Foucault - Chomsky #3b
For today ... just a slight clarification ...
I don't want to overstate my concern that political change can lead to Phol Pot kinds of disaster, that is more of a sideline.
My real concern is wasted effort. Giving potential freedom to political entities that have no idea they need it, or are ready to use the freedom, and whatnot ... the new order will different winners and losers but no real change in the aggregate. That is the concern. Where-as pushing on the right lever at the right time (i know this badly begs the question) will have more pay-off in the long run. I am in definite disagreement with Marx (and the Bakunin's of the world) in this respect ... i believe that small incremental changes are the best road to freedom.
I believe the greatest missed opportunity of the 20th century (for the average American) was when the labor unions in the 50s and 60s went for more pay and benefits rather than for company ownership at the time when they had political power.
Lastly i want to emphasize again that whatever your scorecard, be it happiness or fulfillment or etc, there is enough freedom in nearly every country in the world for an entity to lead a meaningful life in that measure. The exceptions would be those regions where the day to day struggle is with survival, the places on this earth that Malthus would still recognize. Hence, my morality vis-a-vis global issues focuses first on developing economies in those developing countries on the verge of breaking out of the poverty trap (again, begs the question, i know.)
Beg questions perhaps entertained later.
I don't want to overstate my concern that political change can lead to Phol Pot kinds of disaster, that is more of a sideline.
My real concern is wasted effort. Giving potential freedom to political entities that have no idea they need it, or are ready to use the freedom, and whatnot ... the new order will different winners and losers but no real change in the aggregate. That is the concern. Where-as pushing on the right lever at the right time (i know this badly begs the question) will have more pay-off in the long run. I am in definite disagreement with Marx (and the Bakunin's of the world) in this respect ... i believe that small incremental changes are the best road to freedom.
I believe the greatest missed opportunity of the 20th century (for the average American) was when the labor unions in the 50s and 60s went for more pay and benefits rather than for company ownership at the time when they had political power.
Lastly i want to emphasize again that whatever your scorecard, be it happiness or fulfillment or etc, there is enough freedom in nearly every country in the world for an entity to lead a meaningful life in that measure. The exceptions would be those regions where the day to day struggle is with survival, the places on this earth that Malthus would still recognize. Hence, my morality vis-a-vis global issues focuses first on developing economies in those developing countries on the verge of breaking out of the poverty trap (again, begs the question, i know.)
Beg questions perhaps entertained later.
posted by Thomas F. Schminke at 10:06 PM
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