"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Beware Dichotomies

Paul Graham's latest essay is making the rounds. My initial reaction reflects my general approach to socio-political issues: beware dichotomies. Really, beware those who would present any complex issue as a dichotomy. Paul's opening paragraph has to be the worst in all his essays unless he was *intending* to present to us a straw man.

By the end of the essay though he makes at least one excellent point: transparency matters. Yes, wealth is power and I think Paul fails to recognize how closely wealth and power are related, let alone to begin recognizing the good and bad of that.

If global capitalism is going to work (I currently give it a mixed review but that's another story) then we need to remember that the theory itself is founded on "perfect knowledge". The closest things we have to perfect knowledge are democracy and transparency.

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About Me

Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.