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Capitalism: global restructuring, sovereign debt, benign bloc politics, safety nets and New Year’s resolutions Let’s face it, we’ve lost control. Unregulated internationalized capitalism is in the driving seat, and it is demanding that countries, communities and individuals subordinate themselves to its needs and interests. As countries find themselves with unmanageable sovereign debt, they are being subjected to ‘structural adjustment’ to make them more accountable – and vulnerable – to an internationalized capitalism which has gained the whip hand. It now demands that we accept our lot; that we reduce our lives and our vision to its horizons; that we accept that we are nothing more than a malleable, expendable ‘workforce’ for its activities and a ‘consumer base’ for its products. As this happens, you and I are similarly being ‘adjusted’ to the requirements of an unregulated capitalist world. It’s time to take back control of our communities and our individual lives. It’s time to make capitalism the servant and not the master of countries, communities and individuals. Capitalism, the Spirit of Christmas, a Bleak New Year and a hollow feeling in the pit of the stomach Bill Geddes 'Tis the week before Christmas! Apparently we're not buying enough, not eating enough, not traveling enough, not decorating enough, not getting into the Xmas Spirit! How on earth are we going to be able to afford Christmas this year? The credit cards are already 'maxed out'. It's going to be a tough new year! And this was supposed to be a time when people stepped back from crass materialism, re-examined their lives, re-ordered their priorities, and shared their loaves and fishes. Capitalism, Renewable Energy, Ennui and the Fabled Ostrich: This is as good as it gets! Bill Geddes We have reached the high water mark in our responses to climate change in Western countries. Bold initiatives, contemplated over the past several years, such as:
are now in retreat. In Western countries, politicians who clearly disbelieve and dismiss the reality of climate change; who assume that claims of environmental damage resulting from capitalist activity are ‘socialist’ conspiracies, are winning political office. As they do, the first tentative advances made by their predecessors are being dismantled. 9/11 and the nature of capitalism: Bill Geddes It is now 10 years since the events of 9/11, but the date and the events remain fresh in the minds of Western people everywhere. Another year has passed and, once again, we have remembered the tragedy of September 11th 2001. But, this should not just be a time to remember the dead, it should also be a time of serious reflection The late Henry Hyde, then chairman of the U. S. Committee on International Relations, explained its consequences clearly: With the September 11 attacks on the United States, the once-distant prospect of terrorism has become an inescapable reality for all Americans. The impact of this assault is greater than the tally of physical destruction, greater even than the tragic loss of life. The images forced into our lives are permanent ones. The realization that human beings are capable of performing such deeds forces us to accept that evil still exists among us, especially in our modern era when many had hoped it might be abolished altogether… But what does this mean?
Events, since that day, demonstrate the truth of Henry Hyde’s observation: The realization that human beings are capable of performing such deeds forces us to accept that evil still exists among us… Our response to the tragedy compels us to ask those questions once again:
If the answer to any or all of these is ‘Yes’ then we have headed down a dangerous path. Henry Hyde’s vision of the future might well be mild compared to that which we will bequeath our children and their descendants. Capitalism and parables: It's all about gardening! Bill Geddes Look around you - wherever you live - and you will see the result of uncontrolled capitalism. It is rampant. It has out-competed all other forms of material need and want provision and, in the process, has choked communities and fouled environments. Thoroughly regulated and subordinated to the requirements of communities, it can be a positive, very effective means of material need and want provision. Unregulated and internationalized, it rapidly grows into a rampant ecological and social disaster. The problem is not capitalism, it is us!! Global Capitalism: The Exploited Planet, The Torrent of Garbage and the Warnings Bill Geddes («HTML Version »«EPUB Version »«MOBI Version »«PDF Version »)
There are thousands of web sites focussing on the issues dealt with in these blog entries. Many of them present very well reasoned, informative, insightful and interesting material. The overwhelming consensus from these sites is that unregulated capitalism, driven by snowballing consumerism, is propelling humanity toward a precipice. The ravine is deep and the species may barely survive the plunge. Yet, those involved in capitalist enterprise and in consuming its products and services are accelerating down that dead-end road as though it was an unlimited expressway to utopia. Are we blind? Do we believe ourselves indestructible? Do we believe that before we get there something or someone will provide us with a bridge over the ravine? It seems that our ideologies, beliefs and prejudices lead many of us to disbelieve and dismiss the thousands of clearly reasoned, well researched and documented explanations.
Many of those who have arrogated the right to filter and interpret what is presented to us as 'news' and 'informed commentary' urge us to ignore the warning signs – "No Through Road" and "Ravine Ahead". Whatever the cause, the consequence is clear. We now live on a grossly over-exploited planet, with a rapidly deteriorating biosphere. We are, to change the metaphor and put it bluntly, defecating in both our own and other communities' and species' nests. Globalized, deregulated capitalist organizations continue to exploit the planet's resources at an accelerating pace. Well-meaning, often-concerned, Western people (and those who emulate their lifestyles) continue to expand their needs and wants, accumulating increasing quantities of marginally useful goods and consuming ever-more unnecessary goods and services. («HTML Version »«EPUB Version »«MOBI Version »«PDF Version »)
The History and Nature of Capitalism By Bill Geddes Revised: 8th July 2011 («HTML Version » «EPUB Version: » «MOBI Version: » «PDF Version: »)
It is said that the aphorism 'Know Yourself' was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Finding out who we are can be an unsettling experience. Not only do human beings gild memories of experiences in their own lifetimes, they are extremely adept at reinventing those of their historical past. It can be an educative experience to strip away what the French philosopher Voltaire called the 'fable upon which we are all agreed'. It's time we, living in capitalist countries, got ourselves into perspective. Over the past three centuries, people living in Western (capitalist) countries have increasingly imposed their understanding of reality on others. Now, they are becoming aware of a growing antipathy toward 'The West' around the world. Henry Hyde's view of the problems facing Western countries is not isolated, Let us begin by accepting there is no single enemy to be
defeated, no one network to be eliminated. Al-Qa'eda is but our most prominent
opponent, but its outlook is shared by many others who are equally committed to
our destruction… we know now that we have permanent, mortal enemies who will
seize upon our vulnerabilities to bloody us, to murder our citizens, to commit
horror for the purpose of forcing horror upon us… For the past decade the West has confronted what it perceives as a growing 'climate of terror' around the world. While estimates vary, it is reasonable to say that thousands of lives have been lost and billions of dollars have been spent in pursuing, capturing and killing those deemed a threat to the security of Western nations. It is time to take stock. Before continuing to pursue phantoms and shoot at shadows (and, in the process, alienate thousands caught in the crossfire) we need to understand what is producing this apparently burgeoning antipathy toward Western capitalist countries. («HTML Version » «EPUB Version: » «MOBI Version: » «PDF Version: »)
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Updated Version of The History and Nature of Capitalism – The Book
Why ‘Third World’ and why ‘development’?
Articles:
The Consequences of Capitalism: Is that a Road-Train behind those lights?
Capitalism: Let's Re-regulate the World!!
Capitalism, Renewable Energy, Ennui and the Fabled Ostrich
Capitalism and parables: It's all about gardening
Pre-empting Henry Hyde's Nightmare
Global Capitalism: The Exploited Planet, the Torrent of Garbage
and The Warnings
The History and Nature of Capitalism - The Book
- Book Chapters:
- Introduction
- Ideology, The World Economic System and Revitalization Movements
- An Explanation and History of the Emergence of Capitalism
- How Born Again Christians Rescued Capitalism
- The Virtuous Capitalist, The Poor and the Wasteland
- Capitalism and Work: the White Man's Burden
- Capitalism and its Colonies
- Global economic forces, Western realities
- Global Capitalism, Third World Development
- Epilogue – What Drives Western People to Commoditize their World?
- Addendum: We're All Equal! Independence and Exchange
Links:
Geddes Software - for those with learning challenges
Complete Home Library application (a free 'Windows'
application [written by me] which includes an HTML Reader for use in reading
these entries on your own computer)