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May 21, 2005
Darth Vader and Adam Smith: Similar philosophies on political economy?
Ok. This might have seemed like a good idea when he thought of it, but you cannot do justice to this in 700 words. Trying to do it in such a short space is just not right.
Smith knew that some people professed love for all humanity, but he realized that a man's love for "the members of his own family" is "more precise and determinate, than it can be with the greater part of other people." Hence his famous warning not to rely on the kindness of strangers outside your family: if you want bread, it's better to count on the baker's self-interest rather than his generosity.
Theory of Moral Sentiments vs. Wealth of Nations. Also called the "Adam Smith Problem" (or as I prefer, the "so-called Adam Smith Problem" since it's really not a problem). Got it. Familiar with the concept.
Tierney uses the first half of his column to compare this to the Jedi's use of the Force for good vs. Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side. (Must...resist...puns...about...an invisible hand.)
Nonsense. I don't think Adam Smith regarded this as a good vs. evil issue. The "Adam Smith Problem" is not a problem. Tierney's only real cinematic example to support his claim is that Anakin recognizes the limits of altruism. Well, it's a big step from that to... well, you know how the story goes.
Then, in a return to reality, Tierney mentions a paper by Daniel Klein, which I think I might like to read. It's called "The People’s Romance: Why People Love Government (as much as they do)." Sounds interesting. I think this paper probably has a lot more to do with TMS and WN than Star Wars does. Tierney was just straining for an analogy to pitch this idea in his column. Sometimes you find an analogy that works, sometimes you don't. The Darth Vader/Adam Smith thing didn't do it for me.
Luke Skywalker would be a better candidate for an Adam Smith character. (Ok, ok... I'm not saying the analogy works that well for any character, just that Luke represents Adam Smith better than Vader does.)
UPDATE: Brad DeLong and Matthew Ygesias agree. Brad says:
...first, because praise of the ethics of Darth Vader is simply bizarre, and, second, because it is a clear misreading of Adam Smith
That pretty much says it all.
Weird. Really weird.
Posted by William Polley at May 21, 2005 2:49 AM
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