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The Forum > Article Comments > Sharing pain, not wealth > Comments

Sharing pain, not wealth : Comments

By Daniel Ben-Ami, published 16/3/2012

Ironically those who claim to speak on behalf of the 99% are at the vanguard of selling austerity to the public.

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Yo, Squeers - I get where you're coming from.

No doubt, we'll all go over the cliff together.
Posted by Poirot, Friday, 16 March 2012 9:21:43 PM
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Sorry Poirot, I must be feeling my revolutionary oats tonight. But it's not only just and right that the wealthy should lead the way--"Just as ancient peoples had above all need of a common faith to live by, we have need of justice" (Durkheim)--the situation demands it.

A quote from a new essay by Wolfgang Streek:

"...a break with the self-destructive mass consumerism that currently has the world in its grip will only be possible if greater sacrifices can be extracted from those who have profited most from the recent transformations of the capitalist economy, as opposed to those who have seen their life chances decline during decades of liberalization and globalization.
... Better living and working conditions for the great majority would alleviate the need for yet more consumer toys to compensate for status anxiety, competitive pressure and increasing insecurity.
... Only if the trend towards deepening social division--the signature of capitalism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries--were reversed would it be conceivable that modern society could free itself from the compulsion to assure domestic peace through the unchecked production of toxic assets assets to engineer synthetic growth".

The irony is that it's often the exploited of the system who brainlessly defend it.
Posted by Squeers, Friday, 16 March 2012 9:51:14 PM
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Squeers,

I think too that the very wealthy should lead the way - but they won't of course.

And they won't be pressured to do so by the working class because the system is set up to keep them diligent and curiously content with their consumer desires.

I'm interested in this portion of the quote you posted:

"Better living and working conditions for the great majority would alleviate the need for more consumer toys to compensate for status anxiety, competitive pressure and unceasing insecurity...."

But our whole system is predicated on and nurtured by status anxiety, competitive pressure and unceasing insecurity. It would take a whole new dimension of thinking and behaving to even scratch the surface. What would "better living and working conditions" consist of, and what difference would it make to consumer desire if "growth" remains the key principle for human ascendancy?
Posted by Poirot, Friday, 16 March 2012 10:59:07 PM
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Dear Poirot,

"But our whole system is predicated on and nurtured by status anxiety, competitive pressure and unceasing insecurity. It would take a whole new dimension of thinking and behaving to even scratch the surface. What would "better living and working conditions" consist of, and what difference would it make to consumer desire if "growth" remains the key principle for human ascendancy?"

You have hit the nail on its head!

Growth will forever remain the key principle for human ascendancy.
We must ask ourselves, however, is it not time yet to let go of human ascendancy?!
That will indeed require a whole new dimension - a spiritual dimension.

I do agree with Squeers that growth is not the answer, but there are more options besides either growth or pain - which is not the answer either.

Let me remind you that Daniel mentioned the word "growth" only once in his article and that was in "politicians who have little confidence in their ability to encourage economic growth": it is important to retain our confidence in being able to encourage growth, because it's only what we have that we can let go of. Knowing that we can generate more and more if we wanted, but consciously choosing not to do so, preferring the spiritual over the material, is the dimension shift that you referred to.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Daniel on his excellent article and tell him, Yishar Koach (=may your strength be further directed into good projects).
Posted by Yuyutsu, Saturday, 17 March 2012 12:09:43 AM
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Who starves to death or dies from a preventable disease in rich industrial nations?

- The homeless
- Elderly people neglected and not fed properly in UK hospitals
- People in the US who don't have health insurance
- Children with asthma and allergies
- Others with industrially caused lung cancers
- Indigenous communities eating fish poisoned by tarsands in Canada
Posted by farfromtheland, Saturday, 17 March 2012 4:51:00 AM
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Poirot,
Judging by your post you yourself fall into the category of the wealthy West. How much then are you forfeiting for the poor ? No need for actual figures but a percentage of your wealth would suffice.
Most of our wealth is not worked for by us. It's provided by taxpayers on lower pay that all public servants & useless bureaucrats.
Also, what are you doing to stop all these warlords & religious morons from ripping off those who can't escape ? Are you doing it by constantly excusing these morons & blaming the West for everything ? Those whom you afford more benefit of the doubt than your own people ? Those whom you don't object to taking even more from our poor ?
If you weren't in a privileged situation you wouldn't state the comments you do. It's so much more fashionable & easy to condemn those who do likewise.
We could solve many of the problems if it weren't for you do-gooders preventing us from helping.
Posted by individual, Saturday, 17 March 2012 8:51:12 AM
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