Mechanism of Politics

by Lee, Chang Hoo

Chapter 1. Basic Principles of Political Phenomena

A. General Principles of Political Phenomena

(3) Basic Theory of Mathematical Politics

c. Desire Quantity and Will to Struggle

Generally, people's desires are short-term stable. In this case, what is stable is the total quantity of desire. People want a certain amount of food and drink, a certain level of safety, and a certain level of entertainment. They want a certain level of freedom and comfort.
The desire for fulfillment decreases if the desire has already been fulfilled in large quantities, due to the consistency of desire quantity. On the other hand, if the desire has only been fulfilled a little, the desire to fulfill it further remains very strong. Therefore, it can be concluded as follows:

Most people have a certain level of desire, and when food is scarce they strongly desire food, but once they have eaten enough, they desire it less. So when their stomach is full, food is no longer used to satisfy hunger but for other purposes, such as a tool for sensory stimulation. Similarly, most people desire freedom, but once they have obtained a certain level of freedom, they tend to just follow the choices of others and desire to be restrained enough.

The consistency of the desire amount refers to the same thing as the law of diminishing marginal utility that is mentioned in economics. This is because the will to satisfy a certain amount of desire weakens as the desire weakens, meaning that the utility decreases. However, the fundamental assumption is somewhat different and the mathematical models that follow it are also different.

If the amount of desire satisfaction () and the intensity of desire () can be properly quantified, the relationship between the two can be expressed in the following equation. (In the context, they will be represented as 'Qdr' and 'Frc', respectively).

[Fmla.1.8]

( is a constant)

This equation expresses the consistency of desire quantity[Ch.1.7]. It means that humans do not want something A infinitely, but that when they do want A, despite their strong desire, they are not able to act as strongly. For example, many people always want more money, so they earn money and still have an insatiable desire for money, but they do not work as desperately as they did when they were poor.

This equation can be simply transformed into an inverse proportion equation.

[Fmla.1.9]

or

Its representation by graph is as follows [Diag.1.A].

[Diag.1.A] Strength change of desire (will to struggle) according to the quantity of satisfaction (survival condition)

On the other hand, the unsatisfaction of desire, i.e. the less quantity of desire satisfaction, implies that the survival condition is bad, and the high degree of desire strength implies that the person has a strong will to struggle. Therefore, the consistency of desire quantity generates the following phenomena:

An example from early 19th century Russia in the reign of Alexander I, when the construction of military settlements (voennye poseleniia) was attempted but abandoned due to harsh survival conditions, demonstrates that harsh survival conditions lead to strong survival instincts. The military settlements were unbearable due to oppressive policies, even down to the most detailed aspects of the regulation, including the most brutal repression. The harsh living conditions ultimately led to a strong backlash, which was a survival struggle. The Consistency of Desire Quantity played a role in the causal relationship between World War I and World War II. After World War I, the harsh, retaliatory nature of the war reparations imposed on defeated Germany at the Paris Peace Conference severely damaged the German economy and made living conditions extremely harsh, leading economists like Keynes to predict another war. Ultimately, this led to the outbreak of World War II.

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