This video, created in 2010, offers a Marxist view of capitalism. Since the posting of this video, global capitalism has demonstrated even less reason to keep it around. Of course the question ultimately comes down to how we dismantle the current structure and begin to replace it with something that reflects a 21st century reality, a system that is capable of benefiting the vast majority of people on a changing planet.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
A recent, personal history of capitalism and the global depression
While David Harvey is a professor at the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York, he is relatively unknown in the United
States. His fields are in the area of geography, social theory and
political economy, yet, his views have had considerable influence on
the study of capitalism, both positive and negative.
This video, created in 2010, offers a Marxist view of capitalism. Since the posting of this video, global capitalism has demonstrated even less reason to keep it around. Of course the question ultimately comes down to how we dismantle the current structure and begin to replace it with something that reflects a 21st century reality, a system that is capable of benefiting the vast majority of people on a changing planet.
This video, created in 2010, offers a Marxist view of capitalism. Since the posting of this video, global capitalism has demonstrated even less reason to keep it around. Of course the question ultimately comes down to how we dismantle the current structure and begin to replace it with something that reflects a 21st century reality, a system that is capable of benefiting the vast majority of people on a changing planet.
Thursday, May 08, 2014
Part 2: The consequences
No business which depends for
existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any
right to continue in this country
(President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
1933)
The story may be apocryphal but it
caught my attention. A few nights ago in a television interview with
Strobe Talbott, former U.S. diplomat and now president of the
Brookings Institute, Talbott told a story about President Vladimir
Putin of Russia when he was a young KGB officer in the 1980s.
Seemingly Mr. Putin received a less than glowing performance review
from his superiors because he was too much of a “risk taker.”
Take a psychopath to lunch
Well, but maybe you ought not to go
to lunch with one, even though they can be charming and
understanding, like Hannibal Lecter for instance. For that matter the
person could be a relatively “normal” hedge fund manager or high
government official. It's your decision. According to some scientists
that study the “condition,” these folks may make up 2 to 5
percent of the human population.
For some experts the differentiation
between psychopathy and sociopathy is important. Whereas the behavior
of the psychopath may be more erratic and noticeable, the sociopath
is more controlled. The psychopath may tend to act on impulse, while
the sociopath usually wants to minimize exposure.
Psychopaths are oftentimes not able
to maintain normal relationships, while sociopaths are generally well
organized, normal in social relationships and are frequently quite
successful in their profession. Risk taking may be a common
characteristic, the psychopath being more impulsive and the sociopath
more deliberate. As well, sociopaths can be very good at
manipulating human emotions. At the extreme end of the spectrum,
however, they are violent and dangerous. Probably best not to pursue
a deep friendship with one.
Key components of what is referred to
as Antisocial Personality Disorder might include a lack of guilt or
remorse, a diminished capacity for empathy, abuse of others in
various forms and “malignant narcissism.” These qualities are of
course found throughout society today, in almost every profession,
but it's likely that some professions are more attractive than others
for those who have APD.
On the other hand, courageousness and
the willingness to commit unremitting and continuous violence were
valued qualities among our ancestors at one time, be they within the
clan, the village or even the nation. These characteristics were
likely important factors in the survival of our species, at least in
our early days. Based on the number of television shows and movies we
have about serial killers and assorted psychopaths, we clearly have a
morbid curiosity about these people.
Speaking of Vladimir Putin, FP has a
very interesting article entitled How Putin Is Reinventing Warfare.
An entire region of Eastern Europe is a laboratory for Antisocial
Personality Disorder, helped along by almost everyone including the
U.S.
What makes us human
While we know that our genes have
been passed down through billions of years, from the very beginning
of life, evolutionary biologists, geneticists and neuroscientists are
now learning that some genes are much younger, in some cases only a
few million years old. Some came from the common ancestor of both
humans and apes and the very youngest emerged when we diverged from
our cousins the apes some 6 to 7 million years ago. We're only just
starting to understand genetic influences and the impact on humankind
and what in fact shapes our behavior and makes us human.
What is referred to as the “big 5”
classes of personality traits are (1) openness, (2)
conscientiousness, (3) extraversion, (4) agreeableness and (5)
neuroticism. It is thought that approximately 50 % are related to
genetics and 50 % related to environmental factors. For example,
there are genes associated with impetuosity and risk taking,. which
could lead in the right environmental circumstances to some form of
addiction. Yes, who are you?
It's story time
They were women “operatives” for
the Republican party in the United States. These women were sitting
around a table on some news show discussing how they would get the
female vote in the next election, considering how the Republican men
have done a terrible job attracting women voters and have
demonstrated that they have not left the 1950s … or they long to go
back.
This discussion was largely about
selling a better message and not about whether or not the message
itself was any good. It seemed to me to be more about manipulation
and a lack of empathy, at least for anyone but the comfortable. Above
all, it appears to be, among these operatives, that it was
self-evident that a large portion of the women voters could be
manipulated by clever messaging.
Agnotology is the study of the
cultural production of ignorance. The term was first coined by Robert
N. Proctor, a professor specializing in the history of science and
technology. The gold standard for many years was the tobacco
industry, little more than a criminal enterprise selling poison,
aided and abetted by politicians, the media and certainly the
citizens themselves.
Agnotology is very much about the
“publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.” It's
meant to confuse. The overriding goal of the tobacco industry for
many years was to sow doubt between the connection of smoking to
cancer, long after there was any scientific doubt. Today it's a full
blown industry in America and across the globe. Climate denial,
“trickle-down” economics, the “job creators,”
weapons-of-mass-destruction in Iraq and hydraulic fracking are only a
few examples. The idea is to confuse the public, protect the status
quo and maintain the comforts of the comfortable.
Thomas Piketty, the enemy within
Piketty's book Capital in the
Twenty-First Century is a best seller and has moved beyond the
academic community and Washington policy wonks. The book may actually
stir some serious debate about global capitalism, which is way, way
overdue. It has upset the privileged, not merely the usual collection
of bottom feeders but those who have built their careers on praising
and perpetuating the glorious myth of the “free” market.
Some articles to better understand
Thomas Piketty and his book Capital in the Twenty First Century:
And from the critics:
Alfie, what's it all about
It's about Revolution, let's not
pretend it isn't. Ideally, revolution of the mind and quite possibly
a little of the “soul.” A lot of critics will say that humankind
is not capable—they haven't evolved sufficiently. In that case
revolution will come the old fashion way, through carnage and
violence—war of the psychopaths, and we know that story line. But
more and more likely it will come down finally to climate change and
its enormous consequences and we'll end up with, if humanity is
“lucky,” with maybe a billion humans reliving the 19th
century, give or take.
At least for those of us in America,
it's a matter of finally making the decision to get rid of the status
quo. We're not going back to some fanciful, bucolic past no matter
how desperately some of us want to, nor is it a matter of some
weekend protest, sending a check to our favorite organization,
tweaking the tax code or even building some silly little libertarian
village in the middle of a dying ocean. We don't really need everyone
in order to get this going. It's a matter of recognizing that there
is no alternative.
Finally, some data
On the climate:
Good article on language and climate
confusion:
* * * *
Where does your country stand:
Psychopathic behavior: A terrific
interview with Dr. James Fallon, Professor of Psychiatry and Human
Behavior and what he learned about himself in the course of his
research
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Part 1: Consequences of low information citizenry—most everywhere
Born fictioneers, all of us, we
quest for causes and explanations, and if they don't come readily to
hand, we make them up, because a wrong answer is better than no
answer. Also, a fast good-enough answer is better than a slow perfect
answer
(An Alchemy of Mind, by Diane
Ackerman)
Global corporate enlightenment in
the 21st century
Inequality is becoming a 'wicked'
problem like climate change—one in which a solution must not only
overcome powerful entrenched interests, in individual countries but
must be global in scope to be effective
(Jacob S. Hacker & Paul
Pierson, American Prospect, commenting on Thomas Piketty's Capital in
the Twenty-First Century, 3/10/14)
For the last few months, the Kochs
and other big polluters have been spending heavily to fight renewable
energy, which as been adopted by most states
(New York Times, 4/26/14)
The truth-quest is always the same;
the unwavering search for signs to match reality
(Truth, by Felipe
Fernandez-Armesto)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)