tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post7963436093578965350..comments2023-10-29T05:11:37.677-07:00Comments on Porcupine blog: CAPITALISM DIDN'T INVENT ANYTHINGLarry Gambonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-11331894773997576392008-01-06T06:20:00.000-08:002008-01-06T06:20:00.000-08:00Capitalists makes profits, good for them, dont be ...Capitalists makes profits, good for them, dont be jealous, profits are signals to the capitalist as to what the consumer wants, the consumer is in charge voting with his dollars. Govt. intervention hurts the consumer aka the people. Communism, socialism are EVIL!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-66772276649510410862007-11-03T15:53:00.000-07:002007-11-03T15:53:00.000-07:00Really nice essay! I may refer to it in the futur...Really nice essay! I may refer to it in the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-11564226685370965732007-10-10T23:50:00.000-07:002007-10-10T23:50:00.000-07:00One word: SPUTNIKOne word: <B>SPUTNIK</B>Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-34125698683702739982007-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:002007-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00Sounds like a good idea. Something I would certain...Sounds like a good idea. Something I would certainly want to read, if not contribute toLarry Gambonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-11656073834337661812007-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:002007-09-27T19:02:00.000-07:00I've thought a bit more about this subject. I'm co...I've thought a bit more about this subject. I'm considering trying to put together a permanent forum for technologists and scientific types who might discuss issues related to science in society. To start with I could do a few postings on urban myths and fads of the "cell phones cause cancer" type and move on from there. Eventually I'd like to see something a bit like "Carnival of Anarchy" but with a more focused emphasis ... or something like that.Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17213034395981099737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-61577857558550436972007-09-26T23:51:00.000-07:002007-09-26T23:51:00.000-07:00Great post, Larry. Your comment on how cooperativ...Great post, Larry. <BR/><BR/>Your comment on how cooperatives are likely to innovate reminds me of Barry Stein. He gave a lot of evidence that incremental improvements in the production process, rearranging the configuration of machines or otherwise tweaking the process to reduce waste and idle capacity, had more of an effect on productivity than building a new factory with a new generation of machines. <BR/><BR/>F.A. Hayek made a similar observation about distributed knowledge. In "The Use of Knowledge in Society," he wrote that it mattered more for productivity for those engaged in the production process to use existing machinery as efficiently as possible, than what kind of machinery was used.Kevin Carsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07525803609000364993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-73191157334997384392007-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:002007-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:00I appreciated your comments on RE's blog.I appreciated your comments on RE's blog.Ediehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05333786536254834913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-90245406711664325822007-09-18T22:51:00.000-07:002007-09-18T22:51:00.000-07:00It is not an excuse. You are the one making excuse...It is not an excuse. You are the one making excuses. You use any ammunition to throw at the Venezuelans whether it is valid or not. There is absolutely no comparison with the USSR famine of the 1920's caused by Bolshevik hostility to the SR and Mahknovist peasantry. The fact that these coops are so new is a perfectly valid reason for their not inventing any wonderful new techniques. The fact these coops exist - and are an inspiration to the rest of us who wish to get rid of this insane, authoritarian system is marvel enough. As well, as I pointed out, don't expect groups to create inventions. Quit being motivated by your prejudices.Larry Gambonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-84854173792392584302007-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:002007-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:00Larry,As for Venezuelan coops, most of them are on...Larry,<BR/><BR/><I>As for Venezuelan coops, most of them are only a few years old and expecting them to produce marevels at this stage is like expecting a 6 month old child to run a marathon race.</I><BR/><BR/>I remember those excuses. In 1920's, Russia was poor because of the ravages of the Civil War. In 1950's, it was poor because of World War II's destructions. In the 1960's, it was because of the arms race. In the 1970's, because of the bad harvests.<BR/><BR/>But the best excuse I heard in the Soviet Union was in 1982:<BR/><BR/>'Why is there no food in stores?'<BR/>'Because the tsar only made enough provisions for 65 years!'.<BR/><BR/>That was the only TRUE excuse I ever heard...soniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938174968325568608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-83572308173954012342007-09-18T03:17:00.000-07:002007-09-18T03:17:00.000-07:00New inventions come about sometimes as a cooperati...New inventions come about sometimes as a cooperative process although it usually boils down to new researchers picking up where someone else has left off. One example would be the three engineers at Bell Labs in the nineteen forties who invented the transistor. This was a group effort although much of the physics goes back to the beginning of the twentieth century. The invention of aspirin was done in stages by at least four chemists starting in the early nineteenth century and took almost eighty years to finalize.Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17213034395981099737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-52523070983558213132007-09-17T12:08:00.000-07:002007-09-17T12:08:00.000-07:00Sonia, one sub-text in this article is that indivi...Sonia, one sub-text in this article is that individuals (or brothers or partners) invent. Groups generally do not. What I expect from the cooperative movement is not an invention - say the level of a contemporary equivalent of the light bulb, but the improvement of techniques, most particularly in libertarian management and social solidarity. Existing technology could be adapted by coperatives to produce articles that are seen as not as important under capitalism, such as low cost housing. As for Venezuelan coops, most of them are only a few years old and expecting them to produce marevels at this stage is like expecting a 6 month old child to run a marathon race. Lets see what they do,10 years from now, should the Bolivarian Revolution not be drounded in blood by the USA.Larry Gambonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04965037776214596919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-57031480060814199722007-09-16T21:48:00.000-07:002007-09-16T21:48:00.000-07:00Ren,I'm interested in Sonia's response.I don't hav...Ren,<BR/><BR/><I>I'm interested in Sonia's response.</I><BR/><BR/>I don't have any problem with this post. I don't care about capitalism one way or another. <BR/><BR/>If Larry wants me to argue with him, he would have to say something I wouldn't agree with (like claiming that a Venezuelan co-op has invented something worthwhile)...soniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00938174968325568608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-45680964082411548872007-09-16T18:52:00.000-07:002007-09-16T18:52:00.000-07:00I'm interested in Sonia's response.An anarchist ca...I'm interested in Sonia's response.<BR/><BR/>An anarchist can add that cooking and clothing, were invented before the state was invented.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-47851939554520212022007-09-16T15:57:00.000-07:002007-09-16T15:57:00.000-07:00Very good Larry. When arguing against capitalism w...Very good Larry. When arguing against capitalism with friends, I often run into the "entrepreneurs" defense. Now I have some more ammo to destroy their silly ideas. Thanks!Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04230080850680753260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11635675.post-36530083397872054752007-09-14T17:19:00.000-07:002007-09-14T17:19:00.000-07:00Hi Larry,I really like this posting. One of my fav...Hi Larry,<BR/><BR/>I really like this posting. One of my favourite inventors was E.H Armstrong the guy who, among other things, invented FM radio (and many other things common in radio technology, the superheterodyne and regenerative circuits being two of the most well known). RCA and it's head David Sarnoff tried for years to bad-mouth F.M. radio because they had so much at stake in AM during the twenties and thirties. Also television research was considered more important until someone realized that frequency modulation was needed for the audio section of TV. During the last years of his life Armstrong spent most of his time and money fighting for recognition against corporate thieves until he finally committed suicide in 1954. John Logie Baird, the Scottish engineer who is usually credited with actually inventing television in 1926, warned us "not to let businessmen get a hold of this thing". How perceptive ...Wernerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17213034395981099737noreply@blogger.com