Michael Gurstein wrote:
>
> Hmmm....
>
> Rocks are "real", we can stub our toes on them; coins are "real", we can
> choke on them, or throw them at dogs urinating on our lawns (forgive me
> Bishop Berkeley). "Money", like other forms of totem worship is a social
> convention.
[snip]
I think this is a place where the distinction between myth and
narrative (myth being one *kind* of narrative, but not the
only kind) could be helpful.
Money is worshipped in our society. Stock traders
imagine they are doing something *real*ly important in
shuffling money-representations. Instead they
could think of money *as* a socially instituted
mechanism for coordinating human activity, so that,
instead of trying to make "killings" (etc.), they
would see monetary transactions more like
manipulating the flow control dials
on the control panel of a nuclear reactor: very
important, but not an end in itself (imagine a
nuclear power plant operator who tried to
maximize "profits" AKA the rate of fission in the
reactor)....
*Our* priests wear Armani suits. They
"dress for success". St. George slayed dragons;
they try to slay each other (only
metaphorically, of course...).
But let's not be too harsh on money and stock brokers.
The Fellow of Harvard University believe in grades.
They too are "into" a form of totem worship, even if
the way some of them do it, self-contradictorily,
is by being professors of philosophy, anthropology, etc.
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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