One of the versions I have heard about this analogy comes from corn silk. The corn fed to pigs is usually of the lowest quality, and if you use the silk from cheap ears of corn, you won’t be able to make a useful purse out of it

Welcome to Muphry’s Law!

Don’t look for snake tits

Not use it, as much as I don’t use all my other numbers

Agreed. People don’t take into account the fact that historians have existed for a long time and probably would have noticed a person as revolutionary as the one mentioned in the gospels - miracles or not. The Romans were excellent record keepers, and that is how we know for a fact - for example - that Herod’s timeline does not jibe with the virgin birth myth, nor did the Roman survey methodology jibe with the Bethleham journey myth, to cite two examples among so many others

Source?

By truth do you mean that Santa doesn’t exist, that the whole Christmas celebration is an adaptation of Roman pagan traditions, or that Jesus never existed?

It sounds OK if you say it in French

Censorship is censorship

Every economist has a model.

And every economist who has implemented his model in a given country, will be able to explain - in great detail - why it didn’t work

The fact that you enjoyed playing with a ouija board and took metaphysics classes shows that you are open-minded and suggestible. These practices help you notice micro-expressions of the other participants and help you attune to the “vibe“ that other people are projecting.

The metaphysics teacher is also trained in these sensibilities, and noticed how you were all out of sorts when he arrived at your house

It’s even worse. The original US Constitution does not prohibit slavery. It wasn’t until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed seventy years later - after a Civil War tore apart the country - that slavery was abolished. With the express exception of punishment for a crime. No qualifications for the severity of the crime. And that exception gets frequent use to this day in the penal system

Spun (2002)

It’s also entertaining and fun. Highly recommend

Yeah, that adds some spice to the discussion! How does the scarcity of pins and labor fit into the scenario? And how does the perspective change as we enter a post-scarcity world?

So your concrete proposal for the problem of implementing Russell’s proposed solution to the pin factory situation, is to somehow recreate a failed system that never implemented it? OK

Orwell wrote infantile fiction, and it’s frankly silly to call that a critique of Leninism.

I love the writings of Marx, Russell, Orwell and many others. I would never presume to call any of them infantile, but OK

Once again, the reality is that socialist states, whatever faults they may have, are a tangible improvement on capitalism.

I am not comparing right versus left. I am asking about the practical applications of the pin factory scenario

Coming back to Russell’s scenario, here’s the plan USSR had for reducing the work week. And what business tendency are you talking about in a socialist state such as USSR exactly? The industry is owned by the state, the purpose of the industry is to produce things for people living in the state. Work isn’t done to create wealth for people who own businesses, there is no inherent incentive to exploit the workers.

Business does not cease to exist in a socialist state, it only operates under different management. And management from the left can be just as oppressive as from the right. Both socialist and non-socialist countries have tossed around the idea of shortening the work week, and also implemented policies that made work feel like slavery. The big difference for the common citizen is not between right and left - it is between oppressive and non-oppressive governments.

What remains unanswered is: exactly what measures should be implemented to solve Russell’s critique? All I’m getting as an answer is philosophical statements that I mostly agree with, but no examples of practical implementation

Right, we have never seen the state wither away, only a series of hegemonies replacing the previous ones. This is the issue Orwell identified in his criticism of totalitarian Leninism.

Coming back to Russell’s scenario, how exactly would you implement an obligation to keep workers on full payroll for half-duty? And would you apply it only in the pin industry or expand it to all industries? What hand would force the tide back from the natural business tendency towards efficiency?

And did the oppressive state “wither away” into a Dictatorship of the Proletariat as hypothesized by Marx in both instances? Or was the tyranny of the bourgeoisie simply replaced by the tyranny of the state?

Is that achievable in the real world? The problem with any system is that power tends to be wielded by “representatives”

Absolutely. But is working a half-day for full wages a decent working condition that should be provided to all workers? And again, who is going to enforce that rule?