Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism - Online Univ. of New York at Plattsburgh Course

[mary rose]

This is a highly recommended course of online study by Richard H. Robbins author of the book:  GLOBAL PROBLEMS AND THE CULTURE OF CAPITALISM. 

http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.robbins/legacy/ 

Professor Robbins in this study course explores the past 400 - 600 years of a culture and society, originating for the most part in Europe and dedicated to the idea of consumption as the ultimate source of well-being as it has spread to all parts of the globe. In many ways it is the most successful culture and society the world has ever seen, its technology, wealth, and power, monuments to its success, but accompanying its expansion have been problems--growing social and economic inequality, environmental destruction, mass starvation and social unrest. Most members of this society and culture perceive these problems as distant from themselves or as challenges for them to meet.  However there is the possibility that these problems, which threaten to negate everything this culture has accomplished, are intrinsic to the culture itself.  That is the possibility that Robbins explores in his book and in this course. 

Recommended reading along with this course is:  THE STORY OF STUFF by Annie Leonard 

An excerpt from The STORY OF STUFF reads:  

"We have a problem with Stuff - with just 5% of the world's population, we're consuming 30% of the world's resources and creating 30% of the world's waste. If everyone consumed at U.S. rates, we would need 3 - 5 planets to meet our needs." 

As just one small example, Leonard shows that we must extract 98 tons of material from the earth in order to create 1 ton of paper.  When looked at from this perspective, it is quite obvious that something must change.           

[Eileen Workman]

At last...someone else is saying what I've been saying!

The capitalistic enterprise system that sprang up in Europe after the Dark Ages has NEVER been sustainable. It's always required imperialism, conquest and exploitation to feed the economic machine. After Europe chopped down all its old growth forests and divvied up all its land among its wealthy and merchant classes, it needed to "explore" the larger world (read: conquer new lands) in order to refill its depleted coffers with genuine natural resources, including gold, spices, tobacco, cotton, wood, etc.

That didn't pose a massive problem (except for those who were conquered, murdered and enslaved) up until the latter part of the 19th century, when at last humanity had settled virtually every corner of the globe and discovered that - on a round world - there was nowhere else to go to mine new resources, claim virgin territories or exploit uneducated people any longer.

We're now reduced to reconquering the same areas we've conquered in the past, or else waiting for teetering nations to collapse so their stricken populations can in turn be exploited by the stronger countries. The day China begins building foreign factories on American soil and employing cheap American labor in sweatshop conditions to make products they can ship home to their burgeoning middle class will be the day we realize it's at last our turn to be the Exploited Ones.

How ironic is that going to be for "the Greatest Nation on Earth?"

E

[mary rose]

Thanks Eileen, I'm looking forward to reading your book on economics when its published.

[Deborah J. Boyd]

The study of "isms" is most interesting. We speak of Capitalism & Communism as if they have and do exist and yet if you look at the premise put forth by the originators you see that neither theory was ever implemented properly. Mary Rose, I can not argue your post here because it is correct. The only difference I would state is that you are blaming capitalism when it is the corrupt individuals that distorted it that are really to blame. The root of the issue of civilization and economy had it's start in feudalism. Now you tell me what real benefit the serfs and ordinary people had under feudalism. Again we started out with a reasonable proposal that got exploited. The original proposition put forth by a "king" would be that the people devote part of their wealth to support him and his Army so that they would then be protected from other kingdoms, criminals, etc. The exploitation of this reasonable proposition came when the King & his favored military (Sadam in Iraq) could not extract enough wealth from the impoverished serfs and slightly better off merchants. Greed took over and the kings became as much a threat to their own population as outside forces. Part two of this soap opera were wars that destroyed ordinary people in far greater numbers than any of the highly contrived nobility. History, until recently, was written by and for the wealthy and extolled their virtues while ignoring the price the non-wealthy paid. Capitalism is still the best way to run the world but all stakeholders must get involved and understand what and how the system works. A strong government that sets rules and regulations is essential to check the power of the industrialist. Another weakness in American Capitalism is the abdication of long term planning to the private sector. We, as a Country & as a Family, need to have Infrastructure plans and long term goals where we eliminate much of the waste that comes from uncontrolled competition. We need to admit that we have some industries that do not do that well without controls and some that do. Now that we have the Internet and are rapidly moving toward the ability to have online webinars, etc. there is no reason why we can not connect up public buildings to meet and discuss issues that we all face. Sadly we see the Media showing very hostile people venting their rage on anybody that even remotely represents the status quo and yet we are not hearing many proposals other than old ones that did not work in the past and even if they may have worked 40 years ago we do not have the same conditions now. What America suffers most from is the loss of millions of high paying jobs in manufacturing that required little or no formal education and FEAR. Too many changes and crises have hit us at one time and collectively we are having a very hard time dealing with everything. We here so many times: "I just want America back" and what this refers to is that as time passes we look back with rose colored glasses and see near perfection (if we are part of the status quo)on the one hand and a place we do not want to return to if we are not now and perhaps have never been part of the status quo.
I have confidence in the future of America and the World.
I feel that the people in the Entertainment World, including writers, have and are the best hope for building a better future.

[Ron Tocknell]

Eileen Workman said:

The day China begins building foreign factories on American soil and employing cheap American labor in sweatshop conditions to make products they can ship home to their burgeoning middle class will be the day we realize it's at last our turn to be the Exploited Ones.

How ironic is that going to be for "the Greatest Nation on Earth?"

E

I think we've already reached the stage at which the concept of 'Superpowers' is no longer sustainable (if, indeed, it ever was).

The general masses are frequently compared to sheep and, without intending to sneer for I am also one of the flock, this is a reasonable comparison. We are a commodity and we have fallen under the illusion that we need to be led... hence our ready and willing submission to the dictates of others even when we personally disagree with their objectives.

Well, sheep need shepherds, don't they? Er... well, actually, no. They don't. Shepherds need sheep.
Sheep are perfectly capable of functioning without shepherds and we are perfectly capable of functioning without leaders.

The solutions to the problems that have been created are not going to come from the leaders. They are going to come from the led, or not at all.

I think we all need to decide what it is we are actually going to do.

[mary rose]

Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time to comment. Sorry, i have not been more available but i am also working with my own organization, The TransitionUS movement, the California Transition movement, and my own community to aid in coordinating this whole thing as much as possible. And, due to time constraints, i would like to make more or less of another general statement rather than address each comment directly.

I am a student of Dr. V. Vernon Woolf's "Holodynamics" program having been associated with him in one way or another for close to 20 years. And, he has demonstrated the ability of this program to facilitate transformation in many different ways in groups, whether in working with couples, disadvantaged youth, the mentally ill, in prisons and in a country -- the country being the former U.S.S.R., where he took it from communism to "perestroika" in about 10 years time. A feat never before accomplished peacefully. And Holodynamics is based in several processes: 1) tracking the problem to its source, 2) recognizing that the source is usually due to "immaturity," and 3) aiding the "holodyne" (the source of the problem) in maturing and developing it's "full potential self" - that is, moving into another or other levels of consciousness where more of the whole dynamic is revealed.

And as we look at capitalism as a system, this is what we need to do: 1) track its dysfunctional nature to its source. And this is what Richard H. Robbins has done for us in his book: "Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism," and in the online course from the University of New York at Plattsburg. Robbins has identified many of the problems inherent within the system and has suggested changes that could be made to assist it in working better.

Part I of the book is titled: "The Consumer, the Laborer, the Capitalist, and the Nation-State in the Society of Perpetual Growth.

So, we need to look first at each of these individual functions and their integrated role in society as a whole and figure out how these roles interact with one another -- does each role enhance the role of others in the society as a whole? If not, why not, and what adjustments do we need to make in order to "balance the system."

Hint: Another really wonderful book to aid us in making these kinds of decisions is Jay Earley's book: "Transforming Human Culture: Social Evolution and the Environmental Crisis" because Jay has developed a model for transformation and using graphs, has demonstrated what in each system needs to be adjusted in order for balance to be attained.

One of the premises from which Earley operates is that we are dealing with two different qualities:

1) the ground quality - this is a quality that has been inherent since the beginning of our social evolution and tends to be biological and associated with natural living. It is feminine in nature. Some examples of ground qualities are: natural living, belonging, equality, vitality, and community.

2) the emergent quality - this quality on the other hand is technological and evolved recently -- it is dissociated from the ground quality and actually tends to suppress it. This quality is masculine in nature. Some examples here are: technology, social organization, and rational thinking.

These "emergent qualities" were developed to give us greater power in the world; however, in developing these latter qualities we have suppressed the ground qualities at great expense to our health and wellness. So the task that lies before us today is to "integrate" these two qualities in such a way as to allow us to continue to evolve, but in a healthy way.

So, now we have a way of looking at things that gets us out of the "labels" conundrum, e.g., capitalism, socialism, and communism, and allows us to look at the system in a whole different way and assess "what works and what doesn't." It also gets us out of politics and into a grounded and natural way of thinking that is cooperative in nature -- it bring out the best in us instead of focusing on what we are doing wrong. It asks the question always of "where does our full potential lay" -- how high and how far can we go with this?

And while Robbins and Earley have both looked at the culture of capitalism and defined ways for us to do so effectively, what appears to me is that we (some of us at least) must do this ourselves as a group so that we can begin to aid others in learning to do a systems analysis that is effective in order that we may begin to manage our affairs of state in a way that works. In using either of the ways i have outlined here, or by integrating them and using them together, we are all on one side -- we are not a house divided as is our political structure -- we are looking at things "in the best interests of all concerned."

Then when we set up our media events we need to carry this type of thinking through to the public so they are thinking in a different way as well. Politics have now become "old think" and this system is no way to attempt to manage a country let alone the world as we are attempting to do today.

I would like to suggest this as a "project" for AOAND.





They are


Then, the next step is to look at all the problems within the system that are causing problems and say to ourselves: OK, this is what works within this system and this is what isn't working. Now what can we do to updraft the parts of the system that are not working so that they are fully-functioning members of the team? What is it that needs to change?

Then in assessing what needs change, we need to determine if much of it isn't working would be it be better to start out and design a whole new system. Or, can we design new parts that enable the system in working better and insert them where needed and go from there?

Some of the important questions to ask are: 1) Is the system "life-enhancing" or is it "death-defining?" 2) Does the system work in behalf of the greater majority? If not, why not?