Pacifica Capitalism 7 Minutes
This is the 7 minutes heard on Pacifica Radio
If you are interested in this below, you will be interested in this.
Capitalism and its most impressive product, the consumer culture, is the common denominator of many of the nation's and world's biggest problems. Social, environmental, economic and spiritual.
The consumer culture is one of history's greatest examples of social engineering. We live in a cargo cult.
Its easy to be critical of capitalism but deep criticism deserves a convincing analysis. But a deep analysis of capitalism does not require great academic capacity. Capitalism's self promotion and claims are remarkably shallow.
Most of us grew up with capitalism. In my own nothing unusual public schooling, our American exceptionalism was repeated over and over and never questioned. It was all about growth and development. We lived in a bountiful country full of resources and Americans were very good at turning nature it into money. Our wealth was equated with virtue.
In the 5th grade in Dallas, Texas, we learned two songs in music class,, Texas Our Texas, the state anthem, and You're From Big D. Thats Dallas. The state anthem celebrated grandeur, empire, and growing in power and worth throughout the ages long. You're from big D boasted about Dallas where every home is a palace because the settlers settle for no less.
Capitalism has a raft of dishonest mythologies and its abundant distractions, typically referred to as entertainment, have short circuited critical thinking. Few people have much thought that there might be alternatives to an economic system that thrives on and promotes overconsumption and vanity along with its social system that looks something like neo feudalism.
We are told about the invisible hand of the market place. That myth goes like this, Through individual self-interest and freedom of production and consumption, the best interest of society, as a whole, are fulfilled. This assumption is so ill conceived its breathtaking. Do we really need to list the social and environmental problems that are the product of self interest, production and consumption?
A couple examples of economic malpractice that mock the best interests of society might include climate change and the richest one percent of the American population owns something like 40% of the wealth.
Capitalism claims that informing the customer about its products and letting the customer choose what best fits their needs is a sacred act. That brings to mind an economic practice called externalizing the cost. Every economist will agree, an external cost is where the price we pay does not account for the damage of production, use and disposal, the product or service imposes on people and planet.
What we typically pay at the register severely under values the natural world and social well being. If all damage to public health and the environment are considered, the cost of a gallon of gasoline would range from 20 or 30 dollars depending on metrics.
Capitalism claims to be the most efficient way to allocate resources. It is the opposite of efficient. A two ton vehicle used to move a 200 pound load is grossly inefficient. The urban footprint of car centric profit driven Atlanta is 25 times that of densely populated Barcelona. The cities have roughly the same population but vastly different levels of efficiency and impacts on the environment.
Consider the great variety of jobs in the economy. With a few moments of thoughtful reflection we will realize, tens of millions of jobs exist to repair the damage caused by tens of millions of other jobs. The misuse of time, talent and resources could not be less efficient.
In effect, external costs and its degraded people and planet amounts to a forced donation amounting of many 100s of billions of dollars each year to subsidize corporate profits. Capitalism could not survive if it were honest. And we are told this is a healthy economy.
Capitalism reveals its social engineering credentials by referring to people as consumers not as citizens. A healthy society would not accept the title consumer society nor fully participate in such an economic system. A healthy society would push back when it realizes the economic system that controls it has a set of goals that are deeply at odds with the well being of society and the environment.
What might push back look like? Movement such as climate justice, occupy, black lives matter, indigenous land rights, the environment, social and labor justice,,,are all on the same team. The sooner they learn to effectively work together to create alternatives to capitalism as we know it, the better.That would be a high value push back.
A different economic system? That economic system should serve the healthy needs of its citizens. An important action we all can take in our own lives is, patronize the products and services that fit a healthy society and quit buying the rest. How we manage and prioritize our own time and money will play a big part in how the future unfolds. We can make important changes in our own lives and the more people taking responsibility, the better the chances we can move past capitalism in a peaceful wa towards a preferred future.
For more detail, podcasts and links about taking positive actions in our own lives for moving towards a preferred future, please check my website, suburbanpermaculture.org
This is the 7 minutes heard on Pacifica Radio
If you are interested in this below, you will be interested in this.
Capitalism and its most impressive product, the consumer culture, is the common denominator of many of the nation's and world's biggest problems. Social, environmental, economic and spiritual.
The consumer culture is one of history's greatest examples of social engineering. We live in a cargo cult.
Its easy to be critical of capitalism but deep criticism deserves a convincing analysis. But a deep analysis of capitalism does not require great academic capacity. Capitalism's self promotion and claims are remarkably shallow.
Most of us grew up with capitalism. In my own nothing unusual public schooling, our American exceptionalism was repeated over and over and never questioned. It was all about growth and development. We lived in a bountiful country full of resources and Americans were very good at turning nature it into money. Our wealth was equated with virtue.
In the 5th grade in Dallas, Texas, we learned two songs in music class,, Texas Our Texas, the state anthem, and You're From Big D. Thats Dallas. The state anthem celebrated grandeur, empire, and growing in power and worth throughout the ages long. You're from big D boasted about Dallas where every home is a palace because the settlers settle for no less.
Capitalism has a raft of dishonest mythologies and its abundant distractions, typically referred to as entertainment, have short circuited critical thinking. Few people have much thought that there might be alternatives to an economic system that thrives on and promotes overconsumption and vanity along with its social system that looks something like neo feudalism.
We are told about the invisible hand of the market place. That myth goes like this, Through individual self-interest and freedom of production and consumption, the best interest of society, as a whole, are fulfilled. This assumption is so ill conceived its breathtaking. Do we really need to list the social and environmental problems that are the product of self interest, production and consumption?
A couple examples of economic malpractice that mock the best interests of society might include climate change and the richest one percent of the American population owns something like 40% of the wealth.
Capitalism claims that informing the customer about its products and letting the customer choose what best fits their needs is a sacred act. That brings to mind an economic practice called externalizing the cost. Every economist will agree, an external cost is where the price we pay does not account for the damage of production, use and disposal, the product or service imposes on people and planet.
What we typically pay at the register severely under values the natural world and social well being. If all damage to public health and the environment are considered, the cost of a gallon of gasoline would range from 20 or 30 dollars depending on metrics.
Capitalism claims to be the most efficient way to allocate resources. It is the opposite of efficient. A two ton vehicle used to move a 200 pound load is grossly inefficient. The urban footprint of car centric profit driven Atlanta is 25 times that of densely populated Barcelona. The cities have roughly the same population but vastly different levels of efficiency and impacts on the environment.
Consider the great variety of jobs in the economy. With a few moments of thoughtful reflection we will realize, tens of millions of jobs exist to repair the damage caused by tens of millions of other jobs. The misuse of time, talent and resources could not be less efficient.
In effect, external costs and its degraded people and planet amounts to a forced donation amounting of many 100s of billions of dollars each year to subsidize corporate profits. Capitalism could not survive if it were honest. And we are told this is a healthy economy.
Capitalism reveals its social engineering credentials by referring to people as consumers not as citizens. A healthy society would not accept the title consumer society nor fully participate in such an economic system. A healthy society would push back when it realizes the economic system that controls it has a set of goals that are deeply at odds with the well being of society and the environment.
What might push back look like? Movement such as climate justice, occupy, black lives matter, indigenous land rights, the environment, social and labor justice,,,are all on the same team. The sooner they learn to effectively work together to create alternatives to capitalism as we know it, the better.That would be a high value push back.
A different economic system? That economic system should serve the healthy needs of its citizens. An important action we all can take in our own lives is, patronize the products and services that fit a healthy society and quit buying the rest. How we manage and prioritize our own time and money will play a big part in how the future unfolds. We can make important changes in our own lives and the more people taking responsibility, the better the chances we can move past capitalism in a peaceful wa towards a preferred future.
For more detail, podcasts and links about taking positive actions in our own lives for moving towards a preferred future, please check my website, suburbanpermaculture.org