Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online

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Je suis tombé via EconLog sur un article de Wired avec lequel je ne suis pas du d'accord mais qui vaut la lecture:

The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online

Un extrait illustrant le ton de l'article:

Of course, there's nothing particularly socialistic about collaboration per se. But the tools of online collaboration support a communal style of production that shuns capitalistic investors and keeps ownership in the hands of the workers, and to some extent those of the consuming masses.

Arnold Kling répond de manière très courte sur EconLog:

It may help to talk about three ways of facilitating cooperative group efforts:

1. Economic incentives.

2. Voluntary actions for non-economic motives, including altruism, desire for recognition, and so forth.

3. State power.

As an economist, I respect (1). However, as a civil societarian, I also respect (2). It is (3) that raises concern. If people come to think of socialism as (2) and not (3), then fine. But if they come to think of (3) as being the same as (2) or a natural progression from (2), then we're in trouble.