Readings on capitalism

Rather than select a particular book for March, JUST Books is reading various books and watching films on the subject of capitalism and economics. Some of the suggested titles are:

A. Videos

1. The Bonfire Of The Vanities, with Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith. The movie is a dramatization of a book written by Tom Wolfe about a young, hugely successful bond trader on Wall Street who firmly believes that the laws, ethics and morality required of the common person do not apply to him. Set in New York City, the film shows with great humor how the character played by Tom Hanks has his life turned upside down.

2. Wall Street, with Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah. The movie which is directed by Oliver Stone, shows through the character, Gordon Gekko, played by M. Douglas how the mighty barons of Wall Street are obsessed with power and greed. Bud fox, played by Charlie Sheen is moderately successful as a trader but desperately wants to get to the top and embarks on a strategy of forming a relationship with Gekko. As the movie unfolds Bud Fox must choose between family and fortune.

This picture has become a cult classic for the financial community.

3. Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room, a docudrama telling the story of the financial collapse of Enron and the consequences for investors and employees.

B. Books

The Conscience of a Liberal, written by Paul Krugman. This is a serious, but easy reading exposition outlining the causes of the decline of middle class prosperity in the United States since the mid 1970's. Professor Krugman asserts that if income due to productivity increases had been shared with the middle class since the mid '70's in the same way that they had been in the prior three decades, middle class income would be increased by 35%. The author does a methodical job of analyzing the causes of middle class decline, and recommending economic and political action to correct the decline.

Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein. Members who have read this book say they don't see any reason to read anything else! Available only in hardcover until fall.

"The Shock Doctrine aims its 10-foot-long middle finger at the Bush administration and the generations of neocons who've chosen profits over people in war and disaster; the effect is to provide intellectual armor for the now-mainstream anticorporatist crowd." - Lenora Todaro, Village Voice

Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, by John C. Bogle. How the financial system undermined social ideals, damaged trust in the markets, robbed investors of trillions, and what to do about it.

Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin Barber. Barber proves his theory that the market imperative has conditioned us to lap up the easy offerings and reject hard, complicated works. This lifelong study of the effects of capitalism and privatization reveals a pervasiveness of branding and homogenization from which there is seemingly no turning back. With the call to arms of grassroots resistance, he does offer a glimmer of hope.

The Divine Right of Capitalism, by Marjorie Kelly. Kelly argues on behalf of a particular version of economic democracy; what might be called a new “stakeholder” politics of the corporation and of society. She draws on the philosophical tradition represented by Jefferson, Paine, Lincoln, and even Adam Smith to make her case. Kelly proposes “Six Principles of Economic Democracy” to combat a polar set of principles of aristocratic power:

1. Enlightenment: Because all persons are created equal, the economic rights of employees and the community are equal to those of capital owners.

2. Equality: Under market principles, wealth does not legitimately belong only to stockholders. Corporate wealth belongs to those who create it, and community wealth belongs to all.

3. Public Good: As semipublic governments, public corporations are more than pieces of property or private contracts. They have a responsibility to the public good.

4. Democracy: The corporation is a human community, and like the larger community of which it is a part, it is best governed democratically.

5. Justice: In keeping with equal treatment of persons before the law, the wealthy may not claim greater rights than others, and corporations may not claim the rights of persons.

6. (r)Evolution: As it is the right of the people to alter or abolish government, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the corporations that now govern the world.

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, by Paul Hawken, Amory and L. Hunter Lovins. See an interview with Hunter Lovins at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzNTRwxlRKg

Our next meeting is scheduled for April 17, when we will discuss these or any other books people have read on this topic. For more information, contact justbooksbemidji@gmail.com.

Deep Economy

The Just Books selection for February was Deep Economy by Bill McKibben. The consensus of the club seemed positive during our discussion on March 6. I'll concede that the book proved its value by promoting a lively discussion of important topics.

We talked about the balance of community vs. individualism. We had driven 20 miles into the country to arrive at the home of a club member who had inherited the house and enjoys membership in several 'communities', including a close-knit church and a congenial book club. Would he be more involved if he lived in an urban neighborhood? Are those of us who live in urban neighborhoods really engaged with them? We all indulged in some self-examination.

We talked about hyperindividualism and how it inevitably threatens the commons. We talked about living simply: how consumerism is addictive, how living without fossil fuels would mean a lower standard of living, how reducing our carbon footprint is hard work. Two of us drive 5000 miles per year or less and grow a good amount of our own food, reacting to somewhat different motivators.

Other than stimulating a good discussion, I'm not too enthusiastic about Deep Economy. I appreciated McKibben's revelation that "money consistently buys happiness up to about $10,000 per capita income and after that the correlation disappears." (page 41) That wasn't news to me, but I don't mind being reminded. He also had a nice list of improvements that our society could work on in the second half of the book. Among them: the takeover of newspapers by local groups who are not constrained by a profit motive, community radio (like KAXE), human scaled architecture, smaller communities, conservation of energy through buying efficient appliances, insulating your house, etc, riding bikes and buses, cohousing, local currency, homegrown music (like my son's band "Sofa Kingdom"), home and charter schooling. I didn't read of any new ideas here, but it was a good list.

I felt like there was an elephant in the room that McKibben was ignoring: the addiction of consumerism. I have felt the little high that comes when I buy something new. A new car or house gives a big high, but it too wears off. If you get high often enough, you start to crave it. Some people get depressed and realize they need to go shopping. I try to avoid those highs, these days. After I started to break my addiction, my reaction to new things has been more like the feeling of eating too much sugar. I also have begun to put more value on things that have history.

Author Ken Wilber suggests that expanding one's consciousness is the answer to the materialist house of cards that capitalism is building, referring to a version of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. McKibben offered no such suggestion. Instead, he seemed to be trying to scare the reader with a doomsday vision of our fates if we don't change our ways. Instead of being offered more of something else (ala Wilber), we are offered a choice of accepting much less or chaos (ala McKibben). I'm beginning to tire of what appears to be a standard structure for these books: a statement of the problem represented by the status quo, in which the author tries to reach the precarious balance between motivation and hopeless despair. This took over half the book. Then he finally gets around to suggesting how we can achieve salvation. I don't need anyone to tell me what a sad state the world is in. I've heard enough to be motivated. If I hear much new doomsday talk, I'm afraid I'll give up on the future.

On our trip back to town, we talked about today's cohousing movement and compared it to the communes of the 1960's. We dreamed of combining a cohousing project with a car co-op where participants pooled their vehicles and contracted with a mechanic/detail shop to maintain the motor pool. I wondered aloud whether the doomsday and salvation tone of Deep Economy had its origin in Christian culture, where behavior is governed by threats and guilt, rather than by natural rewards and self restraint. Maybe natural rewards and self restraint wouldn't be enough to control the hyperindividuals, but are threats and guilt effective? And, the great majority of people don't seem ready to expand their consciousness, but maybe that's a cultural thing that could be changed.

After arriving at the home of the owner of the car we traveled in, I had a two-mile bike ride at a cleansing minus 18 degree temperature to get home, which provided balance to the mental exertion of the evening.