Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mmrezaie 2865 days ago
It is so sadly funny that the strongest economy in the world can be manipulated so deeply this fast and nothing happens. This makes me want to read more about the Mongols, Romans, and Persians history. This must be a great time to do analytical research on how to measure manipulation of the mainstream opinions about well anything. I like to see some good simulators on the matter. Maybe gaming industry can help!
2 comments

There is a lot of historical data on it already. Also in markets much more similar to modern markets, but it’s important to keep in mind that things are different depending on the period.

Today the most valuable parts of a country isn’t raw materials or factories, but know-how, and know-how is a lot more mobile than any other resource.

Romans faced a different threat, in that their biggest resource was the materials and the factories, and because of that, they didn’t want one region to have access to all of it. So they made their weapons in a different place than their food source.

I don’t think protectionism or nationalism has ever really worked though. You mention the Roman Empire, but it thrived the most when it was the most inclusive, tolerating every region and culture as long as they all paid their taxes on time and accepted everyone else. One of the key reasons the Roman Empire originally was so tough on Christianity and Judaism was because the monotheisms didn’t accept others.

I think it’ll be alright though, America has been through worse than Trump and the alt-right.

A fairly modern take on mass manipulation, circa 1964:

The Image: A Guide To Psuedo Events In America

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159979.The_Image