RE: [xmca] US discovers capitalism doesn't work

And, if you are canvassing door to door, all too often you find that the
political translation seems to be "forget about voting on November 4th, it's
no use." Who'll win if there's a low turnout? You know. Determinism is in
danger of trumping hope. So, please, GOTV!
PG

> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
> On Behalf Of Tony Whitson
> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 6:36 PM
> To: mcole@weber.ucsd.edu; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] US discovers capitalism doesn't work
>
> I'm seeing one advance on the ideological front: It is now a
> commonplace observation in the mainstream media that what we're seeing
> is a system in which "profits are being privatized, while losses are
> being socialized."
>
> As for Martin's observations on the consciousness of participants: It
> reminds me of a class I had in law school in which the Professor
> characterized as "Marxist" an interpretation that attributed market
> failures to corruption and criminality (not acting according to the
> norms of the system). I protested, of course, that such is ANYTHING BUT
> a Marxist analysis. Marxism is more concerned with how capitalism
> operates when the players ARE playing by its rules.
>
> On Sat, 20 Sep 2008, Mike Cole wrote:
>
> > Interesting analysis, Martin.
> > Part of what fascinates me is watching the Republicans argue against
> > raising taxes while coming up with a scheme to solve the problem that
> > will make ordinary citizens pay for their profits..... but they will
> > be out of town before anyone can deal with the situation effectively.
> >
> > A story on Yahoo today says for the first time, what is most
> worrisome
> > about how this will effect the outcome of the upcoming election: The
> > rascism of a large part of the electorate may well be sufficient to
> > ensure a Republican victory even as them whats been the leaders in
> > this long term disaster blame "Washington insiders." - A Stanford U
> poll study.
> >
> > mike
> >
> > On Sat, Sep 20, 2008 at 9:21 AM, Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> >> It seems to me that we ought to mark here the events of the past
> week
> >> in the US, as they throw light on the kind of social reality in
> which
> >> many of us live. I'm certainly no economist, but this is what I
> think
> >> I've figured out so far.
> >>
> >> A bunch of smart bankers figured out how to turn debt, especially
> >> mortgage debt, into a commodity. They arranged to package it and
> >> label it as high quality, with some dubious auditing. They arranged
> >> to market it to individual and corporate investors. And then they
> set
> >> about mass producing this new commodity, by exploiting the people
> >> whose debt they could purchase.
> >> They advertized easy credit to naïve would-be home owners. This
> >> pushed up house prices, but this was fine because it created more
> >> demand for mortgages and these loans were for higher amounts, so the
> >> size of the debts was doubly increased. They sold credit with one
> >> hand while with the other hand they sold the debt this created. A
> >> win-win situation, seemingly.
> >>
> >> Several things went wrong at the same time. The price of housing got
> >> so high that the demand to buy it dried up. The mortgage contracts
> >> turned out to be so grossly exploitative that the people bound by
> >> them were simply squeezed dry. So the value of the new commodities
> >> fell into doubt, and the banks found they could no longer sell them.
> >> They were over-stocked with goods that were no longer wanted, and
> >> overnight a vast amount of value simply disappeared. The banks woke
> >> up to discover that they could no longer pay their own debts, to one
> >> another, to industry, or to investors. The country woke up to find
> >> their savings disappearing, their currency falling, their homes not
> >> worth what they paid for them, their credit revoked, and their jobs
> >> on the line.
> >>
> >> So now the federal government has stepped in, and will buy these
> >> unwanted commodities from the banks for a total of perhaps $500
> >> billion. The banks will get real cash in its place and will be able
> >> to do business again. The government will hope to squeeze some value
> >> from the mortgage holders, presumably on less onerous terms, in
> order
> >> to get something back for its purchase. The wheels of capitalism
> will
> >> turn again, and the crisis may be over.
> >>
> >> This at least is the picture that is now visible, on the basis of
> >> data collected by government agencies and reporting by the media.
> But
> >> the participants in all this were able to see only a small part of
> >> what they were doing, and understood what they saw only poorly. Part
> >> of this was wishful thinking and deception, but it was also a result
> >> of the positioning of the various actors and the ways capitalist
> >> economies take on a life of their own, escaping both the needs and
> >> the intentions of we who inhabit them.
> >>
> >> It's a fascinating situation, enough for a dozen good dissertations.
> >> Alexandra Michel and Stanton Wortham, who were at ISCAR, are
> >> publishing a book based on their study of the contrasting cultures
> of
> >> two investment banks. I hope they will extend their work to include
> >> what is going on today.
> >> To me it would be especially interesting to explore the
> psychological
> >> dimension – how desires are created and manipulated, how perceptions
> >> of risk and probability are changed, how people act in a time of
> such
> >> instability.
> >> But it also shows how modern society, civilized and modern and
> >> advanced, is a house of cards.
> >>
> >> Martin
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> xmca mailing list
> >> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> >> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >
>
> Tony Whitson
> UD School of Education
> NEWARK DE 19716
>
> twhitson@udel.edu
> _______________________________
>
> "those who fail to reread
> are obliged to read the same story everywhere"
> -- Roland Barthes, S/Z (1970)

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Received on Mon Sep 22 09:22 PDT 2008