Friday, August 20, 2010
RE APPEASING THE BOND GODS EDITORIAL: KRUGMAN TURNS OUT TO HAVE CARTOON WRITING POTENTIAL: LETS TALK ENDGAME
I had no idea there was this kind of latent talent lurking beneath the surface.
EVEN THOUGH MY LAST POST DISCUSSED INFLATION/DEFLATION TALK AS RED HERRINGS, AND PREVIOUS POSTS WENT INTO MISES EN SCENE FOR A ILIADIAN MYTHOLOGICAL MORTON'S FORK ODYSSEUAN SITUATION, FOR BERNANKE,
This turn of Krugman's, toward cruder, tribal, paradigms,
reminiscent of discussions one might have had back in London at King's, with Professor Winch, who wrote so insightfully regarding foibles of the then social sciences, and especially sociology and anthropology,
is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Never mind the truth of what he says, of which there no doubt is some, here in America; just let the images take over.
One can refer to old Tarzan films to capture a glimpse of some of those 'rites'.
If you read some accounts of, say, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande you get a flavor for how witches were handled by the Azande.
Winch wrote an important article, as philosophers' articles go, called "Understanding a Primitive Society", in which he discussed the concept of rationality 'comparatively', so to speak.
Perhaps Krugman will get to an explanation of the tribal 'rationality' of economic human sacrifice, in post industrial societies, and other less fortunate ones.
This was not that far beyond the pale for 'political-economists' of the 19th Century, at the time when these 'disciplines' were considered, quite properly, institutionally closer together.
RE END GAME: One of the lurking problems, for the old, Collingwoodian absolute presupposition 'greatest good for the greatest numbers' is that, with increasing labor saving techniques, ever increasing productivity technology, resource scarcity, smart weapons replacing soldiers, national and civilizational rivalries, etc., the 'greatest numbers' seems likely to be a rapidly shrinking number, globally.
The question then is, where will the sacrificial ax of 'economic tribal rationality' fall hardest, on excess superfluous populations, 'harmful much more than helpful' for future regimes, ('excess labor capacity') seemingly everywhere?
One difficulty, which always seems to lurk in the background, for anyone trying to articulate some more general 'insight' within a nevertheless particular specialized field,
while also, implicitly, inferentially, analogically, anecdotally even, being called upon, somehow, to grapple with some larger framework, perhaps merely illustrative, for understanding the course of 'politics', 'current events', or 'current history', but technically only why things are happening in the way they are in this field, while coming from usually only that one field, often strictly academic,
is the woeful inadequacy of that background to comprehend other entire dimensions lost on members of only one specialized field.
Leaving the endgame discussion:
Mise en scene, a propos Krugman's editorial, why not the Bond Gods as Cyclops?
One could depict the one harrassing Odysseus, who exacts a crewman every time he comes back to the cave, as a great cartoon.
Cyclops were not very smart, eg "'No man' is hurting me," Odysseus' 'name', told to other cyclops re why he was in pain.
Cyclops were also, like the current Bond Gods, as a group, real meanies!
EVEN THOUGH MY LAST POST DISCUSSED INFLATION/DEFLATION TALK AS RED HERRINGS, AND PREVIOUS POSTS WENT INTO MISES EN SCENE FOR A ILIADIAN MYTHOLOGICAL MORTON'S FORK ODYSSEUAN SITUATION, FOR BERNANKE,
This turn of Krugman's, toward cruder, tribal, paradigms,
reminiscent of discussions one might have had back in London at King's, with Professor Winch, who wrote so insightfully regarding foibles of the then social sciences, and especially sociology and anthropology,
is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Never mind the truth of what he says, of which there no doubt is some, here in America; just let the images take over.
One can refer to old Tarzan films to capture a glimpse of some of those 'rites'.
If you read some accounts of, say, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande you get a flavor for how witches were handled by the Azande.
Winch wrote an important article, as philosophers' articles go, called "Understanding a Primitive Society", in which he discussed the concept of rationality 'comparatively', so to speak.
Perhaps Krugman will get to an explanation of the tribal 'rationality' of economic human sacrifice, in post industrial societies, and other less fortunate ones.
This was not that far beyond the pale for 'political-economists' of the 19th Century, at the time when these 'disciplines' were considered, quite properly, institutionally closer together.
RE END GAME: One of the lurking problems, for the old, Collingwoodian absolute presupposition 'greatest good for the greatest numbers' is that, with increasing labor saving techniques, ever increasing productivity technology, resource scarcity, smart weapons replacing soldiers, national and civilizational rivalries, etc., the 'greatest numbers' seems likely to be a rapidly shrinking number, globally.
The question then is, where will the sacrificial ax of 'economic tribal rationality' fall hardest, on excess superfluous populations, 'harmful much more than helpful' for future regimes, ('excess labor capacity') seemingly everywhere?
One difficulty, which always seems to lurk in the background, for anyone trying to articulate some more general 'insight' within a nevertheless particular specialized field,
while also, implicitly, inferentially, analogically, anecdotally even, being called upon, somehow, to grapple with some larger framework, perhaps merely illustrative, for understanding the course of 'politics', 'current events', or 'current history', but technically only why things are happening in the way they are in this field, while coming from usually only that one field, often strictly academic,
is the woeful inadequacy of that background to comprehend other entire dimensions lost on members of only one specialized field.
Leaving the endgame discussion:
Mise en scene, a propos Krugman's editorial, why not the Bond Gods as Cyclops?
One could depict the one harrassing Odysseus, who exacts a crewman every time he comes back to the cave, as a great cartoon.
Cyclops were not very smart, eg "'No man' is hurting me," Odysseus' 'name', told to other cyclops re why he was in pain.
Cyclops were also, like the current Bond Gods, as a group, real meanies!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
A 'HOBSON'S CHOICE': PRIVATE VERSUS PUBLIC ENTERPRISE
Actually a 'Morton's Fork', but who understands the fine distinctions? (See the famous Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs litigation, for a judicial example.)
Americans have often been told, usually by politicians, who need to pay back private corporate political supporters, that a good way to handle such and such a problem is to return it to the private sector, or to give a tax break, incentive, or credit, etc., to the private sector, which is more efficient and virtuous than government.
On the other hand, Americans have been told by other politicians, who are catering to a different but equally deluded patronage, that a certain initiative needs to be undertaken by government, that a new government agency, department, or blue ribbon committee, is necessary or merely very beneficial in this case.
Americans need to be advised that American, federal, state, and local, publicly administered programs are generally matched in ineffeciency, ineptitude, and corruption, by American private sector business enterprises, small, medium, and MNC sized, regardless of the private industry or sector. There are well founded reasons for this, based on the history of the structures and relations between the public and private sectors. Aug 17, 2010
Americans have often been told, usually by politicians, who need to pay back private corporate political supporters, that a good way to handle such and such a problem is to return it to the private sector, or to give a tax break, incentive, or credit, etc., to the private sector, which is more efficient and virtuous than government.
On the other hand, Americans have been told by other politicians, who are catering to a different but equally deluded patronage, that a certain initiative needs to be undertaken by government, that a new government agency, department, or blue ribbon committee, is necessary or merely very beneficial in this case.
Americans need to be advised that American, federal, state, and local, publicly administered programs are generally matched in ineffeciency, ineptitude, and corruption, by American private sector business enterprises, small, medium, and MNC sized, regardless of the private industry or sector. There are well founded reasons for this, based on the history of the structures and relations between the public and private sectors. Aug 17, 2010
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