The John Nash Equilibrium is usually applied to
economics where win/lose can be transformed to win/win.
The Personal Choice Party applies this principle to
politics.
Usually, in competition, we see two alternatives: I win,
you lose; and you win, I lose. However, there are often
two other alternatives: I win, you win; and I lose, you
lose. John Nash received the Nobel Prize in economics in
1994 for illustrating the [I win, you win] option in
economics, and how to find it. His history is in the
book "The Essential John Nash", and the movie, "A
Beautiful Mind." I'll let you investigate the math if
you are interested.
Let's begin with a simple example: a boxing tournament
in a High School. Two young men, Bob and Jim, are good
friends. They are also on the boxing team and very
closely matched. The coach decides to pit them against
each other in an upcoming tournament. The prize will be
an excellent baseball bat and mit combination. Bob and
Jim are discussing the event with their friend, Bill. "I
really want that bat", says Jim, "I've already got a
good mit. Bob says he wants the mit and doesn't need a
bat. Bill thinks a bit and says there is a way for both
to win. "You flip a coin," he says, "and the loser
pretends to have an ankle injury and forfeits the match.
Then, the winner shows good sportsmanship by giving the
loser the prize he really wanted. Bob gets his mit and
Jim gets his bat. Win-win. That's a very simple example
of the John Nash equilibrium in sports.
One more story: In the days before radar, there is a sea
battle between the English and Germans in the North Sea.
A very heavy fog makes visibility impossible. Suddenly
the fog lifts. There sit two battleships, English and
German, within a few leagues of each other. The captains
open fire. Soon both ships are on the bottom. A single
English sailor swims to a very small life boat and
clings to the side. Then, a German comes to the other
side. Soon there are 3 English on one side and 3 Germans
on the other side. The boat will only hold 6 men.
Looking around, they see that they are alone. One of the
English speaks fluent German. He repeats himself in both
languages, "I am a pilot. I know where we are. I have a
compass in my pocket. I can direct us to Sweden, a
neutral country. If we row together, we might get there
in a day or two. Then we can find our separate embassies
and return to our homelands. If anyone tries any
violence, we will surely all die here and now. Each
sailor sees the 4 options: I win, you lose; I lose, you
win; I win, you win; and I lose, you lose. Each of them
chooses personal survival -- I win, you win. Quietly and
carefully, they climb into the lifeboat and mount the
oars. The pilot points the way and they row quietly
through the mists to Sweden.
The purpose of these stories is to illustrate the
current situation in America and the world. For the sake
of illustration, I will refer to the conservatives as
"left brain," and the liberals as "right brain." We
think we are playing "I win, you lose, versus I lose,
you win." Actually, we are playing "I win, you win,
versus I lose, you lose." For the last hundred years,
both sides have been losing.
I will define the left brain as the masculine side,
interested in protecting individual wealth and
controlling individual behavior that might impair the
production of wealth. Likewise, I define the right,
feminine, side as being interested in protecting any
individual pursuit of happiness that does not harm
others, and providing material goods, at the expense of
others. It's a rough outline of the Republican/Democrat
platforms and is split almost exactly in half among
Americans today. Both sides preach their freedom issues
when they are out of office and enforce their power
issues when in office. Those familiar with "The Lord of
the Rings", will understand how it is easy to increase
government power and difficult to reduce it. So, no
matter who wins, we get more power - power, I lose, you
lose.
The Founders defined a government of liberty in
maintaining individual property (the freedom side of the
left brain), and the pursuit of happiness that does not
cause harm (the freedom side of the right brain.) They
proposed the liberty issues of both left and right
brains, upholding the second paragraph of the
Declaration of Independence. They understood that
government would not be able to resist building the
power halves of each side, thus, they set up a system of
checks and balances to slow the race to tyranny. In the
Declaration they clearly gave the people the duty to
bring government back under control when needed. That
time is well past due!
Now, suppose that at least one-third of the right and
left-brainers would surrender the control part of their
platform if they could be assured the liberty half -- I
win, you win. If they could cooperate, they would form
more than 1/3 of the electorate and potentially win a
reasonable number of elections.
Enter the Personal Choice Party. Are you willing to
allow others to pursue their own happiness if they are
willing to let you keep your earnings? Are you willing
to allow others to keep their own property if they are
willing to allow you to choose your own harmless pursuit
of happiness? If your answer is "yes", please consider
the Personal Choice answer and let's save this planet
from tyranny while there is still time!
Check us out:
www.personalchoice.org and
www.votekenlarsen.com
Ken Larsen, Moderator
Personal Choice Party
