Evolution quotes: Socialism 9 May 20129 May 2012 To the biologist the problem of socialism appears largely as a problem of size. The extreme socialists desire to run every nation as a single business concern. I do not suppose that Henry Ford would find much difficulty in running Andorra or Luxembourg on a socialistic basis. He has already more men on his pay-roll than their population. It is conceivable that a syndicate of Fords, if we could find them, would make Belgium Ltd or Denmark Inc. pay their way. But while nationalization of certain industries is an obvious possibility in the largest of states, I find it no easier to picture a completely socialized British Empire or United States than an elephant turning somersaults or a hippopotamus jumping a hedge. [J. B. S. Haldane, “On Being the Right Size” 1928] Evolution Politics Quotes
Evolution The cultural canoe 19 Feb 200818 Sep 2017 A new paper, unfortunately not yet available to nonsubscribers on PNAS‘s Early Edition, has done some remarkable work on the evolution of canoe designs, putting some meat onto cultural evolutionary models. Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity Hope for bonobos 21 Nov 2007 The African apes don’t get much good news these days. But the Congo has just announced they are setting up a preserve to protect the bonobo. The size of the Sankuru Nature Reserve is 11,803 square miles (in real money, 30 569.629 square kilometers), which makes it nearly half the… Read More
Evolution Two almost bear patterns from a partial Symocyon of a sesamoid “thumb” 14 Apr 2010 I’m really sorry for that pun. I’ve been waiting for years… Anyway, Laelaps (Brian Switek) has a lovely report on the panda’s “thumb” (actually, the sesamoid wrist bone being independently used by a bear lineage and a lineage closer to racoons than to bears, result in the giant panda and… Read More
” I find it no easier to picture a completely socialized British Empire or United States than an elephant turning somersaults or a hippopotamus jumping a hedge.” Or a completely socialized — and prosperous — Soviet Union or China.
Very slick piece of writing. The introduction to this brings the point vividly and dramatical to life. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7166801834924005619
…I’m not sure that the question of whether political/economic systems “work” is a biological question (or “problem”), unless many (many, many, many) parameters can first be defined in biological terms (jumping ability of elephants, for example). Unless, of course, all problems are biological problems.
Yes these mad Marxist scientist and their strange theories, as any sane historian would note the first question to ask is one of context.
Nice strawman in those ‘extreme socialists’ Haldane conjured up for us. What’s next, posts on how ‘extreme facists’ have it all wrong?
In 1928, this was indeed a concern. If he made comments about fascists of any stripe in 1928, I would say he was unduly prescient.