Another Bias!
While scrolling through Ted Talks this morning at the gym I looked, as is frequently the case, for one which would challenge me in one or more ways. There are many ways to challenge and impress this simple man. For example, last evening I was in the hot tub at the YMCA at the end of a full day talking to a Jewish man who had grown up in Europe and who is a retired professor. I was not that surprised that he spoke several languages – Hebrew, Arabic, French and Engish – or, that, unlike me, talked as if he had just finished reading many of the books by well known philosophers. He could recite specifics examples which I had long forgotten. From what this man was sharing he is around my age and obviously continues to nurture his intellect and his heart. I had seen this man on a number of previous occasions and, for whatever reason, we had not struck up a conversation. I am not very skilled, despite my education and work as a professional counselor, in picking out the person(s) who will be my teacher de jour. Yet, I now know that this man has something I want – well researched and thought out opinions from a perspective and background which is clearly different than mine. I could easily have missed what this man had to offer. One might think and I certainly hope that given last nights reminder I would have been particularly alert to my biases and, thus, less likely to have them make my decisions today. Yet, I chose a Ted talk this morning solely on the basis of the title, “Capitalism will eat democracy – unless we speak up” . I had no idea that the speaker, Yanis Varofakis , was a member of the Greek Parliament from January to February of 2015 and for 5 months of that time the Minister of Finance. Surely anyone who has been involved in the Greek government is the last person who might educate me about capitalism or democracy. Really! Yet, this very bright, educated, courageous man had and has a lot to teach me. I may read one or more of this books on economics and game theory. According to Wikipedia and other sources “Varoufakis is a participant in the current debates on the global and European crisis, the author of The Global Minotaur and several academic texts on economics and game theory, Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens and a private consultant for Valve Corporation. He is a dual Greek-Australian citizen and describes himself as a 'libertarian Marxist':” I also learned that “Varoufakis is married to installation artist Danae Stratou and has a daughter who is growing up in Sydney, from his first marriage to academic Margarite Anagnostopoulou (Poulos).”,
All this is impressive and interesting, but it is his very knowledge and understanding of the distinction between political and economic democracy which has piqued my interest. He said what I had been thinking and saying for some time, but he put it in historical context. Listen to what this learned professor says:
“Am I right in believing that democracy might be the answer? I believe so, but before we move on, what do we mean by democracy? Aristotle defined democracy as the constitution in which the free and the poor, being in the majority, control government.
Now, of course Athenian democracy excluded too many. Women, migrants and, of course, the slaves. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the significance of ancient Athenian democracy on the basis of whom it excluded.
What was more pertinent, and continues to be so about ancient Athenian democracy, was the inclusion of the working poor, who not only acquired the right to free speech, but more importantly, crucially, they acquired the rights to political judgments that were afforded equal weight in the decision-making concerning matters of state. Now, of course, Athenian democracy didn't last long. Like a candle that burns brightly, it burned out quickly. And indeed, our liberal democracies today do not have their roots in ancient Athens. They have their roots in the Magna Carta, in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, indeed in the American constitution. Whereas Athenian democracy was focusing on the masterless citizen and empowering the working poor, our liberal democracies are founded on the Magna Carta tradition, which was, after all, a charter for masters. And indeed, liberal democracy only surfaced when it was possible to separate fully the political sphere from the economic sphere, so as to confine the democratic process fully in the political sphere, leaving the economic sphere -- the corporate world, if you want -- as a democracy-free zone.”
He goes on to say that although we and many other countries are basically a political democracy (although those who have studied financing of elections in the United States and the lobbying system might argue even with this assertion) those very same countries are not a economic democracy.
Bear with me while I offer one more quote:
It is rather because one can be in government today and not in power, because power has migrated from the political to the economic sphere, which is separate.
Indeed, I spoke about my quarrel with capitalism. If you think about it, it is a little bit like a population of predators, that are so successful in decimating the prey that they must feed on, that in the end they starve.
Similarly, the economic sphere has been colonizing and cannibalizing the political sphere to such an extent that it is undermining itself, causing economic crisis. Corporate power is increasing, political goods are devaluing, inequality is rising, aggregate demand is falling and CEOs of corporations are too scared to invest the cash of their corporations.
So the more capitalism succeeds in taking the demos out of democracy, the taller the twin peaks and the greater the waste of human resources and humanity's wealth.
Clearly, if this is right, we must reunite the political and economic spheres and better do it with a demos being in control, like in ancient Athens except without the slaves or the exclusion of women and migrants.”
Is his talk he distinguished between the the basic principles of the Athenian Democracy (despite their obvious biases) and the democratic base of the United States, Britain and some other countries which is the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta? Yes, I had read it, although I am not at all sure that I had studied it. Perhaps! Perhaps not! Thank goodness for the internet and goggle. It was not long before I had read it at least twice. That, of course, does not get me even a D – were I to be tested on it. It did give me a sense of a document which continues to share much of the thinking of the average person about economics and, in particular, the the underpinning of our thinking about democracy and economics.
I have already quoted for more of Professor Varufakis than I have intended and perhaps I have quoted so much that I have strayed much too far from the reminder to myself that I wanted to share today with the reader.
That reminder seems particularly important and poignant in terms of our thinking about international issues, but even more immediate regarding our thinking about the upcoming Presidential primaries and eventual election the Untied States. It will continue to be tempting to play the blame game, point figures, make snide and discounting remarks, but I want to suggest that is if you are, like me, grossly uneducated about the particulars of the economic issues resulting in our increasing deficit, the increasing national and international polarization, our approach in the United States to the judicial system and the growing sense of alienation which is contributing to addictive thinking (drugs,power, religion,sex) we will need to educated ourselves enough to begin to identify some of our misconceptions and biases about what will help to bring about a more viable and just economic system in the United States and world wide. Money per se is not the root of evil. Money or the sharing of it is, however, (1) necessary as a medium of exchange (2) a symbol of what we hold dear and (3) a mere tool and not in and, of itself, a symbol of democracy, fairness, spirituality or long-term economic viability.
As is true of any person I have many, many biases. The more I realize the extent of my biases the more I can continue to enjoy the excitement of learning new “truths”.
Written January 28, 2016
While scrolling through Ted Talks this morning at the gym I looked, as is frequently the case, for one which would challenge me in one or more ways. There are many ways to challenge and impress this simple man. For example, last evening I was in the hot tub at the YMCA at the end of a full day talking to a Jewish man who had grown up in Europe and who is a retired professor. I was not that surprised that he spoke several languages – Hebrew, Arabic, French and Engish – or, that, unlike me, talked as if he had just finished reading many of the books by well known philosophers. He could recite specifics examples which I had long forgotten. From what this man was sharing he is around my age and obviously continues to nurture his intellect and his heart. I had seen this man on a number of previous occasions and, for whatever reason, we had not struck up a conversation. I am not very skilled, despite my education and work as a professional counselor, in picking out the person(s) who will be my teacher de jour. Yet, I now know that this man has something I want – well researched and thought out opinions from a perspective and background which is clearly different than mine. I could easily have missed what this man had to offer. One might think and I certainly hope that given last nights reminder I would have been particularly alert to my biases and, thus, less likely to have them make my decisions today. Yet, I chose a Ted talk this morning solely on the basis of the title, “Capitalism will eat democracy – unless we speak up” . I had no idea that the speaker, Yanis Varofakis , was a member of the Greek Parliament from January to February of 2015 and for 5 months of that time the Minister of Finance. Surely anyone who has been involved in the Greek government is the last person who might educate me about capitalism or democracy. Really! Yet, this very bright, educated, courageous man had and has a lot to teach me. I may read one or more of this books on economics and game theory. According to Wikipedia and other sources “Varoufakis is a participant in the current debates on the global and European crisis, the author of The Global Minotaur and several academic texts on economics and game theory, Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens and a private consultant for Valve Corporation. He is a dual Greek-Australian citizen and describes himself as a 'libertarian Marxist':” I also learned that “Varoufakis is married to installation artist Danae Stratou and has a daughter who is growing up in Sydney, from his first marriage to academic Margarite Anagnostopoulou (Poulos).”,
All this is impressive and interesting, but it is his very knowledge and understanding of the distinction between political and economic democracy which has piqued my interest. He said what I had been thinking and saying for some time, but he put it in historical context. Listen to what this learned professor says:
“Am I right in believing that democracy might be the answer? I believe so, but before we move on, what do we mean by democracy? Aristotle defined democracy as the constitution in which the free and the poor, being in the majority, control government.
Now, of course Athenian democracy excluded too many. Women, migrants and, of course, the slaves. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the significance of ancient Athenian democracy on the basis of whom it excluded.
What was more pertinent, and continues to be so about ancient Athenian democracy, was the inclusion of the working poor, who not only acquired the right to free speech, but more importantly, crucially, they acquired the rights to political judgments that were afforded equal weight in the decision-making concerning matters of state. Now, of course, Athenian democracy didn't last long. Like a candle that burns brightly, it burned out quickly. And indeed, our liberal democracies today do not have their roots in ancient Athens. They have their roots in the Magna Carta, in the 1688 Glorious Revolution, indeed in the American constitution. Whereas Athenian democracy was focusing on the masterless citizen and empowering the working poor, our liberal democracies are founded on the Magna Carta tradition, which was, after all, a charter for masters. And indeed, liberal democracy only surfaced when it was possible to separate fully the political sphere from the economic sphere, so as to confine the democratic process fully in the political sphere, leaving the economic sphere -- the corporate world, if you want -- as a democracy-free zone.”
He goes on to say that although we and many other countries are basically a political democracy (although those who have studied financing of elections in the United States and the lobbying system might argue even with this assertion) those very same countries are not a economic democracy.
Bear with me while I offer one more quote:
It is rather because one can be in government today and not in power, because power has migrated from the political to the economic sphere, which is separate.
Indeed, I spoke about my quarrel with capitalism. If you think about it, it is a little bit like a population of predators, that are so successful in decimating the prey that they must feed on, that in the end they starve.
Similarly, the economic sphere has been colonizing and cannibalizing the political sphere to such an extent that it is undermining itself, causing economic crisis. Corporate power is increasing, political goods are devaluing, inequality is rising, aggregate demand is falling and CEOs of corporations are too scared to invest the cash of their corporations.
So the more capitalism succeeds in taking the demos out of democracy, the taller the twin peaks and the greater the waste of human resources and humanity's wealth.
Clearly, if this is right, we must reunite the political and economic spheres and better do it with a demos being in control, like in ancient Athens except without the slaves or the exclusion of women and migrants.”
Is his talk he distinguished between the the basic principles of the Athenian Democracy (despite their obvious biases) and the democratic base of the United States, Britain and some other countries which is the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta? Yes, I had read it, although I am not at all sure that I had studied it. Perhaps! Perhaps not! Thank goodness for the internet and goggle. It was not long before I had read it at least twice. That, of course, does not get me even a D – were I to be tested on it. It did give me a sense of a document which continues to share much of the thinking of the average person about economics and, in particular, the the underpinning of our thinking about democracy and economics.
I have already quoted for more of Professor Varufakis than I have intended and perhaps I have quoted so much that I have strayed much too far from the reminder to myself that I wanted to share today with the reader.
That reminder seems particularly important and poignant in terms of our thinking about international issues, but even more immediate regarding our thinking about the upcoming Presidential primaries and eventual election the Untied States. It will continue to be tempting to play the blame game, point figures, make snide and discounting remarks, but I want to suggest that is if you are, like me, grossly uneducated about the particulars of the economic issues resulting in our increasing deficit, the increasing national and international polarization, our approach in the United States to the judicial system and the growing sense of alienation which is contributing to addictive thinking (drugs,power, religion,sex) we will need to educated ourselves enough to begin to identify some of our misconceptions and biases about what will help to bring about a more viable and just economic system in the United States and world wide. Money per se is not the root of evil. Money or the sharing of it is, however, (1) necessary as a medium of exchange (2) a symbol of what we hold dear and (3) a mere tool and not in and, of itself, a symbol of democracy, fairness, spirituality or long-term economic viability.
As is true of any person I have many, many biases. The more I realize the extent of my biases the more I can continue to enjoy the excitement of learning new “truths”.
Written January 28, 2016
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