yes, and yes and yes.. such similar thoughts that i have been having over the last few days, weeks, perhaps even months.. mine usually end up with the plantive "can people stop being greedy now... now about now? ... now is a good time"
*ponders how to get more people in swinging in the same direction*
I also would like to point out that capitalism is more than the people at the top. Healthy workers, a populace which isn't strapped and scared, the ability to move people to work, potential innovators who actually have more educational and fiscal resources to follow through on their potential, communities which are pretty cool to live in, jobs created by the need to work around making the world toxic, all of these things sound like really good capitalism to me and all of those can be aided by socialist safeguards and greater regulation.
I think a lot of why we are where we are now is that a state of fiscal scarcity breeds emotional scarcity and promotes even more fiscal scarcity.
"The wheel keeps turnin'" -Mal "That only matters to the people on the edge." -Badger
I agree with you on
I think a lot of why we are where we are now is that a state of fiscal scarcity breeds emotional scarcity and promotes even more fiscal scarcity.
I think one of the things going on is that both of these scarcities shoot holes in the safety nets folks have built for themselves, making it harder for them to recover from accidents and misfortunes they'd have taken in stride in the past.
What very much upsets me, with this stuff as a self-perpetuating system, is the alliance between the Rich-Über-Alles with the forces of religious fundamentalism. When times are physically, fiscally tough, people will turn to religion to answer questions like "hey, is there something better than this" or "how do I maintain a sense of self-worth when my life is currently very limited," etc. Which means they will run smack dab into the religious pawns of our oligarchy; fed lines from the pulpit about how what Americans need to worry about are the scary faggots, the horrible abortions, the wicked druggies, the frightening assault on America's Christian Heritage (TM), enough that they will forget that what Americans really need to worry about are jobs, transportation, health, schools, and resources safe to ingest. And once people start voting with their religious-influenced fear they screw all of us who aren't fortunate enough to be in America's upper classes.
And unlike the last time we had this much fiscal scarcity--the early 30's--we don't have strong family networks to prevent emotional tensions from unraveling people. Most people don't have multi-generational households and a web of cousins to say "hang in there" or "we'll pass the hat after church" or "I'll send the teenager over to help with the house until your first paycheck comes in."
Some people area managing to make the internet fill that niche, but it lacks the in-person suppor, and it doesn't work for everyone.
And I think the growing corporate tendency to treat workers like interchangeable parts is having slowly deleterious effects on all aspects of business... production line workers are aware that job security comes more through irreplaceability rather than skill or speed. Being "the only guy who can fix the 305 printer when it jams" is more important than being the fastest paper-sorter. And because small occasional talents aren't part of anyone's official job description (no
( ... )
Back in 2003, Joe Conason came up with a very eloquent description of some more reasons why I am a liberal. Because liberals have been in the forefront of progress and expanding freedom to everyone for at leas the past century. Because liberals have been active in making life better, not worse, for everyone.
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I also like this explanation. Which is why I blogged about it.
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*ponders how to get more people in swinging in the same direction*
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I think a lot of why we are where we are now is that a state of fiscal scarcity breeds emotional scarcity and promotes even more fiscal scarcity.
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"That only matters to the people on the edge." -Badger
I agree with you on
I think a lot of why we are where we are now is that a state of fiscal scarcity breeds emotional scarcity and promotes even more fiscal scarcity.
I think one of the things going on is that both of these scarcities shoot holes in the safety nets folks have built for themselves, making it harder for them to recover from accidents and misfortunes they'd have taken in stride in the past.
Reply
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And unlike the last time we had this much fiscal scarcity--the early 30's--we don't have strong family networks to prevent emotional tensions from unraveling people. Most people don't have multi-generational households and a web of cousins to say "hang in there" or "we'll pass the hat after church" or "I'll send the teenager over to help with the house until your first paycheck comes in."
Some people area managing to make the internet fill that niche, but it lacks the in-person suppor, and it doesn't work for everyone.
And I think the growing corporate tendency to treat workers like interchangeable parts is having slowly deleterious effects on all aspects of business... production line workers are aware that job security comes more through irreplaceability rather than skill or speed. Being "the only guy who can fix the 305 printer when it jams" is more important than being the fastest paper-sorter. And because small occasional talents aren't part of anyone's official job description (no ( ... )
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http://twitter.com/#!/Mjausson/status/23250873828245505
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