Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Sociology of the Skating Rink

Once Olivia is old enough to don a pair of Nancy Kerrigans, my wife and I are going to take her ice skating. We went today. I, having been skating a total of 3 times over 24 years, hobbled my way around building confidence. During that time the multitude of youngins chaotically bobbed and weaved around me. I realized that this simple skating rink was the best example of anarcho-capitalism that I could think of--Hayek's "spontaneous social order". Without coercion or even thought, all the individuals on the rink were skating in a sort of order without running into each other (except intentionally) and even helping each other out when a spill occurred. Fascinating.

How is it, though, that preschoolers and younger children can exemplify a social order that adults need a large, bureaucratic State to achieve?

1 comment:

~greg said...

I think it has something to do with skating having boundaries, and needing skill...unfortunately schools help people unlearn these social order skills and boundaries (maybe?)