> Date sent: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 12:03:13 -0700 (PDT) > Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Doug Henwood) > To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [PEN-L:5116] libertarianism > I once read a crude and admittedly reductive definition of libertarianism: > "I've got mine, so fuck you." Despite all the pretense of science, and the > high-blown language about liberty, the doctrine really does come down to > that in the end. > > Doug > > -- > > Doug Henwood > Left Business Observer > 250 W 85 St > New York NY 10024-3217 > USA > +1-212-874-4020 voice > +1-212-874-3137 fax > email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html> > RESPONSE: Precisely! In Malayalm (Kerala, India) there is a village saying: "If the Crow takes a bath, can it become a swan?" The people always answer "No"; it is what it is. The same with libertarianism and neoclassical economics--underneath the simplistic math and the simplistic assumptions to make the simplistic math run, underneath the a priori and forcefully asserted "axioms" to construct contrived syllogisms, underneath the metaphics and contrived tautologies, underneath the sterile and metaphysical model of human behavior and humanity are some very ugly and dangerous paradigms that are used to construct and support some very ugly and dangerous policies that lead to some very ugly and dangerous consequences in the service of some very ugly and dangerous forces bent on maximizing some very ugly and dangerous interests. The likes of Becker have done no service to economics and humanity by including--and neoclassically carving up-- subjects like marriage, family, roles of women etc that were previously excluded from any consideration at all within the scope of neoclassical economics. Their typical tactic (like "bounded" rationality) is once the utter bankruptcy of their paradigm has been exposed by the absence of serious discussion of issues that they deliberately ignore, they then attempt to bring in these previously-ignored subjects and through their sterile and antiseptic lenses, lead inquiry and resources off on another trail of obfuscation and apology thus diverting resources from serious inquiry and problem-solving of cery real issues and phenomena. If this were Germany 1933-45 I have no doubt what color shirts most of these neoclassicals and libertarian types would be wearing. An economist purporting to do serious analysis of serious issues through the neoclassical paradigm is like a German Chemist using his/her expertise to make Zyklon-B gas (claiming not to know or be responsible for the uses of that gas when the uses and the intentions and the ugly nature of those ordering the gas to be made are quite obvious). Jim Craven *---------------------------*----------------------------------------* * James Craven * "All things have inner meaning and * * Dept of Economics * form and power." (Hopi) * * Clark College * "In this world the unseen has power." * * 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. * (Apache) * * Vancouver, Wa. 98663 * "Be satisfied with needs instead of * * (360) 992-2283 * wants." (Tenton Lakota) * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * "The Great Spirit is always angry * * * with men who shed innocent blood." * * * (Iowa) * * * "It is no longer good enough to cry * * * peace, we must act peace, live peace, * * * and live in peace."(Shenandoah) * * * "A people without a history is like * * the wind over buffalo grass."(Lakota) * * * * "There are many paths to a meaningful sense of the natural world." * * (Blackfeet); "A shady lane breeds mud." (Hopi); * * "Strive to be a person who is never absent from an important act." * * (Osage); "Men in search of a myth will usually find one."(Pueblo) * * "Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way." * * (Blackfeet); "Some are smart but they are not wise."(Shoshone); * * "The one who tells the stories rules the world." (Hopi); * * "Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance." (Lakota); * * "The only things that need the protection of men are the things of * * men, not the things of the spirit." (Crow); "When the legends * * die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness."( Shawnee ); * * "I love a people who do not live for the love of money."(Dwamish) * * "Stolen food never satisfies hunger." (Omaha); "Man's law changes * * with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit always * * remain the same." (Crow); "It takes a whole village to raise a * * child." (Omaha); "Everything the Power does, it does in a circle."* * (Lakota); "Man has responsibility, not power."(Tuscarora) * * "With all things and in all things, we are relatives." (Lakota) * * MY EMPLOYER HAS NO ASSOCIATION WITH MY PRIVATE/PROTECTED OPINION *
