The blog of a North Country Swede!

Monday, May 21, 2007

On free markets and free trade

Even dear Milty Friedman admitted before he passed on that there is no such thing as a "free" market ... and there certainly is no such thing as "free" trade.

It is hard to imagine any science resting on certain economics assumptions that are taken quite literally as gospel ... for instance, what if meteorologist ascribed the funnel shapes of tornadoes to "The Invisible Hand"? ... or physicists, the flowing of sand through a funnel falling into a perfect cone? ... or an ocean whirlpool?

Why is there no such thing as "free" in markets or trade? Because the underpinning of "free" markets and "free" trade is the pursuit of self-interest in each micro-transaction ... which can only work as long as there some sort of equality between the actors (those individuals [and corporations acting as indivduals] participating in the transactions) ... but the very nature of pursuing self-interest is to gain AND accumulate advantage ... and BECAUSE these individual actors are NEVER equal there will always be the gaining and accumulating of advantage.

And like my REAL scientist friends tell me: Duh!

On the nature of religion

Religion is a culture's narrative of existence that explains the "why" of the world around us.

Our narrative of existence began in our primordial past as a species with myths explaining the otherwise unexplainable that nonetheless required an explanation lest we be inhibited by fear of its recurrence. (Ref: The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell) Thus religion from its very inception encoded the possibility of hope, the power to instill courage in the face of mystery ... and the possibility of purpose for all that we experience, and that this purpose is inherently benevolent toward an end ... as the biblical teaching: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose." Romans 8:28 King James Version New Testament, http://www.blueletterbible.org/.

One of the substantive "civilizing" benefits of a religion is the instilling of fear of authority in children, allowing the wisdom of elders to replace the hormones of youth in selecting leadership. And this is a key element in being able to consider the religion as rational, that it makes sense to age groups from childhood through young adult. After that, the individual has been sufficiently co-opted as to render him/her as nonthreatening to the hierarchal structure of a society.

Reducing, even eliminating, the conflicts over sexual fulfillment became a cornerstone of the Abrahamic religions—the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—those claiming Abraham in their sacred history . We now know, of course, that they got it all wrong. Sexual desire is not a force of evil controlling our body, but rather the biochemistry of procreation, essentially disproving these religions' doctrine.

But whether or not someone such as myself who has been raised in a moral/ethical milieu of Western Civilization's Christianity BELIEVES the religion's doctrine, I am still "a fish in water" as to it mores and practices. I wear clothes covering my sexual and secretion organs and orifices. I do not engage in overt sexual activity nor do I urinate or defecate in public or settings other than those specifically designated for that purpose ... or where I am assured of the requisite level of privacy. I do not touch other people "inappropriately", nor do I indicate in any manner a sexual interest in another person in a setting where such behavior is considered inappropriate.

But then I try not to belch or fart in public, either ... or display gross eating habits, such as slurping my soup ... or other "negative" behavior habits, such as scratching my genitals or butt.

In other words, I am ... and as many of us are ... "housebroken" according to the mores of Western Civilization Christianity. Its narrative of existence is embedded in my psyche.

There are some philosophical considerations that I should note in this discussion. They are that all beliefs are speculations and these beliefs should be examined with rational skepticism. What I do know for certain is that I am aware of my experiencing, and that I experience my experiencing as a continuum of events in which the present came out of the past which is the same as saying the future will come out of the present. And what I experience is diverse in that it is not all the same.

The discussion continues ... I'll get back to you.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Senator Hagel for President?

I think a run by Senator Hagel as an Independent from the heartland of America could be really, really good for we the people ... maybe shake things up a bit.

First some basics ...

The ruling power elite in our nation is made up of three main nodules ... and the current political struggles (since Truman?) are really about which nodule's power center is going to control the power of the federal government ... in a macro sense. (Don't ya just LUV those words like "macro"? I could just as well used, "generally speaking" ... but I didn't.)

There's international finance with the Clintons and the Rockefellers as their iconic politicos on one end ... and big oil with the Bushs et al on the other ... and smack dab in the center are the pharmaceuticals, insurance, automotive, and other.

The international finance group GAVE away our economic base under Clinton trying to get control of all the money in the world ... then big oil joined forces with the neocons (with like interests in controlling the Middle East) to capture the political enthusiasm of the Christian Right leading us to where we are now with the big oil group + neocons + Christian Right squandering our world leadership in Iraq trying to hang onto the oil ...

The future can clearly be seen: The Decline and Fall of the Great American Economy and Its World Leadership Status ... (Kevin Phillips will shorten the title when he writes the book.)

Right now we seem to be hanging onto the idea that we gotta be the leader ... 'cuz why? ... 'cuz we still have the most nukes ... and that means God is on our side, right?

But when it all comes crashing down ... whenever China no longer needs our markets to REALLY get control of both the money and the oil 'cuz it is investing in its people ... our power elite will blame it on us, the people.

(And you know, in a way, the power elite will be right?)

So I think a run by Senator Hagel to help shake this all up BEFORE hand, would be a good thing ... don't you think?

Friday, May 11, 2007

A political tsunami is headed here ...

Factoid Numero Uno: Secure access to Middle East oil aka energy resources is a strategic objective of the United States warranting the use of military force to maintain. Neither Republicans NOR Democrats will give that up, unless ...

And this is what has the power elite of this country worried ... like in DEEPLY concerned ... that the incompetence of Bush 43 resulting in the unconscionable loss of blood and treasure PLUS the psychopathic political tactics of Karl Rove resulting in the assault on our constitutional form of government ... have so aroused the anger and dismay of we the people that we are going to rush to the exits, overturning everything the corporatists have built since WWII.

The power elite has felt the first real tremors of a huge earthquake deep in the populace ... and rightly fear a tsunami that well sweep away their control.

We could be in for a real democratic revolution come November 2008 if we the people don't blink ... or get confused by pseudo small "d" democrats like Hillary.


Watch General Batiste on Keith Olbermann:

http://www.votevets.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=263&Itemid=69

Thursday, May 03, 2007

You can't make this stuff up!

Gonzales and Wolfowitz ... and how many before those two? Like, "Heckuva job, Brownie."

Bush says, "I'm the commander guy."

You can't make this stuff up!

If you line up mug shots of Karl Rove, Kyle Sampson, and Tim Griffin (with his glasses on) and you get three peas in a pod of pudgy buddies.

I mean, c'mon, folks!

They were politicizing the JUSTICE Department ... and what was the Republican response? It's done all the time!

Gimme a break!

We need to get out the "Impeach Bleach" and clean the rot out of the Bush 43 administration. We may be holding our noses now, but at this rate we will be gagging and retching at the stench by January, 2009, when the new president takes over ... if we don't clean the mess up.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The new economics - Post 8

Globalization: a ploy to reduce the cost of labor

Labor rights are a major issue in globalization and expose the brilliant idiocy of many global economists. Globalization for them is—among other things—a ploy to reduce the cost of labor in the industrialized west.

The irrational nature of this ploy pertaining to labor in the current conventional wisdom on global economics is exposed by the rational concept that equilibrium is reached between two or more fluid materials/situations (multiple transactions in bounded settings) at the LOWEST level IF the pull of "gravity" is toward the lowest level achievable, i.e. lowest cost.

Lowest cost is the "gravity" of the individual transaction or microeconomic event because the "buyer" is the actor—the individual who decides whether or not to act (or buy)—and given the opportunity to get more or less of the same thing for a given "price" will rationally choose to get more, i.e., buy at a lower price.

Think of it as two barrels filled with fluid and kept separate for a time. One fills up faster than the other. Now, connect them so they can reach equal levels ... it is patently obvious that the higher one will come down. Now think of the one that had the higher level as a 55 gallon drum and the one that had the lower level as a 5500 gallon tank ... the previous higher level is going to come WAY down.

Does anyone really wonder what is happening between the United States and China regarding workers’ wages?

Labor is more than just a commodity. It is how we think about ourselves and how we connect to our communities and make our contribution. We have a right to be treated fairly and equitably.

If we treat our labor simply as a commodity, simply to be purchased rationally at the lowest possible price, we effectively erode our society. This is because we do not have a system for updating the costs of maintaining the worker above the basics of minimum food, shelter, and clothing. Our current mechanism of determining the cost of labor on the global market, drives it down to slave wages, or the cost of having a human mule.

We need to move forward to a new understanding of how markets work. Old theories are out of date ... both free market capitalism and central control socialism.

Mind mirrors matter

There you have it, the mind mirrors matter. Actually, life mirrors non-life.

In the orderly recurrence of relational events, life is able to establish itself as the effect of these orderly recurring relational events, becoming a bounded set of same ... a lifeform.

Mind then becomes the etching of same as if a stylus was recording the contours of a figure on a drawing ... the etching of events within and without the boundary of the lifeform ... within the lifeform in a manner in which they can be "remembered" ... which is to say, the etchings can be retraced.

More to come ...