Re: Marxian method
For an orthodox view on this see ILYENKOV's On Dialectical logic, On the ascent from the abstract to the concrete in Marx's capital, and On idols and ideals.difficult to find but easy to read. --- Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [was: Re: [PEN-L:14676] Unison Committee for Action: > in Colombia?] > > Michael the K [who's named after the famous Murray > the K] wrote: > > In mitigation, > >it's in conducting investigations like these that I > really appreciate the > >subtlety of Marx's methodological insights (ch. 1 > of Sweezy, and Paul > >Diesing). > > is this Diesing's book on Hegel? It's a good read, > but it's not really > about Marx. > > My impression so far from Diesing's portrayal of > Hegel is that the latter > is the consummate liberal, in the sense of modern or > "New Deal" (U.S.) > liberalism. > > what's pen-l's choice for the best book about Marx's > method? > > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & > http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine > __ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
Re: The Universal market
Martin: You might try Thomas Frank's One Market Under God (Doubleday, 2000). It goes at the issue from a slightly different angle, but is clearly written and contains at least some of what you want. Joel Blau Martin Watts wrote: Has anyone got a good contemporary reference to the universal market ie the notion of capitalism intruding into all areas of people's lives in the pursuit of profit or is Harry B/Marx the best? Kind regards Martin PS I don't need anything that's heavy going - just a clear statement of the ideas. Martin Watts Deputy Director Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Department of Economics University of Newcastle New South Wales 2308 Australia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/ Office: (61) 2 4921-5069 (Phone) Office: (61) 2 4921-6919 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4981-8124 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4982-9158 (Phone) Mobile: 0 414 966 751
Re: Re: The Universal market
Joel, Thanks. I am not sure I'll be able to find it here, but I'll try. Kind regards Martin - Original Message - From: Joel Blau To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 6 July 2001 22:55 Subject: [PEN-L:14725] Re: The Universal market Martin: You might try Thomas Frank's One Market Under God (Doubleday, 2000). It goes at the issue from a slightly different angle, but is clearly written and contains at least some of what you want. Joel Blau Martin Watts wrote: Has anyone got a good contemporary reference to the universal market ie the notion of capitalism intruding into all areas of people's lives in the pursuit of profit or is Harry B/Marx the best? Kind regards Martin PS I don't need anything that's heavy going - just a clear statement of the ideas. Martin Watts Deputy Director Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Department of Economics University of Newcastle New South Wales 2308 Australia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/ Office: (61) 2 4921-5069 (Phone) Office: (61) 2 4921-6919 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4981-8124 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4982-9158 (Phone) Mobile: 0 414 966 751
BLS Daily Report
> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2001: > > The number of Americans filing new claims for state unemployment insurance > rose last week after falling for 3 weeks in a row. The jump provided > fresh evidence that the struggling economy continues to take a toll on > workers. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for > jobless benefits for the workweek ending June 30 increased by a seasonally > adjusted 7,000 claims to 399,000, the highest point since the middle of > June. The week before, claims fell by 12,000. The more stable 4-week > moving average of jobless claims,which smoothes out week-to-week > fluctuations, declined last week to 407,500, the lowest level since the > end of May (Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, > http://www.nypost.com/apstories/business/V7392.htm; > http://www.boston.com/dailynews/186/economy/Jobless_claims_rise_as_labor_m > :.shtml; http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2001-07-05-jobless.htm). > > Nonfarm payrolls probably declined by 13,000 jobs in June, with a loss of > 80,000 jobs in manufacturing, based on S&P's MMS median forecast. In May, > payrolls fell by 19,000, with manufacturers cutting 124,000 positions. > The job cuts likely lifted the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent, from 4.4 > in May (Business Week, July 9, page 118). > > Orders to U.S. factories rebounded in May, their best performance in > nearly a year. Stronger demand for cars and semiconductors led the way. > The Commerce Department reported that factory orders rose 2.5 percent in > May, after a 3.4 percent decline the month before. Orders for > transportation products registered the biggest increase, rising 3.5 > percent after a drop of 9.4 percent in April. Excluding the often > volatile transportation sector, factory orders jumped by 2.3 percent in > May, the best showing in a year (The Washington Post, July 4, page E2). > > Orders placed with factories rose in May for the third time in the last 4 > months, led by increased demand for autos and semiconductors. Inventories > fell for a fourth consecutive month, suggesting manufacturers may have to > bolster production after an eight-month decline (The New York Times, July > 4, page C5). > > DUE OUT TOMORROW: The Employment Situation: June 2001 > application/ms-tnef
RE: The Universal market
Everything For Sale, Robert Kuttner mbs -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Martin Watts Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 7:49 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:14716] The Universal market Has anyone got a good contemporary reference to the universal market ie the notion of capitalism intruding into all areas of people's lives in the pursuit of profit or is Harry B/Marx the best? Kind regards Martin PS I don't need anything that's heavy going - just a clear statement of the ideas. Martin Watts Deputy Director Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Department of Economics University of Newcastle New South Wales 2308 Australia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/ Office: (61) 2 4921-5069 (Phone) Office: (61) 2 4921-6919 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4981-8124 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4982-9158 (Phone) Mobile: 0 414 966 751
shit hits fan
"There is little hope left for an economic recovery in the second half of the year, the president and chief executive officer told employees recently in a recorded telephone message." -- Globe and Mail, July 4, 2001 In 25 words or less, what are Pen-l subscribers doing to respond politically to the recession and its eventual effects on employment, wages and working conditions? Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
Fw: [marxist] Q on underconsumptionist theories
- Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 3:21 AM Subject: [marxist] Q on underconsumptionist theories > If one accepts underconsumptionist theories, doesn't that mean that > free trade, cutting welfare, cutting Unemployment insurance etc, > increases the likelihood of "crisis of underconsumption"? > > If this is the case, than won't it become necessecary for the economic > elite to adopt Global Keynesian policies in order to avoid this crisis > of underconsumption? > > I'm asking, because in D&N, Fotopoulis asserts the unfeasibilty of > reformist change of the neo-liberal world order, which does seem to me > to me to be rather dogmatic. > > http://www.democracynature.org/dn/vol7/takis_globalisation.htm > > > > "[C]apital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt." > --Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 31 > > Community email addresses: > Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Shortcut URL to this page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist > > Also take our one-question survey at > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist/polls > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >
and now the old news. . .
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. jobless rate edged up in June and job losses mounted as weakness spread to the service sector of the economy, the government said on Friday in a report that cast a shadow on other recent upbeat data. Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the report was the fact that weakness seen for months in the manufacturing sector seemed to have spread to the service segment of the economy, which has countered softness elsewhere in recent months. Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
RE: shit hits fan
I'll be writing an electric manifesto on taking back the tax cut. mbs "There is little hope left for an economic recovery in the second half of the year, the president and chief executive officer told employees recently in a recorded telephone message." -- Globe and Mail, July 4, 2001 In 25 words or less, what are Pen-l subscribers doing to respond politically to the recession and its eventual effects on employment, wages and working conditions? Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
Re: Re: Analytical Marxism
Actually, considering the somewhat diverse literature using the term, analytic Marxism, I think it's unfair to accuse it of trying to be seeking a totalizing logic (this of course suggests that monolithic demonizing seen frequently in this list). It at every moment is always a form of historical analysis, regardless of the brand (channel?) of analytic model chosen. I would hope that any attempt to move beyond strictly determinist and mechanical models of materialist analysis is an analytic one. Ann ( using digmatic calipers in her quest for a digital information commodity theory ) - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2001 10:59 PM Subject: [PEN-L:14720] Re: Analytical Marxism One way of looking at Analytical Marxism is as an attempt to produce a completely internally consistent [non-contradictory] and entirely coherent [non-ambiguous] school of social analysis. But this might just destroy the power of Marxism as a form of historical analysis and explanation. Certainly Cohen's recapitulation of historical materialism in terms of the primacy of the development of the forces of production meets those criteria, but is it very good as a basis of historical analysis? Perhaps it is the productivity that comes from contradiction and ambiguity which gave Marxism its conceptual power. Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869) Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --
Re: Re: Analytical Marxism
[EMAIL PROTECTED]:
>very good as a basis of historical analysis? Perhaps it is the productivity
>that comes from contradiction and ambiguity which gave Marxism its
>conceptual
>power.
That'd be a dubious productivity. On the premise of logical contradiction
and ambiguity anything can be concluded ('explained'). That can't be
serious conceptual power.
_
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Re: The Universal market
Couple of things; Thomas Franks of the Baffler has a book called One Nation under the Market, or something like that. Robert Kuttner has a good book called Everything for Sale. On a more theoretical level, see Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice, and Elixabeth Anderson, Value in Ethics and Economics, for discussions of "market imperialism." --jks >From: Martin Watts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [PEN-L:14716] The Universal market >Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2001 09:49:17 +1000 > >Has anyone got a good contemporary reference to the universal market ie the >notion of capitalism intruding into all areas of people's lives in the >pursuit of profit or is Harry B/Marx the best? >Kind regards >Martin >PS I don't need anything that's heavy going - just a clear statement of the >ideas. > >Martin Watts >Deputy Director >Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) >Department of Economics >University of Newcastle >New South Wales 2308 >Australia >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/ > >Office: (61) 2 4921-5069 (Phone) >Office: (61) 2 4921-6919 (Fax) >Home: (61) 2 4981-8124 (Fax) >Home: (61) 2 4982-9158 (Phone) >Mobile: 0 414 966 751 > _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Fwd: [Fwd: Urgent !]
>From: Ravi Malhotra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,Chris Faatz ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [Fwd: Urgent !] >Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2001 02:49:50 -0400 > >Please distribute as widely as possible. > >In Solidarity, > >Ravi _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Please forward this email far and wide. In solidarity, Paul Lykotrafitis, Shop steward CUPE local 3261 -- To: Friends of CUPE Local 3261, Workers at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Press Dear Supporter, Less than a year ago workers at the UofT Bookstore struck for three months against an employer who, at one point, was offering only a wage decrease to the absolute legal minimum for new employees. When the workers voted to return to work they did so with many things: a new sense of dignity and worth, better wages and job security, and an overwhelming amount of support from the university community and beyond. This crucial support made it clear to the U of T Press management that the UofT community was not going to sit by idly while they ran roughshod over the rights of their workers. Their obvious contempt for their employees inspired action. Hundreds of professors informed the Press that they would send their students elsewhere for their textbooks. Other campus workers gave money and walked picket lines. The Universitys honorary doctorates noted scholar Noam Chomsky, and former Canadian Labour Congress President Bob White told the UofT in their convocation addresses that management was being unfair. Because of this support bookstore workers were able to return to their jobs with a fair negotiated settlement. We are asking for your support again. The U of T Press which owns and operates a printing plant, bookstores and several other campus operations and is a wholly owned ancillary corporation of the UofT. The Press is using the negotiations with the full time shippers and receivers, members of local 3261, to attack the rights under their collective agreement and deny workers a fair wage increase. Since incorporation in 1992 the workers at the Press, once part of the U of T 3261 service worker agreement, have had their wages and working conditions eroded. While their wages have lagged behind inflation their workload has grown. This has to stop. Ten years ago three times as many workers received packed and shipped for a much smaller U of T Press. The Press has expanded operations, adding new stores and new operations, and added work for their staff. Yet throughout this expansion the workforce has been reduced to a quarter of its former size. Many long-time employees walked away in frustration. Others are staying but they demand dignity and fairness. This week a no-Board report from the Ministry of Labour will be released starting the clock ticking toward a strike deadline of July 25. After two months of negotiations the Press has proposed a contract that would sabotage the grievance procedure, weaken the union, and deny seniority rights to elected union officials. At a union meeting workers voted unanimously to give their bargaining team a strike mandate. The Press is still refusing to deal with the issues. Is the U of T Press is hoping to prolong negotiations past the busy summer period until the autumn when deliveries are slow and they can wait out a strike? Press employees refuse to let this happen. The Press cried poor last summer. In November it was revealed that the U of T Press, a supposedly not-for-profit corporation, had a $1.2 million surplus. They are crying poor again. On July 25, 2001 workers at U of T Press will be in a legal strike position. We must send a strong message to the U of T Administration asking them to monitor in an ethical fashion the operations of their subsidiary. Your support for the part-timers last year was instrumental in the achievement of a first contract. We hope that support like yours will avoid another strike of the U of T Press workers. We do not want to go on strike. We want to negotiate a fair contract for our members. With your continued support we hope to achieve this. Please contact: Dr. Robert Birgeneau President, University of Toronto FAX: (416) 971-1360 [EMAIL PROTECTED] George Meadows President, University of Toronto Press FAX: (416) 978-4738 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC letters to: Mehdi Kouhestaninejad President, CUPE 3261 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mehdi Kouhestaninejad President CUPE Local 3261 1 Spadina Crescent Room 202 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J5 Phone: (416) 946-7620Fax: (416) 946-7621 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Re: Re: K-waves
Tom Walker wrote: >Easy. Generational cohort replacement cycle. You know the old saying "rags >to riches to rags in three generations"? I figure that as one and a half >K-waves. Come in on the downswing. Go out on the upswing. Or vice versa. Jerry Lembke had an article SCIENCE & SOCIETY a few years ago which emphasized the role of generational effects in the organization of the working class as part of a long wave theory. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: Re: Re: K-waves
- Original Message - From: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 8:37 AM Subject: [PEN-L:14738] Re: Re: K-waves > Tom Walker wrote: > >Easy. Generational cohort replacement cycle. You know the old saying "rags > >to riches to rags in three generations"? I figure that as one and a half > >K-waves. Come in on the downswing. Go out on the upswing. Or vice versa. > > Jerry Lembke had an article SCIENCE & SOCIETY a few years ago which > emphasized the role of generational effects in the organization of the > working class as part of a long wave theory. > > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine == Intergenerational egalitarianism as part and parcel of working class solidarity? Tie that to the problems of "discounting the future" as a disease of capitalist logic etc. Ian
Re: Re: Analytical Marxism
At 10:59 PM 7/5/01 -0400, you wrote: >One way of looking at Analytical Marxism is as an attempt to produce a >completely internally consistent [non-contradictory] and entirely coherent >[non-ambiguous] school of social analysis. But this might just destroy the >power of Marxism as a form of historical analysis and explanation. Certainly >Cohen's recapitulation of historical materialism in terms of the primacy of >the development of the forces of production meets those criteria, but is it >very good as a basis of historical analysis? Perhaps it is the productivity >that comes from contradiction and ambiguity which gave Marxism its conceptual >power. I agree that AM emphasized the role of formal logic (or math), rationalism, and internal consistency, which is why it was called "analytical." In step with this, AM de-emphasized inductive logic (empirical investigation to derive generalizations) and dialectical heuristics. This emphasis encourages philosophical idealism, but that's hardly unique to AM. (Someone mentioned "logical contradictions." That's not what Marx or Engels was talking about: rather, they were talking about structurally-based conflicts of interest within the empirical fabric of society. Further, because of the usual identity of "logic" with formal logic, it's confusing (to say the least) to refer to "dialectical logic.") Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: The Universal market
Martin Watts wrote: >Has anyone got a good contemporary reference to the universal market ie the >notion of capitalism intruding into all areas of people's lives in the >pursuit of profit or is Harry B/Marx the best? Maybe my Krugman-Kritik (aimed at a popular audience) is relevant, since I shift the emphasis from "globalization" to the "Universal market." It's at http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine/talks/Krugman.html and it hasn't been finished. Comments are welcome. Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Re: K-waves
>Tom Walker wrote: >>Easy. Generational cohort replacement cycle. You know the old saying "rags >>to riches to rags in three generations"? I figure that as one and a half >>K-waves. Come in on the downswing. Go out on the upswing. Or vice versa. > >Jerry Lembke had an article SCIENCE & SOCIETY a few years ago which >emphasized the role of generational effects in the organization of >the working class as part of a long wave theory. > >Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine I haven't read the article, but generational effects (e.g., younger & better educated workers born in urban areas, rather than older ones who originally arrived from rural areas) may explain in part the dynamics from the 60s to the 70s (higher wages, profit squeeze, absenteeism, wildcats, etc., to which capital responded by neoliberalism). Yoshie
Re: shit hits fan
Tom Walker wrote: > > "There is little hope left for an economic recovery in the second> half of the >year, the president and chief executive officer told> employees recently in a >recorded telephone message." > > -- Globe and Mail, July 4, 2001 This seems to have got around, judging by the swoon over at Wall St.. > In 25 words or less, what are Pen-l subscribers doing to respond > politically to the recession and its eventual effects on employment, > wages and working conditions? I think the list should ring around the media outlets and present itself as a pundit pool. If this becomes half the mess it could be (ie if the credit crunch hits), there'll be lotsa media demand for anyone with a PhD in disagreeing with the suits who talked us into all this. After all, the neoliberals proved thirty years ago how quickly a well organised bunch of radical upstarts can scale the heights of conventional wisdom ... and even if your predictions and prescriptions are empirically falsified from the off, the punters'll just go right on believing you - for, oh, thirty years or so. Cheers, Rob.
Re: Re: shit hits fan
- Original Message - From: "Rob Schaap" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 9:05 PM Subject: [PEN-L:14743] Re: shit hits fan > I think the list should ring around the media outlets and present itself as a > pundit pool. If this becomes half the mess it could be (ie if the credit > crunch hits), there'll be lotsa media demand for anyone with a PhD in > disagreeing with the suits who talked us into all this. == ADDRESSES IN THIS DIRECTORY MAY NOT BE USED FOR UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL OR ANY FORM OF UNSOLICITED "NEGATIVE OPTION" SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. This is a list of New York Times staff members who have made their e-mail addresses public. It is being sent to you automatically in response to your e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The list changes frequently and grows steadily, so it's a good idea to inquire periodically. If you don't get an immediate response, please keep in mind that reporters and editors devote most of their working hours to producing the newspaper, and the time they have to answer e-mail is limited. If the person you want to reach is not listed, he or she either does not have e-mail or does not make the address public. You can reach most Times employees by writing to The New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036. For departmental e-mail addresses and general information, please send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] THINK BEFORE YOU SEND. If you don't know who might help you, read the titles and select only the person or people whose are most likely to be able to help you. Do NOT send a message to the entire list, which will annoy a lot of people but is unlikely to achieve your desired result. A B C D Reed AbelsonReporter, Business Day [EMAIL PROTECTED] Richard Aloiso Art Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] Catherine Ambrose Asst To The Magazine Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Edmund L. Andrews European Economic Corr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fred AndrewsMgt. Columnist, Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] Len Apcar Asst. Ed., Foreign [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peter Applebome Regional Metro Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Randal, Archibold Reporter, Metro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Eric Asimov Restaurant Reviewer [EMAIL PROTECTED] Steve BaileyStaff Editor, News Design [EMAIL PROTECTED] Carol BakinowskiStaff Editor, News Design [EMAIL PROTECTED] Deborah Baldwin Staff Editor, Style [EMAIL PROTECTED] Carla Baranauckas Regional Arts and Ent. Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Josh Barbanel Reporter, Metropolitan Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] David Barboza Reporter, Business Day [EMAIL PROTECTED] Julian, Barnes Reporter, Continuous News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Felicity Barringer Editor, Monday Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dan Barry Reporter, Metropolitan Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] David Barstow Reporter, Metro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Barbara Baumgarten Staff Mgr, News Administration [EMAIL PROTECTED] Randy BeckerThe Times Foundation [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jack Bell Staff Editor, Sports [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pam Belluck Correspondent, Chicago [EMAIL PROTECTED] James BennetWashington Correspondent [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alex Berenson Markets Reporter, Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jayson BlairReporter, Metro, Media&Tech [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charles BlowGraphics Director [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ralph BlumenthalReporter, Culture [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mitch BlumenthalEditor, New Jersey Section [EMAIL PROTECTED] Keith Bradsher Detroit Bureau Chief [EMAIL PROTECTED] Joel Brinkley Washington Correspondent [EMAIL PROTECTED] William Broad Reporter, Science [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fred Brock Staff Editor, Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ethan Bronner Editor, Education [EMAIL PROTECTED] James BrookeNational Corr., Denver [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jeffrey CaneNight Ed., Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] Doreen, CarvajalReporter, Media & Publishing [EMAIL PROTECTED] Susan Catto Researcher, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Kenneth Chang Reporter, Science [EMAIL PROTECTED] Marc CharneyStaff editor, Week in Review [EMAIL PROTECTED] David Chen Reporter, Metropolitan Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] Christopher, ChiversReporter, Metro [EMAIL PROTECTED] James Cobb Asst to Biz Ed Auto Section [EMAIL PROTECTED] David Colburn National Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] Michael Cooper Reporter, Metropolitan Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] David Corcoran Assistant Ed., Special Sections [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ray Cormier Staff Editor, Travel [EMAIL PROTECTED] Barbara Crossette Bureau Chief, United Nations [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anne Cronin Staff Editor, Metro Desk [EMAIL PROTECTED] June Cuddy Society News [EMAIL PROTECTED] John H. Cushman
Re: Re: shit hits fan
At 04:05 AM 7/7/01 +, you wrote: >the neoliberals proved thirty years ago how quickly a well >organised bunch of radical upstarts can scale the heights of conventional >wisdom ... and even if your predictions and prescriptions are empirically >falsified from the off, the punters'll just go right on believing you - for, >oh, thirty years or so. of course, the neoliberals had the power of major factions of capital behind them, especially after 1974 or so. Who was it who asked how many divisions the Pope had, when the latter criticized him? (I wish I knew: our Internet connection is on the fritz.) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine
Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
At 1:27 PM -0400 7/6/01, David Hearne wrote:
> >I hate when people see the world in black-and-white colors. There
> >are a lot of shades of grey in between a suburban mall filled with teenage
>>parasites sponging off parental income and blowing it on overpriced
> >Nike sneakers and Gap t-shirts - and a full-metal-jacket style boot camp
>>staffed by sadistic drill sergeants.
>
>"Teenage parasites?" Now who's seeing the world in black-and-white?
According to the New York Times, young Japanese women who work for
low wages in the secondary labor market while being supported by
parents -- though no teenagers -- are now blamed by journalists,
economists, sociologists, & politicians for being "parasites."
* New York Times 1 July 2001
Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter are Threatening Japan's Economy
By PEGGY ORENSTEIN
...More than half of Japanese women are still single by 30 --
compared with about 37 percent of American women -- and nearly all of
them live at home with Mom and Dad. Labeled "Parasite Singles" (after
"Parasite Eve," a Japanese horror flick in which extraterrestrial
hatchlings feed off unsuspecting human hosts before bursting,
"Alien"-style, through their bellies), they pay no rent, do no
housework and come and go freely. Although they earn, on average,
just $27,000 a year, they are Japan's leading consumers, since their
entire income is disposable. Despite Japan's continuing recession,
they have created a boom in haute couture accessories by Louis
Vuitton, Bulgari, Fendi and Prada, as well as in cell phones,
minicars and other luxury goods. They travel more widely than their
higher-earning male peers, dress more fashionably and are more
sophisticated about food and culture.
While their spending sprees keep the Japanese economy afloat, their
skittishness about traditional roles may soon threaten to capsize it.
Japan's population is aging more rapidly than any on the planet -- by
2015 one in four Japanese will be elderly. The birthrate has sunk to
1.34 per woman, well below replacement levels. (The birthrate in the
United States, by contrast, is 2.08.) Last year, Japan dropped from
the eighth-largest nation in the world to the ninth. The smallest
class in recorded history just entered elementary school.
Demographers predict that within two decades the shrinking labor
force will make pension taxes and health care costs untenable, not to
mention that there will not be enough workers to provide basic
services for the elderly. There are whispers that to avoid ruin,
Japan may have to do the unthinkable: encourage mass immigration,
changing the very notion of what it means to be Japanese.
Politicians, economists and the media blame parasite women for the
predicament. (Unmarried men can also be parasitic, but they have
received far less scrutiny.) "They are like the ancient aristocrats
of feudal times, but their parents play the role of servants," says
Masahiro Yamada, a sociologist who coined the derogatory but
instantly popular term "Parasite Single." (The clock on his 15
minutes of fame has been ticking ever since.) "Their lives are
spoiled. The only thing that's important to them is seeking pleasure."
He may be right: parasite women may indeed be a sign of decadence, a
hangover from the intoxicating materialism of the Bubble years of the
80's. But that conclusion, the most common one in the Japanese press,
misses something more substantive: an unconscious protest against the
rigidity of both traditional family roles and Japan's punishing
professional system. "Maybe they appear to be spoiled," says Yoko
Kunihiro, a sociologist who studies dissatisfaction among women in
their 30's, "but you could also perceive Parasite Singles as the
embodiment of a criticism against society. Seen from the perspective
of conventional values, even feminist values, they seem like a very
negative force, but I see something positive in them."
There was a time when a woman Sumiko Arai's age would have been
dismissed as "Christmas cake": like a holiday pastry, her shelf life
would have expired at 25. But sell-by dates have changed in Japan,
along with male predilections: high-profile sports heroes like the
Seattle Mariner Ichiro Suzuki and the sumo grand champion Takanohana
are married to women several years their senior. Instead of calling
her a stale sweet, Arai's parents, with more affection than
disapproval, call her para-chan ("little parasite": "chan" is the
diminutive in Japanese). "They tell me to get married and leave the
house," she says. "But if they really thought that, they'd try to set
me up on omiai" -- matchmaking meetings. "My mom has said to me,
'Make sure you find the right guy.' I think she's speaking from
personal experience. Maybe she feels she did find the right guy. But
I think sometimes she's telling me because she wishes she'd chosen
better herself."
Arai is in her late 20's, the younger of two children -- her older
brother is m
Read My Lips
Right-Wing nuts...Our Latest "Read My Lips" #56 Economists on Globalization http://www.theglobalist.com/nor/readlips/archive/index.shtml
Re: Re: Re: shit hits fan
... What will the Pope think about Eastern European Catholics being controlled by atheistic communists?" Stalin responded, "How many divisions does the Pope have?". ... www.psych.org/pnews/99-08-06/blood.html - 2k - Original Message - From: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 11:15 AM Subject: [PEN-L:14745] Re: Re: shit hits fan > At 04:05 AM 7/7/01 +, you wrote: > >the neoliberals proved thirty years ago how quickly a well > >organised bunch of radical upstarts can scale the heights of conventional > >wisdom ... and even if your predictions and prescriptions are empirically > >falsified from the off, the punters'll just go right on believing you - for, > >oh, thirty years or so. > > of course, the neoliberals had the power of major factions of capital > behind them, especially after 1974 or so. Who was it who asked how many > divisions the Pope had, when the latter criticized him? (I wish I knew: our > Internet connection is on the fritz.) > > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine >
Re: Cyprus
At 05/07/01 09:47 +0300, you wrote: >British base on Cyprus rocked by riots > >Governments condemn violence sparked by plan to build radio mast Important detail with all its particularity (large radar nets near a salty estuary with valuable bird life) in a much large picture of tidying up the remnants of colonialism and imperialism. A few years ago British soldiers from this base promoted outrage among Greek Cypriots because of the rape of a local woman. Note also the hostility in Japan about the reported rape of a Japanes woman by US service personnel. Koizumi is playing the national card. It is going to be increasingly costly for old imperialist powers to maintain these overseas bases, now that the anti-Communist global agenda which gave their justification has gone. Chris Burford London
Good in parts
The decision of the Chinese to return the US spy plane totally dismantled and shipped back as freight is particularly clever. Without doing anything to fit in with the role of Bush's new global Communist enemy, it expresses a gut-felt opposition to spying by the imperialists countries whether from overseas bases or command of international waters or air space. Besides it is now known it will cost the US more to reassemble the plane than to build a new one. Yet the US will have to go to the expense of reassembling it for symbolic reasons. As soon as this is known in global civil society, wherever people are chatting about this incident over a drink or a meal, the US has lost further face. The paradox of our times internationally is that hegemonism badly needs anti-communism to survive. Chris Burford London
Re: [PEN-L:14746] Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
I would like to ask the more historically minded on the list if these women are any different than say, the single women displaced in England during the later industrial revolution who may have formed or swelled various urban areas. Obviously the periods are different but their relationship to a consumer culture seems similar. - Original Message - From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 2:29 PM Subject: [PEN-L:14746] Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter? > At 1:27 PM -0400 7/6/01, David Hearne wrote: > > >I hate when people see the world in black-and-white colors. There > > >are a lot of shades of grey in between a suburban mall filled with teenage > >>parasites sponging off parental income and blowing it on overpriced > > >Nike sneakers and Gap t-shirts - and a full-metal-jacket style boot camp > >>staffed by sadistic drill sergeants. > > > >"Teenage parasites?" Now who's seeing the world in black-and-white? > > According to the New York Times, young Japanese women who work for > low wages in the secondary labor market while being supported by > parents -- though no teenagers -- are now blamed by journalists, > economists, sociologists, & politicians for being "parasites." > > * New York Times 1 July 2001 > > Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter are Threatening Japan's Economy > > By PEGGY ORENSTEIN > > ...More than half of Japanese women are still single by 30 -- > compared with about 37 percent of American women -- and nearly all of > them live at home with Mom and Dad. Labeled "Parasite Singles" (after > "Parasite Eve," a Japanese horror flick in which extraterrestrial > hatchlings feed off unsuspecting human hosts before bursting, > "Alien"-style, through their bellies), they pay no rent, do no > housework and come and go freely. Although they earn, on average, > just $27,000 a year, they are Japan's leading consumers, since their > entire income is disposable. Despite Japan's continuing recession, > they have created a boom in haute couture accessories by Louis > Vuitton, Bulgari, Fendi and Prada, as well as in cell phones, > minicars and other luxury goods. They travel more widely than their > higher-earning male peers, dress more fashionably and are more > sophisticated about food and culture. > > While their spending sprees keep the Japanese economy afloat, their > skittishness about traditional roles may soon threaten to capsize it. > Japan's population is aging more rapidly than any on the planet -- by > 2015 one in four Japanese will be elderly. The birthrate has sunk to > 1.34 per woman, well below replacement levels. (The birthrate in the > United States, by contrast, is 2.08.) Last year, Japan dropped from > the eighth-largest nation in the world to the ninth. The smallest > class in recorded history just entered elementary school. > Demographers predict that within two decades the shrinking labor > force will make pension taxes and health care costs untenable, not to > mention that there will not be enough workers to provide basic > services for the elderly. There are whispers that to avoid ruin, > Japan may have to do the unthinkable: encourage mass immigration, > changing the very notion of what it means to be Japanese. > > Politicians, economists and the media blame parasite women for the > predicament. (Unmarried men can also be parasitic, but they have > received far less scrutiny.) "They are like the ancient aristocrats > of feudal times, but their parents play the role of servants," says > Masahiro Yamada, a sociologist who coined the derogatory but > instantly popular term "Parasite Single." (The clock on his 15 > minutes of fame has been ticking ever since.) "Their lives are > spoiled. The only thing that's important to them is seeking pleasure." > > He may be right: parasite women may indeed be a sign of decadence, a > hangover from the intoxicating materialism of the Bubble years of the > 80's. But that conclusion, the most common one in the Japanese press, > misses something more substantive: an unconscious protest against the > rigidity of both traditional family roles and Japan's punishing > professional system. "Maybe they appear to be spoiled," says Yoko > Kunihiro, a sociologist who studies dissatisfaction among women in > their 30's, "but you could also perceive Parasite Singles as the > embodiment of a criticism against society. Seen from the perspective > of conventional values, even feminist values, they seem like a very > negative force, but I see something positive in them." > > There was a time when a woman Sumiko Arai's age would have been > dismissed as "Christmas cake": like a holiday pastry, her shelf life > would have expired at 25. But sell-by dates have changed in Japan, > along with male predilections: high-profile sports heroes like the > Seattle Mariner Ichiro Suzuki and the sumo grand champion Takanohana > are married to women several years their senior. Instead of calling > her a stale sweet, Ara
BLS Daily Report
> BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2001: > > RELEASED TODAY; Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 114,000 in June, and > the unemployment rate was little changed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics > of the U.S. Department of Labor reports. Manufacturing experienced > another large job loss, and wholesale trade employment declined for the > third consecutive month. Other major industry groups showed no > significant change in employment over the month. > > The nation's unemployment rate rose to 4,.5 percent in June as > manufacturers continued to suffer heavy job losses and demand for workers > in service industries fell to the lowest level in 10 months. The Labor > Department reported Friday that the jobless rate rose 0.1 percentage point > from a 4.4 percent rate in May. The 4.5 percent level matched the > unemployment rate in April with both months representing the highest level > the jobless rate has reached in the yearlong economic slowdown. > Businesses slashed payroll for the second time in 3 months, cutting > 114,000 jobs in June after a reduction of 165,000 jobs in April. > Economists are predicting that final figures will show that the economy > barely grew in the recently ended April-June quarter. Still, many are > hopeful that growth will begin to rebound this summer as the Fed's > credit-easing campaign and Congress' tax-refund checks take hold (Jeannine > Aversa, Associated Press, > http://www.boston.com/dailynews/187/economy/Unemployment_rate_rises_to_4_5 > :.shtml; > http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/businessnews/article/0,2669,ART-528 > 15,FF.html; http://www.nandotimes.com/business/story/38460p-618427c.html). > > New claims filed with state agencies for Unemployment Insurance benefits > increased by 7,000 to a total of 399,000 for the week ended June 30, the > Employment and Training Administration reports. Analysts say the data > show the labor market might be stabilizing but is still weak (Daily Labor > Report, page D-1; The Washington Post, page E2; The Wall Street Journal, > page A2; USA Today, page 1B). > > U.S. corporations in June announced a total of 124,852 workforce > reductions, bringing the total for the first 6 months of this year to > 770,000, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, > Inc. The layoff total for the first half of this year was nearly three > and one-half times greater than the total announced in the same period of > 2000 (223,421), and 27 percent higher than the year-end figure for last > year. "The good news for displaced workers as well as for the economy is > that the jobs that are being affected the most by downsizing are still in > demand," said the chief executive officer of the firm. He added that the > availability of recently laid-off workers is most likely one of the > reasons that the nation's unemployment rate has risen only slightly since > the beginning of the year to 4.4 percent in May. The Challenger report > tracks layoff announcements each month, without regard to when the cuts > will take place. Some corporations spread cuts over several months or > even years, while others make them almost immediately (Daily Labor Report, > page A-2). > > U.S. workers, reeling from earlier rounds of layoffs, took another hit > last month, with the loss of 124,852 jobs nationwide, up from 80,140 in > May, according to a new survey on job cuts. The federal government also > reported that the number of unemployed who stayed on state jobless rolls > for more than 5 days exceeded 3 million last week for the first time since > 1992. The telecommunications industry led the downsizing trend by laying > off more than 27,000 workers in June, bringing the industry's 6 month > total to 130,442 jobs, according to a monthly report by Challenger, Gray & > Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm that tracks job cuts. Together, > the industrial goods and service sectors accounted for 34,161 of last > month's cuts (Diane F. Lewis, Boston Globe). > > Business activity in the service sector strengthened in June, the > National Association of Purchasing Management said in releasing the > results of its latest monthly survey of the nonmanufacturing economy. The > NAPM's nonmanufacturing business activity index jumped 5.5 percentage > points to register 52.1 percent in June, a higher reading than economists > had expected. The reading was at its highest level since December 2000, > when it stood at 61.1 percent (Daily Labor Report, page A-4). > > Business other than manufacturing expanded in June for the first time in 3 > months, an industry survey showed today, adding to evidence that the > economy may have begun to pull out of a slowdown. The nonmanufacturing > business index of the National Association of Purchasing Management rose > to 52.1 last month, from 46.6 in May. The June reading was the highest > this year and the first since March to reach above 50, which signals > expansion (Bloomberg News, T
Re: Analytical Marxism
Jim already said [reproduced below] some of what I would have said in reply to some of the responses to my comments on Analytical Marxism. I would add that part of what makes Marx's work so productive, and what has produced so many schools of Marxism, is that there are many Marxes. I mean by this not simply the well-known contrast drawn by Althusser and others between the 'young Hegelian Marx' and the 'mature scientific Marx.' There is also a Marx which can be read, as Cohen did, as an economic-technological determinist ["the handmill gives you feudalism..." and the formulations in _A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy_] and a Marx which can be read as placing primary emphasis on social conflicts and how they are resolved ["All history is the history of class struggle...], a Marx attuned to the ideological and political nuances of particular historical conjunctures [the Eighteenth Brumaire] and a Marx focused on the nature of socio-economic abstracted from historical particularities [_Capital_], a Marx focused on a philosophical post-Hegelianism and a Marx focused on economic theory, a Marx who sees the state in class instrumental terms ["the state is the executive committee of he bourgeoisie..."] and a Marx who sees the state as a site for class struggle, as in his analysis of the struggle for the 8 hour day, and so on. Analytical Marxism has great difficulty accommodating the plurality of Marxes, and is intent upon producing a single, completely internally consistent Marx. This tendency is perhaps clearest in Cohen's effort to create a Marxism in which the development of the productive forces is the engine of history. It ends up doing so by seizing upon one Marx [or one facet of Marxian analysis] and attempting to make it into the whole. But in so doing, it eliminates the complexity and the ambiguity which, in my view, gives Marxism its power, its creativity, its productivity. Jim D: << I agree that AM emphasized the role of formal logic (or math), rationalism, and internal consistency, which is why it was called "analytical." In step with this, AM de-emphasized inductive logic (empirical investigation to derive generalizations) and dialectical heuristics. This emphasis encourages philosophical idealism, but that's hardly unique to AM. (Someone mentioned "logical contradictions." That's not what Marx or Engels was talking about: rather, they were talking about structurally-based conflicts of interest within the empirical fabric of society. Further, because of the usual identity of "logic" with formal logic, it's confusing (to say the least) to refer to "dialectical logic.") >> Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869) Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --
Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
Ann wrote: >I would like to ask the more historically minded on the list if these women >are any different than say, the single women displaced in England during the >later industrial revolution who may have formed or swelled various urban >areas. Obviously the periods are different but their relationship to a >consumer culture seems similar. By the later industrial revolution you mean the 1920s, after the first wave of feminism, with the mass production of advertising, consumer credit, culture of dating, etc.? Yoshie
Re: [PEN-L:14754] Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
No, I meant actually in the late 19 C. around the times of the art & crafts movement where the preconditions for the consumer culture already are in place (Adrian Forty's work comes to mind here). I guess I don't think of the interwar period as "later" relative to those "machine-age" categories used for the industrial revolution. And without getting into yet another wacky thread, one could say, "control revolution"-wise, that the "post-industrial" may begin in the interwar period with the rise of regulation, but yes it is before the height of fordist production, or is it? - Original Message - From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 5:05 PM Subject: [PEN-L:14754] Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter? > Ann wrote: > > >I would like to ask the more historically minded on the list if these women > >are any different than say, the single women displaced in England during the > >later industrial revolution who may have formed or swelled various urban > >areas. Obviously the periods are different but their relationship to a > >consumer culture seems similar. > > By the later industrial revolution you mean the 1920s, after the > first wave of feminism, with the mass production of advertising, > consumer credit, culture of dating, etc.? > > Yoshie > >
Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
>No, I meant actually in the late 19 C. around the times of the art & crafts >movement where the preconditions for the consumer culture already are in >place (Adrian Forty's work comes to mind here). I haven't read anything by Adrian Forty. What does he say about urban working-class women in the late 19th century? Yoshie
Re: The Universal market
Thanks to all those who responded to my query. Jim I shall read your piece with interest! Kind regards Martin Martin Watts Deputy Director Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) Department of Economics University of Newcastle New South Wales 2308 Australia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/ Office: (61) 2 4921-5069 (Phone) Office: (61) 2 4921-6919 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4981-8124 (Fax) Home: (61) 2 4982-9158 (Phone) Mobile: 0 414 966 751
Tobacco capital's global monopoly practices
It is not common to be able to catch monopoly capitalist companies in specific monopoly practices rather than merely activities that tend to perpetuate domination by large finance capitalist companies. But ASH, Action on Smoking and Health, http://www.ash.org.uk/ appears to have done it! >>> More damning evidence of corporate mal-practice emerges today as The Economist highlights documents revealing that British American Tobacco was engaged in price fixing negotiations with its competitors in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The documents describe meetings between BAT and its competitors, Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds at which prices were fixed in key markets the idea being to control price competition and reduce the marketing costs associated with competing with each other. The documents also show BAT executives trying to conceal what they were doing, for example by insisting that colleagues stick to verbal communication instead of writing. Clive Bates, Director of ASH, said: BAT and the others have been running a classic cartel covert anti-competitive meetings to carve up key markets to make more money with less effort. As if killing their customers isnt enough, the big tobacco companies have been ripping them off as well. ASH said this raised more questions for Kenneth Clarke, the Deputy Chairman of BAT and Tory leadership hopeful. Clarke should immediately investigate and find out if this is still going on said Bates he is the senior non-executive director at BAT and the rogue behaviour and unacceptable business practices of his company should be his over-riding concern. If he wants to concentrate on politics he should step down from BAT. If he wants to carry on at BAT, he should withdraw from politics. We want to know what Kenneth Clarke intends to do about the BAT staff that were behind this is he just going to turn a blind-eye and laugh it off, or is he going to take his corporate governance responsibilities a seriously? ASH has forwarded copies of the documents to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, with a request that the DTI investigation of BAT and its role in smuggling be extended to include price fixing. Clive Bates said: These documents show yet more misconduct from BAT with very senior personnel involved right up to board level. THE DTI should add these price fixing documents to the hundreds relating to smuggling that are already under investigation. The DTI has the power to disqualify directors and it should use these powers to tackle the people in charge at BAT. For an example see http://www.ash.org.uk/html/smuggling/pdfs/220.pdf or contact ASH Contact: Clive Bates 020 7739 5902(w) 077 6879 1237(m) 020 8800 1336(h)
Re: Tobacco capital's global monopoly practices
http://www.cpusa.org/articles/Big%20Tobacco%20undermines%20the%20American%20 way.htm Big Tobacco undermines the American way Kelle Louaillier First the parade passes. Then dusk descends, the sky explodes. It's the grand annual celebration of the foundations of American ideals: freedom, equality, and democracy. The 4th of July reminds us that for all of the continuing injustices in the U.S., our country born in revolution allows us to continue to fight oppression. For many, the flag symbolizes that freedom. Yet on this day, and on every day for the past 55 years, another symbol has crept throughout the American landscape, leeching off of our ideals. The cowboy that represents "individualistic rebellion" - this desperado - has served to profit a single deadly American entity: Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco corporation. After decades of public deception and outright lies, Philip Morris still clings to this powerful symbol. It claims the Marlboro Man does not target children and young people, yet its own internal documents tell a different story. Jack Landry, the creator of the Marlboro Man, declared it was "the right image to capture the youth market's fancy." Philip Morris cloaks its defense of advertising and promotion of a deadly and addictive product in "free speech" rhetoric. By spending almost $154 million, including its prime time TV spots, to tout its philanthropy - on which it spends only 114 million dollars - Philip Morris tries desperately to bolster its public image. By hiding behind the wholesome image of its Kraft Foods division, Philip Morris attempts to buy credibility with consumers. Through political contributions totaling over $3.8 million in the 2000 election cycle, Philip Morris attempts to turn the ears of public officials away from their constituents. For Philip Morris, free speech means ensuring that its voice is heard over the people's. Less than a month ago, another national celebration took place. Led by Infact, the organization behind the Kraft Boycott, concerned community members in every state visited Philip Morris and Kraft offices. They delivered copies of Making a Killing: Philip Morris, Kraft, and Global Tobacco Addiction. Each individual exercised his or her own right to Free speech, and demanded that the Marlboro Man be cast away. People across the U.S. are outraged by the Marlboro cowboy's global rampage. As the powerful image leads the way in spreading tobacco addiction around the world, its most deadly legacy may yet be in economically poor countries. The Marlboro Man, whether glimpsed in silhouette on an umbrella in Vietnam, or seen as peering eyes under a cowboy hat brim on a billboard in the Czech Republic, is now a prevalent American icon internationally symbolizing freedom and rebellion. Recently, tobacco addiction has increased dramatically around the world, causing an unbearable healthcare crisis in many countries as the epidemic spreads. According to the World Health Organization (WHO,) if current trends continue, by 2030 ten million people will die annually of tobacco related illnesses, making tobacco the world's leading cause of death. In response, the WHO is driving the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC,) a global tobacco treaty that could set limits on the tobacco industry's advertising and promotion, and curtail its political influence. In May, while the U.S. worked hard to undermine advertising and trade restrictions in Geneva, other nations joined together in a revolution of their own - one against corporate tyranny. Led by small Pacific Island countries, including Palau, members of the World Health Assembly (WHA,) the WHO's governing body, overcame resistance from the U.S. and other powerful countries and passed a resolution challenging tobacco transnationals' undue influence over governments and the World Health Organization. The resolution passed by the WHA calls on the WHO to monitor the impact of the political activities of the tobacco corporations, and urges governments to be open about any connections between their representatives and the tobacco industry. This is embarrassing for the U.S., whose lead delegate, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, has close ties to Philip Morris. This is all a bit distant from our parade. What remains nearby is the wholesome image Philip Morris is portraying by hiding behind its Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Kool-Aid, Oscar Mayer, Jell-O and other names that are dear Americana. Also dear were the 400,000 Americans who died last year from tobacco related diseases. What symbolizes America to you? The Marlboro Man - the cultural icon used to hook generations of young people? For those who say no, you can say it directly to Philip Morris by joining the growing national Boycott of Kraft. - Kelle Louaillier is campaign director for Infact's, which has been exposing life-threatening abuses by transnational corporations and organizing successful grassroots campaig
Re: [PEN-L:14756] Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter?
It's older stuff from the 1980s on how consumer culture was in place earlier than thought ( i.e. Wedgewood's 17C. use of marketing techniques and promotion ) and the new markets for finished goods where cheap designs imitating upperclass designs were produced for growing markets of single working class women who migrate to cities. - Original Message - From: "Yoshie Furuhashi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 5:59 PM Subject: [PEN-L:14756] Re: Parasites in Prêt-à-Porter? > >No, I meant actually in the late 19 C. around the times of the art & crafts > >movement where the preconditions for the consumer culture already are in > >place (Adrian Forty's work comes to mind here). > > I haven't read anything by Adrian Forty. What does he say about > urban working-class women in the late 19th century? > > Yoshie > >
western economic assn.
I just attended the first 2 days of the Western Meetings, which are 99.9% pure right wingers. Let me let you in on a secret. I just learnt that economic growth may be a bit slow this year, next year will boom, social security represents a looming disaster -- unless we privatize. Some of the economists reminisce about the good old days will Phil Gram at Texas A&M. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Re: Re: Analytical Marxism
I thought that it was also called analytical because it empahsised conceptual clarity as did analytical philosophers, many of whom were not great model builders or deductivists. The reductionism was an attempt to clarify and extract the rational core from fuzzy Marxian concepts. Many analytical philosophers attempted rational reconstructions of traditional philosophical docrtines. Often clarity was achieved at the expense of making hash of original doctrine as in Elster's Making Sense of Marx . Elster tries to show the rational kernel of Marx's doctrine. In the process he tries to give Marxism micro-foundations and he adopts a methodological individualist stance that seems to me counter to Marx's viewpoint. Rather than the rational kernel of Marx's thought, Elster rationalises Marx in order to update him in a way that would bring doctrine more in line with establishment research in micro-foundations and rational choice theory. As far as I can see there is absolutely nothing of revolution or of the dialectic left in Elster's version of Marxism. Cheers, Ken Hanly . - Original Message - From: Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 10:57 AM Subject: [PEN-L:14740] Re: Re: Analytical Marxism > At 10:59 PM 7/5/01 -0400, you wrote: > >One way of looking at Analytical Marxism is as an attempt to produce a > >completely internally consistent [non-contradictory] and entirely coherent > >[non-ambiguous] school of social analysis. But this might just destroy the > >power of Marxism as a form of historical analysis and explanation. Certainly > >Cohen's recapitulation of historical materialism in terms of the primacy of > >the development of the forces of production meets those criteria, but is it > >very good as a basis of historical analysis? Perhaps it is the productivity > >that comes from contradiction and ambiguity which gave Marxism its conceptual > >power. > > I agree that AM emphasized the role of formal logic (or math), rationalism, > and internal consistency, which is why it was called "analytical." In step > with this, AM de-emphasized inductive logic (empirical investigation to > derive generalizations) and dialectical heuristics. This emphasis > encourages philosophical idealism, but that's hardly unique to AM. > > (Someone mentioned "logical contradictions." That's not what Marx or Engels > was talking about: rather, they were talking about structurally-based > conflicts of interest within the empirical fabric of society. Further, > because of the usual identity of "logic" with formal logic, it's confusing > (to say the least) to refer to "dialectical logic.") > > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine >
