My second favorite Abraham is #AbrahamMaslow who identified we humans’ Needs and categorized them into a four-tiered hierarchy. Our most basic needs are physiological (food/water, clothing & shelter) and psychological (to feel “safe & secure). It is only when these “lower order” needs are met that a given individual or group is ready to address their higher order needs to “Belong” and ultimately to “Self-Actualize.”
Too great a percentage of people in poor countries and(!) in the “imperial centers” think themselves materially deprived. Thus feeling unsafe and insecure, they are generally unready
and unwilling to expend their scarce resources and time attempting to meet their higher order Belongingness need via non-religious “political” organizing. Generosity, compassion and non-remunerative labor are unaffordable actions to most of #WeThePeople not in the rentier class. That said, your reading this alone, furthers our shared sense of togetherness, community, inclusive group membership. #Ty
I'm not economist, English and History were my college studies, but I learned enough through the years, and from my retired Green Beret brother, who later received a History and economics degree, just enough to understand the basics of your argument. I consider myself a Democratic socialist, but you gave me room to reflect on the fact that at 70 I'm might be even more Socialist than I would have dreamed as the daughter of a staunch Republican North Dakota farmer. I'm going to share this the brother I mentioned and when I visit he and his family in NH in July, I hope to have a good long discussion with him. We two are the only two siblings left who care argue politics, even become angry, and then move on. Mostly, your arguments reminded me of a deceased older brother who served on an aircraft carrier in Vietnam, who came back a totally different man than the one that left. He lost his belief in the goodness of capitalism. He and I sometimes discussed economics, but most times I rarely had any experience in the field. Now I wish I had listened to him.
Where reform and transition do not happen a dark age follows. Change requires a certain equilibrium. Where there is perpetual war and vain attempts to resuscitate a dying empire nothing good happens.
Its intoxicating we are living through the greatest transition the world has ever gone through and may ever. I would love to come back in fifty years and see how it all turns out---- maybe by then there will be return tickets. I really enjoy your blogs you have a good handle on the issues.
Having spent many decades inside the walls of capitalism and written the #1 bestseller of Business Editions (Europe), I declare you 'correct", it absolutely won't work from the top.
An excellent article William, many thanks. As a non-American one thing I have noticed about most Americans is that the terrain of the debate about politics is incredibly narrow. Most just cannot conceive of anything beyond fiddling around the edges of the current system. Can I give you an example: over 20 years ago I was on the Defence staff in our embassy of an allied nation. As a senior officer I was a member of a grouping of similar senior officers from all the embassies. I was talking to one of the US assistant air attaches, a USAF major who was a pilot, about educating officers. He of course was a graduate of the US Air Force Academy. I said that our air force was far too small to have such an institution, which anyway are extremely expensive to run. We sent our officer cadets, who would live on base, to the local civilian university. A lot cheaper and it also has the benefit of letting the students mix with other members of society and be exposed to ideas that maybe a military organisation might think were a bit radical which is a problem with the academy model. His response was 'Oh no that is not a problem with the USAF Academy. Why we had a lecturer, she was a radical. I mean she didn't vote for Reagan.'
My second favorite Abraham is #AbrahamMaslow who identified we humans’ Needs and categorized them into a four-tiered hierarchy. Our most basic needs are physiological (food/water, clothing & shelter) and psychological (to feel “safe & secure). It is only when these “lower order” needs are met that a given individual or group is ready to address their higher order needs to “Belong” and ultimately to “Self-Actualize.”
Too great a percentage of people in poor countries and(!) in the “imperial centers” think themselves materially deprived. Thus feeling unsafe and insecure, they are generally unready
and unwilling to expend their scarce resources and time attempting to meet their higher order Belongingness need via non-religious “political” organizing. Generosity, compassion and non-remunerative labor are unaffordable actions to most of #WeThePeople not in the rentier class. That said, your reading this alone, furthers our shared sense of togetherness, community, inclusive group membership. #Ty
LewALincolnWelge.com
#CREATORS (Conspiracy Realist Educator Activist Truther Organizer Reader Socializer)
I'm not economist, English and History were my college studies, but I learned enough through the years, and from my retired Green Beret brother, who later received a History and economics degree, just enough to understand the basics of your argument. I consider myself a Democratic socialist, but you gave me room to reflect on the fact that at 70 I'm might be even more Socialist than I would have dreamed as the daughter of a staunch Republican North Dakota farmer. I'm going to share this the brother I mentioned and when I visit he and his family in NH in July, I hope to have a good long discussion with him. We two are the only two siblings left who care argue politics, even become angry, and then move on. Mostly, your arguments reminded me of a deceased older brother who served on an aircraft carrier in Vietnam, who came back a totally different man than the one that left. He lost his belief in the goodness of capitalism. He and I sometimes discussed economics, but most times I rarely had any experience in the field. Now I wish I had listened to him.
Powerful story! Thanks for sharing.
Where reform and transition do not happen a dark age follows. Change requires a certain equilibrium. Where there is perpetual war and vain attempts to resuscitate a dying empire nothing good happens.
Let the old order die. A new world is being born.
Its intoxicating we are living through the greatest transition the world has ever gone through and may ever. I would love to come back in fifty years and see how it all turns out---- maybe by then there will be return tickets. I really enjoy your blogs you have a good handle on the issues.
Having spent many decades inside the walls of capitalism and written the #1 bestseller of Business Editions (Europe), I declare you 'correct", it absolutely won't work from the top.
An excellent article William, many thanks. As a non-American one thing I have noticed about most Americans is that the terrain of the debate about politics is incredibly narrow. Most just cannot conceive of anything beyond fiddling around the edges of the current system. Can I give you an example: over 20 years ago I was on the Defence staff in our embassy of an allied nation. As a senior officer I was a member of a grouping of similar senior officers from all the embassies. I was talking to one of the US assistant air attaches, a USAF major who was a pilot, about educating officers. He of course was a graduate of the US Air Force Academy. I said that our air force was far too small to have such an institution, which anyway are extremely expensive to run. We sent our officer cadets, who would live on base, to the local civilian university. A lot cheaper and it also has the benefit of letting the students mix with other members of society and be exposed to ideas that maybe a military organisation might think were a bit radical which is a problem with the academy model. His response was 'Oh no that is not a problem with the USAF Academy. Why we had a lecturer, she was a radical. I mean she didn't vote for Reagan.'
“She didn't vote for Reagan”
Hah! That definitely sums it up.
That is the last stage of history. We still have a long way to go.