Monday, March 1, 2021

Bill Mitchell — Were are undermining our futures by deliberately wasting our youth

What simple measures might we use to see whether a system is working or not? Well that depends on the objective of the system. For me, one of the worst things that can happen in a social context is a capitalist system is involuntary unemployment because work is intrinsic to our beings. From the time we crawled out of the slime we have had to transform nature in order to survive. That reality goes to the heart of human existence and gives us purpose and builds our sense of network and cooperation and giving. I know all the arguments – this is a filthy capitalist system and why would we want people to be wage slaves – I am older now. I have been a left-winger all my life. I heard these arguments decades ago. And until those revolutionary armies that are apparently hiding out in the suburbs arms themselves and appear in the streets, I am thinking of the actual societies we live in and have to make the best of. We would spend our whole life times talking about revolution while workers around the world are being made to bear the costs of the failing neoliberal system....
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Were are undermining our futures by deliberately wasting our youth
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia

See also

CaitlinJohnstone.com
There’s Only One News Story, Repeating Over And Over Again
Caitlin Johnstone

6 comments:

Peter Pan said...

Help enough people see the big picture, and the fight is as good as won. Then, and only then, does Bill Murray awaken to a new day.

Okay, here is the big picture:
Human beings are animals. When presented with the opportunity, they will expand in number to fill all available habitat. They do this not as a consequence of rational thought, but of behavior. The headline should read: Planet devastated by technologically endowed mammal.

But we prefer to distract ourselves, or wax poetic how we're 'wasting our youth' or fighting the good fight. We are so parochial, we're blind to the fight that has been lost. The triumph of the behavior of a species, over the rationality of the individual or group.

Few are interested in the 'big picture' unless it feeds their need for hope.

Matt Franko said...

“Planet devastated by technologically endowed mammal.“

Those of us technically endowed ofc don’t look at it that way...

Matt Franko said...

“ From the time we crawled out of the slime ”. then. -while the top-end-of-town steal away“

Why don’t you guys just think of today’s figurative “top end of town!” as the same as your ancestors that were able to crawl out of the slime and leave the others behind?

The “top end of town” are just the “fittest” and are leaving the unwashed 99% to remain dwelling in their slime...

This is the way it works... you can’t have it both ways... we are either evolving or we are not...

Hypocrites... make a fcking decision...

Andrew Anderson said...

For me, one of the worst things that can happen in a social context is a capitalist system is involuntary unemployment because work is intrinsic to our beings. Bill Mitchell

Again, the conflation of "work" with "working under a boss" - as if one requires the other.

(Also reminds me of the saying among Russians under the Soviets: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.")

Let's have land reform and an equal Citizen's Dividend (as part of fundamental reform of the money system) and then all citizens shall be much more able to do the work that they find meaningful.

S400 said...

“Let's have land reform“

Who shall get the good land and who shall get the not so good land?

Peter Pan said...

Those of us technically endowed ofc don’t look at it that way...

Technophiles, Futurists and Trans-Humanists don't look at it that way.

But Caitlin and Bill aren't in those circles.

Or are they?