About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

11 Cato J. 27 (1991-1992)
Nondesignability of Living Systems: A Lesson from the Failed Experiments in Socialist Countries

handle is hein.journals/catoj11 and id is 29 raw text is: THE NONDESIGNABILITY OF LIVING SYSTEMS: A LESSON FROM THE FAILED EXPERIMENTS IN SOCIALIST COUNTRIES Jixuan Hu Introduction To some readers from the West, the point addressed here may seem to be just common sense. However, not all cultures share the same idea of common sense. Ideological bias may cause blindness to or misunderstandings of another culture's common sense. For instance, Western ideas cannot be accepted easily in socialist coun- tries such as China and the Soviet Union, and vice versa, but careful scientific analysis of ideas may produce a better chance of communi- cation between people with different ideologies. On the other hand, what appears to be common sense may be misleading. Many West- erners observe the problems in socialist countries at only a tourist's level. At such a level, phenomena are oversimplified and misunder- stood. Thus, larger gaps instead of bridges of communication are created. Designing a better or even a perfect society is one of the most persistent ideals in human history. From the time of Plato to that of Marx, and even today, finding a blueprint for a better society has been a constant goal. The communist movement since the 19th century can be seen as an experiment in designing a better society. The core of the design is a centrally controlled social-political-economic system. Marx drew a sketch, Lenin worked out a draft, Stalin standardized the blueprint, and Mao copied most of it. People in power-Tito, Khrushchev, Cato journal, Vol. 11, No. I (Spring/Summer 1991). Copyright 0 Cato Institute. All rights reserved. The author is a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Management Science at George Washington University. He wishes to thank the Cybernetics Research Program at George Washington University for supporting his work. He also thanks Stuart Umpleby, Hao Jia, and Zhengfu Shi for their valuable comments and assistance. This paper is an edited version of Hu (1990), which is based on Hu (1988). 27

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most