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Dog 3000
Dog 3000
4611 posts

Re: X vs Y
Sep 20, 2003, 20:17
The X vs. Y is actually a simpler version of a more complicated meme (I didn't invent this stuff, though I don't remember who did.)

Imagine a more complicated system with 2 axes (and to make it more general, I'm replacing "state" with "collective"):

X to Y axis: total individual freedom vs. total collective control on ECONOMIC matters (how you earn & spend money, property, inheritence, etc.)

A to B axis: total individual freedom vs. total collective control on SOCIAL matters (what you can say, who you can have sex with and what drugs you can take, your religious and ideological beliefs, etc.)

Now when we place different "systems" on the grid it gets more subtle. For example presnet-day People's Rep of China has a lot more economic freedom than the old Soviet system did -- but they're pretty similar in terms of personal freedom. A country like Sweden probably has more personal freedoms than the USA, but also a lot less economic freedom (50% tax rate . . .)

Again, to me "the issues" are how best to blend A, B, X & Y to best solve a specific issue.

And feel free to use more letters and come up with more axes . . . but somehow I don't think you'll ever escape from the basic notions of collective control vs. individual control.
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