13 Jan 2016

Reynolds’ Law

, , , ,

MiddleClass

Philo contends that Professor Reynolds’ aperçu ought to be awarded the status of a law.

    The government decides to try to increase the middle class by subsidizing things that middle class people have: If middle-class people go to college and own homes, then surely if more people go to college and own homes, we’ll have more middle-class people. But homeownership and college aren’t causes of middle-class status, they’re markers for possessing the kinds of traits — self-discipline, the ability to defer gratification, etc. — that let you enter, and stay, in the middle class. Subsidizing the markers doesn’t produce the traits; if anything, it undermines them.

I dub this Reynolds’ Law: “Subsidizing the markers of status doesn’t produce the character traits that result in that status; it undermines them.” It’s easy to see why. If people don’t need to defer gratification, work hard, etc., in order to achieve the status they desire, they’ll be less inclined to do those things. The greater the government subsidy, the greater the effect, and the more net harm produced.

This law is thus a relative to Murray’s third law in Losing Ground, the Law of Net Harm: “The less likely it is that the unwanted behavior will change voluntarily, the more likely it is that a program to induce change will cause net harm.” But Reynolds’ Law rests on a different and more secure foundation. It focuses on character as fundamental.

Since the time of Woodrow Wilson, Democrats—but not only Democrats—have fretted that the middle class is shrinking due to the power of large corporations, and that only government action to “level the playing field” can save the middle class. The “middle class is being more and more squeezed out by the processes which we have been taught to call processes of prosperity.” Obama? Hillary? No, that’s Woodrow Wilson in 1913 (The New Freedom). It’s striking to realize that progressives have been playing the same tune for a century, no matter what’s actually taking place in the economy—indeed, in the midst of the greatest expansion of affluence in the history of the world—with the same set of proffered solutions: greater government power, regulations, higher taxes, and subsidies for the markers of affluence.

Reynolds’ Law thus strikes at the heart of progressivism as a political ideology. Progressivism can’t deliver on its central promise. In fact, it’s guaranteed to make things worse in exactly that respect.

StumbleUpon.com
7 Feedbacks on "Reynolds’ Law"

BMD

Progressivism is ultimately the precursor to gentrification. Which is a consummate and delicious irony.



SDD

And, of course, progressives see “self-esteem” as a cause of success rather than a result from it.



sound awake

ferns law: democrats actually believe none of the things that they preach to you about

godwins law: as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving nazis or hitler approaches 1

betteridge’s law: any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word ‘no’

andy and bill’s law: when a computer chip is released new software will be released to use up all of its power

campbell’s law: the more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision making the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor

brooks law: adding manpower to a late software project makes it later

amaras law: we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run

cunningham’s law: the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question its to post the wrong answer

dilberts law: the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.



roger

It is the result of being ill-educated – confusing essence with accidence.



Anonymous

今回のピーターSpearke-Marinさん携帯からブランドの創立以来の多くの代表作を含めて、ウブロ時計コピーMARIN-1など、MARIN-2やUnique piece限定版Piccadilly Panda、ゴッドオブTime、Thalassaなど経典之作。優雅に味わいがあるとして、工芸非凡象徴伝統タブ造詣と優雅な手本が融合した腕時計傑作集まった一人一人のゲストの心が折れ、当日現場賓客と時計師を思い切り歓談霊感とタブと心得て、喜びの優雅な雰囲気の中で、共に楽のどかな午後の時間。 http://www.ooobrand.com/bags/hermes/645.html



Anonymous

好易通の「流体力学」を提供し、新モードの観覧好易通の頭蓋骨–2015と今後2バージョン。もしあなたは少し戸惑いをどのようにブランドの最新の腕時計、そんなに心配しないので、私が。あなたが知っているのは、好易通頭骨ダイヤル表示の時間、秒、そして電源準備指標。これは正しいが、好易通の頭蓋骨必要のない分。 スーパーコピーローレックス 何、あなたは急いでは何ですか?あなたの腕にある未来の頭骨! http://www.newkakaku.com/lxq8.htm



Anonymous

スイス独立時計職人ブランドSPEAKE-MARIN創始者ピーターSpeake-Marinさんが手を携えてヨーロッパ坊グループは、一貫して優雅な紳士の姿には上海に到着し、初めて出展2012年バーゼル表展が発表した最新作は、新しいSerpent Calendar。 http://www.bestevance.com/chanel/29/



Comments

Please Leave a Comment!




Please note: Comments may be moderated. It may take a while for them to show on the page.
















Feeds
Entries (RSS)
Comments (RSS)
Feed Shark