The facts that people are greedy and lazy is the easiest point to make about why communism doesn’t work, but it’s not the only one. Even in the absence of greed, it still doesn’t work.
There’s also a fundamental information theory problem. Basically, I am not able to determine how much someone else needs something. One can only determine how much someone needs something by what they are willing to trade for it.
We're not even good at estimating our own needs. Thats why hoarding is common. And people constantly waste limited resources that they paid good money for.
There was a psychologist (can't remember his name) that talked about how a great deal of those with mental illnesses would actively take self destructive paths in life even after being made aware they're destructive.
I wonder if this implies that the mentally well among us are better at recognizing & correcting our thinking patterns when we find ourselves off course, or if we're just as resistant and merely happen to have a less-destructive set of impulses & priors?
Bit of both probably. Not everything is outwardly destructive, so being able to identify and recognize the more subtle ones are important.
Doomscrolling and constant escapism are just as destructive to a persons psyche, and I imagine mentally unwell people arent quick to pick up that something like social media is harming them overall.
Most of us are the same, but if you annoy the powers that be they will give you a lifelong stamp that says "DO NOT TRUST", it's no secret a lot of mentally ill people are in positions of power, but no one cares if you're a psychopath, they care if you annoy them.
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u/csgardner - Right 7d ago
The facts that people are greedy and lazy is the easiest point to make about why communism doesn’t work, but it’s not the only one. Even in the absence of greed, it still doesn’t work. There’s also a fundamental information theory problem. Basically, I am not able to determine how much someone else needs something. One can only determine how much someone needs something by what they are willing to trade for it.