From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sat Dec 11 2004 - 19:38:46 GMT
Platt, MSH, All:
Pirsig:
"That's what neither the socialists nor the capitalists ever got figured
out. From a static point of view socialism is more moral than capitalism.
It's a higher form of evolution. It is an intellectually guided society,
not just a society that is guided by mindless traditions. That's what
gives socialism its drive. But what the socialists left out and what has
all but killed their whole undertaking is an absence of a concept of
indefinite Dynamic Quality..."
Platt said:
This passage, contrary to MSH's claims, 1) addresses the "Quality of
Capitalism," 2) addresses the real-world question of whether existing
free-market systems respond to DQ and 3) proves it wasn't ever
"misinterpreted" by me.
dmb says:
No, it only proves that this is the passage you've misinterpreted. First of
all, you give capitalism the edge for its dynamism when Pirsig is clearly
saying that neither had the metaphysical tools to understand the nature of
that force. You forget that capitalism is only INADVERTANTLY correct.
Pirsig's point here is to explain why capitalist systems preform better and
that reason is UNKNOWN to the capitalists and have include only as a lucky
mistake. Secondly, you almosts always ignore or discount Pirsig's repeated
assertions that capitalism is morally inferior to socialism and that it is
at an entirely different and less evolved level of quality. And finally,
there is the problem of ignoring the real world effects of capitalism. Not
only is authority and power concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, but
corporations have enormous influence over our laws and elections, very often
achieveing policiies that benefit themselves at the expense of the American
people. The current administration has taken crony capitalism to new lows,
even appointing industry insiders as the chief watchdog of those same
industries. This is very close to fascism as the founder defined it. That's
why Chomsky seems so contemptuous of the free-market faithful. Such
believers insist that we are all liberated by the power to shop, but the
facts on the ground tell us the opposite story.
And don't even get me started on advertising and propaganda. One need not be
an elitist to see that the Public Relations gurus can play the public like a
fiddle. They have tapped into Frued and Jung and have developed techniques
to which nobody is immune. And that's really what we have. Its not
capitalism. Its consumerism. Chomp, Chomp, Gobble, til its all gone. You
know the problem with unsustainable systems? That's right, they can't be
sustained.
In the marketplace of ideas, this only two cents worth.
Mostly I just wanted msh to know that I see it too. Platt is reading it
wrong, as usual.
thanks,
dmb
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