To: Marco and the Economic Debate group
From: Rog
MARCO:
Either you are not American, or I'm not Italian..... or, more likely, BOTH;
as
always all these US and THEM categories are dangerous, when we go down (up?)
to
the individual level.
ROG:
Static traps. I have always tried to not be a living stereotype, though I am
not so ardent as to practice it stereotypically.
MARCO:
what does it mean there to be a "registered
corporate lobbyist"?
ROG:
It involves being registered to represent the views of a corporation or
interest group to elected government officials. It is a government control
mechanism to ensure propriety (another form of checks and balances). It was
never the main purpose of my job, it was just something I needed to do at
times within my job when I was in Texas. I wasn't even very good at that
task, so we hired a professional (read Lawyer) to do it full time. My forte
is more in marketing, research, product design and development, and strategy.
MARCO:
Bo has written something about the modus vivendi between society and intellect
in the Eastern world. Are you thinking something similar?
ROG:
I don't think so, but I didn't follow him closely. My insights came from a
GREAT book for MOQites called The Moral Sense by James Q. Wilson. In it he
totally obliterates the cultural relativist view that morals are arbitrary.
He basically shows -- with extensive empirical support -- that morals have a
biological and a social nature and are grounded firmly in practical benefit.
The correlations with the MOQ are obvious.
Anyways, the observation is that our biological tendencies can be viewed like
notes in music that can be rearranged in infinite ways by various societies
-- of course, not all arrangements make music. Specifically to this issue,
he has a few chapters that touch upon cultures that tend to focus on the
individual and freedom and universal morality, and other cultures that depend
more on duty, obligation (to the family, cause, clan or nation) and honor.
Obviously, America and other countries heavily influenced by the
Enlightenment thinkers fall more to the former, while many socialist, Eastern
and Moslem countries fall more to the latter. He shows how different
underlying philosophies lead to different child rearing practices, economic
views, forms of government, religions, perceptions of fairness, etc. (or is
it that those in each society develop congruent philosophy -- or a mixture of
both???)
As I stated earlier, if this is even partially true, it explains a lot about
the challenges of exporting free enterprise values to societies that "just
don't get it". They can be completely unprepared to handle or understand it.
This can then lead to the abusive side of the focus on individualism --
namely selfish greed and exploitation. All of the problems of capitalism
with little of the benefits. Capitalism only works if powerful interest
groups are kept in check -- by rules and regulations or other interest groups.
I am rambling, but the point is that free enterprise is part of a congruent
social pattern including, family upbringing, views on personal
responsibility, government controls and freedoms, education, etc etc. The
same can be said of collectivism, and probably of the myriads of congruent
solutions between the extremes. If this is the case, it is not just a matter
of which economic or religious or social or family rearing system is best, it
is a matter of how to prepare society for the best systems, or how to make
the most of the components that are already there. And there will surely be
various different solutions. As Pirsig says, in the end, Quality can be
viewed partially through HARMONY.
MARCO
Here in
Europe many think that this "nomadism" is a sign of low quality. That in order
to get quality you should keep safe your roots.
Well, I don't think so. Nomadism has always been a *normal* condition of human
beings. There are good aspects in both nomadism and permanency.
ROG:
I am an extreme nomad even in America. Again, I could offer that nomadism
wouldn't necesarrily be bad if it was in harmony with the rest of a person's
life or society. It is one possible variation on the theme. Of course not
every theme has equal quality.
Rog
PS -- I get the feeling that much of the derision of America on this forum is
not so much really directed at America, but at these values that people feel
uncomfortable with. I get the sense that there are debates on free
enterprise and exploitation and liberal standards in various countries and
that much of the silly misconceptions of America arise out of mud slinging
between local worldviews. I just offer to everyone that the values can be
wrong for you or your country AND can be right for someone else and in
another country. There are various paintings in the museum. Sometimes it
isn't about what is the one true painting, it is about the various values we
can find in each. (of course there are some real crappy paintings too)
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