[A-List] The Collapsing Western Way of Life

[Nadja Tesich]

Todd,
 For those types-ambitious is too small as a word.Amoral sociopaths
is the best.Don't forget-this culture has produced them and they were always there except that there are more of them now and they are
unchecked.Because they have become a model what and how to be.
Nadja
________________________________
> Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:00:07 -0800
> To: a-list at lists.econ.utah.edu
> From: toddfboyle at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [A-List] The Collapsing Western Way of Life
>
>
>
> Thanks Bill. Those at the top of the larger power hierarchies (the top
> of parties, government agencies, corporations, religions etc,) will do
> absolutely anything for their goals. No question about it.
> Those most cunning, ambitious, long of fang, fleet of
> foot always ascend to the pinnacles of power.
> A much smaller number of good people also make it to high
> positions, to be sure. But the prevalence of
> bad people, outnumbering the good people is very clear,
> historically and right up to the present day. This is
> one of the first principles that must be taught to children for their own
> protection.
>
>
> It's a good thing that humanity has begun some sorts of institutions to
> control the sociopathic, ambitious types. For example, corporate
> boards, national constitutions, three-branches of government, etc. are
> contrivances to limit and control the power of a single person -- this is
> the beginnings of progress... Of course these structures
> operate mainly to share power among the very top-- this is the four
> wolves and the sheep, voting over dinner. In America we're told
> they "represent" us.
>
>
> What is the word for these sociopathic ambitious types?
> Dominators? Bullies? I have always struggled for
> a term for them... The Alpha Males?
>
>
> Todd
>
>
> At 03:52 PM 6/24/2010, Bill Totten wrote:
>
> Thanks, Nadja, for that lucid
> summary of many articles I've read. Not
>
> much else needs to be written or said. I'll go back to my gardening.
> Bill
>
>
> On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:09:58 -0400 Nadja Tesich
>
> wrote:
>
>
>>
>
>> Bill and others,
>
>> I am answering to various articles at once.US is a nightmare and
> they
>
>> don't even know it.And there is no end in sight. I talk to
> many
>
>> people.It looks like this--the poor and the present middle class
> are
>
>> just trying to survive.They don't have a clue what's happening,each
> for
>
>> a different reason.
>
>> On the other side you have a minority of men who want
> only money and
>
>> war.Amoral and the word socipaths is the right one. As far as all
> the
>
>> gov.including military--they want only to keep their jobs.And they
> know
>
>> nothing nor do they try to do anything. I am not optimistic,
> Nadja
>
>> 23 Jun 2010 09:15:37 +0900
>
>>> From: shimogamo at ashisuto.co.jp
>
>>> To: a-list at lists.econ.utah.edu
>
>>> Subject: [A-List] The Collapsing Western Way of Life
>
>>>
>
>>> The greatest threat to the Western Way of Life is the Western
> Way of
>
>>> Life itself
>
>>>
>
>>> by John Kozy
>
>>>
>
>>> Global Research (June 18 2010)
>
>>>
>
>>>
>
>>> The Age of Enlightenment was born sometime around the beginning
> of the
>
>>> eighteenth century. A mere three-quarters of a century
> later,
>
>>> industrialization ushered in the Age of Endarkenment, and human
> life
>
>>> has grown more and more perilous ever since. The Golden Age
> of
>
>>> capitalism cannot be recreated merely by applying the right
> mixture of
>
>>> spending, subsidies, re-regulation, and international
> agreements.
>
>>> Because the economic advantages of industrialization rely
> on
>
>>> overproduction and profit, balanced trade is impossible if
> the
>
>>> advantage is to be preserved; it entails no economic
> profit.
>
>>> Industrialism is a Hegelian synthesis which embodies the forces
> for
>
>>> its own destruction. The greatest threat to the Western Way of
> Life is
>
>>> the Western Way of Life itself.
>
>>>
>
>>> That human beings seem unable to solve their most pressing
> problems is
>
>>> too obvious and well known to deserve much mention; that most
> of the
>
>>> problems that human beings seem unable to solve are caused by
> human
>
>>> beings themselves deserves mention but rarely is.
>
>>>
>
>>> Human beings act as though having to deal with problems whose
> causes
>
>>> are beyond human control is not enough. Cyclones, earthquakes,
> volcanic
>
>>> eruptions, droughts, floods are apparently not serious enough
> to
>
>>> command human attention. These problems, apparently, have to
> be
>
>>> supplemented by self-made catastrophes to keep our minds
> engaged. But
>
>>> most manmade problems could be avoided by careful and
> complete
>
>>> analysis of the ideas that, when implemented, have dire
> results.
>
>>>
>
>>> Time-tested and effective ways of analyzing problems have been
> known
>
>>> for centuries. Rene Descartes published his Rules for the
> Direction of
>
>>> the Mind around 1627 and the Discourse on Method in 1637. John
> Stuart
>
>>> Mill published his Methods in his System of Logic in 1843.
> The
>
>>> mathematical method known as reductio ad absurdum has been
> employed
>
>>> throughout the history of mathematics and philosophy from
> classical
>
>>> antiquity onwards, as has the method known as counterexample.
> And root
>
>>> cause analysis is a highly developed method often used in
> information
>
>>> science and other places. Oddly enough, however, even most
> well
>
>>> educated Americans seem to be unaware of any of these
> analytical
>
>>> techniques, and when attempts are made to analyze ideas,
> these
>
>>> attempts are rarely carried out logically or all the way to
> their
>
>>> ultimate ends. Americans rarely "follow the argument
> wherever it
>
>>> leads"; even those good at analysis often stop when they
> come across
>
>>> something that looks appealing.
>
>>>
>
>>> John B Judis recently published a piece in the New Republic in
> which he
>
>>> summarized some claims made by Robert Brenner, a UCLA
> economic
>
>>> historian. Judis writes:
>
>>>
>
>>> Brenner's analysis of the current downturn can be boiled
> down
>
>>> to a fairly simple point: that the underlying cause of the
> current
>
>>> downturn lies in the "real" economy of private goods
> and service
>
>>> production rather than in the financial sector, and that the
> current
>
>>> remedies - from government spending and tax cuts to
> financial
>
>>> regulation - will not lead to the kind of robust growth and
> employment
>
>>> that the United States enjoyed after World War Two and
> fleetingly in
>
>>> the late 1990s. These remedies won't succeed because they won't
> get at
>
>>> what has caused the slowdown in the real economy: global
> overcapacity
>
>>> in tradeable (sic) goods production. Global overcapacity means
> that the
>
>>> world's industries are capable of producing far more steel,
> shoes, cell
>
>>> phones, computer chips, and automobiles (among other things)
> than the
>
>>> world's consumers are able and willing to consume.
>
>>>
>
>>> Why this is worth mentioning is difficult to fathom.
> Overproduction has
>
>>> always been associated with economic busts, and such busts
> have
>
>>> happened with such regularity that economists have even
> incorporated
>
>>> them into theory by euphemistically calling booms and busts
> the
>
>>> "business cycle". The question that must be asked is,
> "What causes
>
>>> overproduction?" And the answer is industrialization.
>
>>>
>
>>> The Industrial Revolution began in England around 1780. It
> transformed
>
>>> England from a manual labour and draft-animal economy into
> a
>
>>> machine-based one. But this change in the primary mode of
> economic
>
>>> activity was not merely economic; it changed the entire
> culture, not
>
>>> clearly for the better. Almost every aspect of life was changed
> in some
>
>>> way.
>
>>>
>
>>> Many cite increased per capita GDP as evidence of the
> revolution's
>
>>> benefits, but GDP is a poor measure of benefits. It merely
> measures the
>
>>> sum total of economic transactions in terms of the culture's
> money,
>
>>> neglecting the effects of economic activity on the quality of
> human
>
>>> life.
>
>>>
>
>>> The Industrial Revolution is largely responsible for the rise
> of modern
>
>>> cities, as large numbers of people migrated to them in search
> of jobs.
>
>>> These people were mainly housed in slums where diseases,
> especially
>
>>> cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, and smallpox, were spread
> by
>
>>> contaminated water and other means. Respiratory diseases
> contracted by
>
>>> miners became common. Accidents in factories were regular. In
> 1788,
>
>>> two-thirds of the workers in cotton mills were children; they
> were also
>
>>> employed in coal mines. Henry Phelps Brown and Sheila V Hopkins
> argue
>
>>> that the bulk of the population suffered severe reductions in
> their
>
>>> living standards. Although life in pre-industrial England was
> not easy,
>
>>> for many it was better than laboring in factories and coal
> mines.
>
>>>
>
>>> Other consequences of the revolution are worse - craft workers
> lost
>
>>> their jobs. The Industrial Revolution concentrated labour into
> mills,
>
>>> factories, and mines, but industrial workers could never
> experience the
>
>>> sense of satisfaction and pride that craftsmen derived from
> their
>
>>> creations. Working a craft is a mentally stimulating and
> creative
>
>>> activity; operating a machine is not. The best craftsmen were
> renowned
>
>>> as artists. Some are still renowned today: Thomas Chippendale
> and
>
>>> George Hepplewhite, for example. The integral strength of
> Windsor
>
>>> chairs has never been duplicated in a factory. Handmade
> textiles,
>
>>> Persian rugs, even handcrafted toys are renowned for their
> artistry.
>
>>> Today that pride and satisfaction accrues only to hobbyists,
> such as
>
>>> quilters, but never to industrial workers. The Industrial
> Revolution
>
>>> degraded human life to the status of coal. People became fuel
> for
>
>>> machines. Bought cheap, people are used until unneeded and
> then
>
>>> discarded like slag. Individuality, talent, imagination,
> originality
>
>>> - the best attributes of human beings - are suppressed to the
> point of
>
>>> extinction. The Industrial Revolution sucked the humanity out
> of the
>
>>> human race; people became things.
>
>>>
>
>>> But the revolution gave England a temporary economic advantage
> as that
>
>>> is measured by economists. Excess production, that is,
> production not
>
>>> consumed domestically, could be exported, and England's wealth
> could be
>
>>> increased by buying (importing) cheap and selling (exporting)
> dear.
>
>>> This worked - for a while, but never smoothly.
>
>>>
>
>>> The Industrial Revolution quickly spread to Belgium, France,
> the United
>
>>> States, Japan, the Alpine countries, Italy, and other places.
> As it
>
>>> spread, the amount of excess products that needed to be
> exported grew
>
>>> and grew, and the number prospective foreign consumers shrank
> and
>
>>> shrank. Because there is little economic advantage (as
> economists
>
>>> measure it) in trading exports for imports of equal value,
> the
>
>>> international economy necessarily divides into net exporting
> nations
>
>>> who are enriched and net importing countries who are
> impoverished and
>
>>> less and less able to afford imports. The system has to be
> patched or
>
>>> the machines would grind to a halt. Most of the work of
> economists
>
>>> since the middle of the nineteenth century consists of
> developing
>
>>> patches for this collapsing system. Comparative advantage,
> creative
>
>>> destruction, free trade, Keynesian stimuli, and even social
> programs
>
>>> (which would be unnecessary if the economy provided for the
> needs of
>
>>> people) are merely attempts to patch the system, to keep the
> machines
>
>>> running.
>
>>>
>
>>> Industrialists soon realized that if they reduced the quality
> of their
>
>>> products, their life cycles would be shortened which would
> require
>
>>> people to replace them more often thereby increasing
> consumption.
>
>>> Manufacturers have been steadily reducing the quality of
> products ever
>
>>> since. An essential part in a device is made of an inferior
> material so
>
>>> the device fails far before its time and becomes junk,
> batteries in
>
>>> devices are soldered to their circuit boards so that when the
> batteries
>
>>> die, the products becomes junk, one fewer olive in every jar
> means more
>
>>> jars are sold, and the jars become junk. Economists like to
> claim that
>
>>> the system produces the best products at the lowest cost, but
> in
>
>>> reality it produces the exact opposite. As more and more
> products must
>
>>> be discarded and replaced, the discarded junk is hauled to
> landfills or
>
>>> dumped in oceans. But as landfills grow larger and larger,
> another
>
>>> patch is required - recycling. But it too is ineffective.
> Batteries
>
>>> soldered to circuit boards cannot be recycled, every
> half-filled can of
>
>>> paint cannot be taken to a recycling center, separating useful
> elements
>
>>> from the useless ones is often a hazardous task. The system
> produces
>
>>> junk! Humans originated about 200,000 years ago. The Soviet
> Union
>
>>> launched the first Sputnik into space in 1957. In less than
> sixty
>
>>> years, less than a mere three tenths of one percent of the time
> people
>
>>> have inhabited the Earth, the industrial nations have put so
> much junk
>
>>> into near outer space that the junk now endangers the
> functionality of
>
>>> operational satellites. Abandoned industrial sites are often
> highly
>
>>> toxic which often require cleanup - another patch. Often
> complete
>
>>> cleanup is impossible. Toxic residues are a species of junk.
> Keeping
>
>>> the machines running necessitates the production of it.
>
>>>
>
>>> Global industrial capitalism will continue on the gradual
> downward
>
>>> descent to collapse. The Golden Age of industrial capitalism
> that
>
>>> lasted from 1945 to 1970 cannot be recreated merely by applying
> the
>
>>> right mixture of spending, subsidies, re-regulation, and
> international
>
>>> agreements. Because the economic advantages of
> industrialization rely
>
>>> on the two ingredients mentioned above, overproduction and
> profit,
>
>>> balanced trade is impossible if the advantage is to be
> preserved; it
>
>>> entails no economic profit. Ultimately too many nations will be
> too
>
>>> poor to be importers, and the machines in the exporting
> countries will
>
>>> cease to function. Industrialism is a Hegelian synthesis which
> embodies
>
>>> the forces for its own destruction. The greatest threat to the
> Western
>
>>> Way of Life is the Western Way of Life itself. Patches may
> prolong it,
>
>>> but they cannot remove its contradictions.
>
>>>
>
>>> Chandran Nair writes,
>
>>>
>
>>> The 20th century's triumph of consumption-based capitalism
> has
>
>>> created the crisis of the 21st century: looming catastrophic
> climate
>
>>> change, massive environmental damage and significant depletion
> of
>
>>> natural resources ... The western economic model, which defines
> success
>
>>> as consumption-driven growth, must be challenged ... Advocates
> of the
>
>>> western model tend to play down its dramatic effects on
> natural
>
>>> resources and the environment. They refuse to acknowledge that
> their
>
>>> advice runs counter to scientific consensus about limits and
> the need
>
>>> for stringent rules on resource management. Instead, they argue
> that
>
>>> human ingenuity aided by innovations in the markets will
> find
>
>>> solutions. This is rooted in an irrational belief that we can
> have
>
>>> everything: ever-growing material wealth and a healthy
> natural
>
>>> environment. The stark evidence ... should be proof enough that
> this is
>
>>> not possible.
>
>>>
>
>>> No, it's not possible, but the impossibility lies in the
> system's
>
>>> logic, not in its effects. To use the preferred diction of
> economists,
>
>>> the system is unsustainable. Since the collapse of the
> industrial
>
>>> system is inevitable, a fundamental rethinking of the way the
> economy
>
>>> works is the only alternative. It has always been the only
>
>>> alternative. But even that leaves humanity soaking in the
> pickle. When
>
>>> the economic advantages of industrialization have dissipated,
> humanity
>
>>> will still be stuck in a world filled with bioundegradable
> junk,
>
>>> hazardous sites, raped environments, the unending consequences
> of the
>
>>> often accidental importation of alien species, polluted air and
> water,
>
>>> and numerous other consequences, the costs of which economists
> have
>
>>> never taken into consideration. And the progeny of both the
> rich and
>
>>> the poor alike will have to live with them. The pockets full of
> money
>
>>> that the rich have won't prevent their children and
> grandchildren from
>
>>> breathing bad air or drinking bad water or dealing with
> environmental
>
>>> degradation. These children and grandchildren may someday curse
> the
>
>>> days their fathers and grandfathers were born. Capitalism, as
> we know
>
>>> it, is reaching its endgame. The meek who inherit the earth
> will find
>
>>> it to be worthless.
>
>>>
>
>>> The human brain has enabled mankind to discover and create
> wondrous
>
>>> things; it has also been used to inflict horrendous suffering
> and
>
>>> destruction. In fact, it would be difficult to design an
> economic
>
>>> system more destructive, wasteful, and dehumanizing than
> the
>
>>> industrial, and much of the destruction it has wrought may
> be
>
>>> irreparable. Industrialization does not efficiently
> allocate
>
>>> resources; it squanders them.
>
>>>
>
>>> So, is mankind smart? Of course, but that is not the question.
> The
>
>>> ultimate question is, Is mankind smart enough to keep from
> outsmarting
>
>>> itself? The answer appears to be no!
>
>>>
>
>>> The Age of Enlightenment was born sometime around the beginning
> of the
>
>>> eighteenth century. A mere three-quarters of a century
> later,
>
>>> industrialization ushered in the Age of Endarkenment, and human
> life
>
>>> has grown more and more perilous ever since. Natural disasters
> can be
>
>>> catastrophic, but their destructiveness is usually limited, and
> the
>
>>> really horrendous ones are rare. Manmade disasters are
> ubiquitous, very
>
>>> extensive, and difficult, perhaps impossible, to repair. Had
> mankind
>
>>> been wise rather than merely smart, most manmade calamities
> could have
>
>>> been avoided. Que Sera Sera! Whatever will be will be will be.
> The
>
>>> future is plain to see, and it's not pretty.
>
>>>
>
>>> _____
>
>>>
>
>>> John Kozy is a retired professor of philosophy and logic who
> blogs on
>
>>> social, political, and economic issues. After serving in the US
> Army
>
>>> during the Korean War, he spent twenty years as a university
> professor
>
>>> and another twenty years working as a writer. He has published
> a
>
>>> textbook in formal logic commercially, in academic journals and
> a small
>
>>> number of commercial magazines, and has written a number of
> guest
>
>>> editorials for newspapers. His on-line pieces can be found
> on
>
>>>
> http://www.jkozy.com/
> and he can be emailed from that site's homepage.
>
>>>
>
>>> Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the
> sole
>
>>> responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect
> those of
>
>>> the Centre for Research on Globalization. The contents of this
> article
>
>>> are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for
> Research on
>
>>> Globalization will not be responsible or liable for any
> inaccurate or
>
>>> incorrect statements contained in this article.
>
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>
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>>>
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>>>
>
> http://www.billtotten.blogspot.com
>
>>>
>
> http://www.ashisuto.co.jp
>
>>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>
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