Archive for the ‘ Economy ’ Category

Inequality is Not Necessary for Society to be Destructive

I am busy listening to the course The Modern and the Postmodern. Some of the first lectures are about Rousseau – and his rants against the inequality of his time – which were pronounced, to be sure.

But we have the advantage of living two hundred years later – in an age with an unusual combination of income inequality, and social conformity. And  a society that is destroying itself – to its intense satisfaction.

I live in an age that offers me amazing benefits – I can get anything on the Web (including this blog). But I also live in an age where people have ceased to exist – and are completely unable to realize this.

This, in my opinion, is not good.

2013
02/23
CATEGORY
Economy
History
Morality
Philosophy
Psychology
Sociology
Leave a comment

A Stupid Idea is a Wonderful Idea

Stupidity has become fashionable – to a remarkable degree. But we cannot claim this as a invention of our own. Human history is full of other examples – which, with the benefit of hindsight, we can only marvel at. If we were smart, we would remind ourselves of this frequently.

But instead we rejoice at it – and consider it the foundation of our economy. If people were smart, they would not buy so much – and the world would collapse. It does not occur to us that a sensible economy might be possible – or a sensible way of life.

Even in my little corner of the world, the foolishness of business people – both the native variety and the imported gringo types – is enough to keep me entertained indefinitely. The amount of money and time that is wasted can only be appreciated by later people – if there are any.

I am reading a big book about the late Roman Empire and early Christianity - Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD. This is solid scholarship, which fascinates me – but does not interest most people at all. This is what really happened – but they are not interested in reality at all. And no one can point this out to them.

It was fashionable for some time to assign various causes for the fall of the Roman Empire. And one of these was obvious enough – the rise of Christianity. But we (or at least the more intelligent among us) have realized that the world is not so simple. As simple cause-and-effect explanation (the favorite example is the billiard table) is not adequate. A cause-and-effect God, which was adequate in Newton’s time, is no longer adequate.

All kinds of things are going on – all at the same time. We now have a tool – the Computer, that allows us, in theory, to cope with this complexity. But as one who was initially impressed by Complexity Science can testify – its application has been far from impressive. It does not take into account human stupidity.

And seems determined not to – even though cognitive psychologists have been hard at work discovering the various ways in which we are stupid. We do not need them to realize that stupidity has been with us always – and always will be.

People do not want to be told flat out “You are stupid!” And they will overlook a more tactful formulation of the problem.

Stupidity cannot be cured.

2013
02/18
CATEGORY
Economy
Psychology
Sociology
Technology
Leave a comment

Accidental Empires — Why They Don’t Call It Computer Valley

I, Cringely

This is a long article – but it is priceless – for those who want to know what really happened.

I was a late-comer to the Valley myself – having wasted much of my life in Southern California high-tech. And only left when life there became impossible. But people will live anywhere – even there, where life is still impossible.

When I showed up, the Valley had gone through a big crash – and was only beginning to recover. And it never did recover to what it once was – as any long-time denizen will tell you.

I was there for its second collapse – variously called the dot-com or the Internet boom/bust. I was unceremoniously kicked out of the nest. And was lucky to land on my butt – and not on my head.

What Cringely does not make clear – is that software is now our Great White Hope. But in A Society That is Determined Not to Work our software cannot work either.

2013
02/14
CATEGORY
Business
Economy
History
Technology
Leave a comment

Who We Are and What We Are

These are two different things – which we sometimes discover to our amazement. Who we are is a human being, our amazing genetic inheritance as a unique species. What we are, on the other hand. depends on where we – what situation we are in, and it varies as our situation varies.

We would like to think that who we are also includes our individuality - the personality we develop as we grown up – and that only changes slowly. But this concept is much more difficult to work with – even though we have to deal with it in ourselves, and others all the time.

We can never be sure whether we are dealing with who are – or what we are. People, individually or collectively, can change suddenly without warning. We are very undependable beings – contrary to what we think of ourselves.

We have to give up the exalted view of ourselves ( being a little lower than the angels) – and face the facts. This is not nearly as difficult as we seem to feel. But we would rather die than change.

What I have said so far is easy. No comes the hard part. Where did this defective view of ourselves come from?

I think is is the unlikely combination of two things – Religion (as it is embodied in Business) and Science (as it is embodied in Technology). Note the key word here embodied. I will not try to explain it – I will assume its meaning is obvious.

Technology can always be improved – and we have assumed from that, since we are so closely associated with our technologies that we can always be improved too. This is not rocket science, just common sense – it seems to us.

But it contains a fundamental error – our technology is part of what we are. But it is not who we are (humans).

In fact, as techno-beings we have rejected ourselves as human beings. To use plain language, we have become monsters (or demons). And we consider this a vast improvement.

Because, thanks to Business, we have become rich monsters.

2013
02/10
CATEGORY
Business
Economy
History
Philosophy
Technology
1 comment

The Economy is Everything

This is America’s great gift to the world. The gift which is destroying it.

China may think its economy is subservient to the control of the Party – and it has shown very clearly that this is true as far as its own economy is concerned. But even it is subject to the global economy. If the rest of the world won’t buy its products it won’t have the money to buy what it needs either.

And if the global economy has a recession, the whole world has a recession. This simply proves what I am saying – the Economy is in control – and not us miserable mortals.

To put this another way – the Economy is God, and we can find nothing wrong with this. A few second’s thought may make you wonder. Something is not right here – but we cannot put our finger on what it is.

Economists are not much help. They may agree – as the more enlightened of them do – that the economy should serve the people – it should provide jobs, for example. But the people cannot agree – they believe they are to serve the Economy – and not that the Economy is to serve them.

The religious substrate of our thinking is clear here. We are to serve God, and not the other way around. And we cannot be convinced that the Economy is not God. Deep in our hearts, we know this is so – and are helpless as a result. Who wants to confront God?

2013
02/06
CATEGORY
Economy
Religion
Leave a comment

Why Not a Society That Works?

The answer to this question seems to be “Because we don’t want this!”

If this answer surprises you, consider how it was arrived at. I got it by observing how how we actually behave – and ignoring what we say. We are never going to say that we want to do is destroy the world – but that is exactly what we are doing. In all kinds of subtle – and not so subtle ways.

What do people say about this? “It couldn’t possibly be!”

And they refuse to consider it any further. Or they may admit that we have problems – caused by this or that or the other thing. But they will never admit that the problem is us - and we need to carefully reconsider where we are and who we are.

Whatever we are doing – it is not working. And we need to start over from scratch. Beginning with a new attitude towards ourselves. We have put other things first – and we need to put ourselves first again. I don’t think this is impossible – just difficult.

For the first time in our history, we have the tools to do this. If we really want to, we can answer the question “Where are we? By taking careful note of our relationship to one thing – money. Where it is, and how it is sloshing around.

In the ancient world, this would have been difficult to measure – because wealth was mainly food, based on agriculture. Money, in the form of gold coins, was just becoming important.

Money is still difficult to define – as any economist will tell you. But an approximate figure could be arrived at easily – and then modified, as circumstances require (as with the Euro, now).

The real problem will be – that the people who control this money do not want us to know how they do this. And this is not just a simple matter of finding out who the rich are – and then getting our money back from them. Almost everyone is now part of the system – and don’t want it threatened. They may not be getting very much – but they are determined to hang on what they have. And they cannot believe any improvement is possible – because they have been told over and over: “Don’t rock the boat!”

Or, to put this another way – real reform is impossible, and we will have to live with what we got.

This may be true, but we can still ask “What have we got?” And answering this is not impossible – we will just have to decide to do it. My first thought was to do an economic survey. By asking money questions from everyone and every organization. We already do this by requiring income tax returns. But experience has shown that tax evasion has resulted – with those with the most money paying the least. They just move it overseas. And changing this is nearly impossible.

We have a global economy without a global way of controlling it – which would include a way of measuring what is going on – everywhere.

We have a global society that doesn’t work – and no way of fixing it.

2013
02/04
CATEGORY
Economy
Morality
3 comments

The Wrong Side of a One-Way Mirror

Scientific American usually has a pro-business stance (think of all those wonderful advertisements) but once in a while something sneaks in that is good for the rest of us.

Take the article A Tale of Two Internets by Michael Fertik on page 13 of the February Issue. It is not available online. Here is the opening paragraph:

Imagine an Internet where unseen hands curate your entire experience. Where third parties predetermine the news, products, and prices you see – even the people you meet. A world where you think you are making the choices, but in reality, your options are narrowed and refined until you are left with merely the illusion of control.

He goes on to explain what Big Data is.

Many companies (and the NSF) are finding out everything about you. And using this information to personalize your Internet experience. This sounds innocuous enough – the Internet shows you only what you what you are interested in. But these guys can also show you only what they want you to be interested in.

And you have no way of seeing them do this behind their (not your) one-way mirror.

2013
02/03
CATEGORY
Business
Economy
Internet
Morality
Software
Technology
Leave a comment

People Are no Longer Necessary

And for this reason can be eliminated – and should be eliminated, because they only get in the way.

As you can see, this is a pessimistic view of things. But I think it is the way things are – and we have to pull this out of the air we live in and put it into words. Although language is an imperfect tool, it is the best one we have – and we should use it constructively – not destructively.

What I see happening – or, more accurately, feel happening – is the belief that the world is ruled by impersonal forces – such as those at work in any machine. What these forces are, we have no idea. We only know they are there – and are in control. And they don’t want people interfering with their operation.

Wiser minds than mind can deduce what these forces (or laws) are, and how they operate. And indeed, this has always been the function of the arts and sciences. To make us understand ourselves better. But people are no longer interested in this.

They are not interested in the way things are – but in something much better than that. Something that seems to be a new religion. One that believes in the impersonal forces I have mentioned. Religion has always believed in these, in one form or another. Devout Marxists, for example, have their own religion.

Our religion now seems to involve the workings of The Market - which must be in control - and not us. The Global Market was made possible by the latest technology. The computer and its software – and the Internet and Wireless networks.

It doesn’t take much poking at The Market to see what is really going on there. It is a return to the rule of the rich and powerful – but in a new form – the interlocking organizations that now control everything. People have no idea what these are – but they know they are there – and they have the all-important jobs.

And we now must consider the nature of jobs. These are a relatively new invention – invented, in fact, by the Industrial Revolution. People have always had roles in the societies they belonged to – and this is what made them important. Society could not work without them.

But now, in the post-industrial world, jobs (manufacturing jobs, for example) are being eliminated – and people along with them. This simple statement has far-reaching implications.

I was born in a railroad town, Ft. Madison, Iowa – where everyone worked for the Santa Fe Railroad – either directly, or more commonly, indirectly. The last time I was there, my brother and I noticed a sign that indicated we were looking at the Historical Santa Fe Town. There was nothing there. It is now part of the Rust Belt that covers the American Midwest.

I cannot say it was a great loss. Industrial America was no great beauty. In fact, it was ugly – but it was alive. We now have to deal with the fact that it is not.

And we have nothing to take its place.

2013
02/01
CATEGORY
Economy
History
Sociology
Leave a comment

Recession, tech kill middle-class jobs

Yahoo News

This is a long article, but it covers the ground thoroughly. The Slashdot article that sent me to it has this summary:

“‘To understand the impact technology is having on middle-class jobs in developed countries, the AP analyzed employment data from 20 countries; tracked changes in hiring by industry, pay and task; compared job losses and gains during recessions and expansions over the past four decades; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, entrepreneurs and people in the labor force who ranged from CEOs to the unemployed.’ Their findings: Technology has consistently reduced the number of manufacturing jobs for 30 years; people with repetitive jobs have been easy to replace in the past, and task jugglers like managers and supervisors will be likely targets in the future; companies in the S&P 500 have expanded their business and increased profits, but reduced staffing, thanks to tech; and startups are launching much more easily these days. The response to the article includes the dutifully repeated bad-government-is-at-fault and don’t-worry-it’s-like-the-Industrial-Revolution memes. But what if this time it’s different? What if delegating everything to machines is a radical and fundamental new change in the course of human history?”

Just yesterday I sent a friend of mine an article in the NY Times about new directions in the care of those recovering from life-threatening illness. A new approach has been worked out to provide the long-time care they need. He wasn’t interested in it, even though his mother (back in Kentucky) is recovering from triple bypass surgery, and he is an RN.

He has a job (down here, in Costa Rica) that is, as he says, detail-oriented. Which means he knows all the steps that have to be performed, and in what order – and he makes sure that they all get done. His employer, a Canadian couple, are satisfied with his performance, and know it would be hard to replace him.

By contrast, I can see that a computer could replace him easily. And no doubt will once some smart person figures out how to pay for the minimal programming necessary to replace him. I can hear the sales pitch “How much will you pay me to replace this guy with a program?” It wouldn’t take long for his employer to work out the numbers.

2013
01/24
CATEGORY
Business
Economy
Technology
Leave a comment

From the Cold War to the Gulf War

This shift in the kind of threat America worried about created a shift in America in a lot of ways. Ways that have no been thought about very much. The enemies America chooses can make a big difference to America itself.

The Cold War lasted a long time, from 1945 to 1991, nearly fifty years – most of my adult life. It defined what the American Way of Life was – and what it was not. Our enemy was Communism (as embodied by the USSR) – and we would do anything to thwart it. Anything, that is, except think about it clearly.

Shifting to a different enemy (who was not well-defined) – and abandoning an old one (who was well-defined, it seemed to us) should have involved a careful reassessment of our objectives. In reality, we just shifted – with no thought to how this would affect us – or anyone else.

The strangest things were affected. I was involved with a body therapy, similar to acupressure, called Jin Shin Jyutsu. I took it seriously – not all the extravagant medical claims that were made for it – but as a way of calming the mind and getting in touch with your body. People (including plenty of women) loved getting treatments. I was planning on retiring from computers and switching to Jim Shin Jyutsu. But all of a sudden – and I mean overnight, it seemed like – everyone lost interest in it. I was baffled, and only later connected it with the Gulf War.

I knew another person who had been a agricultural consultant in Africa, funded by American government programs for years. He assumed his job would last forever – there was certainly enough need for it – but it too ended suddenly – at the same time.

American attentions were suddenly focused elsewhere. At a diffuse target made even more dangerous by its vagueness. But the direction was clearly out there – which made it difficult to think of anything closer to home.

All kinds of things were affected, I have only touched the surface. You no doubt know of many more. But we were carefully instructed to not notice what was going on. So we didn’t.

As a result, America suffered because no one was looking out for it. The big push for better health care fizzled. Manufacturing moved overseas. The very rich flourished while the poor suffered – and the middle class also.

This new threat was taking all our attention – the most important resource we had.

2013
01/20
CATEGORY
Business
Economy
History
Leave a comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 364 other followers