Gruff, I can see it is matters of perspective that makes us see things differently. I'd say it is also a matter of perceptivity.
There is nothing more I can add to what I've already stated. On Aug 8, 10:49 am, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > "... On Aug 7, 7:11 pm, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> > wrote: ..." > > > But that wasn't the point. The point was that the capitalist ' > > environment,' at this point in history, is exacerbating such > > behaviour, actually causing and bringing out more of it, because that > > is what it finds expedient and also because of the ' message ' it is > > sending to the billions who find themselves marginalised and > > dispossessed, unheard by the powers that be and long muted with their > > inexorably miserable fate. > > I'm sorry, Vam but you sound like Marx when in actuality we are at the > other end of the spectrum. Granted, the current capitalist free- > market crisis is exacerbating the stress on the social fabric. Crisis > always does. Crisis inflames fear which makes people play it closer > to the vest, tighter, meaner, cruder. Crisis brings out a few heroes > but mostly it energizes the instinct for self preservation. People > who are at the edge of sociopathic behavior slip over that edge into > sometimes wanton violence. Crime in general rises along with all > other pathologies at all levels of society in times of crisis. > > But it is not as bad as some would have us believe. There are those > in the world who would rather heighten our state of fear because > fearful people are easier to control but I think we've grown to the > point where they are in a minority which is indicated by their > increasingly desperate attempts at mongering fear. > > There's not a voice over twenty in western society which can say they > are not better off today than at any previous time. Since 1971 the > wealth of the developed world has multiplied fivefold. And now that > the U.S. has shown the world that free-market capitalism makes > everybody wealthier, everybody is jumping on the bandwagon. If you > think the last twenty five years have been spectacular, wait till you > see the next quarter century. > > > What I am suggesting is this : If the room is clean from before, I > > would not litter it. Indeed, my suggestion is to do the clean up act. > > In the context, it means bringing ' cooperation ' and ' care ' centre > > stage, in place of primacy to capital in terms of value and ' power ' > > over the fate of humanity, from here on. > > This must be where Francis sees us as being in the same place and I > think it is where we coincide. What you describe as cleaning up, > cooperation and care are part and parcel of those core characteristics > I think we need to aim at rather than the systems. I think this same > concept is embedded in the philosophy of economics from the time of > Smith. He named one facet of it as the invisible hand which causes > the market place to self-correct. What he didn't count on what the > capacity for human greed to outrun the market's safety valves. But > in any case, I see us as talking about the same things here. > > > Mere ' ownership ' of > > capital, and concern for more and more profit, is no longer an > > adequate qualification for the tasks ahead ! > > In my mind it never was, albeit it was the controlling factor for a > lot of the world. To me capital and the wealth it creates are but a > means to achieve success with the tasks ahead. All an economy is is > an enabler. It enables us to indulge, investigate, explore, > experience everything else. It enables us to more become what we want > to be. In the vernacular of the street, it's the grease to life. > > > To restate : Capital is way overrated, for the future I am speaking > > of. We should be looking a lot more closely at what it is doing to > > everyone, not just how it is working for the owner of capital. > > Ahh, here again you seem to be blaming capital for something, perhaps > the ruination of the soul? I'm not sure but it sounds important. The > difficulty is that capital is neutral. It has no moral or ethical > nature. This is in the same sense that guns don't kill people, > people kill people. Guns are but the enabler and have no morality but > what is created by the person holding the weapon or wielding the > checkbook. > > I might say the same thing in another way. Just as guns are deadly > for some, wealth or capital is for others. Some use their power for > good, some for bad, some for self-protection, some for hedonistic > purposes, some stupidly. I think I've said this before in another > way ... it is human creativity that gives character to most of life > across a broad spectrum. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
