Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
An Observation
Honestly, if you're still identifying as a Republican after all that has happened since 2001 -- hell, since Gingrich, hell, since Reagan, hell, since Nixon -- then you certainly should be in therapy, honey, and you should probably be in jail.
''We are instructed daily to be firm believers in neoclassical markets, in which isolated individuals are rational wealth maximizers. If distortions are eliminated, the market should respond perfectly to their ''votes,'' expressed in dollars or some counterpart. The value of a person's interests is measured the same way. In particular, the interests of those with no votes are valued at zero: future generations, for example. It is therefore rational to destroy the possibility for decent survival for our grandchildren, if by so doing we can maximize our own ''wealth'' - which means a particular perception of self-interest constructed by vast industries devoted to implanting and reinforcing it. The threats to survival are currently enhanced by dedicated efforts not only to weaken institutional structures that have developed to mitigate the harsh consequences of market fundamentalism, but also to undermine the culture of sympathy and solidarity that sustains these institutions. All of this is another prescription for disaster, perhaps in the not very distant future. But again, it has a certain rationality within prevailing structures of doctrine and institutions.''
I guess it hinges on the prospects of successful rehabilitation of hard core sociopaths. Maybe some clever biochemist will come to the rescue. A new enzyme, a sort of rebuplicanase if you will.
Jail? Of course. Therapy? Not so sure.
ReplyDeleteAs Chomsky argued:
''We are instructed daily to be firm believers in neoclassical markets, in
which isolated individuals are rational wealth maximizers. If distortions
are eliminated, the market should respond perfectly to their ''votes,''
expressed in dollars or some counterpart. The value of a person's interests
is measured the same way. In particular, the interests of those with no
votes are valued at zero: future generations, for example. It is therefore
rational to destroy the possibility for decent survival for our
grandchildren, if by so doing we can maximize our own ''wealth'' - which
means a particular perception of self-interest constructed by vast
industries devoted to implanting and reinforcing it. The threats to survival
are currently enhanced by dedicated efforts not only to weaken institutional
structures that have developed to mitigate the harsh consequences of market
fundamentalism, but also to undermine the culture of sympathy and solidarity
that sustains these institutions. All of this is another prescription for
disaster, perhaps in the not very distant future. But again, it has a
certain rationality within prevailing structures of doctrine and
institutions.''
Jail? Of course. Therapy? Not so sure.
ReplyDeleteI guess it hinges on the prospects of successful rehabilitation of hard core sociopaths. Maybe some clever biochemist will come to the rescue. A new enzyme, a sort of rebuplicanase if you will.