"What I am arguing, then, is that in a truly free world, where we all respected each other's property, the rise in living standards would be analogous to our hypothetical boy who moves from the streets of Calcutta to the suburbs of Maine. In that fantastic world, giving someone a "free" heart surgery might be as cheap as giving someone a piece of gum in our current society."
His whole article is a huge non-sequitur and I'm deeply concerned that these "Austrians" are regarded as "experts" whereas someone like Fresco is considered a Don Quixote.
He believed himself that the chances are slim. We may well be headed for the next dark ages. I doubt we're going extinct though, unless we're literally turning this planet into Venus (put somewhat intended).
Outliers notwithstanding, humans are behaving well. Wealth and crime (but also perceived injustice) are correlated strongly. That's his main point.
We don't need Utopia, but let's not give up on the idea of having a more humane economic system just yet, when technology is still developing at a rapid pace.
People are interested, they're just not interested in working towards it or giving up things for it.
Fresco paints a gloomy picture of the now and the future, but the facts are that "on average", humans are living better lives than they ever have. This progress has not yet stopped.
Hence, Fresco predicts we need to wait for the next "bust".
He didn't believe humans were altruistic by nature, he believed they could be nurtured to be in an environment that rewards it.
He was very much into behaviorism (B.F. Skinner) and similar concepts.
The question whether such an environment can be designed and sustained is still open. However, if it requires a "societal collapse" to have his ideas adopted, then I'd rather expect the outcome to be more like a totalitarian communist regime.
"What I am arguing, then, is that in a truly free world, where we all respected each other's property, the rise in living standards would be analogous to our hypothetical boy who moves from the streets of Calcutta to the suburbs of Maine. In that fantastic world, giving someone a "free" heart surgery might be as cheap as giving someone a piece of gum in our current society."
His whole article is a huge non-sequitur and I'm deeply concerned that these "Austrians" are regarded as "experts" whereas someone like Fresco is considered a Don Quixote.