Signs of a Dying Empire

[pbrower2a]

(09-17-2017, 11:56 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(09-17-2017, 03:32 PM)Mikebert Wrote:

(09-15-2017, 07:06 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: Just because you personally wouldn't prefer 1927 doesn't mean others wouldn't.  For my part, magical technologies are a plus, but there's far less personal choice in 2017 than in 1927.

How so? Seems to me people have far *more* personal choice today than in the past, perhaps too much.

Back in 1927, in most states I could drive an automobile without the hassle of getting a license; in many states I could drive at any speed as there was no speed limit.  I could make a reasonable wage and choose how I would spend over 95% of it, rather than having to pay 20-40% in income and payroll taxes, and being coerced to spend much of the remaining 60-80% in ways the federal government forced on me to avoid even higher taxes.  In general the government imposes far more restrictions on personal choice now than it did in 1927.

But some of the important rights are negative rights. The freedom to drive without expecting a grossly-incompetent driver (such as drunk or on drugs) implies that there is no right to drive while drunk or on drugs. Real incomes for working people were already much above what they were in 1927 by 1937 in part because of wage-and-hour laws that kept an employer from compelling one to choose between working uncompensated overtime or losing a job. Licensing requirements for driving a car may have kept some really-stupid people from driving a car. When you think about it, the average person first eligible to get a driver's license (at 16) is as intellectually-developed as a full adult with an IQ of 80. License plates? Those make it far easier for the police to track stolen cars and people using cars in the commission of crimes.

You obviously have more freedom earning $50K a year than by earning $10K a year, at the least in consumer choice. There is obviously far more consumer choice today than in 1927. The only clear negatives to life being better for most people relate to population growth; housing rent is much bigger as a share of income, and commutes are longer.