Monday, September 15, 2008

On today's further unraveling of the mortgage bubble

I share with you a quote and a cartoon. First the cartoon:

6DBA9492-4BBC-4514-B8D3-F8E37744D172.jpg

I really don't get how the Republican party can claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility and no one calls them on it. Especially with a $7.7 trillion war going on.

And the quote:

Modern industrial civilization has developed within a certain system of convenient myths. The driving force of our industrial civilization has been individual material gain, which is accepted as legitimate, even praiseworthy on the grounds that private vices yield public benefits, in the classic formulation. Now it's long been understood, very well, that a society that is based on this principle will destroy itself in time. It can only persist with whatever suffering and injustice it entails, as long as it's possible to pretend that the destructive forces that humans create are limited, that the world is an infinite resource, and that the world is an infinite garbage can.

At this stage of history, either one of two things is possible: either the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community interests, guided by values of solidarity, and sympathy and concern for others; or alternatively, there will be no destiny for anyone to control.

-Noam Chomsky from Manufacturing Consent

I think the entire financial industry as its been built up over time and especially since about 1990 when we've had these huge speculative bubbles is a way for us to avoid facing the music: if we continue to prioritize private profit over public goods, we will be destroying ourselves as a species.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

guys, I love this cartoon - it is perfect for describing the complete hypocrisy behind fiscal conservatism - Zolfa

Anonymous said...

The capitalism, as we know it, is gone. The industrialized world would have to come up with a fair a balance system.