“For a hundred years or more the defining division in politics, in Britain and elsewhere, was about the role of the state. Essentially progressives believed in its ability to improve society; Conservatives feared its interference stifled personal liberty.”– Tony Blair, Labour Party Prime Minister of Great Britain
Conservatives believe this crazy idea that the individual is up for the challenges of life. Progressives believe in the Rousseau idea that “man was born free, but he is everywhere in chains.” They think people must join themselves together into institutions for protection from “stronger” people, and so they place responsibility for reform with the institutions and not the individual. Conservatives place all responsibility with the individual, we are not afraid of the responsibility for success or failure. We are up for the challenges of life.
Paul Ehrlich is the guy who lost a $10,000 bet in 1990 to the economist Julian Simon that prices would rise on the five core commodities (copper, nickel, chrome, tin, and tungsten) in the next ten years (1980-1990). Although world population increased by 800 million in the 80s, every single one of Ehrlich’s metals went down in price. But who won the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award that year for promoting “greater public understanding of environmental problems”? Yeah, the false prophet, of course. That is because he was saying the right thing. Destruction. Catastrophe.
What did Simon know? He knew about the substitution effect: If a resource becomes too scarce and expensive, this gives incentive to find an abundant replacement, bringing demand away from the scarce resource and toward the new abundant resource.
I respect Grigori Perelman. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006, math’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, and refused the medal along with its $1 million award. Perelman gave us insight into the shape of the universe and decided he didn’t need any other form of recognition than his work itself.
He is a recluse who works on math problems with his mother in a trailer park in St. Petersberg. His mom stopped her graduate work in mathematics to raise a math prodigy instead.
Perelman recounts the conversation he had with Sir John Ball, president of the International Mathematical Union: “He proposed to me three alternatives: accept and come; accept and don’t come, and we will send you the medal later; third, I don’t accept the prize. From the very beginning, I told him I have chosen the third one… [the prize] was completely irrelevant for me. Everybody understood that if the proof is correct, then no other recognition is needed. I’m not interested in money or fame,’ he is quoted to have said at the time. ‘I don’t want to be on display like an animal in a zoo. I’m not a hero of mathematics. I’m not even that successful; that is why I don’t want to have everybody looking at me.”
True happiness does not require outside recognition.
Three women simultaneously ruled the northwestern portion of Europe in the mid-1500s. Elizabeth controlled England (1558-1603), Mary Stuart was Queen of Scotland (1542-1567), and Catherine de Medici was Queen consort in France (1547-1559). Look at the overlap here. They were all leaders in the first two years of Good Queen Bess’ reign in 1558-59.
Catherine de Medici
Mary Stuart
Elizabeth I
Collectivism, Individualism | Brian Gabriel August 27, 2010 | 
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