1.) Who is James Quillian? James Quilllian is an independent scholar and temporarily the best economist in the world. James defines economics as the study of how self interest manifests through the human race. Economics starts with the study of natural law, which always trumps any economic theory. The study of economics like any other search for the truth starts with discovering what is not true.
2.) James Quillian, you present yourself as the world’s best economist. What are your credentials? I don’t have any credentials. If I had credentials from a major university, that would imply that I was clueless. Modern economic thought is based of fantasy. I am fantasy free.
3.) James, why do you insist that human beings are herd animals”
Traditionally human beings are described as children of God. They are described an being God like in nature, independent by nature and freedom loving. If people had these kinds of properties here is no way a government would operate independently of its citizens. Citizens would constantly rein in government.
It starts by noticing that the ways in which people describe themselves don’t account for the behaviors they exhibit. The broadly accepted descriptions of human nature are certainly not accurate.
Chances are very good then that human beings are controlled by a herding instinct like the instincts we study in other animals. People don’t want to be herd animals so they profess not to be but their behaviors indicate otherwise. My observation of groups leads to the conclusion that humans engage in group behavior the same as lower animals and most instinctive tendencies completely paralleled those of other animals.
Notice where government is concerned, what people expect, is automatic and is in conflict with what empirical evidence is shows. Rich, poor, stupid and brilliant all function on the basis that government can create jobs and enhance economic activity. 50,000 years of evidence demonstrates that government intervention in an economy always causes poverty and failure. Not once have citizens benefited from a government economic intervention. Belief in the prowess of government has to be instinctive and inborn. There is no evidence anywhere that this kind of faith is justified.
So, in dealing with government, behavior is instinctive and based on a herding instinct.
When studying aggregations of people, expect them to behave like herd animals and what you notice will make perfect sense. Why do people mindlessly return incumbents to office over and over again. It is instinctive. There is a natural propensity to worship leaders and a natural aversion to treating leaders like employees.
Accept the popular descriptions of human behavior and in a million years you will never come close to explaining the decisions they make when voting.
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