You may be right on the semantics. Rather than attributing intent to a system, I should have said âno large-scale system whose implementers were seriously trying to maximize wellbeingâ. Even at the beginning of well-intentioned socialist revolutions, it seems like state economic control typically led to a focus on military buildup, or disastrous economic policies, or other things that werenât done with general welfare in mind. Socialist theorists often had a lot in common with EA thinkers, but the failures of implementation/âfailure to take economic evidence seriously meant that the theory didnât get very far.
(Caveat: This is a very un-nuanced take from a non-historian.)
Iâm glad this was helpful!
You may be right on the semantics. Rather than attributing intent to a system, I should have said âno large-scale system whose implementers were seriously trying to maximize wellbeingâ. Even at the beginning of well-intentioned socialist revolutions, it seems like state economic control typically led to a focus on military buildup, or disastrous economic policies, or other things that werenât done with general welfare in mind. Socialist theorists often had a lot in common with EA thinkers, but the failures of implementation/âfailure to take economic evidence seriously meant that the theory didnât get very far.
(Caveat: This is a very un-nuanced take from a non-historian.)