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Guys who REALLY don't think there is a difference between between Anglo and other forms of industrialism must answer a simple question--why is the industrial output of the Anglo areas so objectively inferior.  I mean, do you REALLY think that British cars are better than German cars?  Do you REALLY think American cars are better than Japanese cars.  Do you REALLY think American housing is more comfortable and energy-efficient than Swedish housing?  Why aren't American wind turbines better than Danish ones?

The "economic" thinking subsumed under the heading Anglo Disease WILL kill us because Anglo areas WILL go ahead and build some more damn coal-fired power plants, etc. etc.  They will talk about their environmental concerns until the rest of us are sick to death, but they will offer no solutions that are not hopelessly primitive and unworkable.

You may think the differences are trivial but I think they are literally a matter of life and death.  And coming from the world of sophisticated production, I am damn pissed off at the fools who make it impossible to make the good stuff.  The difference you cannot even see are differences I believe justify guillotines and revolutions.

I have no idea how our perceptions became so radically different, but I would suggest you might want to read the development economists.  Human development is easily the most interesting story I can imagine.  But if you don't know answer to the question, "Why can the Japanese build a Lexus and I cannot?" this is a place to start.  The other route is to build something medium-difficult like perhaps an airplane.  By the time you get done with such a project, you will have gained enormous respect for the problems of production.  I mean, there you would sit looking at this beautiful airplane you built with your own two hands and realize you could not BEGIN to make the tires--much less the satellite navigation system.

It is at THAT moment you would understand that sophisticated production requires an incredible social system that is being destroyed by pirates posing as hedge-fund directors.  And the Brits who destroyed their own industrial potential now export the ideas that make it impossible to build environmentally sane technologies.  Those backward fools actually think it is useful to educate their upper classes to believe that technology is dirty and evil--and hence ripe for exploitation to the point of destruction.  And if there are environmental problems, so they tell us, they will be solved if we think like hippies.  How hard can green technology be? they reason.  After all, technology is something we educated folks don't have time to think about.  We are educated--we can barely drive and we are proud of the fact.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Mon Apr 7th, 2008 at 10:08:16 PM EST
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If this comment is intended in part as a response to mine I'm afraid it attacks a straw man.  I don't dispute that "the Anglo Disease" charts some very real differences between Anglo and other capitalism and have experienced the idiocies you describe at first hand.  The point of my comment was to ask - where are the OTHER 19 BIG IDEAS which distinguish ET from the mainstream - and I mean this positively, as I would love to find them.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Tue Apr 8th, 2008 at 05:26:20 AM EST
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C'mon man!  You didn't think ANY of my ideas have the potential to be the next "anglo disease."  ;-)

And if my suggestions are no good--where are YOURS.  We cannot wait around for someone to write the next big book with all the big ideas.  WE are the people we have been waiting for.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Wed Apr 9th, 2008 at 02:26:13 AM EST
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I think "Community, Politics & Progress" is a bland motto for the site.
WE are the people we have been waiting for
is a real find.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Apr 9th, 2008 at 02:34:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm sorry if I appeared dismissive of your suggestions - that wasn't my intention - although most seemed related to the anglo disease in some way.  I was more trying to provoke others to chip in - but only Chris really did.  I think to qualify as a major theme - an idea has to fulfill a number of conditions:

  1. It must run counter to current conventional thinking in at least some major parts of the world
  2. It must have the potential to create significant change in the world
  3.  ET members must have the capability to do considerable analysis/exposition/propagandising on its behalf

I particularly like your theme on the immorality of for profit health care systems - it seems qualitatively different from the purely finance related ones - and is currently  a hot topic in Ireland.  Some themes might just be a case of acting as a devils advocate and taking a more radical position on something that is already happening - e.g. EU to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Here's my top of the head list based on what I have read here and elsewhere..

  1. Anglo Disease
  2. StopBlair - and the death of Atlanticism
  3. Peak Oil
  4. Peak Credit (Chris Cook)
  5. Peak Land - biofuels are not the answer
  6. Peak population - the current growth in the human footprint on planet earth is unsustainable
  7. Peak wind - what is the maximum contribution that can be expected from wind power to consumption trends?
  8. Transformative political action - converting conflict into positive energy for change
  9. Peak health - which healthcare models maximise the common good
  10. Peak money - when billionaires starve
  11. Cannibal capitalism - when "financial services" parasitise and destroy their host economies
  12. The EU as actor in a Unipolar world order - a counterpoint to the USA?
  13. Restorative Justice: when punishment is counter productive
  14. Transformation not transport - reducing the carbon footprint of complexity
  15. Science and society: when discovery threatens self
  16. Equality and freedom: human rights in an unequal world
  17. Empowerment and civil action: the role of virtual communities
  18. Disability and empowerment: Personal development in a virtualising world
  19. Art as action - the reality of changing perceptions
  20.  Democracy must defeat corporatism and inequality to survive

Obviously, this too, is a very preliminary, top of the head list, and each topic would require a diary to even begin to explain why it might qualify as a defining theme for ET.  However I have tried to broaden it beyond largely economic themes to reflect a range of ET members' concerns.  Some are topics, rather than specific stances on an issue - but nevertheless reflect our priorities and capabilities in making a positive contribution.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Wed Apr 9th, 2008 at 09:39:51 AM EST
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Nicely done Frank.

This thread is like one incredible jazz riff after another. techno laid a great rhyme to start the piece, and it never looked back.

Well done to all.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 07:47:23 AM EST
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