Journal of the mental environment
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Noam Chomsky on rethinking capitalism
Political activist Noam Chomsky says: rethink capitalism or else our society is doomed to fail.
- Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:23 am — Posted by Lauren
- | 31 comments
Noam Chomsky describes the purpose of our economic system as individual material gain, and explains why a society based on this principle will destroy itself in time.
Comments
I beleive that Jacque Fresco (your fellow american futurist) has more or less an exhaustive answer to the problem mooted.
http://www.thevenusproject.com/resource_eco.htm
Basically, the only difficulty that remains is to do away with politicians and national governments. Putting true scientist/artist that are governed by computer aided statistical research in charge of redistributing resources on my planet. A beautiful continuation to the efforts of sublime Richard Buckminster-Fuller. As much as I despise US politics ( any politics for this matter ) these two guys do plenty of credit to humanity and North America as well (collaterally). I would be proud in your place if so much damage had not been done by saber-rattlers.
Without jeopardising cultural diversity let us do away with nations and their governing structures.
An Earthling (an eastern european)
Grassroots is where it will change. ♥ A Nation Spun ♥
Do away with business! Do away with automobiles! The government should take control of fresh water. Mandatory abortions for anyone with an I.Q. of less than 100. Allow only one child if that applicant qualifies. To innovate is to harm our planet. Individual gain is a detriment to the collective. It takes a totalitarian government to raise a child. Destroy the rich and take their possessions. America is inherently evil and should be dismantled and divided between various disenfranchised groups after destroying her means of self defense. Humans are an infection in mother Gaia and should be dealt with as such.
These things should happen NOW! ...except to me and Noam of course.
A SYNAPSE TOO FAR
We cannot effectively re-think capitalism, or any other aspect of human interaction, until we address the human individual (x 6billion) as an inherantly dysfunctional unit - at least in the modern environment. I am of the opinion that, in the continuum from single cell to great ape, thence to mankind, the last step is 'a synaps too far'. It is probable that we were always going to foul our own nest, on an impossible journey to a golden age. Even if that is not so, starting from here does not look like a good idea. What has to be addressed is a move from cleverness to wisdom as the goal of each birth.
I say, Write-in Jesse Ventura and Willie Nelson, and see what happens next.
At least, it will be fun.
I think Mr. Chomsky thinks too much.
Everything is the way it is because it is the way it is. If you want it different, behave differently.
Chomsky is behaving differently, and trying to get a few others to join him. Good for him! I'd love to know how historians treat him one hundred years from now.
BTW - Obama cant change the world.
And erase the word HOPE from your vocabulary.
ACTION should be its replacement. In a world controlled by business to re-shape it we need to start speaking like them and that way we can facilitate rebuilding it and therefore the rest of the world.
I reckon we should create our own corporation as a starting ground.
There is a fair point to be made that corporations are evil but you've gotta look at it this way. The word itself is a short hand of Co-operation.
Corporations were originally set up to help communities in various ways e.g. 5 or more people lobby to local governments and ask to become a Corporation to develop farmland, or to build a bridge or to teach children or become police to the area. The government then hand over a certificate to these 5 or more people that makes them unitedly responsible for the actions that they do.
Its like creating a new enitity (only made up of those people). As they are people (at least in America) they have rights that are nearly equal to humans.
Now in all of this it is good that they are careing for the community after all they provide regular people with careers, and nice things to 'consume' at home [i hate that word] and the fact that they are protected under certain agreements is great for them, they are human after-all.
So what happens when these private entities need outside investment to develop? Well they go to the 'market' and offer a slice of their company for some of their 'investment' and return dividens to the people or other corporations every year. Can't be so bad can it?
Well think about it this way...
Ever wanted a payrise yet you have all the things you need? Ever wanted investment in the form of a loan to buy that car you want to impress someone else?
Well his is whats going on here. Investors want $$$ lots of it, they want to see thier investment grow for their own 'interests'.
Therefore corporations need to make more money every year to pay these people. And in order to keep themselves 'alive' they have to do anything it takes to make it. Find cheaper labour in manufacturing, cut down more trees, feed regular people with harmful cheaper alternatives to nutrients and so on.
The thing to think about here is exactly what Noam is saying. The society is structured to serve the INDIVIDUAL and the 'market' is the way of facilitating that. People are born greedy, its in our DNA since the origin of human people are greedy, we are barely out of the jungle - Is that evil?
To create a culture of sharing we need to create and give away. Encourage new rules for copyright like creative commons. But most importantly is use the gift of conciousness to our advantage as yet its not NATURAL to share amongst strangers without payback.
If you think obama will change anything wake up! Change will only come from the bottom up. The people have the power if they would only wake up. He may change little things but in the big picture the power will still be in the same hands. When the everyday person says NO in mass will things change.
I'm tired. I work too hard. I don't get enough sleep. I never make enough money. I just don't feel good - about anything.
Noam Chomsky? He didn't help.
I just want to be able to sit at home, play around on my computer - blogs, games, porn and such. My neighbor has a new car so I should have a new car too. She went on a cruise in June so dammit I deserve to go on a cruise.
We need to abolish Capitalism NOW. Make everybody equal. Pay everyone the same no matter what. The Government should make sure that everybody gets new cars equally.
Tax the rich? Not good enough. I say take everything they have and redistribute it EQUALLY.
Corporations? ALL corporations are evil and the only way to fix this is for the Government to take control of everything. Let's take control and redistribute the corporations money on an equal basis to all of us.
I hate working so I am going to quit my pos job after I get paid on Friday. I shouldn't have to work if I don't feel like working and neither should anybody else. We should all get the same amount of money every month and then, just maybe I would start to believe in HOPE and CHANGE.
I hate my tiny little pos house. I deserve to live in a nice big house on the ocean so I think I am going to find one and just move in.
Bush ruined everything.
OBAMA is our ONLY HOPE. He is the only one that can give us economic equality.
If you think a POLITICIAN is going to change anything, you're lost already....
real change comes from grassroots activism....
Obama is all talk....McCain is worse...but, if you wanna pin your hopes to a cheesy slogan with NO teeth ("Hope and Change") feel free...you'll feel warm and fuzzy on Election Night and see that he offers little of either for the next 4 years....
the dude who said "ACTION" is a better word than "HOPE" is correct....
action, from the bottom up.....START by stopping voting for the same two boring political parties who offer NO change whatsoever...
oh well....at least there's waves to surf out there somewhere.
So how do people plan to stop rich materialistic people from wanting to make more money? By convincing them that capitalism isn't a good idea?
Everyone here talks like society has some kind of collective ownership over the 'corporations'. Isn't it more the other way round?
Talk about delusions of grandeur.
Chomsky hits it right on. All my research and experiences has led me to reach the same conclusions that is quickly put forth in that clip.
If the world continues the course it's on, caught up in the illusions and denials that mass media helps perputrate, then what other conclusions can you reach? Can the GNP always go up so we don't go into a "recession" no matter how shortsided and destructive it is so that people can still get their paper and electronic "money" to keep this system going?
I hear complaints that results in apathy that "if only I had something to fight for like in 1776 or such" which is complete BS.
If you can't find worthy causes to stand up for and give your energy and time towards, then you are asleep and drugged in the illusions of modern society.
"Stupidity" is a term that Chomsky used and I tend to agree with that, the irrational rationality that keeps this machine going on overdrive and heading for destruction.
August 1, 2008
How I Plan to Arrest the President
By chris rice
http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-I-Plan-to-Arrest-the-P-by-chris-ric...
He says once the final report went to President Bush, Condoleezza Rice and others, the U.S. cut off communications with the Iraqi intelligence chief and then moved forward. An agreement was made to resettle the Iraqi and pay him $5 million.
Then, in the fall of 2003, the White House decided that a letter should be fabricated, dated July 2001, from the Iraqi to Saddam Hussein establishing a link to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. "And the letter should as well say that Saddam Hussein has been actively buying yellowcake uranium from Niger with the help of al-Qaida," Suskind says.
He says that sources at the CIA remember seeing the order for that letter on "creamy White House stationery" and that the letter could only have come from the "highest reaches of the White House. ... It would have to come from the very top."
It's as if a scruple of the mind, when vocalized, can simply copy itself to somebody else's thoughts and mind.
Random opinions entering peoples heads, changing their perception. It's a strange phenomenon.
With an ever growing population the words and opinions that leaves peoples mouth's grows diversely with each day.
Changing with each mind, passing through ideals.
The more we educate people as to this awareness, with and understanding of compassion, the stronger the foundation will be
in peoples hearts and minds. Which will help manipulate those passing scruples with positive ideals.
We are lucky to be living today to see the changing face of capitalism. The internet has opened up so many new ways to exploit the exploiting markets and has allowed multiple generations to become pirates, getting the information/entertainment we want for free. It also allows us to interact as we are now. Discussing with random people who would never come together across this great planet with out a resource like The Net. As of now The Net is power for the people and we need to use it to exploit corporations and shift the power to our minds and our pockets.
zeitgeist,the movie
The music is funny. Fisher Price, my first college philosophy class video.
This is why it pisses me off that Chomsky dismissively rejects all of modern Continental thought. Psychoanalytic Marxists like Zizek have been taking the vague notions Chomsky alludes to (the way an ideology is constructed and maintained through media and other outlets, how exactly a society built on personal profit will inevitably destroy itself, etc.) and crafting nuanced arguments backed by consistent ontological principles. Chomsky convinces no one who does not already agree with him; I agree with virtually everything he said, but he didn't really explain any of the numerous reasons why I agree.
We are the new Rome, multiplied by our technologies and modern conveniences...they are ten fold an so shall be the fall
What drivel. Maybe there's more to it than can be packaged in 3:45, but there is nothing coherent about that segment. Just shards of concepts and beliefs rambled off in a sequence.
Go read one of his books then. I promise it will take you more than 3 minutes.
Seriously, to criticize ANYTHING as "just" being a series of concepts and beliefs smacks of defensive logic so twisted that it borders on desperation.
noam vs resident evil soundtrack...
^=^
Noam has long been advocating putting our efforts into our communities instead of looking to Washington for guidance. With the energy crash on the horizon, I'm both scared and excited to watch this inevitable transition. The chapter of consumerism is closing, and I will suffer through the withdrawal like anyone else.
Chilling, thought-wrenching. Chomsky is the only brave man left in the US.
The only question is, even if we had a concerted effort, CAN we actually take back the power? Or do the corporations control so much that no amount of banding together of committed citizens can penetrate their defenses? The corporation is a true Frankenstein, a monster created that is immortal, has no conscience, cannot be punished and has the power of our laws and armies carrying out its prime directive which is profit, "at all costs." Selling water? How low will they go? The ultimate Airplane game-everyone thinks they will get rich off of others, but eventually there will be no resources and no people left to exploit.
I think of Joseph W. Campbell's story Twilight where the machines run the city but there are no people left. The machines are programmed to keep going. Nothing left but the machines...
Incredulity is good. That may be the first step to rethinking capitalism. Let's all be incredulous like Barry when we see things we disagree with, whether it's Noam Chomsky or our rapacious economic system.
Your mind is recordable media.
I cannot believe anyone actually takes that asshole seriously.
Way to go, Barry...sweet argument.
no wonder this country goes nowhere. Go back to watching OReilly or Olberman or Lou Dobbs or one of the other pundits who does NOTHING but throw out whiny comments like yours that offer nothing...
Nice argument!
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