Thursday, June 7, 2018

Lars P. Syll — Economics for the 21st century


Kate Raworth's seven ways.

Lars P. Syll’s Blog
Economics for the 21st century
Lars P. Syll | Professor, Malmo University

5 comments:

Konrad said...

Since we all dream of utopia, Ms. Raworth’s book has become popular in the way that some books about the supposed “afterlife” are popular.

However, when we talk about utopias, we always face the same question: “How do we get there?” Ms. Raworth has no answer for this.

This is both a weakness and a strength in her book. It’s a weakness because we can’t get to utopia without some kind of map. It’s a strength because it makes Ms. Raworth’s utopia more unassailable.

That is, no one denies that utopia is desirable, but utopia becomes drowned out by bickering over how to get there. Ms. Raworth’s book would be attacked and ridiculed if it included any kind of map to utopia. All thoughts of a better world would be lost.

Ms. Raworth’s book is valuable because we currently live in a banker-oligarch utopia, and she explains that other worlds are not only possible, but necessary if we are to avoid extinction.

The first step in changing our world is to change our narrative about reality, since our narrative is our reality. Our narrative determines our beliefs, our behavior, our assumptions, and our “science.” Anything outside our current narrative is “ridiculous” or “impossible” or “unscientific” or “miraculous” -- or (in the words of our resident village idiot) a “conspiracy theory.”

At present, most people choose to abide by a narrative that is fed to them by bankers and oligarchs. That is, most people choose to surrender their minds to their owners. Therefore most people choose to be slaves.

An example of this enslavement can be seen in our own village idiot who, like all Trump-bots, thinks in slogans. When Trump engages in crony capitalism, creates more tax loopholes for corporations, and shreds corporate crime enforcement, he is “draining the swamp.” When Trump knowingly exposes Americans to more toxic pollution, and pours money into the bloated Pentagon budget beyond what even the Generals requested, he is “draining the swamp.” The more that Trump fills the swamp, the more he is “draining the swamp.”

This is a pathological narrative in action. Its mirror-image (equally pathological) can be seen in political correctness-bots.

Both narratives (image and mirror image) are subordinate to the supreme banker-oligarch narrative, which says, for example, that the “free market” (i.e. total ownership by bankers and oligarchs) is the only possible reality. ("There is no alternative.")

For the Trump-bots, any reality in which the bankers and oligarchs are not in control is “Marxist-Communist.”

For their mirror image (i.e. for the political correctness-bots) any reality in which the bankers and oligarchs are not in control is “fascist,” “racist,” and “sexist.”

Both camps of morons worship their banker-oligarch owners.

Therefore, even though Ms. Raworth’s book includes no road map to a different world, at least it asserts that a different world (i.e. a different narrative) is possible.

Matt Franko said...


“The first step in changing our world is to change our narrative“

Yeah that’s just like Nancy Reagan’s “just say no to drugs“ worked really well also ...

Matt Franko said...

Give me an example where a slogan that wasn’t accompanied by affirmative action worked...

Konrad said...

I honored you in my comment above by mentioning you twice.

Konrad said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhDJxEPRDek