One thousand years from now

The problem with Communism is that all work and productivity has to be centrally controlled. This puts a severe limit on productivity. In addition, to manufacture anything, all paperwork, if not the parts, have to be shipped through the central control region. Even if your product has all its components made in one area, those components have to be shipped to the controlling center then shipped to the assembly line. No improvements are allowed.

To buy a science fiction paperback in Russia required standing in three, if not more, lines before you could walk out of the store with your purchase. This was true for all purchases in any government-sponsored store; all other trade was illegal.

/BAH

You certainly wouldn't be allowed to use your computer, which you wouldn't own, to post here.

/BAH

Only if it increases or decreases slowly.

/BAH

"Savings insured to $250,000 by the FDIC, except in Botswana."

John

I worked in Moscow for a while, in the USSR/Breszhnev days. What worked was the underground economy. It seemed like everybody had a friend somewhere who got stuff from the back rooms of stores, or from the foreigners-only shops, or who stole stuff from construction sites, or knew a security guard who could be bribed to let them into a foreigners-only hotel or bar. It was amazing to see a wild market economy just below the surface. It was also amazing to have to literally fight my way through crowds of pimps, hookers, hucksters, and western-wannabees to get into the front door of my hotel at night.

I gave away all my t-shirts, books, and macadamia nuts before I left. There was a huge hunger for all things Western, even conversation in English.

Bizarre and sad.

John

Yes, yes, yes. However, Moscow relates to Russia approximately like Las Vegas relates to USA. What you saw there can't be generalized in any way, especially as you saw it with the eyes of a foreigner.

Vladimir Vassilevsky DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

I just told you what I saw.

I did bring back two guys with me, one Russian and one Ukranian; they lived with me for a year or so. Driving around one day they discovered junkyards, which they hadn't seen before and amazed them. They started buying old cars, fixing them up in my garage, and selling them. Pretty soon the state made them get a dealers' license, which they were happy to do.

Sergei didn't like our culture, and never learned much English, so he went home and started what is now a fairly huge automatic transmission repair business, specializing in expensive foreign cars. Nick stayed and became an IT guy, and now has a house with a swimming pool in Sacramento.

John

Jump off a chair onto the floor. I bet that pulls 3G pretty quick.

John

I'm afraid I do. That's one reason I think the trend will continue. I figure half of time served ( or more ) in most corporations is spent on either overhead or economic signaling. Just pure process engineering can knock half the cost out of some stuff. I personally have done things that ended up costing about 10% of what the original estimate was.

There is a great deal of Mickey Mouse in the world. Over time, it goes away. Best Buy corporation went hard after telecommuting just to get rid of pack mentality and achieved very good results.

"The sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room." - Blaise Pascal.

-- Les Cargill

No. The problem with Communism is that price signaling is masked, which leads people to spend time and money on the wrong things.

The phrase "put your money where your mouth is" says it all - people spend differently than they say. How they spend much more closely reflects actual preferences.

Gee, sounds like any of a number of American corporations, too. Ever seen a master manager kill a process improvement drive with carefully crafted infighting techniques? It's something else to see entirely.

But then a couple of clerks would be out of work. See where the fallacy lies here? Work is only a means to an end. Making a fetish of "jobs" leads to inefficiency. This creates economic rents that "players" can exploit, and just about explains every manmade disaster that ever happened.

-- Les Cargill

By "you" in this sentence, are you referring to: a) some generic person, a la "one"? b) yourself? c) me, specifically? d) something else?

Thanks, Rich

To the typical roob in the street, "infinity" is "the amount of electricity in the wall socket."

I didn't make this up, but I can't remember who first said it. Probably someone of the calibre of Feynman, or maybe Harlan Ellison. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

It must feel awfully good when it stops! ;-)

Cheers! Rich

I think it'd be more like the third derivative from that sudden stop at the bottom. ;-)

In sky diving school, they had us jump off a 4' high platform, so the velocity was about 32 ft./sec., or about 1000 feet a minute. They taught us to press our feet and legs together, and when our feet landed, twist and land on feet, calf, thigh, hip, back. It was still pretty harsh, but doable/survivable. ;-)

Then, my first time under a parachute (I was astonished how tight the suspension lines were, but there was 180 lbs of me dangling there) - I did my PLF (parachute landing fall, see above), and, unlike falling off the table, where your upper body continues to accelerate, the parachute gently lowered me to the ground. Not many G's at all.

Cheers! Rich

I did two static jumps. Second one, I did something wrong and sprained both my ankles. Had to crawl to the bathroom for a week.

But it's really a stupid sport: hours of prep and waiting around for a couple of minutes of action. I can ski all day, cover more vertical distance, and have solid plastic boots supporting my rotten ankles.

John

Unless it stops all at one time.

Time is the issue.

Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.

Schadenfreude has nothing to do with it.

You think highly of yourself.

I know BAH, fairly well, I'm sure this is the "one". ;-)

Jerk. ;-)