From Oxford to Wall Street

This is disastrous for any civilization...

And an unfortunate consequence of neglecting excessive power concentration.

Some value may be seen also in taking an anthropological approach!

In my recent brief post on this issue, "Compensation & the Social Network" http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2009/10/compensation-so... , I point out that the competition for status and wealth takes place WITHIN the individual's social network and NOT WITHIN the social organism as a whole. (plumbers compare themselves to other tradesmen while CEO's compare themselves to other CEO's).

The import of this for the social contract resides in the stresses created where social networks become isolated over time (oligarchy) creating an "Ultimatum Game" situation for those individuals and especially social networks that perceive themselves as no longer a party to that social contract (with consequences ranging from regime changes to revolutions and/or civil decay).

This is why there is a point at which wealth division becomes a direct threat to the social contract. This "point" will vary depending on many factors... but at our current stage in cultural evolution there is nothing more important here than the role of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and what David Brin calls a "Moore's Law of Cultural Change".

This tension between the social network and the social organism extends back to the birth of agriculture... but things are moving quite rapidly now.

For a few thoughts on this (and at least what may be a framework for an approach to solutions) I hope you'll see my post "How would hunter-gatherers rule the world? (Pssst... They do!)" http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-would-hunte...