We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, May 21, 2010

Artificial Scarcity in a World of Overproduction: An Escape that Isn't

from Mute. The author analyzes the recent economic collapse as a tendency for the capitalist system to produce bubbles and over-production of things, examines the dilemmas that the managers of the system face as they pursue various strategies to get out of economic collapse, and finally focuses attention on the drive for innovation, the ownership of knowledge which provides the capitalist class with potentially huge sources of profits. Highly recommended to increase your understanding of this system.