Interesting Links for 13-02-2020

[andrewducker]

How the Danish electoral system makes it one of the most representative in the world

(tags:denmark elections voting )

When Rage Against The Machine announced they were playing a bookshop

(tags:funny music books shops )

Squabbling mice win photography award

(tags:mice photos nature )

Many stories are told of a legendary trickster, a prankster, a fellow of infinite jest. But what do we really know of this "Bon Jovi"?

(tags:funny music myths viaJohnBobShaun )

Why are all the great philosophers so bad?

(tags:philosophy )

The Myth of the Barter Economy

(tags:economics history )

British man sleeping on streets in Europe after being blocked from entering UK

(tags:UK citizenship OhForFucksSake )

Irish reunification - what does the law say?

(tags:Ireland NorthernIreland UK law viaDanielDWilliam )

How McKinsey Destroyed the Middle Class

(tags:management business inequality )

Jordan Peterson, Addiction, and the Cult of Personal Responsibility

(tags:addiction wtf )

Google's Android Keyboard "GBoard" - 13 handy shortcuts

(tags:keyboard android google )

People Born Blind Are Mysteriously Protected From Schizophrenia

(tags:blindness schizophrenia viaSwampers )

Coronavirus (COVID-19): latest information and advice

(tags:disease virus UK China )

Comments

[cmcmck]

I posted the pic of the baby black rhino and the game warden- that's an absolute classic! :o)

[andrewducker]

That is delightful!

Burning questions of our time

[simont]

But which of them is *boop*ing which?

Re: Burning questions of our time

[andrewducker]

In the future all booping will be mutual.

[claudeb]

That is one amazing photo.

In unrelated news, good job digging up the story on barter economy. It need to be shouted from the rooftops.

[andrewducker]

Glad you liked it!

[calimac]

1) The most interesting thing about the Danish electoral system is that geographic size of the constituency plays a role in determining number of seats allocated.

2) I'm missing something here. Why did this band (I'm assuming "Rage Against the Machine" is the name of a band) announce it was playing in a bookshop?

8) The most interesting part of the Irish reunion law is the provision that seven years need to pass between polls on this topic. What if that were applied elsewhere? I just thought I'd note that it's been over 5 years since the Scottish independence referendum: the clock is ticking.

[autopope]

Note that those GBoard shortcuts do not work on iOS. And it doesn't mention this anywhere in the linked article. Because FML.

[andrewducker]

That seems odd.
Do these ones?
https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/20-tips-help-you-master-gboard-for-iphone-0182301/

Barter

[danieldwilliam]

I'm not surprised by the lack of evidence for a barter economy that pre-dates money.

It looks like the earliest forms of writing were for accountancy and tax records.

I can see a situation where communities are small enough and co-dependent enough that things like a gift economy and centralised communal storage works. Roughly everyone is able to keep an eye on what people are long or short of, who did who a favour and who is putting in more or less to the commonweal and to respond accordingly. Which isn't (as the article lays out) the same as a barter exchange economy.

When things get a bit bigger, more complex and more centralised you might need to formalise that as the number of relationships is going to scale by some exponential. So you write stuff down.

You might use the state treasury or temple granery as a sort of clearing house.

The money (in the form of publically recorded ins and outs, like a bank ledger) exists in the writen records of the state.

When things get bigger or more complex and the number and complexity of transactions and relationships starts to exceed the capacity of a centralised bureaucracy that's when you might need to introduce cash so people don't need a record of all points of the transactions, they can do spot exchange.

And spot barter is only necessary in a society used to spot exchange for cash if there is a shortage of cash or failure in the quality of the money supply.

So communal resourcing first, followed by state bureacracy second, followed by cash transactions followed by barter.

That makes sense to me.

Re: Barter

[andrewducker]

That makes perfect sense to me.

Re: Barter

[naath]

"Debt: the first 5000 years" covers this topic in much more detail, if anyone is interested.

Re: Barter

[andrewducker]

I really should get around to reading that.

Maybe I can find the time if I read it as a bedtime book to Sophia.

Re: Barter

[naath]

It is quite readable as a non-economist, I'm not sure a child would be enthralled, but maybe.

Re: Barter

[andrewducker]

She understands at least fifteen different animal names and several parts of the body. So long as I skip all the words that aren't that we'll be fine!

Re: Barter

[naath]

The most important animal is Red Panda :)

[anna_wing]

A world run entirely by a gift economy would have its own issues. Money buys freedom, in that you are no longer dependent on personal goodwill towards you to obtain the resources you need to survive and thrive. Being in a small, closely-knit community is not fun for anyone who for any reason is outside the acceptable norms of that particular community.

[drplokta]

The Danish electoral system may be very representative, but it has two unappealing features, which are that the constituencies are very large, and there are two different types of MP — some have constituency responsibilities and some do not. I would rather see a PR system that keeps a one-to-one correspondence between MPs and constituencies.

[andrewducker]

From the description they assign representatives back to constituencies.