Social goals

[doug carmichael]

Overheard elsewhere.

In 1899 Thorstein Veblen described predation as a phase in the evolution of
culture, "attained only when the predatory attitude has become the habitual
and accredited spiritual attitude...when the fight has become the dominant
note in the current theory of life." After an entire century's struggle to
escape from this phase, we've suffered a relapse. The predators are
everywhere unleashed; and the institutions built to contain them, from the
United Nations to the AFL-CIO to the SEC, are everywhere under siege.
Predation has again become the defining feature of economic life. Our first
problem is to grasp this reality in full.
----
There should be a place for biz and tech that is socially progressive. A
predator culture in a crowded complex world can only lead to fragmentation
and provoke armed struggle led by willing thugs..

Douglass Carmichael
doug at dougcarmichael.com
www.dougcarmichael.com
blog at http://carmichael.wordpress.com

[Jim Rutt]

Isn't "predation" as used here just another, rather pejorative, word for
"freedom"?

Maybe freedom is bad, and I'm happy to listen to such arguments, but let's
not needlessly inflame folks by equating "freedom" and "predation".

=jim rutt



On 4/1/06, Douglass Carmichael <doug at dougcarmichael.com> wrote:

>
> Overheard elsewhere.
>
> In 1899 Thorstein Veblen described predation as a phase in the evolution
> of
> culture, "attained only when the predatory attitude has become the
> habitual
> and accredited spiritual attitude...when the fight has become the dominant
> note in the current theory of life." After an entire century's struggle to
> escape from this phase, we've suffered a relapse. The predators are
> everywhere unleashed; and the institutions built to contain them, from the
> United Nations to the AFL-CIO to the SEC, are everywhere under siege.
> Predation has again become the defining feature of economic life. Our
> first
> problem is to grasp this reality in full.
> ----
> There should be a place for biz and tech that is socially progressive. A
> predator culture in a crowded complex world can only lead to fragmentation
> and provoke armed struggle led by willing thugs..
>
> Douglass Carmichael
> doug at dougcarmichael.com
> www.dougcarmichael.com
> blog at http://carmichael.wordpress.com
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
>
>

--
===========================
Jim Rutt
JPR Ventures
505-989-1115
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[John Pfersich]

At 11:47 AM 4/1/2006 -0800, Douglass Carmichael wrote:

>Overheard elsewhere.
>
>In 1899 Thorstein Veblen described predation as a phase in the evolution of
>culture, "attained only when the predatory attitude has become the habitual
>and accredited spiritual attitude...when the fight has become the dominant
>note in the current theory of life." After an entire century's struggle to
>escape from this phase, we've suffered a relapse. The predators are
>everywhere unleashed; and the institutions built to contain them, from the
>United Nations to the AFL-CIO to the SEC, are everywhere under siege.
>Predation has again become the defining feature of economic life. Our first
>problem is to grasp this reality in full.
>----
>There should be a place for biz and tech that is socially progressive. A
>predator culture in a crowded complex world can only lead to fragmentation
>and

Yes, there should be a place for biz and tech that is socially
preogressive. But it shouldn't be enforced by the government.

>provoke armed struggle led by willing thugs..

Like the government?

>Douglass Carmichael
>doug at dougcarmichael.com
>www.dougcarmichael.com
>blog at http://carmichael.wordpress.com
>
>
>============================================================
>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
>lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org