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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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Great idea!

skeptical of central planning as a solution for long-running problems; the role of a rightly ordered state is more that of a gardener than an engineer

Quite tangential: We're basically identical in belief. However I believe in pro-social gains by simplifying complex systems. If you e.g. have 100,000 accountants normalizing books to match the law, the ideal gardener engineer could change the law and reporting standards, so that work's not necessary (either automatic or performed by only 10,000.) In our theoretical realm, those 90,000 could then create value instead of litigating who captures past value. In practice, I rarely believe this is done (how do you replace legalistic bureaucracies and replace them with trade practitioners who want to replace themselves?)

100,000 accountants? Sounds like heaven.

Quick googling says we have 1.6 million accountants and auditors in the US. Which isn't even factoring in all of the southeast Asians they farm work out to.