Max Sawicky replied to my comments, and asked several questions (rhetorically, perhaps?), >Perhaps because your erudition shields you >from the ordinary concerns, values, and habits of >most people? Maybe you need to phone home. Many apologies for my erudition. But I am already _at home_ in the "ordinary concerns, values, and habits of most people". No need to phone. What I am questioning is the way those ordinary concerns, values and habits are articulated. I won't argue with Max's "one in twenty" estimate of the proportion of people who would see "the quest for income" as odd. Far less than one in twenty would see commodity production as odd. Probably no more than one in twenty "marxian economists" would see commodity production as odd. That doesn't mean it's _not_ odd. All's I'm saying is that we need to look beyond the taken for granted view. > And what's your time horizon for >"new-fangled"? Since the death of Christ? Mid 19th century for capitalist work discipline (see E.P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline and Industrial Capitalism"). 1920s for consumer orientation (See Benjamin Hunnicutt, _Work without End_). But I guess from the perspective of a timeless present, a hundred years or two might as well be eternity. >Are we talking rice-and-bean communes here? >Is that the plan for economic renewal? I've got nothing against rice or beans. My guess is more people subsist on those two staples than do on brie-and-chardonnay. "The plan for economic renewal" may be a little over ambitious for this one small guy. I'll settle for elements of a strategy, and I outline some of these at: http://mindlink.net/knowware/timework.htm But Jeez, a guy could get whiplash being thrown back and forth between "excess erudition" and "rice-and-beans communes." >Then we should all renounce economics and take up >anthropology. Maybe the world would be a better >place. Maybe the world would be a better place if *economists* would stop renouncing the insights of other disciplines, such as anthropology. Perhaps "renounce" is too strong a word for a refusal to even acknowledge that other ways of knowing may bear on the issues that economics seeks to treat. >What would it matter if we weren't [descended from Robinson Crusoe]? For one thing, maybe Friday could get a day off every now and then. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ knoW Ware Communications | Vancouver, B.C., CANADA | "Only in mediocre art [EMAIL PROTECTED] | does life unfold as fate." (604) 669-3286 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm
