that has nothing to do with the post, but I couldnt help the pun.
Eric Raymond, author of ‘The Cathedral and the Bazaar’ (and of the cool blog ‘Armed and Dangerous’) dings me a bit:
I find it interesting that, in that article, you imply a strong critique of the top-down “single massive project” approach to social change. Yet in explaining ‘liberalism’ you still champion centralization and state intervention.
There is a contradiction there with which I do not think you are yet dealing.
Actually, no. I may not yet have expressed it clearly, but heres my chance to start.
Bazaars dont spontaneously appear, and most important, dont spontaneously thrive. There are a host of conditions which control their presence and growth geographic, cultural, seasonal, legal, and political. We can either simply assume that they appear spontaneously, according some arbitrary hand of God, or we can study the preconditions and, if we want to encourage successful bazaars, attempt to replicate them, or manage the success of the bazaar.
I do not imagine that the sponsors of open-source software projects do so with no intentionality or direction; they are often surprised by the direction the project takes, but they reserve the right to prune unsuitable branches.
I believe that we need to replace the Stalinist (hyperbole alert) large footprint liberal programs that we are familiar with much finer-grained, dynamic programs in which the participants participate, rather than simply stand in line and receive.
The machine-tool program I mention earlier, the Grameen Bank programs, and I am sure, other programs which I dont yet know about are excellent examples of what Im talking about.
There are other government programs and tax structures which could encourage this kind of thinking, and which Ill address over the next few days as time and attention allow.
But to summarize as simply as I can: I dont believe that the bazaar, or spontaneously organized social or economic activity is directionless. I believe that when you read the classic I, a pencil, that we were better at making them than they were in the Soviet Union.
And I believe that it is possible to design and have a hand in organizing self-organizing systems such as markets. That what we do here in the U.S. Anyone who believes that the market here is not created by and reflects political and social organizations is just ignorant. Why do homeowners get tax relief and not renters? What is DMCA?
And I believe that it is possible to design and influence a better market; one that improves on the things which I and other liberals hold important while at the same time preserving the freedom and dignity, and individual energy of the free actors who participate in it.
Dinner calls.