jfm comments on "Bad-for-the-world-ipedia?" - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Raemon 15 January 2011 04:47PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (40)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: jfm 20 January 2011 09:24:20PM -1 points [-]

This whole line of argument has been debunked in detail.

Comment author: Vaniver 21 January 2011 12:54:32AM 2 points [-]

That does not appear to be a debunking so much as a smearing. It'll take more than calling something plutocratic for me to see problems with it, and as far as I can tell they just quote a bunch of libertarians and expect us to be offended that they make sense.

It is not the fault of the industrial revolution that subsistence agriculture pays poorly. That is the fault of subsistence agriculture. It is the fault of the industrial revolution that factory work pays well, that factory owners gets a return on their capital, and most of all that consumers benefit.

You can look at wage data in England if you don't believe me- the primary beneficiaries of the Industrial Revolution were unskilled workers and consumers. (The last place I saw this data collected was A Farewell to Alms, but I imagine there are other more focused sources).