(From Esoterism & Symbol, written in 1947 by R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz1) When one beholds the emotional reactions of the animal—envy, hate, fidelity, love, joy, sadness, devotion to his master to the point of self-denial—one says that an animal sometimes seems human. This is a mistake: it is man who is still an animal. All […]
The Mentality of Merchants Read More »
Corporations—those bastions of hierarchy, planned economy, command-and-control, short-term rationalizing, meritorious disparity, creative accounting, externalized costs/internalized profits, and enforced consensus—ARE emphatically (you will be pleased to know) none of the above. They have changed. Transformed completely. They now believe in transparency, in democracy, and in YOU, the free consumer. YOU dictate what they produce (via China,
Free Agents, One and All ! Read More »
Several years ago, my sister asked if I remembered the book, Who Ate My Cheese? Well, we had a good laugh for the book by Spencer Johnson was named, Who Moved My Cheese?1 Now, in light of our (cyclical) economic times, my sister’s mistake seems not so mistaken—that the real (déjà vu) story in this
Who ate my cheese?! Read More »
(“Private” reflections for Miltonites*) What does one do when captured by a phrase? The phrase, “Our minds tell us, and history confirms …” comes from page 2 of Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom. He uses it to protest excessive government, and he is probably (mostly) right, BUT somehow, he seems entirely unconscious of the “private”
What …? If …? How …? Read More »
—▪ that unregulated competition destroys competition.—▪ that mergers and acquisitions are mere façades of growth.—▪ that too-big-to-fail SHOULD MEAN too-big-to-be!—▪ that short-term profit mentality does not produce long-term productivity.—▪ that “opposites attract the same lobbyists.” (So whether conservative, liberal, Republican, or Democrat, the concessions and catering to power-brokers descends the same beaten path.)—▪ that unregulated
How Long Till We Get It??! Read More »
The obsessive pursuit of profit & wealth (gain) has been with the world since Cain killed Abel*; and has been the subject of lamentation in every age. Here is a small sampling of lamentations and warnings:** King Solomon (900s BC)How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to
(*AND Beijing, Berlin, Brazalia, Cairo, Canberra, Damascus, Harare, Havana, Jakarta, Khartoum, Kingston, Kinshasa, Lima, London, Madrid, Manila, Moscow, New Dehli, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Santiago, Seoul, Stockholm, Tegucigalpa, Tehran, Tokyo, Warsaw, and every other place inbetween that is feeling the pressure of extremes from laissez-faire ideology to command economies; AND in every corporate boardroom)
Mr. Smith [is desperately needed in] Washington* Read More »