 by Flemming Funch
All the FAQs on Capitalism I can find [link][link][link] are written in a propaganda double-speak that says nothing about capital, but pretends that it is all about the morality of self-interest. The last part might be true, even if I think it is wrong. I believe strongly in a free market or free space where free individuals can make choices. I believe that such a system can add up to something intelligent and useful. Co-intelligence. But it has nothing to do with capitalism, and it is not primarily about self-interest. It is about intelligent, feeling, consciencious individuals making the choices that they deem will best serve the aims that they focus on, in concert with other individuals doing the same. Some people are unscrupulous and will try to get ahead individually by keeping everybody else down. But most individuals in the world are simply trying to do the best they can for themselves AND their family, their friends, their organizations, their causes and beliefs, and for the world, within the constraints of the environment they live in and the resources and knowledge they have. But corporations and investment funds and banks are not people. They don't come with hearts or consciences, so the principle of bestowing them the right to act exclusively in their own self-interest, is disasterous for the free market of individual choices. You can let a hungry tiger loose in a kindergarten, and sure it has a right to serve its own interests and seek food, and the kids are free to serve their interests by choosing where to stand, but it isn't quite fair to begin with. I think capitalism is really about ensuring the right for tigers to serve their self-interest, and making sure nobody else has any say about it. It is about protecting the rights of people with resources to be self-serving in their struggle to increase their resources. And it isn't very helpful for people who don't already have resources to play with. And it doesn't serve people who want to decide things in other ways than by buying and selling stuff, such as those who would might want a democracy. It is actually all quite pure and logical.
Anyone wants to guess on who is the cigar-smoking capitalist on the picture from my posting yesterday?
32.9 million people live in poverty in the U.S. Well, poverty here is like luxury in many other places. You know, not being able to afford to fix the air conditioner in your car - that kind of thing. Where elsewhere on our planet it is a matter of whether you have shoes or fresh water. But it still represents unhappiness with one's circumstances.
Thousands of regular folks in India come up with creative innovations. Anil Gupta has organized the Honey Bee Network to channel grassroots creativity. Why "honey bee"? "The Honey Bee does two things which many of us don't. The Honey Bee collects pollen without impoverishing the flowers, and it connects flower to flower through pollination. The idea is that when we collect knowledge of people we should ensure that people don't become poorer after sharing their insights with us". The English on the site is a bit weird, but it looks promising. See the Innovation Database.
"Dream as if you'll live forever...live as if you'll die today." -- James Dean
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