tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post7825977777775869918..comments2024-02-18T18:59:06.164+00:00Comments on Econosophy and other musings: ExtremismTobyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16258136994278139356noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post-67241355842627542232010-09-09T21:36:33.589+00:002010-09-09T21:36:33.589+00:00I'm gonna post about the idolatry of money, an...I'm gonna post about the idolatry of money, and the consumer society, Toby, pretty soon, but not until the weekend, because I'm busy living in my flesh and blood body, and not on the Web.<br />Wading on through my Barzun book, and taking my time, I have just realized that I THINK that Hegel's ideas about thesis/antithesis/synthesis are related to what I've been trying to develop about words bouncing off each other.<br />But i think that narrowing meaning down to bouncing ANTONYMS off each other (the way that Hegel MAY be viewing it...) is an oversimplification of the meaning game.<br />This also ties into what I mean about being AGAINST. PHYSICAL PROXIMITY is at its most intense when we are... AGAINST.<br />That is important. Physical proximity is RELATION. We NEED relation as human beings.<br />Just some thoughts.<br />Don't start typing now... MAMA says.. be careful. ;-)Debrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01510189619803992336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post-47492121133982201062010-09-09T13:02:33.252+00:002010-09-09T13:02:33.252+00:00I agree, things like this are always complex. Ever...I agree, things like this are always complex. Everything is complex in the end, thanks to the interrelated nature of nature.<br /><br />Niklas Luhmann, a now-dead German sociologist, has my thinking at the moment. One of his observations is that money is necessarily about rich/poor, have/have-not divisions; it is about scarcity. Because it must perpetually 'grow,' more and more of nature must come under money's purview, which means more and more of nature must become 'scarce,' the rich/poor divisions broader and deeper, take in more and more of reality. Money is close to having taken over everything, and since we believe (wrongly) we can objectively measure value using money, everything becomes money-related, money-valued. In short, it is getting harder and harder to be poor and 'happy.' There's too little of life left <b>not</b> controlled by money for this to be possible. And still money must grow. And grow. All 'idle' resources must be turned into 'real' economic wealth.<br /><br />Money is a metastasized cultural cancer and we're in the end game. War is a part of that, and yes, the US seems ripest for it, is indeed the planet's main war-monger.<br /><br />Sorry for the late response. I've been very disciplined with my shoulder and it's rewarded me for it with considerable progress. It's just started complaining again. This healing will take some time. Expect me to be scarce!Tobyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16258136994278139356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post-72245901277966927702010-09-06T13:03:31.873+00:002010-09-06T13:03:31.873+00:00Ironically enough, Toby, I don't think that.. ...Ironically enough, Toby, I don't think that.. JUST POVERTY and IGNORANCE can explain, or allow us to understand what is happening. <br />It IS possible to be poor WITHOUT being resentful.<br />But in order for this to be possible, there has to be another ideology COMPETING with the idolatry of money.<br />IF... money makes the world go round, and THE BEST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU is to become rich, well then... being poor is being in... HELL.<br />But.. if being rich is NOT the supreme good, or not the ONLY supreme good for the social body, then people can ALSO find comfort, solace AND DIGNITY in poverty.<br />This is really not evident in the Western world at this time. But.. it IS possible to be poor and retain one's dignity. <br />And once we have started taking the road towards idolatry of money, well then... there NEVER is enough money. We can NEVER have enough...<br />History proves this. I believe.Debrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01510189619803992336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post-14058903911045836612010-09-05T20:00:33.098+00:002010-09-05T20:00:33.098+00:00Anger is pretty hot in the U.S., Toby.
And as you ...Anger is pretty hot in the U.S., Toby.<br />And as you say, the VISCERAL memory of WW2 is still quite strong in France and Europe itself.<br />But the U.S., Toby.. there hasn't been a war on ITS soil for quite some time now...<br />Long enough for the wrong people to forget what war means.Debrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01510189619803992336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7378568575885387942.post-39677542731932323882010-09-05T16:55:43.857+00:002010-09-05T16:55:43.857+00:00This is typically what happens when concentrations...This is typically what happens when concentrations of power and wealth exclude millions from the good life they see going on around them. Perhaps this time around it will be worse because the general population is so dumbed down. Reason as a skill is not 'out there' in sufficient quantities to ameliorate the coming storm. Anger is justified to a large degree, and impotence makes it all the more visceral, so I can understand why the conditions are once again threatening war. This sequence of events benefits a status-quo (military-banking-energy) which has been milking this beast in this way for some time now. Some sort of explosion is inevitable. Can the little islands of good reason to be found in the internet be enough to prepare for a different outcome than what, up till now, has historically been the case? Time will tell.<br /><br />Germany has its recent past as a salient and ever-present reminder of where extremism and grinding poverty can lead. There is extremism here, but the political parties, the media and just about everyone else are so vigilant it would surprise me if Germany turns out to be the powder keg for WWIII. Oil-Middle East-US, aka The Axis of Evil, and Russia's still-bubbling global ambitions, that's where the real danger is. I'm not sure how China sees all this. Probably would want to sit it out until the benefits are clearer. Again, time will tell.Tobyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16258136994278139356noreply@blogger.com