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

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

How free markets corrode your character

Click here to access article by Lars Syll from Real-World Economics Review.
It seems that the impersonal market diminishes the feeling of personal responsibility. Guilt is divided when trading takes the place of explicit individual decisions. The observation of others engaging in ethically questionable behaviour might increase the willingness to follow suit.