-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 On 08/09/2012 12:39 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan wrote: > http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/03/the-market-as-god/6397/?single_page=true > > The Market as God > Living in the new dispensation > > > By HARVEY COX > A few years ago a friend advised me that if I wanted to know what was > going on in the real world, I should read the business pages. Although > my lifelong interest has been in the study of religion, I am always > willing to expand my horizons; so I took the advice, vaguely fearful > that I would have to cope with a new and baffling vocabulary. Instead > I was surprised to discover that most of the concepts I ran across > were quite familiar. > > Expecting a terra incognita, I found myself instead in the land of > déjà vu. The lexicon of The Wall Street Journal and the business > sections of Time and Newsweek turned out to bear a striking > resemblance to Genesis, the Epistle to the Romans, and Saint > Augustine's City of God. Behind descriptions of market reforms, > monetary policy, and the convolutions of the Dow, I gradually made out > the pieces of a grand narrative about the inner meaning of human > history, why things had gone wrong, and how to put them right. > Theologians call these myths of origin, legends of the fall, and > doctrines of sin and redemption. But here they were again, and in only > thin disguise: chronicles about the creation of wealth, the seductive > temptations of statism, captivity to faceless economic cycles, and, > ultimately, salvation through the advent of free markets, with a small > dose of ascetic belt tightening along the way, especially for the East > Asian economies. > > The East Asians' troubles, votaries argue, derive from their heretical > deviation from free-market orthodoxy—they were practitioners of "crony > capitalism," of "ethnocapitalism," of "statist capitalism," not of the > one true faith. The East Asian financial panics, the Russian debt > repudiations, the Brazilian economic turmoil, and the U.S. stock > market's $1.5 trillion "correction" momentarily shook belief in the > new dispensation. But faith is strengthened by adversity, and the > Market God is emerging renewed from its trial by financial > "contagion." Since the argument from design no longer proves its > existence, it is fast becoming a postmodern deity—believed in despite > the evidence. Alan Greenspan vindicated this tempered faith in > testimony before Congress last October. A leading hedge fund had just > lost billions of dollars, shaking market confidence and precipitating > calls for new federal regulation. Greenspan, usually Delphic in his > comments, was decisive. He believed that regulation would only impede > these markets, and that they should continue to be self-regulated. > True faith, Saint Paul tells us, is the evidence of things unseen. > > Soon I began to marvel at just how comprehensive the business theology > is. There were even sacraments to convey salvific power to the lost, a > calendar of entrepreneurial saints, and what theologians call an > "eschatology"—a teaching about the "end of history." My curiosity was > piqued. I began cataloguing these strangely familiar doctrines, and I > saw that in fact there lies embedded in the business pages an entire > theology, which is comparable in scope if not in profundity to that of > Thomas Aquinas or Karl Barth. It needed only to be systematized for a > whole new Summa to take shape. > > At the apex of any theological system, of course, is its doctrine of > God. In the new theology this celestial pinnacle is occupied by The > Market, which I capitalize to signify both the mystery that enshrouds > it and the reverence it inspires in business folk. Different faiths > have, of course, different views of the divine attributes. In > Christianity, God has sometimes been defined as omnipotent (possessing > all power), omniscient (having all knowledge), and omnipresent > (existing everywhere). Most Christian theologies, it is true, hedge a > bit. They teach that these qualities of the divinity are indeed there, > but are hidden from human eyes both by human sin and by the > transcendence of the divine itself. In "light inaccessible" they are, > as the old hymn puts it, "hid from our eyes." Likewise, although The > Market, we are assured, possesses these divine attributes, they are > not always completely evident to mortals but must be trusted and > affirmed by faith. "Further along," as another old gospel song says, > "we'll understand why." > > As I tried to follow the arguments and explanations of the > economist-theologians who justify The Market's ways to men, I spotted > the same dialectics I have grown fond of in the many years I have > pondered the Thomists, the Calvinists, and the various schools of > modern religious thought. In particular, the econologians' rhetoric > resembles what is sometimes called "process theology," a relatively > contemporary trend influenced by the philosophy of Alfred North > Whitehead. In this school although God wills to possess the classic > attributes, He does not yet possess them in full, but is definitely > moving in that direction. This conjecture is of immense help to > theologians for obvious reasons. It answers the bothersome puzzle of > theodicy: why a lot of bad things happen that an omnipotent, > omnipresent, and omniscient God—especially a benevolent one—would not > countenance. Process theology also seems to offer considerable comfort > to the theologians of The Market. It helps to explain the dislocation, > pain, and disorientation that are the result of transitions from > economic heterodoxy to free markets. > > Since the earliest stages of human history, of course, there have been > bazaars, rialtos, and trading posts—all markets. But The Market was > never God, because there were other centers of value and meaning, > other "gods." The Market operated within a plethora of other > institutions that restrained it. As Karl Polanyi has demonstrated in > his classic work The Great Transformation, only in the past two > centuries has The Market risen above these demigods and chthonic > spirits to become today's First Cause. > > Initially The Market's rise to Olympic supremacy replicated the > gradual ascent of Zeus above all the other divinities of the ancient > Greek pantheon, an ascent that was never quite secure. Zeus, it will > be recalled, had to keep storming down from Olympus to quell this or > that threat to his sovereignty. Recently, however, The Market is > becoming more like the Yahweh of the Old Testament—not just one > superior deity contending with others but the Supreme Deity, the only > true God, whose reign must now be universally accepted and who allows > for no rivals. > > Divine omnipotence means the capacity to define what is real. It is > the power to make something out of nothing and nothing out of > something. The willed-but-not-yet-achieved omnipotence of The Market > means that there is no conceivable limit to its inexorable ability to > convert creation into commodities. But again, this is hardly a new > idea, though it has a new twist. In Catholic theology, through what is > called "transubstantiation," ordinary bread and wine become vehicles > of the holy. In the mass of The Market a reverse process occurs. > Things that have been held sacred transmute into interchangeable items > for sale. Land is a good example. For millennia it has held various > meanings, many of them numinous. It has been Mother Earth, ancestral > resting place, holy mountain, enchanted forest, tribal homeland, > aesthetic inspiration, sacred turf, and much more. But when The > Market's Sanctus bell rings and the elements are elevated, all these > complex meanings of land melt into one: real estate. At the right > price no land is not for sale, and this includes everything from > burial grounds to the cove of the local fertility sprite. This radical > desacralization dramatically alters the human relationship to land; > the same happens with water, air, space, and soon (it is predicted) > the heavenly bodies. > > At the high moment of the mass the priest says, "This is my body," > meaning the body of Christ and, by extension, the bodies of all the > faithful people. Christianity and Judaism both teach that the human > body is made "in the image of God." Now, however, in a dazzling > display of reverse transubstantiation, the human body has become the > latest sacred vessel to be converted into a commodity. The process > began, fittingly enough, with blood. But now, or soon, all bodily > organs—kidneys, skin, bone marrow, sperm, the heart itself—will be > miraculously changed into purchasable items. > > Still, the liturgy of The Market is not proceeding without some > opposition from the pews. A considerable battle is shaping up in the > United States, for example, over the attempt to merchandise human > genes. A few years ago, banding together for the first time in memory, > virtually all the religious institutions in the country, from the > liberal National Council of Churches to the Catholic bishops to the > Christian Coalition, opposed the gene mart, the newest theophany of > The Market. But these critics are followers of what are now "old > religions," which, like the goddess cults that were thriving when the > worship of the vigorous young Apollo began sweeping ancient Greece, > may not have the strength to slow the spread of the new devotion. > > Occasionally backsliders try to bite the Invisible Hand that feeds > them. On October 26, 1996, the German government ran an ad offering > the entire village of Liebenberg, in what used to be East Germany, for > sale—with no previous notice to its some 350 residents. Liebenberg's > citizens, many of them elderly or unemployed, stared at the notice in > disbelief. They had certainly loathed communism, but when they opted > for the market economy that reunification promised, they hardly > expected this. Liebenberg includes a thirteenth-century church, a > Baroque castle, a lake, a hunting lodge, two restaurants, and 3,000 > acres of meadow and forest. Once a favorite site for boar hunting by > the old German nobility, it was obviously entirely too valuable a > parcel of real estate to overlook. Besides, having been expropriated > by the East German Communist government, it was now legally eligible > for sale under the terms of German reunification. Overnight Liebenberg > became a living parable, providing an invaluable glimpse of the > Kingdom in which The Market's will is indeed done. But the outraged > burghers of the town did not feel particularly blessed. They > complained loudly, and the sale was finally postponed. Everyone in > town realized, however, that it was not really a victory. The Market, > like Yahweh, may lose a skirmish, but in a war of attrition it will > always win in the end. > > Of course, religion in the past has not been reluctant to charge for > its services. Prayers, masses, blessings, healings, baptisms, > funerals, and amulets have been hawked, and still are. Nor has > religion always been sensitive to what the traffic would bear. When, > in the early sixteenth century, Johann Tetzel jacked up the price of > indulgences and even had one of the first singing commercials composed > to push sales ("When the coin into the platter pings, the soul out of > purgatory springs"), he failed to realize that he was overreaching. > The customers balked, and a young Augustinian monk brought the traffic > to a standstill with a placard tacked to a church door. > > It would be a lot harder for a Luther to interrupt sales of The > Market's amulets today. As the people of Liebenberg discovered, > everything can now be bought. Lakes, meadows, church > buildings—everything carries a sticker price. But this practice itself > exacts a cost. As everything in what used to be called creation > becomes a commodity, human beings begin to look at one another, and at > themselves, in a funny way, and they see colored price tags. There was > a time when people spoke, at least occasionally, of "inherent > worth"—if not of things, then at least of persons. The Liebenberg > principle changes all that. One wonders what would become of a modern > Luther who tried to post his theses on the church door, only to find > that the whole edifice had been bought by an American billionaire who > reckoned it might look nicer on his estate. > > It is comforting to note that the citizens of Liebenberg, at least, > were not put on the block. But that raises a good question. What is > the value of a human life in the theology of The Market? Here the new > deity pauses, but not for long. The computation may be complex, but it > is not impossible. We should not believe, for example, that if a child > is born severely handicapped, unable to be "productive," The Market > will decree its death. One must remember that the profits derived from > medications, leg braces, and CAT-scan equipment should also be figured > into the equation. Such a cost analysis might result in a close > call—but the inherent worth of the child's life, since it cannot be > quantified, would be hard to include in the calculation. > > It is sometimes said that since everything is for sale under the rule > of The Market, nothing is sacred. But this is not quite true. About > three years ago a nasty controversy erupted in Great Britain when a > railway pension fund that owned the small jeweled casket in which the > remains of Saint Thomas à Becket are said to have rested decided to > auction it off through Sotheby's. The casket dates from the twelfth > century and is revered as both a sacred relic and a national treasure. > The British Museum made an effort to buy it but lacked the funds, so > the casket was sold to a Canadian. Only last-minute measures by the > British government prevented removal of the casket from the United > Kingdom. In principle, however, in the theology of The Market, there > is no reason why any relic, coffin, body, or national > monument—including the Statue of Liberty and Westminster Abbey—should > not be listed. Does anyone doubt that if the True Cross were ever > really discovered, it would eventually find its way to Sotheby's? The > Market is not omnipotent—yet. But the process is under way and it is > gaining momentum. > > Omniscience is a little harder to gauge than omnipotence. Maybe The > Market has already achieved it but is unable—temporarily—to apply its > gnosis until its Kingdom and Power come in their fullness. > Nonetheless, current thinking already assigns to The Market a > comprehensive wisdom that in the past only the gods have known. The > Market, we are taught, is able to determine what human needs are, what > copper and capital should cost, how much barbers and CEOs should be > paid, and how much jet planes, running shoes, and hysterectomies > should sell for. But how do we know The Market's will? > > In days of old, seers entered a trance state and then informed anxious > seekers what kind of mood the gods were in, and whether this was an > auspicious time to begin a journey, get married, or start a war. The > prophets of Israel repaired to the desert and then returned to > announce whether Yahweh was feeling benevolent or wrathful. Today The > Market's fickle will is clarified by daily reports from Wall Street > and other sensory organs of finance. Thus we can learn on a day-to-day > basis that The Market is "apprehensive," "relieved," "nervous," or > even at times "jubilant." On the basis of this revelation awed adepts > make critical decisions about whether to buy or sell. Like one of the > devouring gods of old, The Market—aptly embodied in a bull or a > bear—must be fed and kept happy under all circumstances. True, at > times its appetite may seem excessive—a $35 billion bailout here, a > $50 billion one there—but the alternative to assuaging its hunger is > too terrible to contemplate. > > The diviners and seers of The Market's moods are the high priests of > its mysteries. To act against their admonitions is to risk > excommunication and possibly damnation. Today, for example, if any > government's policy vexes The Market, those responsible for the > irreverence will be made to suffer. That The Market is not at all > displeased by downsizing or a growing income gap, or can be gleeful > about the expansion of cigarette sales to Asian young people, should > not cause anyone to question its ultimate omniscience. Like Calvin's > inscrutable deity, The Market may work in mysterious ways, "hid from > our eyes," but ultimately it knows best. > > Omniscience can sometimes seem a bit intrusive. The traditional God of > the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer is invoked as one "unto whom all > hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid." > Like Him, The Market already knows the deepest secrets and darkest > desires of our hearts—or at least would like to know them. But one > suspects that divine motivation differs in these two cases. Clearly > The Market wants this kind of x-ray omniscience because by probing our > inmost fears and desires and then dispensing across-the-board > solutions, it can further extend its reach. Like the gods of the past, > whose priests offered up the fervent prayers and petitions of the > people, The Market relies on its own intermediaries: motivational > researchers. Trained in the advanced art of psychology, which has long > since replaced theology as the true "science of the soul," the modern > heirs of the medieval confessors delve into the hidden fantasies, > insecurities, and hopes of the populace. > > One sometimes wonders, in this era of Market religion, where the > skeptics and freethinkers have gone. What has happened to the > Voltaires who once exposed bogus miracles, and the H. L. Menckens who > blew shrill whistles on pious humbuggery? Such is the grip of current > orthodoxy that to question the omniscience of The Market is to > question the inscrutable wisdom of Providence. The metaphysical > principle is obvious: If you say it's the real thing, then it must be > the real thing. As the early Christian theologian Tertullian once > remarked, "Credo quia absurdum est" ("I believe because it is > absurd"). > > Finally, there is the divinity's will to be omnipresent. Virtually > every religion teaches this idea in one way or another, and the new > religion is no exception. The latest trend in economic theory is the > attempt to apply market calculations to areas that once appeared to be > exempt, such as dating, family life, marital relations, and > child-rearing. Henri Lepage, an enthusiastic advocate of > globalization, now speaks about a "total market." Saint Paul reminded > the Athenians that their own poets sang of a God "in whom we live and > move and have our being"; so now The Market is not only around us but > inside us, informing our senses and our feelings. There seems to be > nowhere left to flee from its untiring quest. Like the Hound of > Heaven, it pursues us home from the mall and into the nursery and the > bedroom. > > It used to be thought—mistakenly, as it turns out—that at least the > innermost, or "spiritual," dimension of life was resistant to The > Market. It seemed unlikely that the interior castle would ever be > listed by Century 21. But as the markets for material goods become > increasingly glutted, such previously unmarketable states of grace as > serenity and tranquillity are now appearing in the catalogues. Your > personal vision quest can take place in unspoiled wildernesses that > are pictured as virtually unreachable—except, presumably, by the other > people who read the same catalogue. Furthermore, ecstasy and > spirituality are now offered in a convenient generic form. Thus The > Market makes available the religious benefits that once required > prayer and fasting, without the awkwardness of denominational > commitment or the tedious ascetic discipline that once limited their > accessibility. All can now handily be bought without an unrealistic > demand on one's time, in a weekend workshop at a Caribbean resort with > a sensitive psychological consultant replacing the crotchety retreat > master. > > Discovering the theology of The Market made me begin to think in a > different way about the conflict among religions. Violence between > Catholics and Protestants in Ulster or Hindus and Muslims in India > often dominates the headlines. But I have come to wonder whether the > real clash of religions (or even of civilizations) may be going > unnoticed. I am beginning to think that for all the religions of the > world, however they may differ from one another, the religion of The > Market has become the most formidable rival, the more so because it is > rarely recognized as a religion. The traditional religions and the > religion of the global market, as we have seen, hold radically > different views of nature. In Christianity and Judaism, for example, > "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all > that dwell therein." The Creator appoints human beings as stewards and > gardeners but, as it were, retains title to the earth. Other faiths > have similar ideas. In the Market religion, however, human beings, > more particularly those with money, own anything they buy and—within > certain limits—can dispose of anything as they choose. Other > contradictions can be seen in ideas about the human body, the nature > of human community, and the purpose of life. The older religions > encourage archaic attachments to particular places. But in The > Market's eyes all places are interchangeable. The Market prefers a > homogenized world culture with as few inconvenient particularities as > possible. > > Disagreements among the traditional religions become picayune in > comparison with the fundamental differences they all have with the > religion of The Market. Will this lead to a new jihad or crusade? I > doubt it. It seems unlikely that traditional religions will rise to > the occasion and challenge the doctrines of the new dispensation. Most > of them seem content to become its acolytes or to be absorbed into its > pantheon, much as the old Nordic deities, after putting up a game > fight, eventually settled for a diminished but secure status as > Christian saints. I am usually a keen supporter of ecumenism. But the > contradictions between the world views of the traditional religions on > the one hand and the world view of the Market religion on the other > are so basic that no compromise seems possible, and I am secretly > hoping for a rebirth of polemics. > > No religion, new or old, is subject to empirical proof, so what we > have is a contest between faiths. Much is at stake. The Market, for > example, strongly prefers individualism and mobility. Since it needs > to shift people to wherever production requires them, it becomes > wrathful when people cling to local traditions. These belong to the > older dispensations and—like the high places of the Baalim—should be > plowed under. But maybe not. Like previous religions, the new one has > ingenious ways of incorporating pre-existing ones. Hindu temples, > Buddhist festivals, and Catholic saints' shrines can look forward to > new incarnations. Along with native costumes and spicy food, they will > be allowed to provide local color and authenticity in what could > otherwise turn out to be an extremely bland Beulah Land. > > There is, however, one contradiction between the religion of The > Market and the traditional religions that seems to be insurmountable. > All of the traditional religions teach that human beings are finite > creatures and that there are limits to any earthly enterprise. A > Japanese Zen master once said to his disciples as he was dying, "I > have learned only one thing in life: how much is enough." He would > find no niche in the chapel of The Market, for whom the First > Commandment is "There is never enough." Like the proverbial shark that > stops moving, The Market that stops expanding dies. That could happen. > If it does, then Nietzsche will have been right after all. He will > just have had the wrong God in mind. >
Looks like the author stumbled across something written by Joseph Campbell. - -- Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJQJChgAAoJEDeph/0fVJWsDm8P/3Dj7JediuPdB1+eD4d4Mr7X w0g7lKubQhN6ws/31UzUj9vRIC0OHyGCzg+7rXK3eWl2PWN2TS/x5ov9ffbf26H0 BerB9KJPRHxnuiDIg3RLs0SblIUAeLgveyZsD6RifMZSYnqCzCUuuNR8y5VbvDas WnEfA9Vhy2LFePAF/TCDoCQKeZJSC18YmfwLsBikcJVxthD5ps91XM1HwmqR/srk lj8+h+0Qzgj/WLeF5ayiF89t3a1S+SWVT6Oc7SYRacYcL9nVa6w/rktwiIFU/CRL NUW0HnXBI/2vsZ4UrDrAVvHECwBrw4aKo/WXld4SEie033lHcFezYLT4av8zwe61 UZr3XJkIEP+jpEq0LzsO5oMOD6/UKbT2coVyNuwgFtSOENf1SnHFMq7hnHFr2Okl Kli3dxolBdPFpUdhAf0fkhqxBFJKdT35/QF+e+VstKwenBUv1fnlYOSY9Z/ReZn1 Kwk3WQuicX9GZ8dwBlhD7zzBNMLy4gacmKZKWFtP9YiBEY/PN5S9eL/KdaW7l/XW o1GF/dOUSLOGL0GF2ZxZ1pPlnciqUg/PBt64o1omI3eI1Hy+OYbpfMEm2wm4+iX/ HAwVsN1cmNqK2TPHKXBT7wmkEpjzJx9cY2XMXIzso/6KsTHD0LwSWdReKd7oaHJW l5ngPEASGL1mwDWgfSpH =BOYl -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
