We must end neoliberal capitalism before it ends us

"... the corporate power elite and the governments that do their bidding implicitly understood that there would no longer be any toleration for political ideologies whose goal was to brutally repress human beings. So, the question for the latter was always how to ensure that the right class continued to be in a position of control and dominance, while at least providing the appearance of freedom and democracy for everyone else." 

Fred Guerin, 

Truthout

Deepening our Knowledge

“[T]he great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.” —James Baldwin, quoted in History Holds the Antidote to Trump's Fascist Politics by Henry Giroux, Truthdig.

Giroux lists the many symptoms of this "state of crisis that touches every aspect of public life" --  economics, massive inequality,  crisis of ideas, agency, memory and politics. 

"Within this new nexus of power, anti-democratic principles have become normalized, weakening society’s democratic defenses" Giroux warns.  Exploitation, unchecked militarism, matched by a politics of disposability and terminal exclusion.   

How this was achieved was mostly vast wealth within the hands of an organized oligarchy.  For many centuries innocent working people have been corrupted, raped and pillaged, then brainwashed, above and beyond their own capacities to see or understand what is happening to them.

People like Arendt, Klein, Angelou, Atwood, Solnit, Giroux, Orwell, Hedges and Chomsky -- have managed to send warnings to us who are struggling to survive and who are vulnerable to a rage we are not supposed to express.  Now democracy is a bat for blaming whoever is at the bottom. 

The love of conquering, killing and controlling others, is the drive, not the economic benefit or civilizing claims.  If capitalism and technology is about making life easier -- it has to accompany a method of social justice, otherwise its just another device to clear the commons for the hidden bank accounts where money sits, achieving nothing. 

Giroux's article is long and his premise is disturbing, but if our survival is worth anything, its worth the "eternal vigilance" of society. 

A view of Economics which explains a lot - by Fred Guerin

An 'insider' view of why economics programs at the university level nurture sociopathological tendencies in students.

A study published in 1987 by Arjo Klamer and David Colander and then repeated by Colander in 2005 demonstrates that graduate students in economics are far removed from learning or being interested in the real world:

"They compete among each other for ‘technical excellence’ in mathematics so they can solve tricky technical problems but do not think it is important to know anything much about the real world economy nor about the economics literature and history of the discipline that has gone before them. They adopt classic Groupthink characteristics as they are moulded (socialised, brainwashed, choose your own word) by their professors (who then feed them into their own networks for employment etc)."

As the author says, "there is little wonder the profession has very little to say that makes any sense about the real world. It is largely a disgrace."

Economics students tend to be middle class, highly competitive white males who come from relatively well-to-do families.

That pretty much says it all.

If you want more details, read this piece on 'The Brainwashing of Economics Graduate Students' http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=41542.

Fred Guerin on Facebook.

Economics Is Not A Fact About The World by Fred Guerin

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"Economics is not a fact about the world. It represents a system of values. Ergo, economics is not now and never has been a ‘science’. It is a social and political choice. This does not mean that certain statistical models and predictive systems cannot be generated from within any given economic system once its premises have been assumed. But there is nothing about economic theory itself that flows logically or inevitably from some set of facts about the world--whether these be facts about nature, the human condition or global society.

That is why the entire edifice of necessity upon which modern capitalism is built, is an utter sham. That is why the idea of ‘homo economicus’—the human being as inherently a rationally calculating, self-interested consumer is a complete fabrication, which just happens to perfectly serve the interests of a wealthy elite. There is nothing mathematically or even rationally 'necessary' about capitalist economics; there are no empirical grounds that provide any reasoned justification for current economic theory or anything like ‘homo economicus’

This means that from the get-go the system of economics we have now can be otherwise than it is. We could just as easily choose to create an economics based on the common good, and the future health and wellness of the environment that sustains life. We do not have to acquiesce to a system of economics adopted by a particular group of privileged men who believed ownership was the basis upon which to build modern society--ownership of land, both what is above and below the earth; ownership of forests and water, ownership of animals; ownership of human beings.

The capitalism we have inherited in its modern neoliberal guise is not an economics chosen for us as the ‘best’ system among worse alternatives, as some modern apologists have argued. It is, however, the single most efficient means to legitimate the practice of slavery and subjugation of the natural world on a global scale through an economics of ownership. 

It could be otherwise."

posted with permission from the author, Fred Guerin.

Silicon Billionaires Prepping for the Apocalypse?

Billionaires anticipating the collapse of democracy and the nation state?  Mark O'Connell writes in a Guardian article (Why Silicon Billionaires are Prepping for the Apocalypse in New Zealand).

O'Connell quotes from a book called The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age.  The title looks harmless enough, but inside it contains the recipe for what feels to me, a kind of nihilism. It preaches:

"1) The democratic nation-state basically operates like a criminal cartel, forcing honest citizens to surrender large portions of their wealth to pay for stuff like roads and hospitals and schools.

2) The rise of the internet, and the advent of cryptocurrencies, will make it impossible for governments to intervene in private transactions and to tax incomes, thereby liberating individuals from the political protection racket of democracy.

3) The state will consequently become obsolete as a political entity. 

4) Out of this wreckage will emerge a new global dispensation, in which a “cognitive elite” will rise to power and influence, as a class of sovereign individuals “commanding vastly greater resources” who will no longer be subject to the power of nation-states and will redesign governments to suit their ends."

I don't know just how much influence these billionaires have, but this book reveals contempt for life as well as a hatred for democracy.   They are claiming that their money and power will help nation states collapse.  

Civil society is threatened by far right hate groups funded by dark money.

Are spills from oil pipelines accidents or intended outcomes from trans national corporations, to further the goal of weakening democracy and centralizing power? Was the postwar push to pave towns and villages with highways created to further our addiction to fossil fuels?

What will save us from this absolute destruction of all things fair and civil? What will keep fascism from destroying Canada in the way Germany was destroyed by Nazi's in the thirties. What will keep Canadians from becoming slaves to megalomaniacs? 

Well there are books like Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and Klein's No Is Not Enough, imagining the many dangers of a world without morality, empathy and social responsibility. 

Are all the world's nations being destroyed to clear the way for global fascism? 

We need to be curious enough to ask the most disturbing questions when threatened by highly organized evil minds, and to re-invest in the creative community power we are capable of. 

Humanity - a Post Mortem Audit?

"The immersive and inescapable way children and teens are exposed to violence in their "media diet" on social media apps, video games and movies can make them more aggressive and fearful, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement." CBC.CA 

There is no doubt in my mind that a diet of violent entertainment disturbs my equilibrium. Even though I am a senior and have many years experience of living in a reciprocal community, TV dramas make me feel insecure on a vague, semi-conscious level. 

Children and teens have not yet developed their own survival skills and independence, so they are vulnerable to  messages wherever they come from.  

Also there is very little in the media that doesn't "bleed" and there are very few examples of people solving real problems. 

Have we become unconscious of how we internalize the messages that we know intellectually are fiction? The fast moving narrative of violence everywhere? After the music, images and high drama does it make hope of any kind seem naive?

I have just watched a brief interview of a gun toting white man (CBC.ca) who will vote for Donald Trump because he believes the government is corrupt.  He sees his role as protecting the innocent. Has he got his worldview from television where the dots are rarely connected, and facts don't count?  

How will Trump make things better? What would he contribute to society? According to reports, he prides himself on not paying taxes because he feels that government is a waste of money. He has power and influence because his father had good connections, lots of money and was able to influence officials.  He has the key of wealth and celebrity, and that's where (we have been lead to believe) power lies.  

The first and most dangerous violence is the notion we are isolated egos, which means we have no agency within a conscious society and makes us slaves to whatever ideology has the most funding. 

We have elected through cynicism and intellectual laziness to let the chips fall where they may.  We are losing our sanity, our integrity and our civil society. What creature will outlive us if we forget what it means to be human?

Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis is a term for microbial imbalance, most commonly reported as a condition in the digestive tract, associated with illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease, says Wikipedia.

What if we extended this definition to include the system we call society? Is there an imbalance within our society which is causing a social disease.  Clearly there are many signs of our species being in trouble when we are affected by extreme weather conditions on this planet, in this post modern age known as the anthropocene.

More than just factory chimneys spewing pollution into the air, theories have been developed that affect human behaviour. Religious fundamentalism that twists the teachings of the original prophets into austere practices and hatred towards the other to deflect attention away from political abuse. Economic systems that funnel the wealth away from the majority towards a malfunctioning minority. Dystopian narratives and stories written by popular writers such as Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and many others, also dire warnings written by non-fiction writers such as Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein -- reveal that we need to address that larger organism called the world.

More than this, the tendency for most people who live and work together to avoid talking about politics, religion and money, because it is deemed 'bad manners', when in fact these are the most important influences in our society -- indicates a dissociative disorder.

Let's start with money. Lynn Parramore interviewed Orsola Costantini, Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, on her paper "The Cyclically Adjusted Budget: History and Exegesis of a Fateful Estimate" which exposes the history of how a budget approach manipulates public opinion to serve the interests of the powerful. We have heard of austerity measures which tells people to expect less in pay, services and social justice to serve an ideal that appears to have no benefit to them.

The mantra of right wing parties and politicians is to take care of the economy first without explaining how they will do that.  Experience tells us that services needed to keep our society well loses funding while the mainstream media sends stories of the danger that terrorism poses.  In this way we are lead away from the connections of cause and effect. As a society we cannot connect our work, our efforts, our plans are disconnected to the system that controls and influences us.  We are suffering from social dysbiosis which affects the health of our minds, bodies, communities and future.  But this is not new. We have suffered unconsciously from the abuses of power-over from the beginning of social history.

The Leap Manifesto

"We could live in a country powered entirely by truly just renewable energy, woven together by accessible public transit, in which the jobs and opportunities of this transition are designed to systematically eliminate racial and gender inequality. Caring for one another and caring for the planet could be the economy’s fastest growing sectors. Many more people could have higher wage jobs with fewer work hours, leaving us ample time to enjoy our loved ones and flourish in our communities.

We know that the time for this great transition is short. Climate scientists have told us that this is the decade to take decisive action to prevent catastrophic global warming. That means small steps will no longer get us where we need to go." The Leap Manifesto

Sign The Leap Manifesto

Ten Tips on How to Save the World

photo from NASA/Wikimedia

I’ve used popular jargon for the title, because, as you’ll notice below, this is not political science, or any science at all. This is a riposte against the endless hours of brutal entertainment that suggests only might makes right. To save the world might be a heroic endeavour but I don’t believe it requires a Napoleonic campaign. It does, however, require the engagement of an alert mind and open heart. 

The instructions are simple. Learn from the bees, use your caring mind to gaze at the world, reclaim your power, reclaim your nature, hold onto curiosity, celebrate your creativity, give up blaming, live from a place of love, acknowledge your political self, and honour your spirit.

1. Learn from the bees.

Marilyn Hamilton, CEO of Integral City, told a children’s story not long ago, that is easy to remember.  Three key strategies enable bee hives to survive, which can teach us how to sustain the human hive  – take care of you, take care of others, take care of this place. Our ancestors learned how to do this but sophisticated social systems have alienated us from our own capacity to manage the hive. However, world crises shows we must re-engage in the process now.  

2. Use your caring mind to gaze at the world.

Look closely at the operating system, or the ‘apparatus’ as Simone Weil put it. Read ideas and opinions wherever you can find them. Ask yourself who benefits? Expand your gaze beyond your own immediate interests. Prepare to be disturbed but not defeated.

2. Reclaim power.

Power and all its parts: politics, wealth, language, science, economics, institutional religion, is not evil. What is evil is the way institutions have been corrupted from their original purpose – to serve civil society – into clubs of privilege. Good leadership is the conduit of responsible power which demonstrates humility, vulnerability, and serves the greater good.  Good leaders spend their powers to affirm and highlight the power in all. Infinite power is not a zero sum game, it is natural, inclusive and intelligent.

3. Reclaim our nature.

We are resourceful workers and stakeholders in our society. We are not a resource or a job description. We are not left, right, conservative or liberal – we are organic, politically mobile beings.  Labels are assigned to influence and control masses. We have courage, fear, anger, love and wisdom but they are not commodities, they are strengths that emerge and hide. The deadliest weapon of oppression is that which turns humanity and all of nature into a thing, a resource.

 

4. Hold onto Curiosity.

This is what keeps us exploring, examining, interrogating the conditions we live under or in. As long as curiosity is alive we shall never be content with serving an oppressive and corrupt social order.  

5. Celebrate your Creativity.

Music, theatre, farmers’ markets, poetry, gardens, maps, new political parties, conversations –  are the means of expressing and sharing our humanity.  Art is the what, where, how and who of our species as it yearns and evolves.

6. Give up blaming.

Blaming is not problem solving and the problem is not what other people do.  To solve problems we need to re-engage our power to care creatively, with curiosity and love.

8. Live from a place of Love

Love breaks apart the structures of false hierarchies. It demands attention to suffering and violence, and calls for healing. It insists on life as the source of knowledge.  Love is what drives great minds to take courageous stands outside of their particular disciplines for the greater good. Love is the openness to pain that makes injustice, corruption, cynicism and oppression unbearable.

9. Life is political.

You are an integral, intelligent, reflective part of a larger organism. Whether we survive as a species depends on protecting our earthly home from a system that enables a few egos to hold this planet ransom for the sake of temporary profit. There is no escape from politics. Its apparatus has been built on a grandiose delusion that refuses to see the natural world as sacred, and ourselves dependent upon its health. To be apolitical is to be a doctor standing at the bed of a dying patient, refusing to be involved because the disease is dirty. To dismiss the world stage and our part in it is to lobotomize the future.

10. Honour the spirit

The spirit is our energy. It imparts our intentions before we see them. It allows us to dream and care for the world beyond our own life span.  Imagination and love is the immortal  legacy we leave for our great-grandchildren.

These are just my thoughts.  What are yours?  What would you list as the top ten tips on saving the world?

Power is stupid!

The first definition of power in Dictionary Dot Com, "the ability to do or act; a capability of doing or accomplishing something" suggests that power is essential to the survival of sentient beings. As long as it is a capacity used cautiously and mindfully by complex, intelligent beings, it's good. But when it is a value separate from life, worshipped for power's sake, then it becomes stupid! It is incapable of understanding what it does or what it destroys.

Yet we live in a post-Orwellian world where power is isolated as something over and above all else.


Mohammad Shaffia who was found guilty of killing his first wife and three daughters could have been motivated by that separation of power from life, and those who were not killed possibly lived in constant terror of that power. Any father, tormented by his own addiction to control, may end up by destroying the lives of all those he feels bound to protect.

The publicized response by other Canadians, in the safety of their own living rooms, was predictable - they called for the end of honour killings, for immigrants to adopt good Canadian values. Some blamed Islam saying it was a sign of the primitive nature of the religion, but I doubt these critics would blame Christianity for the crimes committed by Nazis who identified as Christian. And will these commentators hiding behind their online identities be engaged when there are discussions around supporting families at risk on a social level? Will they question our society at all, in terms of how it glorifies power for power's sake? The assumption of moral superiority, by association, without sacrifice or reflection, enables this superficial disembodied sense of power.


 A study, published in the journal Psychological Science, found lower intelligence scores in childhood were predictors of greater racism in adulthood, and the tendency to adopt the kind of unexamined right-wing ideologies that create illusions of power. This was given much media coverage a few months ago.


George Monbiot weighed in with his own applause for this story, quoting a former Republican ideologue, Mike Lofgren, who notes that the party, has inflamed an anti-intellectual hostility to science, appealing to the “low-information voter”. Lofgren doubts that the leaders believe in their propaganda but are happy to “feed the worst instincts of their fearful and angry low-information political base”.

There can be no doubt that powerful interests feel they are winning when they fund and support the dumbing down of Western societies, with lies, doublespeak and propaganda, but destroying the commons in this way, ultimately makes intelligence and life, redundant.


In the quest for power, our own federal government seems bent on destroying Canada and Canadians' sense of social justice by overwriting complex systems with new laws, that enable "low-information" citizens a fleeting sense of power by association. Feelings of spurious power for the masses replace the power invested in human rights and systems of justice.


No doubt, the young minds we are raising almost exclusively on violent entertainments in hostile communities, where heinous acts get front page and citizen's struggles to do the right thing are invisible, will grow up with little other than contempt for humanity.

But power doesn't mind at all. Power is not a living entity with a brain and nervous system, it is a tool for complex beings that must be handled cautiously to create a cooperative sustainable future. Otherwise, as we have seen, century after century, it destroys the living communities who worship it.

Love is powerful, but in its true sense it is based on nurture and care of and for other sentient beings. Love is hurt by what it harms. Love is moved by the power of love, whereas power alienated from life does not feel joy or grief.