Utopian Analysis
The Science of Civilization

e can analyze social controversies into their root ideals, and ideals can be put to the test by political experiments. After we have ruled out the alternatives by putting them to the test of time and history, the one that survives is well-established. Prohibition was a test of an alternative to liberty, namely "big brother knows best." The failure of Prohibition leaves liberty the only known alternative to pass every test. The Soviet Union was a test of an alternative to free enterprise, namely the socialist ideal of "from each according to ability, to each according to need." The failure of the Soviet Union leaves free enterprise as the only known alternative to pass all its tests.

he existing sciences are not the only possible kind. They are based on a narrow range of the spectrum of experience, and they tackle only a single kind of problem, that of explanation. But we don't want to explain civilizations, we want to fix them. The essence can be extracted from the accidents, as Aristotle would say, and applied to new realms of thought. That is exactly what I am going to do.

cientific method is just the common sense of the West, used by shadetree mechanics, mothers with crying babies, gardeners, and even the master detective himself, Sherlock Holmes. If the baby is crying, we first see if it is wet. No. Hungry? No. Is a pin or other object sticking the baby? No. Needs to burp? No. Maybe the baby is bored. Get out the stroller, take the baby for a walk in the park. The crying stops and the baby takes a nap. Problem solved.

cientific method does not require math, laboratories, or even explanation. We have a problem. We try to solve it, whether it is a car that won't start, a crying baby, a wilting plant, or an unsolved string of crimes. Scientific method requires reproducibility, veridical details, and rigorous tests to rule out all the known alternatives. A theory that survives alone amidst continued rigorous testing and expansion of its range of application is considered "well-established." As Sherlock Holmes said, "When you have ruled out the alternatives, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." It is theory which allows us to apply past experience to the present problem.

ortunately, the essence of scientific method can be applied to every kind of problem, and for each there is some realm of experience that can provide an answer. All we need is to find the equivalent of a fact, a theory, and a test. The equivalent of a theory in utopian analysis is the social ideal, such as socialism or personal liberty or reciprocity. We will be able to analyze controversies and social problems into instances or consequences of well-known ideals, or their alternatives. That is why I call this new science I've invented utopian Analysis.

n utopian analysis, the equivalent of a test is a political experiment, such as the 75 years of the Soviet Empire's experiment with socialism. The ideal of socialism is "from each according to ability, to each according to need." In practice, the "need" is always decided by some central government. Other aspects of socialism include common ownership of the means of production, which in practice means ownership by the government.

n the 1930s, the peasants rebelled when Stalin took their land, and they weren't very productive later under socialism, since they got the same meagre rations whether they worked hard or not. Millions of the recalcitrant peasants were sent to Siberia or executed by Stalin. Finally, Communism began to fail, beginning about 1989, partly because of the perpetual shortage of consumer goods. Socialism had proved to be a very poor economic system. It provided no incentive for higher productivity. Thus, the failure of Communism is the refutation of the ideal of socialism.

n science, we require reproducibility. Socialism also failed in the UK, when it was tried after WW II, and it is a failure in Cuba. As an economic engine for creating wealth, it has always failed. That is a normative particular, the equivalent of a fact in sciences of value. As Sherlock Holmes said, "When you have ruled out the alternatives, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

Copyright © Thales 2001

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