In his recent LRB article, John Lanchester observes that "under Communism children from primary school upwards were taught the principles and practice of the system, and were thoroughly drilled in how it was supposed to work. There is nothing comparable to that in the capitalist world. The City is, in terms of its basic functioning, a far-off country of which we know little." What follows is a brilliantly lucid layman's explanation of what banks are doing with other people's money in the capitalist system, which leads up to an account of how Northern Rock is getting what it deserves: a bank run.John Lanchester, "Cityphilia", London Review of Books, 30.1 (3 January 2008), 9-12; http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n01/lanc01_.html [accessed 14 January 2008].
I began this series with a post that examined the issues about universal healthcare and worthiness, which led to a heated discussion that continues on another forum. In this blog post and my next, I will represent a debate I had with someone arguing for a “free market†approach to healthcare in which human value is measured by one’s wealth and government monies ought not to be used to ensure care for everyone.Following I present his initial points and give my replies.Point 1) He wrote: “Our value to our society is measured by our wage.†In other words, the value of a human being—the essential/basic/inherent worth of a person—according to the American Capitalist model, is measured by how much money one makes/has.[My reply] Yes, this is a shameful reality of our society. The more wealth you have, the more “worthy†you are considered and the more “valuable†a person you are. That’s crap! The wealth you have, the more you can buy … PERIOD! It has nothing to do wit
Our economic system is unsustainable by its very nature. The only response to climate chaos and peak oil is major social change.
This is from Robert Newman writing in The Guardian, and I agree completely. He says we need to break up corporate power, give power back to the people (both figuratively and literally), and create [...]
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.AMERICAN CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when the cow drops dead.ISLAMIC CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You strap dynamite to them hoping they will save you 2 suicide bomber resources. They blow up accidentally. You have no cows.FRENCH CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows.JAPANESE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.GERMAN CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.BRITISH CAPITALISM: You have two cows. Both are mad.SPANISH / ITALIAN CAPITALISM: You have two cow
That's right, I'm a friggin' genius. Screw the kiddie pools that cost money, my dual-purpose canoe rules the day.Censored thanks to those fucking sickos who viewed the naked pictures of my daughters I accidentally put on Flickr so long ago. Note the resemblance of censored bars to frowny faces and buzz off, we're well armed out here in the woods.
Glorious Capitalism It is sometimes difficult to conceive how dramatically living standards have improved thanks to economic liberalization, property rights, and the ability to trade. A column in the Wall Street Journal looks at how prosperity has improved everyone's lives:Modern humans first emerged about 100,000 years ago. For the next 99,800 years or so, nothing happened. Well, not quite nothing. There were wars, political intrigue, the invention of agriculture -- but none of that stuff had much effect on the quality of people's lives. Almost everyone lived on the modern equivalent of $400 to $600 a year, just above the subsistence level. True, there were always tiny aristocracies who lived far better, but numerically they were quite insignificant. Then -- just a couple of hundred years ago, maybe 10 generations -- people started getting richer. And richer and richer still. Per capita income, at least in the West, began to grow at the unprecedented rate of about three quarters of
How the Turks made Europe Safe for Capitalism - Salon.comFor the complete report go to Salon.com or click on this linkThe basic argument is not new in historical circles. The theory is that the incursions of the Ottoman Empire -- all the way to the gates of Vienna! -- forced European principalities to stop squabbling against each other and join forces against a common enemy. This is supposed to have had a huge impact on the ability of fledgling Protestantism to survive the bloody Counter-Reformation. Even mighty Catholic potentates like Charles V and the King of the Hapsburgs Ferdinand I were forced to grant concessions to German Protestants in order to gain their help in fighting off the Turk. (via)Turkey's pace of growth quickens Turkey's economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, presenting the outgoing government with a boost for its economic campaign ahead of a general election... Demonstrators hold up placards which read: "We all are Hrant Dink, we all a
By Martin Wolf "In Rome everything is for sale." - Prince Jugurtha in Sallust's -Bellum Jugurthinum"Yes to market economy, no to market society." - Lionel Jospin, French Socialist ex-prime ministerIt is capitalism, not communism, that generates what the communist Leon Trotsky once called "permanent revolution". It is the only economic system of which that is true. Joseph Schumpeter called it "creative destruction". Now, after the fall of its adversary, has come another revolutionary period. Capitalism is mutating once again. Two ads from WWF Romania. "Nature Can't Be Recycled" VIA
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