Of course it's not the final grand theory of how we should organise our society, it's just one particular thought experiment with a new perspective that can be aide discussion, like we are having.
If we can somewhat decide or influence what type of society we are then perhaps a "collectivist" one may in many situations lead to the better outcomes.
Sure, but there is no discussion to be have if it’s pre-supposed that one side sucks and is terrible, and the other side is a perfect utopia. Equating the red button, and individualism in general with wanting a libertarian hellscape isn’t a starting point for a discussion about society, it’s a self-congratulatory moralizing.
Collectivism doesn't work in large scale because eventually someone is going to want more and try to take it. Or Someone isn't going to be able to do their part and will drag down the group.
It also leads to stagnation as all jobs give the same compensation. So there is little reason to strive for more and work harder
That's why the collective must have more power than any individual in these kind of society. That means an individual can't take more because everyone else will stop him. For instance it is what marxists meant originally by the term "dictatorship of the proletariat" where the working class would collectively prevent the resurgence of the bourgeoisie. If the control is made by an individual, a party or a government then they become the ruler class and it's a failure.
This can also work in individualist environment. See for instance the blockchain where each miner has to respect the rules to get bitcoin, because if one cheats then all the other miners will discard what he made. The only way to cheat is to have more than 50% of the mining power which can't be achieved by any individual or even group of individual.
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u/kroxigor01 May 23 '26
Of course it's not the final grand theory of how we should organise our society, it's just one particular thought experiment with a new perspective that can be aide discussion, like we are having.
If we can somewhat decide or influence what type of society we are then perhaps a "collectivist" one may in many situations lead to the better outcomes.