We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, April 8, 2016

Homo Economicus: Cold, Calculating & Callous

Click here to access article by Asad Zaman from World Economics Association Blog.

The author points out the ever widening gap of human nature as seen in classical capitalist economics with that seen in business schools known as "behavioral economics". 

I think that this divergence can be explained mostly by the tendency of capitalists to overproduce. This occurs because of the obsession of capitalists for profits which usually transfers into a viscous cycle of seeking power to acquire more profits and power which inevitably results in a capitalist ruling class that is in control of every institution in society. This has now become an historical fact. 

All this gradually occurred after capitalists were able to satisfy the basic needs of most people, and as a result profits suffered. Capitalists then sought the help of marketing specialists to create the need for ever increasing frivolous products and services, and eventually the provision of credit was added to promote more purchases of these frivolous products and services along with basic needs

The end result, as we have seen throughout capitalist history, was economic booms and busts which created social chaos: wars over resources and markets, extreme unemployment, poverty, etc. Lately their excessive activity has become associated with the destabilization of the climate. In spite of the dysfunctional nature for a healthy, sustainable development of societies, capitalists, probably because of all the power they have accumulated, have thus far been successful in maintaining their system in spite of all the chaos and instability they are creating. The practice of their system now threatens humans with extinction caused by an increased likelihood of a nuclear war conflagration and/or extreme climate destabilization.