Almost poetry of modern monetary theory: Pondering here from my academic station Why has never before such a simple observation Caused more confusion and consternation Amongst the general population
That the government is the currency-issuing monopolist Is not a radical idea, nor a hypothesis It is a simple, nay, elementary fact That is often so fervently attacked IT conjures fears of hyperinflation The dread of every civilized nation A crippling phobia that stunts our facilities To rationally think about the economic possibilities Pundits, economists, and the average bloke Firmly believe that the U.S. government is broke And defend this dreadful and deadly mythology “There Is NO Alternative,” they say, without an apology Inequality, retirement insecurity, mass unemployment Environmental blight, pay gap, and other disappointments Are no longer problems intractable, alarming and eerie With a brief introduction to Modern Monetary Theory On Sunday, 5 April 2015 07:25:08 UTC+1, Allan Heretic wrote: > > Poetry fills > Imaginary reality world > Ideals expressed > > Politics finds > Twisted words selling > Non existance > > Dreams > Words of inner > Thought > > Letters counting > Toward > Complete expression > > Life inside > Imaginary society > People > > Complete > Each soul carrying > Inner poetry > > تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين > Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others > > -----Original Message----- > From: archytas <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sat, 04 Apr 2015 11:41 PM > Subject: Re: Mind's Eye Re: Imagine That > > There is no desiring without imagination. (Aristotle, De Anima, 433b p. 29) > I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the > truth of the Imagination. (John Keats, Letter to Benjamin Bailey, 22 > November 1817) > Why could we not start by positing a dream, a poem, a symphony as > paradigmatic of the fullness of being and by seeing in the physical world a > different mode of being, instead of looking at things the other way round, > instead of seeing in the imaginary – that is, human – mode of existence, a > deficient or secondary mode of being? (Cornelius Castoriadis, The Imaginary > Institution of Society, 1987, p. 5) > > In Castoriadis’s own words: ‘what makes a word what it is, meaning-wise, > is its overtones, its resonances and > consonances’ (Castoriadis, 2007, p. 43). He offers a very illustrative > example of the creative potentiality > of such melodic overtones in his analysis of Shakespearean texts and the > poetry of Rilke: > The melody of the meaning is the horizontal relation between the meanings > and the intensity of the > particular words in their succession, which already in itself contains a > harmonic component. For, just as, > when one hears the end of a melody, its musical substance includes what > preceded it, so the deployment of > the meaning in a poetic phrase, which constitutes in itself a temporal > form, culminates in a term that is > what it is only as a function of everything that came beforehand. The > harmony of the meaning seems to be, > strictly speaking, an illogical expression, since harmony is the > consonance of several voices and because > the poem – more generally, a linguistic expression – seems monodic. But > there is harmony because there > are harmonics of the words’ significations… > And continues: > [harmony is] certainly inseparable from the listener, from the concrete > audience, but this is also and > especially ‘impersonally’ deposited in language. A word can function in > language only by means of these > indefinite referrals, each one of which engages and sets in motion other > referrals. The harmonic richness > of a line is made from the richness of the referrals of the words that > compose it. (Castoriadis, 2007, p. 71) > > The metaphorical force of ‘narrowly imagined’ concepts such as that of > ‘growth’ in economics, regarding our ability to break with established > political economy frames. Lakoff (2010), a cognitive linguist, argues that > a real break with those frames can only exist in the employment of a > radically different metaphorical frame that goes beyond negation (evidenced > in anti-growth policies) or appropriation (as is often the case in green > growth), but rather posits entirely new concepts for guiding policy, such > as that of well-being. > > Organizations are imagined not merely in the sense that what shapes them > is ‘known but cannot be told’ (Castoriadis, 1987, p. 43) or ‘be made > explicit’, but that what is known is actually and continuously represented, > signified and affected by those making up the organization. Some of these > representations/significations/affects are indeed explicit and may include > scientific data and mathematical figures. Yet it is not our inability to > ‘translate’ that stifles creative imagination in practice, but a failure of > individuals, organizations and societies to lucidly recognize their > ownership of those figures/meanings/ emotions. This radical position is at > the heart of the Castoriadian notion of imagination: creativity is already > there, albeit hand in hand with the obfuscation that prevents its lucid > recognition in the psyche and society. It also enables us to re-signify and > reimagine organizations and organizing differently, suggesting that > critique is not all we have in dealing with these limits. Through the > Castoriadian ontology we are better able to imagine the form that such > reconfigurations might take in organizing, not simply as a challenge of > instituted (individualized, ‘psychologized’, or rationalized) reality, but > moreover as active carriers of new legitimacies, creating organizational > contexts that ‘search for their own foundations’ > > I knew this Greek guy and he played a mean piano. > Castoriadis, C. (1987). The imaginary institution of society. Cambridge: > Polity. > Lakoff, G. (2010). Why it matters how we frame the environment. > Environmental Communication, 4(1), 70–81. > > Not everything that comes out of the imagination is good. Most can't even > do critique (imagining it negative) let alone get to 'imagine that' on how > a new scenario might work. Science has been working for a couple of > centuries by excluding dull idiots like the worst religionists and > politicians from the laboratory. Getting people out of the way to progress > society in general is tougher. Give them the chance to choose between > Democrat and GOP and they imagine they are free. Ho, ho ho ... > > On Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 9:43:29 PM UTC+1, archytas wrote: >> >> There are a lot of books about on more imaginative approaches. This is >> typical: >> Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social >> Change. The Jossey-Bass Education Series. >> Greene, Maxine >> The essays in this book are the author's attempt to connect her own >> seeking with the strivings of other teachers and teacher educators who are >> tired of a self-centered, technocratic existence and who want to enhance >> their understanding of diversity. The essays concentrate on imagination as >> a means through which to assemble a coherent world, because imagination is >> what makes empathy possible and what allows people to enter others' worlds >> (e.g., through poetry or music). Moving from an account of school >> restructuring to a rendering of the shapes of literacy, the book examines >> the processes of human questioning and resistance to meaninglessness. Part >> 1, "Creating Possibilities," includes: (1) "Seeking Contexts"; (2) >> "Imagination, Breakthroughs, and the Unexpected"; (3) "Imagination, >> Community, and the School"; (4) "Discovering a Pedagogy"; (5) "Social >> Vision and the Dance of Life"; and (6) "The Shapes of Childhood Recalled." >> Part 2, "Illuminations and Epiphanies," includes: (7) "The Continuing >> Search for Curriculum"; (8) "Writing To Learn"; (9) "Teaching for >> Openings"; (10) "Art and Imagination"; and (11) "Texts and Margins." Part >> 3, "Community in the Making," includes: (12) "The Passions of Pluralism"; >> (13) "Standards, Common Learnings, and Diversity"; and (14) "Multiple >> Voices and Multiple Realities." (SM) >> No doubt I should be ashamed to know even this a a scientist. A mug like >> me just looks for the on and off switches. >> >> On Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 6:27:08 PM UTC+1, Allan Heretic wrote: >>> >>> I think that is what they are reporting/promoting everything is going >>> via wire.. >>> What i don't like is the lack of creative programers capitable of truly >>> creative programing.. most of them are not much more than line fillers ,, >>> filling in only segments. . Creative but not very original. . Creativity is >>> extremely difficult. . >>> >>> The eco advantages for the environment are great.. with advances in >>> airship technology will be of great advantages especially in fuel economy >>> .. the elite of the world are recklessly using resources to the detriment >>> of the rest of the world.. internet can become a world saver.. >>> >>> >>> تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين >>> Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: archytas <[email protected]> >>> To: [email protected] >>> Sent: Sat, 04 Apr 2015 6:09 PM >>> Subject: Re: Mind's Eye Re: Imagine That >>> >>> Failing eyesight makes the zoom feature a blessing. I now prefer >>> electronic text to paper. Pity electronic speech is so dire and difficult >>> to speed read with (some blind colleagues have got used to listening at >>> speeds I can't). >>> >>> I wish Molly was right on the move to something more spiritual, but >>> research suggests a big physical element in electronic receptions. I'm not >>> sure the imagination button is switched on n most people, and soon we will >>> have products for all kinds of physical simulation to go with the mobile. >>> >>> >>> On Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 9:50:27 AM UTC+1, Allan Heretic wrote: >>>> >>>> Thank you. Sleep allows the brain to reset. . My episodes are always >>>> early morning. . 5 - 7 am. Figures other than to me they are very boring. . >>>> As it is adult onset.. i am wondering if my smart phones ae part of >>>> the problem. >>>> If i really want to read a document i prefer a combo of paper / >>>> electronic.. >>>> I like human content. . My preference a cuppa coffee / tea sitting >>>> around a table talking with friends. . The Internet will do. And is nice >>>> for long distances.. and is convenient as you can answer when up.. i >>>> always >>>> turn my phone to airplane mode while sleeping. >>>> >>>> I do think the internet is slowly down the ability to think.. to much >>>> us being passed off as truth when in reality it is a lot of cut and paste >>>> .. i am left wondering if the are not basting a idea from a bad recipe. >>>> >>>> BOO... >>>> >>>> تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين >>>> Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: Molly <[email protected]> >>>> To: [email protected] >>>> Sent: Sat, 04 Apr 2015 9:06 AM >>>> Subject: Re: Mind's Eye Re: Imagine That >>>> >>>> Big hug across the divide to you, Allan. Speedy recovery. >>>> >>>> On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 5:56:42 PM UTC-4, Allan Heretic wrote: >>>>> >>>>> The older i get the longer it takes to recover. And they run in >>>>> cycles. . Unfortunately medication is only sliwing them and cutting >>>>> severity. >>>>> But that is better than raw.. >>>>> The poery is only madness running thu my head hooe it is not to crazy >>>>> >>>>> تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين >>>>> Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: archytas <[email protected]> >>>>> To: [email protected] >>>>> Sent: Fri, 03 Apr 2015 11:48 PM >>>>> Subject: Re: Mind's Eye Re: Imagine That >>>>> >>>>> A head full of soap opera, nightmare indeed. >>>>> >>>>> On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 6:45:07 PM UTC+1, Allan Heretic wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> I have a dislike for episodes. . One thing is they are not gòd for >>>>>> clarity of thought.. but one good thing it was lite. Problem is I >>>>>> have >>>>>> been having them for msy many years even befor I came to Europe.. i >>>>>> always >>>>>> thought of them as severe nightmares. >>>>>> It is good to know . . . I think.. >>>>>> >>>>>> تجنب. القتل والاغتصاب واستعباد الآخرين >>>>>> Avoid; murder, rape and enslavement of others >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: archytas <[email protected]> >>>>>> To: [email protected] >>>>>> Sent: Fri, 03 Apr 2015 4:32 PM >>>>>> Subject: Mind's Eye Re: Imagine That >>>>>> >>>>>> Despite imagination Allan, I have never been able to regard meeting a >>>>>> bloke as a date. The way round this seems to be not dating in order to >>>>>> be >>>>>> gender balanced. Never liked the performances anyway. Tired today, i >>>>>> that >>>>>> 'after 'flu' way. Looking forward to dog walk being less of a trudge >>>>>> and >>>>>> no throbbing pains in my left eye and head. Instructions to buy Ginger >>>>>> Wine for hot toddies. >>>>>> >>>>>> I agree all that Molly and it all expands into several books - though >>>>>> really one can only create the conditions for a trail every so often. >>>>>> This >>>>>> would be worth talking through, though most spirits are too weak to try. >>>>>> >>>>>> I'll try again if Max leaves me any energy and the toddies don't get >>>>>> too overwhelming. May just let them. Much of what needs saying is not >>>>>> in >>>>>> the public domain, which is odd given how easy much of it is. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Friday, 3 April 2015 12:33:14 UTC+1, Molly wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I will take my carbon dating as a compliment as I think the age of >>>>>>> reason our downfall. We only seemed to have an inkling about how our >>>>>>> extension through technology would bring us back through it where >>>>>>> reasonable paradigms don't work for us, and as close as we can get to a >>>>>>> working model is again mystic. Not to say reason is thrown aside. It >>>>>>> must >>>>>>> be integrated and given its mechanical function so we can move into >>>>>>> something greater, having been hijacked for too long and used in the >>>>>>> power >>>>>>> and control games. We are more than mental, but are beaten with it >>>>>>> until we >>>>>>> give it all up to merely survive, our self image blown to smithereens >>>>>>> >>>>>>> For too long, no one recognized the magician of the beautiful, those >>>>>>> that move naturally and leave beauty in their wake. We've lost our >>>>>>> ability >>>>>>> to recognize beauty, having been drenched in mundane by deteriorating >>>>>>> culture and technology. But something has come of it. And there are >>>>>>> those >>>>>>> among us that move in action of the divine principle within, and those >>>>>>> among us that can recognize the beauty that surrounds them and envelops >>>>>>> us. >>>>>>> If we can let go of the need to know why, and move along in this >>>>>>> action, we >>>>>>> can be taken where paradigms are no longer necessary. I am not sure if >>>>>>> a >>>>>>> group can be carried along, or if we, moving in action of the divine >>>>>>> principle within, move with the world as it is in perfection, accepting >>>>>>> the >>>>>>> imperfection as inherent to the divine principle, knowing the >>>>>>> imperfection >>>>>>> is changing into perfection through the action. Maybe its always been >>>>>>> like >>>>>>> this. Maybe it always will be. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 5:52:32 PM UTC-4, archytas wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> I had a nice afternoon. Turned a bar in Manchester into an >>>>>>>> old-style tavern with folk singing and a free barrel of Old Peculiar. >>>>>>>> The >>>>>>>> themes were about returning to Greek and Medieval notions of >>>>>>>> rationality, >>>>>>>> which have long struck me as in need of a few beers to get into. >>>>>>>> Debate >>>>>>>> went so well I hardly needed to say anything. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The Greeks were all over the place around the relevant time, in >>>>>>>> Italy and around the Med. This was the time of the of what Hans Joas >>>>>>>> dubbed "cosmic religion" of late Antiquity, a fusion of Greek >>>>>>>> cosmological >>>>>>>> speculation. Babylonian astrology, Egyptian theology, Jewish thought >>>>>>>> and >>>>>>>> popular magic. There were many attempts to translate this into >>>>>>>> political >>>>>>>> constitutions. Most of this was put to the Roman sword, and >>>>>>>> intellectuals >>>>>>>> became mystic, aspiring to find new ways to transcend earthly systems >>>>>>>> entirely, rising through planetary spheres, purging themselves of >>>>>>>> materiality to pure reason - that human reason that is simply the >>>>>>>> action of >>>>>>>> a divine principle within us. Rationality here becomes beyond >>>>>>>> spiritual to >>>>>>>> the mystical achievement of union with he divine. In the absence of >>>>>>>> Molly, >>>>>>>> we did the internal warming of Old Peculiar and some Lancashire Folk. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> So why look to the past like this? The simple answer is that our >>>>>>>> present is still full of it. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The second area we looked at once the beer was going down was the >>>>>>>> Medieval. You need to be half-cut to take what went on then. One of >>>>>>>> the >>>>>>>> strongest features of this time concerns just how humans consider >>>>>>>> themselves superior and different to animals. We are still taught >>>>>>>> this >>>>>>>> crap as kids - 'it's rationality stupid'. Cue some cute pictures of >>>>>>>> animals problem solving and being very rational (lions hunting at >>>>>>>> night is >>>>>>>> a real killer). And a run out for Allan's soul, with a slight twist. >>>>>>>> What >>>>>>>> separates humans and animals is that humans can imagine they possess >>>>>>>> an >>>>>>>> immortal soul. If the soul is the seat of reason, to say humans are >>>>>>>> in >>>>>>>> possession of one is to say we are rational creatures. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> You need the top shelf now, as these forms of religiosity are the >>>>>>>> basis of bureaucracy and rationality. Descartes becomes spiritual and >>>>>>>> mystic. The question, of course, is whether we can escape. It's bank >>>>>>>> holiday here on Friday. This brings discussion of the archaeology of >>>>>>>> "heroic societies" other than just the Attic tragedy kind, as engines >>>>>>>> of >>>>>>>> the self-aggrandising story. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> By the end (people fly home Tuesday) we hope to be able to talk new >>>>>>>> economic, perhaps find some partnerships to write something different >>>>>>>> - or >>>>>>>> not write and think of different things to do. After a couple of >>>>>>>> pints, I >>>>>>>> was imagining dating Molly and Allan in about 500 BC to 1500 AD. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>> >>>>>> --- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>>> --- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> -- >>> >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > ""Minds Eye"" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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