Brookings Classic : Equality and Efficiency. Washington, US: Brookings Institution Press, 2015.
Historically, rights considered to be inalienable in the US, Europe, and Russia/USSR differ significantly. Unfortunately for Russia, she ended up with a bad combination of her traditional authoritarianism and european Marxism.