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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (19657)	11/23/2003 8:30:15 AM
From: mcg404	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81184

Searle, <turn back the clock> to an agricultural paradise? No, not at all. The original articles cites the impact of walmart on some communities. Some of these are arguably negative, but we can assume there are some postive as well (lower prices, greater selection?). I linked the Berry articles since they examine industrization/globalization in the context of corporate colonialism (which i find to be a insightful perspective). The fact that he writes from an agrarian perspective is besides the point, except to the extent that agri 'culture' has been equally impacted by its evolution to agri 'business'. Berry argues that concentration of decision-making into the hands of the few and distant (as opposed to the many, local) is going to result in decisions that are not senstive to local concerns. Only logical (seems to me) since what made the distant corporation 'successful' had nothing to do with addressing local concerns, but just the opposite, the homogenization of operations and the resulting economies of scale. He also that distant decision making will results in operations that are extractive of local wealth and resources. Which frequently seems to be the case. Is this really anything but the Standard Oil story in another era? And although we recognize that this efficiency of operation does a great job in supplying physical human needs, do we step back at some point and say we are willing to sacrifice additional efficiency because some other human needs are not being met? Well, at some point we had anti-trust laws. Well, we still do, for what that's worth. (Because a need was seen to balance the power of the corporation with that of the community?) I really recommend reading the full Berry article if you didn't the first go around. It is about 10 pages total but really believe it makes some interesting points resurgence.gn.apc.org <Wal-Mart will be here until it isn't. No amount of wishing ...will chase it away.> Berry speaks to this: <<Communists and capitalists alike, "liberal" capitalists and "conservative" capitalists alike, have needed to replace religion with some form of determinism, so that they can say to their victims, "I’m doing this because I can’t do otherwise. It is not my fault. It is inevitable." >> <To recall a saying I once heard, "If someone does well he's a capitalist, if he can't succeed at that, he tries socialism, and if he fails at that, too, he becomes a buddhist."> Good one. But wait...why is that buddhist sitting there with a look of contented enlightenment on his face if he has 'failed'... John ps hazel henderson...way too much there for me to for me to jump into. (how do these people write so much?) Anything in particular you recommend?