Action at the Margins

Prices are determined at the margins. What's meant by this is that the market price of any good is determined by the latest transaction in that good. It does not matter whether the vast majority of market participants think the price is wrong. As long as there are participants engaging in trade, they set the price. When buyers or sellers are satisfied at a given price, prices adjust to encourage the next set of transactions. If sellers disappear, prices go up so as to encourage new sellers to transact. If buyers disappear, prices go down so as to attract new buyers.

What's interesting to note is that action happens only as long as there are marginal actors. If buyers stubbornly insist on lower prices while sellers stubbornly insist on higher prices, there will be no transactions.

This mechanism is glaringly obvious in markets. However, it extends into all sorts of activities. Social interaction only happens when everybody feels that they gain from it. That's why there's virtually no social interaction between die hard conservatives and die hard progressives. Such people tend to prefer the company of their peers. They'd rather preach to each other in the comfortable knowledge that there will be no opposition. Alternatively, they will engage their intellectual adversaries in hostile verbal exchanges.

The market place of ideas is in this way just like the market place of goods and services. The bulk of potential interaction is simply waiting for the right moment to act. The only activity of any importance is at the margins. There might be large scale protests and manifestations. But none of this serves to convince anyone of anything. They merely confirm pre-set notions. Very few people ever find themselves greatly influenced by such events. They only serve to polarize society further, so much so that all interaction between rivalling ideas come to an end in much the same way trade halts when sellers and buyers cannot come to any agreement.

This means that anyone with an ambition to change society should do so subtly and carefully. Going all in with our most extreme views will not convince anyone except the few who already agree with us. Marches and manifestations are equally useless. Way more effective is to teach by example. Be subtly subversive in all that we do. Show the world that we are not afraid, and largely unimpressed by rules and regulations. By wearing our masks sloppily and enjoying the outdoors, we let everybody know that we're not afraid. By choosing home schooling over formal schooling, we show the world that we value liberty. As Albert Camus once said: The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Nothing beats life itself when it comes to influencing people. Instead of arguing and petitioning for change, we must be the change. Our every interaction with others should be an example of how good life can be. It's only when such marginal interactions gain traction that real revolutions happen. Every other approach is merely beating about the bush with no real change as a consequence.

Albert Camus

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