RE: LeoThread 2026-03-08 01-38

Many people, including some who call themselves conservatives, believe socialism would work if human nature were different
It cannot work, even in a hypothetical society of selfless, brilliant saints
Why not?

Socialism centralizes economic choices: how much lumber or wheat to produce, what a garbage collector should earn, how much insulin or bread should cost

Supporters assume the right leaders will make intelligent, altruistic decisions and everything will improve

But no matter how wise or benevolent decision-makers are, good choices require the right information. A central planning body doesn't know what is wanted or what is available because that information is carried in prices—the very signals erased by bureaucratic price controls

Market networks are decentralized and push decision-making to where the information exists
A metal seller may know nothing about desks or lumber, or how many desks are desired, or whether they should be oak or folded metal

But the seller does know the cost to turn iron ore into steel sheets, so a price is set and others decide whether and how much to buy

That price signals whether steel is plentiful and can be widely used, or scarce and should be reserved for things that require it, with furniture made from wood instead
Socialism enforces prices or redistributes money by threat of force

Each intervention wipes out crucial supply-and-demand data needed for decisions

Individual prices are guesses about where supply meets demand; free markets reward correct guesses, so aggregate prices become compressed data on supply and demand

For central planners to produce the correct number of cars or set the right car price they'd need knowledge of countless details about steel and aluminum, welders and robots, rubber and glass, batteries and copper, plus trillions of other data points from everyone in society

A firm like Tesla only needs to know what suppliers charge for inputs
Every market transaction compresses vital information into a concise signal passed to the next decision node, where available expertise uses it

Defective nodes receive quick feedback and either adjust or are replaced by ones that will

Yes, capitalism yields many undesirable outcomes, but it uncovers problems rather than creating them; they reflect current technology and persist until innovation changes the terrain

Under socialism no comparable remedy is possible, because progress-related problems are hidden by far worse issues created when decision-making is separated from where the information actually resides