Harry Pollard wrote: > > Lawry, > > As you know, I'm not enamored of modern neo-classical economics. My > discipline is Classical Political Economy, which study has been strongly > influenced by Henry George. Ray suggested that I should promise to avoid > everything that Henry George said or thought. That would be difficult for > George had much to say that was excellent. There have not been many like > him, as said Albert Einstein: > > "Men like Henry George are rare, unfortunately. One cannot imagine a more > beautiful combination of intellectual keenness, artistic form, and fervent > love of justice." [snip] > As I pointed out to Keith, George said: "In nothing trust in me."
Dear Harry [whoever you are out there in cyberspace...]: May I respectfully suggest that you have not been a very good salesman here on FW, at least as far as I am concerned? To urge persons to think for themselves is one of my leitmotivs [obviously, hopefully!]. I'm surprised here by what you wrote, and that may give you reason to reflect as an educator. > > He asked his readers to think for themselves. He told them they didn't need > great universities, and mammoth libraries. They could work things out for > themselves. All they need do is to observe people and note how they behave > - then extend their reasoning from there. Here, however, I disagree. Perhaps a child who was raised from birth to believe his or her own senses could "work things out for themselves" -- or at least do a better job of it than most of us. But most of us -- jewish and other -- have had our souls circumcised even more frequently and brutally than our bodies, so that our perceptions are mutilated. I have a friend who was raised to believe his senses. But he was raised by persons who knew little. His "instincts" are "right on". But he nonetheless has "limitations" when it comes do interacting with "high culture". Kant is not shit, but he is not equipped to interact meaningfully with Kant's work (or Husserl, et al.). So I would respectfully submit that in order to think for themselves most effectively, persons need *both* to think for themselves, and ALSO to be installed on the shoulders of giants -- you would say, perhaps, Henry George, I would say Edmund Husserl, but perhaps you would agree with me that the person who thinks or him or herself, starting from "zero elevation", has a lot of catching up to do compared with the person who both has the ability to think for themself and also starts out at a pinnacle of human cultural accomplishment on earth hitherto. No, I will not accept that autochthony is enough -- the stories of The Wild Child of Avignon and Kaspar Hauser [see, for the latter, e.g., Werner Herzog's film, the German title of which translates as: "Every man for himself and God against all"] -- The Wild Child of Avignon and Kaspar Hauser are tragic counterexamples of thinking for oneself being good enough. \brad mccormick > > His speeches were superb. Shaw heard him once and was converted. (There's > another single name celebrity.) His ideas and arguments spread across > continents to Europe, Africa, Russia, China, Australia. > > Not only will I decline to omit George from my thinking, but I think for a > brief shining moment he offered us the opportunity to build Camelot. It was > hardly his fault that we didn't take it. I say the same of Edmund Husserl (and perhaps also Robert Musil). [Hi, Ray!] > > Harry > > http://www.abelard.org/e-f-russell.htm#chapter1 > > Lawrence DeBivort wrote: > > >Good morning, everyone, > > > >Still struck by Ray's powerful language, "creating great soaring works of > >human imagination," I wonder whether we might not on this list take a shot > >a describing what such soaring visions might be in our view, and what that > >then might mean in terms of "building economies around such...." > > > >Would you be interested in doing this? > > > >Best regards, > >Lawry > > ****************************** > Harry Pollard > Henry George School of LA > Box 655 > Tujunga CA 91042 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: (818) 352-4141 > Fax: (818) 353-2242 > ******************************* > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.393 / Virus Database: 223 - Release Date: 9/30/2002 -- 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] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
