Robert Nozick -- Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?

Boyes and I have blogged on more than one occasion on the notion of spontaneous orders (emergent and evolutionary in nature) and command systems. The former arise from the actions of individuals, what Austrians characterize of human action and not of human design. That is, liberal societies that are civil allow for a diversity that leads to outcomes far different than anything a single human could envision.

The latter suggests that the chaos of humanity is best tamed and controlled in order to achieve some aim.

Hayek and Sowell have invested time in exploring this difference in cosmology. Nozick's article is an accessible and provocative examination of the underlying rational for the command perspective. I found his focus on intellectuals and public education thoughtful and worth considering:

Central Planning in the Classroom
There is a further point to be added. The (future) wordsmith intellectuals are successful within the formal, official social system of the schools, wherein the relevant rewards are distributed by the central authority of the teacher. The schools contain another informal social system within classrooms, hallways, and schoolyards, wherein rewards are distributed not by central direction but spontaneously at the pleasure and whim of schoolmates. Here the intellectuals do less well.

It is not surprising, therefore, that distribution of goods and rewards via a centrally organized distributional mechanism later strikes intellectuals as more appropriate than the "anarchy and chaos" of the marketplace. For distribution in a centrally planned socialist society stands to distribution in a capitalist society as distribution by the teacher stands to distribution by the schoolyard and hallway.

Robert Nozick -- Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?

The analysis of the alternative perspectives - individual v command, is the topic of the Econ Talk episode with Dan Klein.

Dan Klein of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the marvel of economic coordination that takes place without a coordinator--the sequence of complex tasks done by individuals often separated by immense distances who unknowingly contribute to everyday products and services we enjoy. Klein also discusses what he calls "the people's romance"--the idea that the highest form of human cooperation is through government action.

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2008/02/dan_klein_on_co.html