tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418301462057710132.post7587016278116044632..comments2011-02-10T18:59:06.714-05:00Comments on MethodLogical: Why the Poor Don't Soak the Rich in the U.S.Adam Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10009267866977947931noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418301462057710132.post-51010931417790916622011-02-10T18:59:06.714-05:002011-02-10T18:59:06.714-05:00Ever read EP Thompson's "The Moral Econom...Ever read EP Thompson's "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the 18th Century"? I think it might be instructive. Thompson essentially argues that purely economic causes or instrumental reasoning are not enough to explain riots in 18th century England (and by extension other sorts of uprising). The idea of the moral economy is supposed to emphasize that the raw economic fact of, say, hunger or inequality will not in itself determine behavior. Rather they have to be understood in conjunction with cultural ideas about fair distribution, rights, and appropriate responses to their violation. <br /><br />In the US I'd say the idea of the free market as a fair distributive instrument is part of it--as you say. But I'd add that such an idea did not achieve its current level of acceptance on its own. There was a lot of active squashing of workers movements and, of course, the cold war that push certain ways of thinking to the front and others to the back.Jason Hopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03684719735097637389noreply@blogger.com