I spent a lazy hour browsing past discussions in the 'Future Society' and 'Job & Income Guarantee' categories. A comment by Jim O'Reilly caught my eye. In part, it reads:
[M]ost of us probably spend a fair number of hours regularly thinking on our own about how to advance to a better world. That’s a bit of a waste though as we’d be far stronger if we combined our efforts. Is it absurd to think of combining resources and working together in a project that would try to make a sound case for “utopia”? Or is that madly beyond our pay grade?
I like the idea. The task is daunting, but also exciting. It would be a worthwhile contribution if we could add to the public discourse on this question.
Currently, there is considerable dissatisfaction with the economic system, as evidenced most notably by the emergence of the Occupy movement on the left, but also, in a less conscious way, the Tea Party on the right. So far, no widely accepted vision has emerged of where we are trying to head. Without a coherent set of demands, it is difficult to push for meaningful change.
At the same time, any program needs to be open enough to allow for diversity of opinion if it is to find broad-based support. In some previous posts (e.g., here and here), I have sought to allow for a degree of openness in this respect, as have others in their comments. But these are only the beginnings of exploration. The ideas -- or alternative ones -- need fleshing out.
Although, as Jim intimated in his comment, the task is a challenging one, it is obvious from the quality of previous discussions that many people have contemplated how economic activity might be better organized. So, I thought it might be worth creating a space, in the comments section, where anybody who feels so inclined can explore - as briefly or as in-depth as they like -- their conceptions of a better society. The more contributions and viewpoints, the merrier. Please don't feel constrained by what has been posted here in the past, or confined to any particular ideology other than your own.
Who knows? It might help us piece together common elements that can be further developed not only by us but by others operating, now or in the future, elsewhere in cyberspace or the "real world".
Relevant links to other blogs or forums concerned with similar questions would also be beneficial.
They are always going to be beliefs and therefore the one that will be implemented will be the one that has the most religious power.
A new economic system will almost certainly have to be a new religion of sorts. Because its always down to belief rather than science.
Someone got coal in their stocking this year. (Looks up, POINTS!)
This is a great challenge, Peter. It seems I spend so much time screaming about what I don't want while fighting the opposition, I've never taken the time to figure out what I actually want. No doubt it will involve zip lines, but I will put some thought into it.
Neil: You may be right. I would say there is a basis for "liberty, equality, fraternity" in the major religions if their central message is taken seriously by adherents. Those aims certainly seem more in accord with what have been presented as Jesus' words, the lifestyle of the first-century Christians, or the social prescriptions for Israel described in the Torah, than neo-liberalism. I always enjoy Matt Franko's posts on this and related topics.
Trixie: I understand what you mean about knowing what you don't want. Back at university, my postgraduate supervisor once took me aside to make the obvious but easily overlooked point that at some stage I needed to work out "not only what I was against but what I was for". It has always stuck with me. It is easier said than done, though. Hence my request for assistance.
PS. I will pretend you didn't make light of coal. We love it down here, and would never joke about it. It is our thing.
Neil: They are always going to be beliefs and therefore the one that will be implemented will be the one that has the most religious power. A new economic system will almost certainly have to be a new religion of sorts. Because its always down to belief rather than science.
Of course. Right now we have a social, political and economic economic religion called "neoliberalism" in which the top cannibalizes the lower levels and propagandizes the lower classes into voluntary submission, using authority (force) as needed on the dissenters and heretics. Shouldn't be too difficult to come up with an inspiring "vision" better than that.
BTW, see Robert H. Nelson, Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond for interesting parallels between economics and religion.
http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-02095-4.html
Check out Progressive utilization theory (PROUT)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_utilization_theory
It's an interesting framework for a new ethical, social, political, and economic system to replace neoliberal capitalism. It was originated by Indian spiritual leader Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921–1990) aka Shri Shri Anandamurti, founder of Ananda Marga (Way of Bliss).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhat_Ranjan_Sarkar
In my view, this type of framework is the starting point, since it is comprehensive. A comprehensive approach is a sine qua non. It is also needed for a secular "religion" to underpin globalization.
BTW, this is the basis of economic historian Ravi Batra's work on cycles in history.
I would add that the day of Western dominance is winking down and the ROW is becoming increasingly more important on the global stage. The 21st century promises to become the Asian century as the 20th was the American. China and India are especially relevant because of their outsized populations and significant resources. They are both developed civilizations with a lot to contribute from their cultural heritages. It would be myopic to miss this coming.
Brazil is also going to become a major player on the world stage and it is carving a progressive role already.
Islam, too, is a highly developed civilization, too, and it will have a great deal to contribute also.
We need to begin viewing the world as closed system economically and envision how these different inputs will factor into development.So far, this is not happening, and neoliberalism is pushing for Western dominance instead. This is fool's errand that is doomed to failure.
My 5 cents:
The core of an economy is in Surplus Circulation, nominal surplus as in “income spent on someone else” like in parents spending on kids, like savings used by someone else trough credit, investing in production or financial assets that will end up enabling someone else to use real product and services, not in Marxist sense since it is nominal surplus.
My spending is someone else's income.
Spending more money from wealthy is of increasingly marginal benefit to them.
In a world where a productivity is such that about 15% of working population can produce for subsistance needs of 100% of population, what will other 75% of workers do? Isn’t it good if they can work on providing services that will benefit in less and less visible benefits to individuals as less and less workers are needed to produce subsistence products.
In an evermore automated production, when robots will take over all production and needed work, what will able bodied people do all days unless they are organised to provide marginal benefits to someone else?
Bureaucracy is mostly about organising, not direct production. So, organising a collective is a benefit to a society. there is so many other marginal benefits to society that can be imagined and cooperatively created in order to employ population while production and basic services are done by robots.
Money is nominal value, products and services are real value. Circulation of money only enables real value to be used. Surplus Circulation is esential to an economy. Providing benefits to anyone who needs it enables others to use real value trough Surplus Circulation.
I imagine something of a Marxist paradise enabled by extremely high productivity trough automatisation of production and MMT logic. Subsistance needs are met by robots and are free on a needs basis, and human workers contribute to marginal benefit of others. Subsistance needs distributed trough one form of (primary) money and other work organised around complimentary (alternative) money within a country (or world).
In a society better than the actual ones, money will be managed better than public utilities, as electrical energy, are today; subject to stricter standards of quality of service and resilience - this to mention the problem that seemingly most concern the author and readers of this blog
.
Simultaneously the real problem would come to the fore:
How to realize the best standard of life for 8 billion human beings with the knowledge and the resources we depart from in this instant?
The global rule says each country must must attain mean constant population density and universal providing of human security to its citizens.
The content of human security to be provided is defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN48). Its a wide definition agreed to by states representing the majority of people on Earth, a very good depart point. Many human rights are still to be made real in many countries. The failure to Article 23 Right to Remunerated Work is blatant especially in so-called 'developed countries'.
We know that there are enough people, knowledge, equipment, resources to provide a decent life to every person and increase human development, if population density is maintained constant, clearly a situation we are approaching.
And yet we fail to materialize what we know is possible. Why?
Could it be because we must think 8 billion, when we think each of us?
OK, let us think 8 billion. 8 billion people cooperating to obtain the benefits of monetized transactions of money versus good or services. The rules for prosperity are the same for every country: universal full occupation, health care, education, retirement. Over this basic slice of earning available to all citizens a surplus product can be privately produced with increased productivity and can be unequally distributed as surplus earning.
This approaches the realization of the rights consigned in the UDHR incorporating the Enlightenment Rights. The last ones are expanded by Freedom of Fear, a pacific, war-free world, and Freedom of Want, all people around the globe having a decent minimal real income in goods and services (Roosevelt41).
Then one could face real problems like global warming, energy shortage, systemic resilience.
That in fact seem easy to solve if evolution on Earth becomes conscious of itself, human species becomes aware of her position in evolution. It is a fact new: a species takes conscience of being the product of billions of years of evolution of life and proceeds accordingly [JohnStewart08]. If this hypothesis seems strange one can observe that we have no indication that a biosphere is something existing in few numbers in the Galaxy. There must exist many biospheres in the Galaxy, some attaining awareness of themselves, some not.
If this human species goes there, if we learn to live in peace and prosperity, it is to be expected that we become more and more interested in space exploration. To shorten up things, maybe, we find that to travel near instantly through space is a simple technological matter and we become acquainted to galactic travel and other humanities.
Being able to leave in peace and prosperity most probably is the key to the genial reinterpretation of physical data and theory we would need to solve teleportation as a technical problem. The key and a test to pass, as it may well happen that in the developed club of the peaceful and prosperous humanities of the Galaxy, the control of needy-greedy is a required condition to approach.
[JohnStewart08] John Stweart, The Evolutionary Manifesto, 2008.
http://www.evolutionarymanifesto.com/man.pdf
[Roosevelt41] Franklin Roosevelt, The Four Freedoms speech, 1941.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms).
[UN48] United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
ISLAND STORY
In the midst of a mighty ocean, there was once a small island under a beautiful sky. There lived on the island a boy, the son of a fisherman and one of a village of fisher-folk who harvested sustenance from the surrounding sea. The boy knew all lore that upheld life on his island, and was skilled in the crafts that made existence possible. Yet he was a dreamer.
Every evening his father would raise his eyes to the cliffs overlooking the boat haven - and there would be the boy perched high on the rocks, with one hand resting beneath his chin gazing longingly out to sea. The boy shared little of the ritual of village life. He smiled pensively at the joys of the villagers as they cycled through their days; shared with them their sorrows, and bore delights and problems of his own. But still he was distant and thoughtful as though far away; straining to hear the sound of a forgotten song that the sea might release to the prevailing winds.
One day, lowering his eyes from the far horizon where the sea hugged the sky in mysterious exchange, the boy gazed upon the village below and a veil lifted slowly from his eyes. He saw starkly the journey of birth and death, the futility of ego, the opposites of delight and pain; and knew that everything that happened along the way, including to him, came to the same end. Even the sun and the stars, and the universe in whose bosom they lay would one day be no more.
And feeling within his heart an incredible thirst that called out for Knowledge, he resolved that life had no other meaning than the quenching of this thirst, and that he should henceforth seek its end.
Accordingly, he walked down to the waters edge to where a swift current passed, knowing it would carry him out to sea - and cast himself afloat on a small skiff to the quest of his heart.
Quickly he was carried out on the ocean, losing sight of his home. At times he was besieged by waves and storms; at times becalmed for weeks on end. At times the unknown ocean seemed like a strangely beautiful place; at times cruel and torrid, everything serving to taunt. At times his heart soared in hope that he would find a clue to the gift he sought; at times he sank into deep despair, and death seemed to be the only possible, even merciful release.
Many times he set his sail, and many times he changed his course. At times, he came across seafarers and seekers just like himself; but what could one searching soul do for another, except bide each other fare well.
It was all to no avail. Finally, he surrendered his search and lay motionless, spiritless, in the bottom of the skiff. Soon tiredness overcame him and he entered into a deep sleep.
Though he was fast asleep, he awoke within himself.
Within the boy a door opened, and he entered into a realm inside where the only present were himself and the Beautiful Existence that had created him; shining like a heavenly star in a firmament within – Life itself: Purpose, Plan, Love, Intelligence, Knowledge & Breath.
He saw that everything was, is, and always would be created from the energy of Love.
That the Masters throughout the Ages have always held the Key.
That Time is not, that Space is not – at least not there!
That all souls are one, and as nothing in the Light of the One.
That within each personality dwells the soul (heart), and within each soul a spark from the fire of God!
That Father and Son are as the Sun is to the Spark, hanging by the finest thread of Fire!
That the call from the human heart is the golden Way!
That the worldly mind, born in darkness, lives in darkness; and were it not for the grace of the Master, passes away.
And he dedicated himself anew, to the BEAUTY who had created him, sent him out, and called him home. He saw one Life sustaining All. That some will seek and some will not, yet each are a seed, designed and patterned to break forth into the light of day. That practice makes perfect; and as hard as it is to leave illusion behind, it is incredibly beautiful to experience REALITY! And the Master stayed by his side.
He awoke to a new feeling and knowledge within his heart, adrift beside his Island Home, holding a key to the door inside. He knew his thirst could be quenched again and again, and that the waters were infinitely kind. Learning more and more from his Master each day, experiencing the Fire within, in gratitude he began the great struggle to be free. To learn the dance of his heart, to watch his Master for cues, to help where his heart concurred, and his vision became clear.
(4 Feb 1974)
That my friends is my humble contribution and I believe, at least one teeny little piece of the puzzle!!!
Oh - sorry about saying too much, but the bit about a new economic system as a religion of some kind: please could we not do that (been there, done that)?
After 200,000 years on the road for Homo sapiens and the emergence of science and the humanities I really hope facts will suffice. And that we learn how to play nicely together; enjoy the chance we have to be alive! That can only happen when people feel content.
Isn't it just a game of scrabble: play the game, keep score, at the end of the day everything goes back in the box? Maybe add a new dimension so that words on the board actually have to mean something - together. That way everybody can win ...!
Fact I read last night: the earth is spinning at 1670 km/hr, and orbiting around the Sun at 107,219 km/hr; some think the galaxies are orbiting around a central point in the universe - we are moving, going somewhere at an incredible pace with nary a breeze stirring this morning! Thanks to Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo the earth centered universe changed forever - that woke everybody up a little bit .... like figuring out where the rain comes from and flat earth theory, am sure it is not the end of the surprises!
I'd be happy if we could just turn the drama, fiasco and miasma volume down a bit on the journey; relax, enjoy the planet - even each other, although I know some people think it's a jungle. (The jungle is in their head) .... I really will shut up now!
There are visions of utopia in art and literature, even quite recent examples.
I particularly like two. "The War of the End of the World", by Mario Vargas Llosa and Roland Joffé's 1986 movie "The Mission".
Both of them are about historical events, although I am not sure how accurately portrayed. For what's worth, my personal experience about the northeast of Brazil, some thirty years ago, was largely consistent with Vargas Llosa's description.
Both examples are about small-scale popular initiatives, largely organized from below, around religious groups. In both of them there is a leadership, but its role is limited (I suppose I have some anarchist/left libertarian leanings).
Perhaps Theology of Liberation could offer good pointers.
In both there is a radical break with mainstream society. Unfortunately, both of them ended tragically.
---------
By the way, speaking of theology, I checked some of Robert H. Nelson's writing. And I find his description of economics as a kind of religion of efficiency is partial, at best, and misleading at worst.
It is mistaken because it assumes a kind of obsessive, but honest and well-meaning, fixation on growth and efficiency on the part of mainstream economists.
Read this fragment from the emails of Fabrice Tourre's (made public in 2010, during the shitty deal Senate inquiry on Goldman Sachs), to see what those people really think about "efficiency":
"Darling you should take a look at this article... Very thoughtful... More and more leverage in the system, l'edifice entier risque de s'effondrer a tout moment... Seul survivant potentiel ['the whole building risks collapsing at any moment, the only potential survivor', my translation], the fabulous Fab (as Mitch would kindly call me, even though there is nothing fabulous abt me, just kindness, altruism and deep love for some gorgeous and super-smart French girl in London), standing in the middle of all these complex, highly levered, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all the implications of those monstruosities [sic]!!! Anyway, not feeling too guilty about this, the real purpose of my job is to make capital markets more efficient and ultimately provide the US consumer with more efficient ways to leverage and finance himself, so there is a humble, noble and ethical reason for my job
amazing how good I am in convincing myself !!!"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7634658/Goldman-fraud-charges-emails-and-internal-reports-revealed.html
"By the way, speaking of theology, I checked some of Robert H. Nelson’s writing. And I find his description of economics as a kind of religion of efficiency is partial, at best, and misleading at worst. It is mistaken because it assumes a kind of obsessive, but honest and well-meaning, fixation on growth and efficiency on the part of mainstream economists."
Quite similar to the way that ecclesiastical elites hypocritically exploited normative religions at various times to gain power and privilege, and to extract wealth. While it is true that Nelson doesn't see this parallel, or at least fails to feature it, it is very clearly there.
For instance, a recent at last week. See Matt Taibbi, "Glenn Hubbard, Leading Academic and Mitt Romney Advisor, Took $1200 an Hour to Be Countrywide's Expert Witness," Rolling Stone.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/glenn-hubbard-leading-academic-and-mitt-romney-advisor-took-1200-an-hour-to-be-countrywides-expert-witness-20121220#ixzz2GJRRQvmT
Good food for thought, everyone! Keep it coming.
It occurred to me that I also could have given some weight to the "how to advance" in Jim's "how to advance to a better world". For example, are there initial policies, social demands or changes that would help to get things moving in the right direction? Should change be gradual/reformist or radical/revolutionary?
My own view on the latter question is that, individually, we wouldn't have much say in that, but if a mass revolutionary movement emerged, it would be important to be able to present positive steps that could be taken.
Is there a set of compatible social demands that could be mixed and matched, depending on social will, introduced either successively or all at once, depending on the circumstances?
Feel free to comment on these or related issues in addition to the "better world" part.
jrbarch: you are nowhere near close to saying too much. Nor is anyone else. All your comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Fact I read last night: the earth is spinning at 1670 km/hr, and orbiting around the Sun at 107,219 km/hr; some think the galaxies are orbiting around a central point in the universe – we are moving, going somewhere at an incredible pace with nary a breeze stirring this morning!
No wonder the wind has picked up this afternoon!
"Quite similar to the way that ecclesiastical elites hypocritically exploited normative religions at various times to gain power and privilege, and to extract wealth. While it is true that Nelson doesn’t see this parallel, or at least fails to feature it, it is very clearly there."
The hypocrisy of the ecclesiastical elites doesn't make the myth of honest belief on "efficiency" and "growth" less of a myth.
The belief in the desirability or even feasibility of unlimited growth, in the virtues of efficiency, is skin-deep, just a rationalization, an alibi: I am not responsible for swindling my customers and ruining everybody's lives, I am just helping the market be efficient.
No that different from "I was just following orders". "The devil made me do it". "She was asking for it".
For goodness' sake, the guy confessed it: "there is a humble, noble and ethical reason for my job
amazing how good I am in convincing myself".
The myth that these people really believe in the desirability or even feasibility of unlimited growth, in the virtues of efficiency, makes them less responsible for their acts: "they may be obsessive, but they mean well".
My ass.
Peter, I think that a "vision" implies a practical utopia. One needs to begin with an investigation of practical potential and work out from there.
Marx, for one, realized that this is far more than merely an economic enterprise. It is deeply philosophical and needs to draw on ontology, epistemology, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Most tend to think of Marx as an economist, but in the history of thought he is regarded as a philosopher.
Marx was not alone in this, of course. John Stuart Mill is an example on the liberal side. And, of course, this was central to the ancients, notably Plato and Aristotle, who influenced subsequent debate on these issues. Medieval Christian theologians like Aquinas adapted these ideas to a Christian context, as did the Islamic philosophers for Islam. Christianity and Islam account for almost half the world's population, so this thinking cannot be dismissed in envisioning a peaceful and prosperous global village of the future.
Most of the key issues are already on the table and have been debated. Since philosophy is speculative, many of the major questions remain unanswered. Without putting this on the table for debate, one is simply assuming one's own worldview. There are many competing worldviews that have to be integrated in a functional social, political and economic system if freedom is taken a key fundamental.
The advance over speculation comes from scientific progress that enables integrating speculative thought with philosophy of science, life science, and social science, that allows us to estimate, if not determine, what is possible and to distinguish the feasible from the infeasible.
The social, political and economic vision quests of the past were set forth in utopian literature and experiments. Traditional utopian literature has been replaced today with science fiction aka space fiction. A good story has to be plausible. Instead of setting it in the distant future, it can be set in the immediate future in terms of advances available that are not now being implemented.
There has also be a lot of experimentation, too, especially since the Sixties, and there many experimental models out there. I find it interesting that many of the most rabid anti-communist and anti-socialist voices are fine with Israeli kibbutz movement, a successful experiment tested over many years.
The criticism of some social scientists is that socially, politically, and economically we are still living in an 18th or 19th century world and haven't even made it into the 20th century, let alone the 21st. For example, an old friend of mine who is a theoretical physicist ran for president some years ago, like Warren Mosler, to advance the debate in terms of available knowledge. His candidacy gave him time and access, and he was able to discuss the application of scientifically tested knowledge to policy. He said that by and large he met with agreement from politicians of both parties, who also said that the public was not ready to hear such ideas and that taking a scientific approach would be politically suicidal for them.
Framing (base economic) point: Michael Hudson - America’s Deceptive 2012 Fiscal Cliff
“All the world’s a stage” [William Shakespeare's ‘As You Like It’, spoken by the melancholy Jaques in Act II Scene VII]
You know, for people who know how to feel, they find their way to an understanding of the reality of contentment a whole lot quicker than those poor souls who in general, are caught up in thought. I know this stands the usual perception of achievement and excellence, prowess on its head - but I cannot help the way that it is. (IDDI) – I didn’t do it! Using mind only is the equivalent of using one arm to swim or one leg to walk. The trajectory is a circle that can spiral down into pure tragedy, or up into pure fantasy. Today, we do both. Only feeling in my understanding can provide a conduit to reality, anchor and allow mind to function as it should as discriminator (knower) between facts and fiction. That in itself is a pretty huge statement to make in today’s world. Thinkers need to be invited, concept by concept to the well where they can peer into their own depths, look at the bucket and decide whether or not they are thirsty. People who operate through feeling know they are thirsty, and can smell pure fresh life-giving water – there is nothing to think about. Understanding follows experience. People that know how to feel do not in general frequent economic blogs - they are just too busy enjoying themselves I suspect; whereas people that know how to think seem to get a special delight in tortured study and glacial movements towards highly idealised goals, unfortunately ever destined to become tainted or recede.
B.C.
Basically, the appearance on the outside at least, is that we have a world ruled in this (our Time) by rentiers backed up by the military with government paid off; war and intermissions of war or their financial equivalent imposed as suits, the whole fairy-tale seeped in fiction; having real overall negative implications for the rest of us? In a nutshell, Greed is rampant. It doesn’t matter what colour you choose to hang your curtains Persephone! In such a world it is said, only a fool would want to talk about contentment!
Being such a fool who loves to play with concepts with child-like delight (meaning we generally take everything way too seriously): very few people see straight through everything that goes on in this world and calls it for what it is: a superficial PLAY (Lila - excepting in the mainstream Shakespeare who understood plays very well) – among these only a handful see the reality of the Breath that underpins our existence. Shakespeare we laud as being beautifully poetic, but not for one moment entertain he was talking straight reality. I mean: everything that goes on in front of our eyes is a play (I call it a bubble being partial to financial terminology)? Not the usual footnote pencilled in to the research notes.
So, take a walk down the terminally ill aisle of your local hospital. Look deeply honestly openly into the eyes of your fellow (wo) man, lined up waiting to depart this life. There is no pretence and very little arrogance. Down along that aisle you will find Marxists and capitalists, investors and workers, predators and humanitarians, priests and doctors, mothers fathers and children. The eyes as they say when the curtains are drawn are ‘windows to the soul’. Who will read and speak out aloud what is written there? Do you think you will be able to interest the investor in the next ‘window of opportunity’ or the philosopher a ‘noble conception’? I don’t think so – there is just too much of reality going on! The Breath is coming and going, coming and going – soon it will arrive for one last time, and go, and be gone - forever. Is it not funny to think that your whole existence depended on something so simple? I have walked that aisle and seen empty shells: hearts that are absolutely empty, minds confused. Forgetting the trust they had in life as a child (knowing how to feel). That aisle stretches to the next hospital, and the next hospital, passing through every political, cultural and religious boundary around the globe unnoticed – no passport; into every corporation, every household, every government, every sanctuary. It passes to every birthing place where a little baby is born, emerging into the world to await the gift of Breath. Billions and billions of us coming and going in this world. That is our sovereign reality. That is our existence.
And yet we are so caught up in the play, nobody knows squat about existence. I think a human being is real. I think that 6.7 x 10 to the power of 27 atoms which come together so fortuitously to create a human being and human consciousness is real. I think the Energy that drives every atom in the Universe is real. I think the experience of that Energy is the most beautiful thing that any human being can ever experience. I think what we do with our consciousness on the outside is just a play. In terms of the universe, it is not even a blink of the eye – then it is gone! I think we should know how to add up on the outside and turn within to experience Reality on the inside. I think if I want to get real, go back to nature and all of the rest of it – I have to start with my own existence. A human being is a door. I do not want to leave this world empty – I want a heart that is full of gratitude. I want to be able to dance (on the inside – I’m really awkward on the outside)! That is my assessment.
To me, this is what education should be all about. Fulfil your heart first! After that you can sit in a wet jungle and study chimpanzees for forty years if you want to (but you shouldn’t bother them)! From each heart comes the call to be content. There is no greater ascent that can be made. To discover who you are, what it means to be human – not by somebody’s definition – but in your own existence, just the way that you are. To discover what you hold inside.
From the moment we awaken we are caught up in trauma, miasma, and fiasco: the politics, the economics, the religions and spirituality; education, health, art, organisations, aspirations, relationships, dreams and crime! We wander around and wonder around in this chaotic world of human creation looking for some thread of reality upon which we can at least fly a kite. Like worker bees or ants, we serve the bubble.
We are proud haughty and arrogant, mesmerised by the bubble, totally dedicated to its existence and preservation (even swearing allegiance to the point of laying down the only possession that we have – a 25,550 days on average chance to be alive, to exist). What a waste of existence is conflict!!! We are inordinately proud of the roles that we have and work and work and work and study really hard in order to earn the right to play a ‘meaningful role’ within the bubble (assigning special roles to ‘special people’ who create hierarchies in accordance with the latest bubble ideology that somehow favour themselves - who in the end and in reality are simply aggregations of atoms just like all of the rest of us). Dust to dust dear priest and highness. The recognition we lust for, the learning we delight to exhibit about bubble lore and philosophy, the so-called ‘power’ we wield (it’s really just bullying); even the number of people we bother (and other dubious status markers) roll around in our little bubble heads – of course if Haley’s comet were on a collision course with this earth everybody would run around with their craniums cradled under their armpits and bubbles blowing out of where the sun don’t shine. Why are we so inordinately proud of our creation, even though in truth it is absolutely horrible and inhumane in so many ways?
The blinkers have to come off, and unfortunately this rarely happens until the very last few breaths – then existence matters!! Then the bubble is popped! Then it is too late ….
But we ignore and so we are ignorant. We are busy, like the spider spinning and working on the bubble, hoping to catch a fly – then we get caught up in our web and cry!
"Get thee to a nunnery..." [William Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’, spoken to Ophelia in Act III Scene I]
So there's always that. I don't KNOW either. You started.
jrbarch, great stuff, as always.
Only feeling in my understanding can provide a conduit to reality, anchor and allow mind to function as it should as discriminator (knower) between facts and fiction. That in itself is a pretty huge statement to make in today’s world.
This is how I generally approach life. I do often start from a spark of feeling or intuition then apply thought (including attempted verification, correction, logic, etc.) and action (or inaction) on that basis. Or I apply thought until hitting a wall, getting beyond which requires another spark of feeling to which thought can be applied, etc. It is how to compose music or write a novel with any hint of freshness, have a "new" breakthrough in understanding, be passionate about anything.
People that know how to feel do not in general frequent economic blogs – they are just too busy enjoying themselves I suspect; whereas people that know how to think seem to get a special delight in tortured study and glacial movements towards highly idealised goals, unfortunately ever destined to become tainted or recede.
Here at heteconomist we try to cater for the contented.
I also try to show how the fulfillment of the less contented could be given a help along if the economic system or at least economic policy were made more contentment-friendly.
The approaches that interest me are open.
The idea with the Job Or Income Guarantee (JIG) is not that it would in itself create utopia, but that it would free people (to an extent) to shape their own lives and find their own contentment. Anyone could choose to opt out of the wage labor relation, but nobody would be prevented from a more materialistic course if they desired, and nobody would be denied employment in the wage labor relation if they wanted it. There would be enormous scope for society and the economy to evolve in many different ways from that base.
In my more recent post, the idea was to place upon such a base (or a similar one) the capacity for activity within a particular domain (the market for some consumption items) to be enabled automatically in response to individual demand for its output in a context of equally distributed purchasing power. That does, of course, place more limits (e.g. there would be no private saving, privately appropriated rent, or wealth accumulation in the government's currency). But even here, the policy suggestions (e.g., JIG? free housing? free education? free health care? equally distributed purchasing power? etc.) are not all or nothing in nature. We would be free to accept or reject any one of those components without this decision precluding our acceptance or rejection of the others. The basic idea is also very open when it comes to how activity would self-organize or be organized outside the market for consumption items.
With all these suggestions, the motive is to give individuals freedom to act in accordance with their own priorities. Unlike the present, nobody would be under economic compulsion to take employment at odds with their principles or preferences. They would have more freedom to shape their own lives and find their own contentment.
That's not to deny that a person can find contentment in the direst of circumstances. But it doesn't have to be that way, and that person's dire circumstance is an indictment on the rest of us.
I often wonder peterc! On the inside a human being is simple. Existence is actually very very simple. On the outside, this simplicity is sheathed in a human persona. How best to feed it – and clothe, shelter, educate, maintain health, socialise, iron out what is wrong with the whole species is beyond me – I have a hard enough time just being me! That's why I read heteconomist, looking for clues! I watched ‘Life of Pi’ last night – at least on my little boat there is just me and what is inside of me: I am responsible for the course I set. The ocean is the ocean (this world). Because my destination, every day, is within – I think where I go to on the outside is called ‘serendipity’. I feel my way. This business of establishing a harmony/harmlessness on the outside between personas is an interesting dilemma. As you know I think contentment on the inside is a primary factor? Economics (aka learning how to share) is definitely social; government - well the word means to steer. It's quite unnatural and weird the way Europe and perhaps the US are being steered over a cliff? I like nature: for me, the persona that is connected to the feeling within (Tom's 'oceanic peace') is connected to 'Intelligence'; if that intelligence is able to organise the mind-stuff into patterns of clear thinking, then that is what I would call 'Intellect' - the power to discriminate between facts and fiction. If one uses intellect to program some logical flow then that is creative work.
I liked your description of creativity; especially the bit about treating it like a painting or piece of music written as it comes, over the time that it takes to arrive. Someone wrote that Beethoven (who was deaf) heard his symphonies on the inside, all at once - then had to write it down in lineal fashion! There seems to be a definite process in creativity. Creativity also builds a bridge back to you. For me there is vision: then the ideas arrive and you knit the ones that belong together; a blueprint emerges. Then the trickiest bit is in the building (writing, drawing, dance etc.), staying faithful to the plan, keeping the vision firmly in mind. A lot of good vision gets lost in the chatter and hubris of the world. You chip away at the lump of stone until the statue appears taking away everything that is not. There's another reason I read heteconomist! There is something emerging in the body of your work peterc and it is interesting. Ditto for anybody’s comments really if you collect them up
Are 'better human beings' the best solution, even a prerequisite, to a better world?:
Prem Rawat: Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 24, 2011
Standard Definition (SD 360p - 1.1 GB, $9.99), High Definition (HD 720p - 1.5 GB, $11.99) and Audio (MP3 - 81.8 MB, $3.99) versions available. Duration: 59' 33''
39 sec. promo available here: Promo
Sorry I can't provide it freely but it is materials at cost. It also represents the best vision I know of on planet earth that has the most real potential (imho!) - for the price of a coffee and sandwich. Thought it should be included in this post.
"When I say peace, I mean the peace that exists in the heart of every human being. When I say the word truth, I don't mean some word buried on some page".
The emphasis is on you, knowing for yourself - not words, theories or belief ....
Hi peterc,
Have read through the ‘Posts to read first’ articles and am continuing selectively around your blog: among the MMT theorists your writing stands out in its clarity, simplicity and humanity (with just the right amount of humour, music and footy fanaticism thrown in)! I think both you and Tom Hickey add much needed colour and outline to MMT, and detail. I think much more is needed from many others to bring the subject alive to people. I wonder if Tom posts his own articles somewhere …?
My basic interest is a human being.
We seem to study clouds and trees and stars with rigorous intent and are fascinated with the interconnectedness of ants and molds with whole forests and ecosystems, but just seem too busy to look at a human being. I don’t quite know how to express this: imagine a group of animals (lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants etc.) parading down a street somewhere – but dressed in really weird costumes and putting on silly airs and graces. We would say: ‘you dumb animals – please return to your nature – you look ridiculous. Please get out of your ego (phantasies) right now and go back to being who you are’. We look at little kids dressing up in adult clothes, acting out their imaginations in a similar way and laugh. I wish we could somehow look at ourselves like that. We are not used to looking at human beings as a part of nature and have lost sight of what it means to be ‘natural’. We are so caught up in the world we have created for ourselves we have no idea of the world in which we are a natural part; and we are so caught up in acting out our roles in this overlay (what we ‘do’ - the human drama) we have no idea of our own nature. Perhaps in little kids it is still evident. It is certainly evident in a little baby and makes us smile tenderly. Human nakedness scares the bejesus out of most of us (probably because people who do go naked are not automatically natural)! Even the G.O.D. that we fight about is the one(s) we have created for ourselves.
All that we do leads us further and further away from our simple reality. That is my first concern.
For the life of me, I cannot see how we can establish a sane political, economic or social system unless we can understand our own reality? Or on an individual level, enjoy to the full our own existence? It’s not the things that we do is the root problem; it’s the fact that we do them unconsciously. Unconsciousness is our predicament. But unconsciousness of what?
Everything is as a veil woven over and over and over; thicker, more distracting, more complex, more entanglement down throughout the millennia. Nor are we what goes on all day long in that stressed out little bubble we call mind. We are more than all of our rights and wrongs, ups and downs, ins and outs, hopes fears ambitions and circumstances – the things that happen to us and the things that we do. We are more than our nationality, rationality, culture, learning or relations. We are so much more than what we ‘do’ or think. We ‘journey’ through life from birth to death, and I am afraid to say (because I know people find it confronting when it is pointed out) – for most of us, when we depart this world – we have no idea why we came, who we actually are, what we were supposed to do with our existence; what it was all about. Like Alexandra the Great we may ‘conquer’, have Halls full of Statues of our accomplishments – but leave empty handed. All of our learning resolved back into dust. There is just the everyday drama and fiasco going on and on and on. ‘History’. Some of us dabble with the madness of it all and ‘try and make a difference’. This is what I would like to see change.
My basic insight about a human being is that we are all driven by the desire to be content: and that there is nothing in the entire universe can quench that desire on the outside. This is our most fundamental essence: – fulfilment of this thirst our most sovereign reality. This, to me, is a human being …
And yet life as we live it on this planet (some kind of blind mass search, groping for something better whilst on a diet of magic mushrooms, tragedy & comedy) – is spent every waking moment trying to do exactly that! Everything we do on the outside and I mean absolutely everything whether it is political, economic, social or individually – is so that we can feel fulfilled in some way. And yet by design, fulfilment can only be had by turning inside.
Hello!
Anybody home …..?
Get the pattern here …..?
What we seek is within. It’s not like it hasn’t been pointed out before, again and again, millennia after millennia … Tom mentions perennial wisdom and everybody says nothing: goes back to eating their sandwich!
After 200,000 years of evolution I think if everybody on the planet actually understood this one fundamental fact: that we are designed for fulfilment and what we are looking for is within – know this beyond doubt, beyond explanations through their own experience - well, I think that would be bigger than the heliocentric view of the solar system or birth control. ‘Bigger even than the Beatles …’ I think that would truly change everything for human beings on this planet. I think peace would then be possible because peace is the reality that already exists, in every human heart.
I think direction is important. I think attention is important. It sets energy flowing in a certain direction in all the right channels, and then things begin to happen.
So, I just wanted to reiterate: after reading MMT authors I am so glad that there are people in this world who understand the simple reality of the monetary system; and they are making a tremendous effort to pass this understanding on to others. I applaud all of these people whole-heartedly because I know these are the people who will ‘make a difference’. To me, progressives are people who hold up a lamp to humanity in their chosen field and selflessly ‘light the way’ towards a realisation, an evolution in our own humanity. For me the human being is the goal and the journey. What is within us the prize that everyone can win! We are more than animals and we are more than mind. I really think people need to be free of capital enslavement. Anything that holds back the human heart from fulfilment is a ‘crime against humanity’ in my book. I think human beings deserve more than to just live out a banal existence bound to the wheel. I really think people need their dignity, peace and prosperity. But I also think that there is a major piece missing from the jigsaw puzzle of human existence, and this piece lies within us all. I really think that until this piece is known, restored to us all, everything we try to do on the outside will be more or less a dog’s breakfast. This little piece is a key to all of the others. This little piece resides in the heart of a human being and not the mind. That is the tricky bit! It is accessible only through the power of feeling. We all know how to feel but just need some simple tuition on how to feel the most fundamental thing! The thing that makes a baby smile! I think we need to look at the human being in the same way we look at an ant or an atom (or anything else in nature). We need to understand our own nature first; get clear about what it means to be human; to exist; to have been given this beautiful gift of life. How to fulfil our heart!
What is within us is our most fundamental reality. It is not a theory or a philosophy, a religion dream or wishful thinking: it is a reality! We need to know that reality – just as it is. Experience for ourselves, the way it is, within us! No parade of costumes and acting out necessary.
I think that when human beings can make that little switch; turn around and look within for their fulfilment – a huge tide of energy will flow in an entirely different direction. I think that is the missing piece that will unify all progressive movements on the outside. And people will understand that there is a progressive ‘movement’ on the inside (Kabir’s swing)! There is evolution on the inside as well as evolution on the outside. I think we are living in an age when it is happening, right now. We just need to open our eyes a little and see!
Many thanks for teaching and clarifying to me many aspects of MMT and Marxism peterc – please don’t stop!!
I wonder if Tom posts his own articles somewhere …?
No.
"For the life of me, I cannot see how we can establish a sane political, economic or social system unless we can understand our own reality? Or on an individual level, enjoy to the full our own existence? It’s not the things that we do is the root problem; it’s the fact that we do them unconsciously. Unconsciousness is our predicament. But unconsciousness of what?"
Exactly. As Meher Baba points out in God Speaks, the journey of evolution is from unconsciousness to full consciousness. Individuals are each somewhere along this range, and groups exhibit levels of collective consciousness based on the predominant level of awareness. No one and no group is capable of functioning above their level of consciousness. Consciousness is naturally evolving, but that process is painstakingly slow. It is possible to step us the velocity (increase speed in the right direction) through self-cultivation and following enlightened guidance.
Beautiful comment, jrbarch, even by your high standards!
I don't qualify as an MMT theorist. I am just a hobbyist. My objective with the blog is to help -- along with others -- to share insights that became clear to me thanks to the work of the MMTers, and also the work of Marx, Kalecki, Keynes, and modern Marx and Keynes influenced economists, a rather wide-ranging group.
I very much agree with your point that to know what we want, we need to understand ourselves, and that requires going inward. Economics can't solve that problem, but I do think economic policy can help to make life more conducive to self-exploration. I am especially interested in progressive reforms that enhance the freedom of all individuals to follow their own paths. I regard the JIG as one such policy. By guaranteeing basic economic security on the terms most preferred by each individual (whether within or outside the wage labor relation), greater opportunity is provided for self and life discovery.
But, alternatively, a job guarantee would also be an improvement on the current situation. It would guarantee income and, by design, allow each individual to choose his or her hours, including half-time, quarter-time, etc., and free time for non-material pursuits if so desired.
".... and free time for non-material pursuits if so desired."
It always blows me out how creative humans are. Over the millennia our creativity is the one attribute that makes me gasp at the potential of human beings.
The best thing about creativity is that it really puts a person in touch with themselves. It builds inner bridges - the 'rainbow bridge' as I have seen it described - a bi-directional pathway to and from the self. This for me allows that inner energy to flow and be recognised as a distinctive feeling (the first inner sense awakens)!
The other aspect of this of course is that in a hundred years time, most of the modern world will be in a museum. Hope is our shield!
I think nature is on everybody's side because sooner or later we will tire of using our creativity to eat dust! In my life, creativity has meant for me, looking within and seeing an inner process taking place over the years, and enjoying that energy as it flows within; digs a hole, opens up a space within. One of its names is peace! One of its gifts is gratitude. A heart full of gratitude is absolutely priceless on my little balance sheet!
Thinking about creativity and Marx’s capitalism containing the seeds of its own destruction (not happened yet)!
I think this ties in neatly with the ‘evolution’ of the persona.
There is a process attached to the persona involving the ‘I’ (the personal self). [Esoteric Psychology I & II, Tibetan, A.A. Bailey]
First of all, each persona is absolutely unique. Secondly, each persona seems to be in a different state of evolution, consciousness focused predominantly physically, emotionally, mentally: - or in the heart (soul) and spirit (Breath) – each focus at different states of unfoldment. This is where the ‘I’ identifies.
Sometimes I imagine the ‘I’ as being subject to low and high pressures cells, formed from out of its own atmosphere: when everything is going our way we feel expansive and rising, when it is not ponderous and depressive.
As the ‘I’ unfolds it gathers to itself different capabilities (physical control, emotional control, mental control, depth of universal feeling, and awareness of the Breath). For a long time it is selfish and self-centred, necessarily so to develop capability. Eventually the persona is perfected in some field but it wants more. Having failed to fulfil the ‘I’ selfishly it turns to other ‘I’s – perhaps it can fulfil itself by helping others? A humanitarian is born. But it is still the ‘I’ doing service.
Then comes a very difficult period as the realisation dawns that this is not going to work either – the ‘I’ is still unfulfilled and yet there is a recognition that service is a good thing - how can there be ‘selfless service’? How can the ‘I’ be truly fulfilled? How is human potential realised?
Then, through some inexplicable fortune, the heart begins to be felt as an entity within – when the consciousness is focused and steady in that ‘soul-self’ within, then the ‘I’ is seen as just a ‘modification of the vrittis (mindstuff)’ without [Patanjali]. It is discounted, bypassed - but retained operationally until death restores the persona back to its constituents. When the heart acts it is always service and it is always selfless. When the heart deepens in feeling, and looks above - the Breath becomes known. The experience is carried back down to the persona through the channels that have been created. Certainty is born!
So, this is creativity on the inside; the reason why there is so much energy invested in capitalism on the outside, and why capitalism one day will burn out as a selfish pursuit? Could take a while.
I think the Buddha had it sorted:
… that we must not believe in a thing said merely because it is said; nor traditions because they have been handed down from antiquity; nor rumours, as such; nor writings by sages, because sages wrote them; nor fancies that we may suspect to have been inspired in us by a Deva (that is, in presumed spiritual inspiration); nor from inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption we may have made; nor because of what seems an analogical necessity; nor on the mere authority of our teachers or masters. But we are to believe when the writing, doctrine, or saying is corroborated by our own reason and consciousness. "For this," says he in concluding, "I taught you not to believe merely because you have heard, but when you believed of your consciousness, then to act accordingly and abundantly."
Includes YouTube and the www I guess! And the murmurings of one jrbarch!!
What does this mean practically for me in my life?
To let my heart be the judge. To let my consciousness be my measure, for better or worse. To have faith in myself because I am the one singular reality in this entire Universe that is actually mine, and should trust. To realise that I carry within me everything that I need. To understand and then realise that the company that I seek and long for is already within, and will fill my heart with gratitude and peace. Mostly it means to trust myself! To enjoy my existence for as long as it lasts. To look within.
Other than that, all walk alone. I cannot give anyone gifts of any kind, help them in any way, create a hierarchy on the inside that everybody should salute, or give reason to grow – each must take their own steps in their own life because they want to. I can share on the outside. All the ‘I’s’ in the world can get together and have a big party if they want to – it doesn’t change anything. Yes, we should cooperate out of love and respect for one another, but that love and respect should come from the heart – not the ‘I’.
The feeling that emerges from the heart can be felt by anybody (no matter what the ‘I’ is up to) – that is my experience!
Trust nobody else – you are just setting yourself and other person(s) up for failure by doing so. Trust your own heart because it has never ever let you down and has always had your best interests in focus. Each must stand on their own two feet and walk their life (we try to lean on so many different things). Find their own truth in their own consciousness. Measure everything under Fire, in the crucible of your own consciousness. Burn it and burn it down to its essence. Love is an energy that emerges from within and is meant to rise to its Source, also within and above; not get caught up on something or someone on the outside. When it flows freely to itself it will return to you and then freely out into the world (service). You will still love your kids, but with your heart and not so much the atmospheric ‘I’.
As for the heart there is a little saying (I think Kabir): ‘a rock can be immersed in a stream for a thousand years, but take it out and place it in the sun and it will be dry in five minutes’. Keeping the consciousness immersed in the stream emerging from the heart is an incredible discipline – for so long it has identified only with the ‘I’.
No one’s existence is hidden under some rock somewhere!
The way to go within has always been taught by someone with that particular gift! Prem Rawat taught me – but if you are not comfortable look further – the important thing is to know! In the existence and the consciousness that you have – asap!!