Different Systems: “Not A Bug But A Feature”

When I was writing on the Internet about there being different systems in the world, an economist told me that that was how the situation was intended to work. He said that the meaning of that arrangement was that, if people or companies felt exploited, they could leave.

He said, “That's not a bug, it's a feature.”

I suppose that this really is the case. The same should also be the case with social arrangements. Every place should have a right to its character. Similarly, people should be able to move between places to find places that suit them. If you are born in California and you would rather live like they do in Texas, then you should move to Texas. If you are born in Texas and you would rather live like they do in California, then you should move to California.

In this way we see freedom affirmed at both the regional and the individual level. Each place gets to have a right to its own character; and people get to have a right to move between regions to find what works for them. Texas gets to be Texas, and California gets to be California. And people get to move between regions to see which place suits them the most.

This results in actual, most meaningful, liberty – freedom as to where, and how, one can live.

With economic systems, different people likewise will like different things. Some will be happy with pure capitalism, some will be happy with socialism, and most will be happy with mixed market economies. The people who want to live under pure capitalism should be able to do so. Likewise should people who favor socialism or mixed market arrangement.

Politically, there will also be different people wanting different things. Some people want minimal government, and they should be able to have it. Similarly there are others who want a strong government, and they likewise should be able to have it. Then people born in China who would rather live with minimal government can move to the United States, and people born in United States who have more socialist tendencies can move to Europe.

In all cases we see just what this economist said it was: Not a bug but a feature.

What we see in all of these cases, once again, is freedom being affirmed at both the regional and the individual level. Each place gets to have the character that it wants to have, and people can move between places to find what works for them the best. The result of this becomes maximal liberty and maximal adjustment. More people will be happy and willing to contribute to whatever place they inhabit. And that will result in a better life for everyone.