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Notes -
I like Caplan, but I also detest him. For Caplan, all the soft glue that holds a polity together are mostly irrational, tribal instincts. I strongly disagree with this.
"I don’t love you, Nationalism. I don’t even like you. I don’t want 'patriotic solidarity' with you. I want you to leave me alone." - Caplan, 2014
What would be the fair wage to risk your life for Billion Man USA Inc. in a time of mobilization? War is a contingency, not a state of being, but it's a major contingency that blobs of organized territory filled with people need to plan for. It'd be one thing if this was just a blind spot, but from what I gather Caplan sees limited value in most things that make a blob of territory a nation with civilization to be called home. He is mostly happy he doesn't have to be around the people that fill the nation he shares his ideas in.
I'm not in love with nationalism either, but one doesn't need to be in love with it to understand its place. It's not only
being wrongdisagreeing about open borders that makes me write that I detest him a little. I get the sense that if shit hit the fan, for whatever reason, then Caplan would plainly buy the first ticket out. Why stay in a place on a downturn? Why not be selfish?Even, or especially, Billion Man USA Inc. would require more from its populous than productivity. That's not something Caplan is prepared to share despite advocating for it. Noblesse oblige is not optional, Dr. Caplan!
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