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

To: mcg404 who wrote (19671)	11/23/2003 1:37:52 PM
From: sea_urchin	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 81188

John, I understand exactly the point you were making. In fact, one article refers to the work which I will discuss below. As far as I am aware, E. F. Schumacher in his masterpiece "Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. 1973" was the first to have addressed the question of the inhuman nature of modern business practice from an approach other than the Marxist one. Unfortunately, the criticism which I leveled at your references can also be used against him. Here is one from Amazon but, in fact, I recommend that you read all of them as they highlight the dilemma which confronts us --- the myth of infinite economic progress in a finite world. amazon.com >>>A naive romanticization of the medieval lifestyle, May 30, 2003. Reviewer: Darren McHugh from Vancouver, Canada There was much here that I disagreed with. It is true that ultimately, we may all be forced by environmental limitations to go back to a medieval lifestyle of subsistence farming, village dwelling, minimal international trade, illiteracy, poverty, stagnation, immobility, and superstition, but I do not think, as Schumacher seems to, that this development would be something to be celebrated. I honestly think that people who like this book don't really understand the lifestyle that they are buying into. They want rustic village living, but with all the benefits of industrial society on demand.<<< Here is a more positive critique about it (which also mentions Henderson): sfu.ca >>>"More than a set of essays on alternative economics and international development, Small is Beautiful precisely finds the pulse of the giant engine of transnational business that is rapidly redefining the globe. Schumacher's observations were not only prescient (some of the essays were originally composed over 30 years ago) but are proving to be universal and almost timeless," says editorial advisor David Rousseau. Small is Beautiful is considered to be one of the most important books of the century. At its original publication in 1973, the pure common sense of this book caused waves of excitement - many felt Schumacher's diagnosis and prescription were painfully obvious in the current patterns of development and global economics. The readers certainly agreed as over 700,000 copies were sold in multiple languages. The book was the seminal event for many of today's trends toward community self-sufficiency and back-to-basics thinking. The classic in the field of commonsense economics, Small is Beautiful looks at the economic structure of the Western world in a revolutionary way. Schumacher maintains that man's current pursuit of profit and progress, which promotes giant organizations and increased specialization, has in fact resulted in gross economic inefficiency, environmental pollution, and inhumane working conditions. Schumacher challenges the doctrine of economic, technological, and scientific specialization and proposes a system for Intermediate Technology, based on smaller working units, co-operative ownership, and regional workplaces using local labor and resources. With the emphasis on the person not the product, Small is Beautiful points the way to a world in which Capital serves People instead of People serving Capital.<<< Hazel Henderson is an economist/sociologist/humanist in the same genre as Schoemacher. She is familiar with recent developments in Brazil and is very much encouraged by them. I have read most of the recent articles at her website and I can recommend that you look at any one or two just to get the "feel" of her approach which is not only critical of contemporary capitalism but pragmatic in terms of solutions. In fact, she gives me cause for hope. You might also choose to buy a copy of Schoemacher. I see, at Amazon, one can get one for a few dollars.

To: mcg404 who wrote (19671)	11/27/2003 8:48:50 PM
From: sea_urchin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81188

John, We the People have decided to lodge a strong protest against Wal-Mart. centralmaine.com >>>Members of a local peace action group plan to distribute leaflets Friday protesting the use of overseas sweatshops making clothing for Wal-Mart stores, the Disney corporation and other American companies. Waterville Area Bridges for Peace and Justice will hand out informational leaflets beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Wal-Mart store on Kennedy Memorial Drive, according to organizers. "Members will wear sandwich boards and hand out leaflets until Wal-Mart sends someone out to ask the social justice group to leave," organizer Peter Sirois said. "At being invited to leave, the group will move on to Elm Plaza and continue leafleting in the common parking area.<<< Hardly the stuff of revolutionaries. In fact, one wonders whether Wal-Mart didn't organize the "protest" itself as some kind of promotion.