David Gordon reviews How Nations Escape Poverty: Vietnam, Poland, and the Origins of Prosperity by Rainer Zitelmann
"After the Indochina War, Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world, but dramatic free-market reforms have made this formerly socialist country prosperous."
"They can do so only if wages rise, and this is achieved through economic growth. If the economy is growing, people will not see themselves as engaged in a struggle with others over a fixed sum of resources. A growing economy permits most people to gain without trying to take resources from others." Shows you that we dont have to fight each other for resources, we just need to be productive.
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Participatory politics gets people in the habit of just trying to loot their neighbors when they want something. Psychologically, it's a huge step backwards.
The problem is that pillaging your neighbors is immediately profitable, but long-term it's impoverishing. Embracing voluntary exchange is exactly the opposite (for certain segments of the populace).
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Growing the community is harder than stealing from the rich.
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Really stealing from your neighbors, while pretending to steal from the rich.
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Well, in general someone who has something you want.
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Yeah, but the rich usually know how to defend their stuff.
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36 sats \ 1 reply \ @Satosora 2 Oct
This can be true, it depends on if it is new wealth or old wealth.
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In a world full of preys and "predators", having stuffs of greater value in your possession, whether acquire through voluntary exchange or looting, you don't need anyone to teach you how neccessary it is to safeguard against the "predators."
Indeed.
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Indeed.
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Amen!🙏
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In general, looting is far more easier than producing.
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Very true.
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33 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 2 Oct
Conversely, this also explains why African countries, especially former french colonies, have become even poorer after gaining their independence.
The French independent journalist Yves Montenay hits the nail on the head in this article:
However, one mistake of French colonization was to have sent, as officials, technicians who were certainly devoted to the local populations but had an 'administrative' view of development, whereas the latter should preferably be driven by the private sector.
This 'administrative' view was shared by most of the French elites, and it still persists today. This resulted in the establishment of an administration with the flaws of the French system, notably the idea that it is the administration, and not the private sector, that is the source of economic progress. (Yves Montenay, Le mythe de l’horreur coloniale française au sud du Sahara)
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