MessageNot sure of what I'm being complacent about, Mike. In the case of aboriginal people and their communities, I'd agree that things like information technology, air travel, education and access to lawyers and politicians have made huge differences. Instead of just being pushed out of the way, they can now assert and defend their rights. In the case of the EU and the Euro, I'm not so sure that Europe has genuinely changed from the Europe of history, a history that is rife with imposed utopian ideals that have often gone terribly wrong. A good reference on this is John Gray's "Black Mass". Gray is professor of European thought at the London School of Economics.
Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Gurstein To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION' Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 3:02 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Euro encore Ed, I think that is far too complacent a reply... Negotiation and adaptation is possible when there is a degree of empowerment on both sides... One of the things that information technology has done IMHO is to offer the opportunity for that degree of empowerment to occur in a variety of places... It's not inevitable but it's possible... http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/e-bario-the-impact-of-a-telecentre-and-the-creation-of-a-technology-hub-in-the-highlands-of-borneo/ and then do some searching around for eBario and also take a look at K-Net http://www.knet.ca and http://www.ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/issue/view/27 The Euro and EU was a different case where the Southern laggards (at least their elites) thought that they could hitch a free ride into North European prosperity without adapting their local practices (knowing that to attempt to do so would be so wrenching as to render the task impossible... Building from the ground up based on their own skills and resources was impossible of course, since the definition of economic success was imposed externally and then superimposed locally. We are all, of course, holding our breath to see what the outcome will be in Tunisia. M -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Weick Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 10:29 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] Euro encore I would agree that where cultures are as different as those of Native Americans and Europeans there is little hope of finding common cause. One wins; the other loses. However, in the case of countries of the EU, cultural differences are relatively minor. What they did in the case of the Euro is adopt a common currency but continue to maintain control over their respective economies. The result has been a rather messy mess, which is something that often happens when idealism trumps practicality. Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Harrell To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION' Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 9:16 AM Subject: Re: [Futurework] Euro encore One should remember that the U.S. and Canada have a very poor record with this. As long as the immigrant mix is uniform then the currency can follow but when you have vastly different ethnic cultures in states then the cooperation tends toward patronizing competition and creates disharmony. Think Iraq as another example. The Europeans couldn't have competing societies and societal forms with us so they basically committed genocide to disempower us rather than cooperate and build a common future. Racism is another version of same. In my mind this proves the fallacy of "economics as the core value" [i.e. wealth as the definition of value,] of a society. Money follows what truly is the core value of a society and that value is culture and the web of relationships and assumptions culture creates [or maybe religion] but it definitely isn't business or investments. Business is amoral and favors solutions that piss people off. It took a thousand years for China to arrive at their harmony and it is still tenuous with their different languages and ethnic strains. Such disharmony is the reason that native peoples couldn't resist the invaders from Europe. It's also the reason that empires are always bound to fail as a system. Admittedly this is simply my opinion. Prove me wrong. REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Weick Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 7:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Futurework] Euro encore And more Krugman. The idealistic concept that a bunch of countries with differing problems and different fiscal and administrative systems can operate under a single currency is bound to unravel. http://www.truth-out.org/the-eur-flailing-threatens-europe66926 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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