DukeOfPrunes
Experienced
Was going through the Election day thread and read a few interesting posts, one of which quotes books of relevance. Another one comes to mind:
"Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Interesting parallel between the Rise and Fall of Venice and the United States of America...
from The Rise and Fall of the Venetian Oligarchy | Catherine Crier
"The story of Venice’s rise and fall is told by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in their book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” as an illustration of their thesis that what separates successful states from failed ones is whether their governing institutions are inclusive or extractive. Extractive states are controlled by ruling elites whose objective is to extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. Inclusive states give everyone access to economic opportunity; often, greater inclusiveness creates more prosperity, which creates an incentive for ever greater inclusiveness.
The history of the United States can be read as one such virtuous circle. But as the story of Venice shows, virtuous circles can be broken. Elites that have prospered from inclusive systems can be tempted to pull up the ladder they climbed to the top. Eventually, their societies become extractive and their economies languish.
That was the future predicted by Karl Marx, who wrote that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction. And it is the danger America faces today, as the 1 percent pulls away from everyone else and pursues an economic, political and social agenda that will increase that gap even further — ultimately destroying the open system that made America rich and allowed its 1 percent to thrive in the first place.
You can see America’s creeping Serrata in the growing social and, especially, educational chasm between those at the top and everyone else. At the bottom and in the middle, American society is fraying, and the children of these struggling families are lagging the rest of the world at school."
I am truly not trying to instigate here, just trying to explore the parallel, because I remember a time when my view of the US, was one of a great and powerful nation and now observing the great divide between the nation and within its social classes, this makes me wonder about the future...
With respect,
Jean.
"Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
Interesting parallel between the Rise and Fall of Venice and the United States of America...
from The Rise and Fall of the Venetian Oligarchy | Catherine Crier
"The story of Venice’s rise and fall is told by the scholars Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in their book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty,” as an illustration of their thesis that what separates successful states from failed ones is whether their governing institutions are inclusive or extractive. Extractive states are controlled by ruling elites whose objective is to extract as much wealth as they can from the rest of society. Inclusive states give everyone access to economic opportunity; often, greater inclusiveness creates more prosperity, which creates an incentive for ever greater inclusiveness.
The history of the United States can be read as one such virtuous circle. But as the story of Venice shows, virtuous circles can be broken. Elites that have prospered from inclusive systems can be tempted to pull up the ladder they climbed to the top. Eventually, their societies become extractive and their economies languish.
That was the future predicted by Karl Marx, who wrote that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction. And it is the danger America faces today, as the 1 percent pulls away from everyone else and pursues an economic, political and social agenda that will increase that gap even further — ultimately destroying the open system that made America rich and allowed its 1 percent to thrive in the first place.
You can see America’s creeping Serrata in the growing social and, especially, educational chasm between those at the top and everyone else. At the bottom and in the middle, American society is fraying, and the children of these struggling families are lagging the rest of the world at school."
I am truly not trying to instigate here, just trying to explore the parallel, because I remember a time when my view of the US, was one of a great and powerful nation and now observing the great divide between the nation and within its social classes, this makes me wonder about the future...
With respect,
Jean.
