If a system is not zero-sum, then supplies of it are not limited and so it is of no value in trading for things that are limited.
This is not correct. That a situation is non-zero-sum does not mean that scarcity no longer exists. Nor does it mean that infinite quantities of something are available costlessly.
As an example, suppose we can each make a single pie (something we like) working alone, and can make three pies, split evenly, working together with the same time and effort. Deciding to cooperate to bake the pies is a non-zero-sum game, as joint cooperation give each “player” a half a pie they wouldn’t otherwise have with no loss to the other.
On the other hand, deciding how to split three pies that have already been baked is a zero-sum game.
In neither case do we have infinite pies.
It is also not the case that the existence of a non-scarce resource makes scarce resources valueless. In most places on Earth, air is not a scarce resource*. I can go outside right now and use as much as I want. However, air cannot be traded for health care, food, living space, Internet access, or education. It cannot be the case that “conservatives” (Who exactly do you mean? And what exactly are the arguments against “free” things that they make?) are threatened by non-scarce resources.
Regarding the anathema some people have for giving away things for free. There was a recent article by Terry Savage in the Chicago Sun Times on some children giving away free lemonade at a lemonade stand. She proceeded to lecture them that they couldn’t give away the lemonade for free, and then used that anecdote to explain all the problems of the nation on the idea that giving away things for free was ok. The mindset that she expressed is what I was thinking about when I wrote what I did.
The story was picked up and there are are a number of responses that show her logic to be somewhat flawed. If you google it you can find them.
Looked up the article. Granted that Savage doesn’t sound like she was as tactful as she should have been*, she is correct in that lemonade really does have an opportunity cost.
Indeed, I think it’s trivial to show that Savage’s actions were not a result of zero-sum bias. If she were just trying to maximize resources for herself on the basis that there’s a limited supply of stuff, she should just accept the lemonade. After all, she’d have both the lemonade and the money then. Yet, she argued for a position that would have made her worse off if she did perceive the situation as a zero-sum game.
Instead, as Savage writes in her reply to the criticism, she figured that the girls would be better off running the lemonade stand as a model business, as it would teach them lessons that would improve their future earning and society as a whole**. Given this belief, her action of trying to convince the girls to accept payment is the “positive-sum thinking” you seem to be talking about.
If you want to say that Savage’s actions were wrong for some other reason… you know what, I agree that she just should have accepted the lemonade. But this isn’t zero-sum thinking.
*Although contrary to some… creative… interpretations of the article I found Googling for it, Savage seems quite civil, if perhaps eccentric.
**I’m skeptical of the ability of a lemonade stand to have much of an effect one way or the other.
You don’t have infinite pies, but if you can only consume one pie, a pie and a half might as well be infinite. If everyone has a pie and a half and no one can consume more than one pie, then there is zero value attached to the extra half pie that everyone has. There is even negative value attached to it because the excess pie needs to be disposed of or it will attract vermin and become moldy.
If you can thwart the pie-making abilities of others, such that they can only make half a pie, then your pie and a half is worth more. Thwarting the positive sum efforts of others is part-and-parcel to success with a zero-sum mindset.
If you make infinite pies and give them away for free, then pie-making skills do become valueless.
This is classic monopoly activity. If you have a monopoly, you can extract a disproportionate share of the value added from that monopoly and use that monopoly power to expand into other areas by giving away products,, driving competitors out of business and then charging for what had been given away for free.
To use another example, suppose you have a monopoly in an operating system. You can use revenues from that monopoly to subsidize developing and giving away a web browser. Because of the barriers to entry for web browsers, no one can compete with you with a stand alone browser unless they have revenues from some other source. If no competitors develop a browser (from which they can derive no income), then you have another monopoly and can begin to charge a monopoly premium for your web browser.
If there are a multitude of browsers, some of which are given away, then there is no value associated with a proprietary browser and so there is no monopoly.
The browser market is approximately zero-sum (over the short term). There are a finite number of computers needing a browser, once that need is satisfied there is no additional need. A zero-sum mindset with a monopoly then causes obsolescence so more browsers are needed. A positive-sum mindset makes something new so now there is a browser and something that does something else, a wowser, then a flowser, a smowser, a growser and all manner of other -owsers.
This is not correct. That a situation is non-zero-sum does not mean that scarcity no longer exists. Nor does it mean that infinite quantities of something are available costlessly.
As an example, suppose we can each make a single pie (something we like) working alone, and can make three pies, split evenly, working together with the same time and effort. Deciding to cooperate to bake the pies is a non-zero-sum game, as joint cooperation give each “player” a half a pie they wouldn’t otherwise have with no loss to the other.
On the other hand, deciding how to split three pies that have already been baked is a zero-sum game.
In neither case do we have infinite pies.
It is also not the case that the existence of a non-scarce resource makes scarce resources valueless. In most places on Earth, air is not a scarce resource*. I can go outside right now and use as much as I want. However, air cannot be traded for health care, food, living space, Internet access, or education. It cannot be the case that “conservatives” (Who exactly do you mean? And what exactly are the arguments against “free” things that they make?) are threatened by non-scarce resources.
*There are exceptions, I know.
Regarding the anathema some people have for giving away things for free. There was a recent article by Terry Savage in the Chicago Sun Times on some children giving away free lemonade at a lemonade stand. She proceeded to lecture them that they couldn’t give away the lemonade for free, and then used that anecdote to explain all the problems of the nation on the idea that giving away things for free was ok. The mindset that she expressed is what I was thinking about when I wrote what I did.
The story was picked up and there are are a number of responses that show her logic to be somewhat flawed. If you google it you can find them.
Looked up the article. Granted that Savage doesn’t sound like she was as tactful as she should have been*, she is correct in that lemonade really does have an opportunity cost.
Indeed, I think it’s trivial to show that Savage’s actions were not a result of zero-sum bias. If she were just trying to maximize resources for herself on the basis that there’s a limited supply of stuff, she should just accept the lemonade. After all, she’d have both the lemonade and the money then. Yet, she argued for a position that would have made her worse off if she did perceive the situation as a zero-sum game.
Instead, as Savage writes in her reply to the criticism, she figured that the girls would be better off running the lemonade stand as a model business, as it would teach them lessons that would improve their future earning and society as a whole**. Given this belief, her action of trying to convince the girls to accept payment is the “positive-sum thinking” you seem to be talking about.
If you want to say that Savage’s actions were wrong for some other reason… you know what, I agree that she just should have accepted the lemonade. But this isn’t zero-sum thinking.
*Although contrary to some… creative… interpretations of the article I found Googling for it, Savage seems quite civil, if perhaps eccentric.
**I’m skeptical of the ability of a lemonade stand to have much of an effect one way or the other.
You don’t have infinite pies, but if you can only consume one pie, a pie and a half might as well be infinite. If everyone has a pie and a half and no one can consume more than one pie, then there is zero value attached to the extra half pie that everyone has. There is even negative value attached to it because the excess pie needs to be disposed of or it will attract vermin and become moldy.
If you can thwart the pie-making abilities of others, such that they can only make half a pie, then your pie and a half is worth more. Thwarting the positive sum efforts of others is part-and-parcel to success with a zero-sum mindset.
If you make infinite pies and give them away for free, then pie-making skills do become valueless.
This is classic monopoly activity. If you have a monopoly, you can extract a disproportionate share of the value added from that monopoly and use that monopoly power to expand into other areas by giving away products,, driving competitors out of business and then charging for what had been given away for free.
To use another example, suppose you have a monopoly in an operating system. You can use revenues from that monopoly to subsidize developing and giving away a web browser. Because of the barriers to entry for web browsers, no one can compete with you with a stand alone browser unless they have revenues from some other source. If no competitors develop a browser (from which they can derive no income), then you have another monopoly and can begin to charge a monopoly premium for your web browser.
If there are a multitude of browsers, some of which are given away, then there is no value associated with a proprietary browser and so there is no monopoly.
The browser market is approximately zero-sum (over the short term). There are a finite number of computers needing a browser, once that need is satisfied there is no additional need. A zero-sum mindset with a monopoly then causes obsolescence so more browsers are needed. A positive-sum mindset makes something new so now there is a browser and something that does something else, a wowser, then a flowser, a smowser, a growser and all manner of other -owsers.
I really want a smowser.