So claims anthropologist Peter McAllister in his book entitled "Manthropology".
He argues that man's physical capabilities have deteriorated greatly compared to not only to the pre-historic man but the pre-industrial revolution man as well!
Assuming he is right, is that one more reason for a less oil, energy, CO2 dependent way of life, other than global warming?
Showing posts with label on human survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label on human survival. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
can we re-define "economics"
Can we begin to understand the causes of the current distortions to "orthodox" capitalism?
Eg can we address the issue of economic greed and greed for consumer goods? Its drivers? Can philosophers provide the prototypes for inspiring people to redirect their sources of satisfaction towards less materialist, less greedy, less environment destructive "targets"/applications?
Can we help people replace material status symbols with intellectual ones?
Can we find the alternative to shareholder and profit maximization systemic goals?
Can we re-define economics in a definition that is more relevant to the actual roots of the term?
Eg can we address the issue of economic greed and greed for consumer goods? Its drivers? Can philosophers provide the prototypes for inspiring people to redirect their sources of satisfaction towards less materialist, less greedy, less environment destructive "targets"/applications?
Can we help people replace material status symbols with intellectual ones?
Can we find the alternative to shareholder and profit maximization systemic goals?
Can we re-define economics in a definition that is more relevant to the actual roots of the term?
on climate change
The core of the problem is cultural and IMO philosophical
Can we redirect most of our needs and wants away from tangible to intangible - intellectual "products"?
Can we put the tech advances of the last 200 yrs into better, more environment friendly, use?
Can we redirect most of our needs and wants away from tangible to intangible - intellectual "products"?
Can we put the tech advances of the last 200 yrs into better, more environment friendly, use?
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
signs of the times: living with uncertainty (pop philosophy)
Uncertainty is the way of the Nature. Can we give up our craving for at least some "basic" certainties?
food for thought in musical format:
food for thought in musical format:
Saturday, June 6, 2009
flashback to 2007: The end of the economic world as we know it?
This analysis was written on August 14, 2007
2007: The end of the economic world as we know it? (Philosophical)
Part 1: Dynamics
Troubling economic growth results in France, Germany, the Eurozone 13 and the EU 27 in the second quarter (aka "Q2") of 2007!
France and Germany grew by just 0.3%, below expectations!
The whole of the Eurozone 13 (France, Germany, NL, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Ireland, Austria and Finland) also grew by the same, 0.3%, down from 0.7% in Q1.
The EU 27 (Eurozone 13 plus UK, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Malta) did a tad better in Q2, 0.5%, also down from 0.7% in Q1.
Part 2: Strategic
So, what is holding economic growth in "Europe" back?
France is said to suffer from major "structural" and "deep" problems that N. Sarkozy and his government will try to "heal".
Germany's problem in Q2 is said to have been due a hickup in the construction sector!
Is the strong Euro holding EU exports back (correlate that with the political efforts to bring the European Central Bank under more "EU political" control)?
But is the US's "model" better? Or, what is more to the point, would it be suitable for Europe?
The US has a much more flexible labour market (except for, maybe, the UK), but is still a maze of 50 states with different state laws and taxes and other regs, but with a common language and pop culture, but not much of a "social safety net", some people in the US work but their salaries are lower than unemployment benefits in much of Europe and cannot cover the bare monthly essentials, the US has been running a large budget and trade deficit, it has been counting on
a) the "eternal confidence of the US consumer" in spite of all (or almost all? so far?) adversities and glooms,
b) Global investor confidence in the US economy and US stocks/companies in particular
(Q: are US quoted corporations still "American or does the stock ownership now qualifies them as multinational?? - America is a capitalist country but are Americans capitalists, in that they do not own hat much of their ("American") companies' stocks (but rather, their homes, ie real estate capital)?
The EU - Eurozone has been counting, it seems, on
a) making the baby Euro a globally credible currency, to have and to hold to trust and to invest in,
b) the 14 year old by now Single Market (how single is it, though, after 14 years?)
c) The German economy as a traditional steam-engine of growth (well, has it, since Re-Unification??)
d) A global UK economy
e) A so called "European" socio-economic model (to be psycho-analysed some other time) or rather, 4 or 5 different versions of it (British/Irish, Scandic, Central Europe, South European and Eastern European, or something like that, analyses/labels differ)
f) The US economy (!!!)
g) Something else (please specify): __________________ (maybe a more central planning
approach to policy)
Part 3: Philosophical
On the other hand, for the first time (ever?) the steam engine of global economic growth this year in not going to be American or European, but, ... Chinese! Yes, China is this year the economy that is driving the world to growth, not the US, not Germany, not the UK, not Japan, not the G8, not the OECD, nope, China! Oh yes, the (economic) world as some were accustomed to "know" it has ended, and the "Poles" of the economy are shifting, North, South, etc, and "violent" changes in the socio-economic climate are testing the endurance of humankind! No, it is not December 21, 2012, not the end of the Mayan calendar of the world, maybe it is the end of the traditional economic "calendar" of the world and the shocks are to come, soon, to a market (rather than a theatre) near you!
Yes, it seems that the economic "box office" blockbusters of the world are not of US or German or other European "production" anymore! New "studios" have come to the global economic "Holly Wood/Wall"!!
And a lot of "actors" are finding themselves out of the economic and social "spotlight" or are lobbying hard to keep their careers on track (US and European farmers, certain US manufacturers, etc).
Oh what interesting times we live in (an Ancient Chinese curse).
Should we try the I Ching method to tell us the future of stocks, bonds, house prices, economic growth, etc? Why on Earth not? Can anyone predict the economic future anyway? Delphi, Merlin, Nostradamus, Mayans, etc!
Many predictions do sound like the Delphi double edged or meaning oracles these days.
It is called "expectations"! Reminds one of Charles Dickens' book!
"Moderation is good" (Ancient Greek philosophy) aka "Chill"! In the long run .... all will be fine!
Dinosaurs cannot withstand major "climatic" changes! Roaches can, tho!
Does this imply a "small is good" oracle type pre-diction of mine? Oh no, I am not a prophet, I am merely a philosopher and a cook of food for thought! "Souvlaki" anybody? "Chicken", "pork" or "veal"? With or without "pita"?
2007: The end of the economic world as we know it? (Philosophical)
Part 1: Dynamics
Troubling economic growth results in France, Germany, the Eurozone 13 and the EU 27 in the second quarter (aka "Q2") of 2007!
France and Germany grew by just 0.3%, below expectations!
The whole of the Eurozone 13 (France, Germany, NL, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Ireland, Austria and Finland) also grew by the same, 0.3%, down from 0.7% in Q1.
The EU 27 (Eurozone 13 plus UK, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Malta) did a tad better in Q2, 0.5%, also down from 0.7% in Q1.
Part 2: Strategic
So, what is holding economic growth in "Europe" back?
France is said to suffer from major "structural" and "deep" problems that N. Sarkozy and his government will try to "heal".
Germany's problem in Q2 is said to have been due a hickup in the construction sector!
Is the strong Euro holding EU exports back (correlate that with the political efforts to bring the European Central Bank under more "EU political" control)?
But is the US's "model" better? Or, what is more to the point, would it be suitable for Europe?
The US has a much more flexible labour market (except for, maybe, the UK), but is still a maze of 50 states with different state laws and taxes and other regs, but with a common language and pop culture, but not much of a "social safety net", some people in the US work but their salaries are lower than unemployment benefits in much of Europe and cannot cover the bare monthly essentials, the US has been running a large budget and trade deficit, it has been counting on
a) the "eternal confidence of the US consumer" in spite of all (or almost all? so far?) adversities and glooms,
b) Global investor confidence in the US economy and US stocks/companies in particular
(Q: are US quoted corporations still "American or does the stock ownership now qualifies them as multinational?? - America is a capitalist country but are Americans capitalists, in that they do not own hat much of their ("American") companies' stocks (but rather, their homes, ie real estate capital)?
The EU - Eurozone has been counting, it seems, on
a) making the baby Euro a globally credible currency, to have and to hold to trust and to invest in,
b) the 14 year old by now Single Market (how single is it, though, after 14 years?)
c) The German economy as a traditional steam-engine of growth (well, has it, since Re-Unification??)
d) A global UK economy
e) A so called "European" socio-economic model (to be psycho-analysed some other time) or rather, 4 or 5 different versions of it (British/Irish, Scandic, Central Europe, South European and Eastern European, or something like that, analyses/labels differ)
f) The US economy (!!!)
g) Something else (please specify): __________________ (maybe a more central planning
approach to policy)
Part 3: Philosophical
On the other hand, for the first time (ever?) the steam engine of global economic growth this year in not going to be American or European, but, ... Chinese! Yes, China is this year the economy that is driving the world to growth, not the US, not Germany, not the UK, not Japan, not the G8, not the OECD, nope, China! Oh yes, the (economic) world as some were accustomed to "know" it has ended, and the "Poles" of the economy are shifting, North, South, etc, and "violent" changes in the socio-economic climate are testing the endurance of humankind! No, it is not December 21, 2012, not the end of the Mayan calendar of the world, maybe it is the end of the traditional economic "calendar" of the world and the shocks are to come, soon, to a market (rather than a theatre) near you!
Yes, it seems that the economic "box office" blockbusters of the world are not of US or German or other European "production" anymore! New "studios" have come to the global economic "Holly Wood/Wall"!!
And a lot of "actors" are finding themselves out of the economic and social "spotlight" or are lobbying hard to keep their careers on track (US and European farmers, certain US manufacturers, etc).
Oh what interesting times we live in (an Ancient Chinese curse).
Should we try the I Ching method to tell us the future of stocks, bonds, house prices, economic growth, etc? Why on Earth not? Can anyone predict the economic future anyway? Delphi, Merlin, Nostradamus, Mayans, etc!
Many predictions do sound like the Delphi double edged or meaning oracles these days.
It is called "expectations"! Reminds one of Charles Dickens' book!
"Moderation is good" (Ancient Greek philosophy) aka "Chill"! In the long run .... all will be fine!
Dinosaurs cannot withstand major "climatic" changes! Roaches can, tho!
Does this imply a "small is good" oracle type pre-diction of mine? Oh no, I am not a prophet, I am merely a philosopher and a cook of food for thought! "Souvlaki" anybody? "Chicken", "pork" or "veal"? With or without "pita"?
Monday, June 1, 2009
less materials more intellect? a strategic choice for humanity?
Is the future of the citizens of not only developed countries, but of humanity is general, a much less materialist and a much more intellectual one?
In other words, is sustainable human presence on this planet dependent on less manufacturing and its products and much more on the so called "intellectual products" (music, films, books, art in general, knowledge, etc)?
A bit advanced, I know, but food for thought!
In other words, is sustainable human presence on this planet dependent on less manufacturing and its products and much more on the so called "intellectual products" (music, films, books, art in general, knowledge, etc)?
A bit advanced, I know, but food for thought!
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