MDers
The underlying theme of all this month's threads seem to stem from Daniel's "Life Ain't Nothing but
Money and Bitches" post which claimed that " Capitalism (in America) [I would add everywhere]
produces a shiny, smiley, stupid, obnoxious, isolating, soulless, obsessive culture." [and
that]...... people are so fed up with ..this waste.... of capitalism that they're ready to destroy
capitalism ...."
After the predictable, "Right on!, high five , money is the root of all evil" and "Oh, you
misguided fools " responses, Horse asked that we:
DEFINE YOUR PROBLEM AND STATE ITS CONTEXT.
If we start with the context of Locke's Tragedy of the Commons, I think things subtly changed after
man walked on the moon and returned to earth. Locke's argument basically concerned humans, living
elsewhere, grazing animals in the commons. But as the empirically reality of man's view of earth from
the moon sank in the concept of there being an "elsewhere" , here on Earth, disappeared. We all
live in the commons where the lambs have no choice but to lay down with the lions, zebras, pigs,
chickens, goats, ticks, trees, streams, mountains .........and man.
Capitalism divides economies into three basic patterns of value; capital, labor, and resources.
"Capital" is the surplus, or wealth (money and/or other property) which results from the
application of labor to available resources. Capital was first probably stored food; berries, nuts
or grains , then meat, hides, teeth, bones, sinew, silver, gold, and on and on until stocks, bonds,
an other dynamic derivatives. The goal of capitalism is to use this wealth (capital), in what ever
form, to create more wealth, or surpluses, some of which can then be used to improve the quality of
mans life both now, and hopefully to assure that level in the foreseeable future.
Within the context of there being no "elsewhere" the basic problem with capitalism is that it fails
to adequately value the fact that resources here on Earth, though vast, are finite. And all of the
most essential resources (air, water, soil, etc.) are the result of 3.85 billion years of evolving
patterns of value which no amount of capital can recreate or replace. But before we trash
capitalism, it is worthwhile to note that Winston Churchill observed that democracy would be
absolutely the worst form of government, were it not for all the rest. In economics, capitalism
hold a similar position.
So we find that capitalism, the best economic system currently in use, if adopted and practiced
world wide using the models currently in place in the developed nations, is not a viable,
sustainable, long term economic solution. And both intuitively and empirically all of us who
actively participate in the currently dominant capitalist systems know this. Is it any wonder that
the level of angst high?
The reason for this is we have no economic philosophy in place with which to deal effectively with
these issues and further have no basis of reality (metaphysics) on which to build that philosophy.
Until now. So when Daniel ends his post with the questions:
> Is there anyway of getting a free-market without having to live in a consumer culture?
> Is this spiritual hollowness just the price we have to pay for being adequately fed, clothed, and housed?
The answers respectively are Yes and No, if we have the will to do it.
Upon the foundation of the MoQ an economic system can be built which more accurately reflects the
"bottom up" morality of our reality. The spiritual foundation for this outlook is ancient and
intellectual theory in various forms has been around for at least several hundred years. In it's
most recent manifestation it is called " Natural Capitalism" as explained in the book by the same
title by Paul Hawkens , Hunter & Amory Lovins. A few excerpts to whet your interest.
"Natural capitalism recognizes that critical interdependency between the production and use of human
made capital and the maintenance and supply of natural capital. The traditional definition of
capital is accumulated wealth in the form of investments, factories, and equipment. Actually, an
economy needs four types of capital to function properly:
• human capital, in the form of labor and intelligence, culture, and organization.
• financial capital, consisting of cash, investments, and monetary instruments.
• manufactured capital, including infrastructure, machines, tools, and factories.
• natural capital, made up of resources, living systems, and ecosystem services.
" Capitalism, as practiced, is a financially profitable, non sustainable aberration of human
development. What might be called "industrial capitalism" does not fully conform to its own
accounting principles. It liquidates its capital and calls it income. It neglects to assign any
value to the largest stocks of capital it employs - the natural resources and living systems,- as
well as social and cultural systems that are the basis of human capital." pp 4-5, Natural Capitalism.
In the section titled "Environment as source of Quality" on p 148 we find:
" Science provides a necessary basis for business to comprehend the emerging economies of living
systems and ecosystem services. In scientific terms, there is no phenomenon called production, only
transformation. No matter how energy of resources are used, scattered or dispersed, their sum
remains essentially the same, as dictated by the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy. This law
is of more that passing interest because it means that the term 'consumption' is the abstract
figment of economists' imagination- that it is physically impossible in all processes or
transformations. What is consumed from the environment is not matter or energy but order or
QUALITY. .........This is a critically important concept, because it is 'QUALITY' that business
draws upon to create economic value." (my emphasis)
We would add
“Quality [is] value. They [are] the same thing” Lila-pp 58 “
and this is so because:
“Quality is the primary empirical reality of the world” Lila-pp 67
Will this shift from capitalism to natural capitalism happen? It already is and it will continue at
an ever accelerating pace. The question is are you ready for quality?
dlt.
PS. About caring. IMHO, a tiny increase in our "caring" about the status of our "natural capital"
will do more than all the "I feel your pain" relief efforts to actually relieve planetary suffering.
Check natural capitalism out on www.naturalcapitalism.org
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