Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Capitalists And Other Psychopaths

Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that an English professor wrote this absolutely excellent piece.  I do mean incredibly excellent.   One of the best editorials I have read in a long time.  Liberal arts are often denigrated as useless in the corporate state.  “Why are you wasting your money on a useless liberal arts degree?” is a very common mantra in our society.   But, they are anything but.  Liberal arts may be the most important forms of higher education in a free society.  Some day I will expand upon that. 

This article is a very cogent piece capturing so many variables we have discussed.   It’s quite hilarious how he mocks MBAs for what they are.  Useless Soviet-style administrators.  The author clearly understands the difference between corporate capitalism and what, over the years, I have coined as American-style capitalism; worker capitalism and entrepreneur capitalism.   You’ll seldom see the distinction because most people don’t really understand the incredible impacts created by either-or.  I have a post in the queue for this year where I will expand further upon our prior remarks on this dynamic.   He also clearly articulates that most wealthy are not entrepreneurs at all.  Nor are they of any type of superior intellect as Social Darwinism and trickle down economics would have us believe.  They are corporate bureaucrats who are focused on control over truth; the antithesis of entrepreneurs.  Bureaucrats who seek to stifle entrepreneurs, truth and competition for better ideas and solutions by rigging the economic game.  And, he tops it all off with the revelation of unbridled and unregulated capitalism is essentially the ultimate manifestation of the tyranny of the self. 

The rewards in our society are going to the wrong people.    That is because the wrong people are motivated by power, control, vainglory and greed.  So, they end up being able to destabilize the system in their favor.   The incentive system in our society is completely upside down as we have discussed.  That leads to an inverted wealth pyramid where dimwitted politicians and their corporate masters reap the majority of reward. 

Enjoy a wonderful piece of prose.    

posted by TimingLogic at 2:43 PM