Surveying Utopia

Abandoning Empire and Myopia

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book Surveying Utopia by Marc Batko, BookRix
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Marc Batko ISBN: 9783730944097
Publisher: BookRix Publication: August 20, 2013
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Marc Batko
ISBN: 9783730944097
Publisher: BookRix
Publication: August 20, 2013
Imprint:
Language: English

Unlike a chair, an idea can be shared by a whole people. The time is right for alternative economics, reduced working hours, redefining work, security, health and happiness, person-oriented work, labor-intensive investment (not capital-intensive investments) and soft power. The only way to solve the three crises of mass unemployment,m environment destruction and trade imbalance is to move from quantitative to qualitative growth (cf. Hans-Christoph Binswanger). Access could replace excess as enou9gh could replace more. Possessions possess us more than we possess them. The car is more than a metal box but is a whole way of thinking encouraging domination, narcissism, solipsism and self-righteousness. Consumerism goes through the roof, not population. We have enough for everyone's need, not for everyone's greed (cf. Gandhi). The dialogue "Surviving Utopia" with Elmar Altvater and Raul Zelik intimates the wonders and obstacles to utopian thinking. Utopia, the place of no-place, is more a goal and objective than a concrete reality. Economics changes with the times. Once savings was the elixirr and then spending became the elixir. States are different than Swabian housewives. They can become indebted and invest and safeguard their future. What is rational from a microeconomic perspective can be destructive from a macroeconomic perspective. Increasing competitiveness is sensible for an individual corporation or businessperson but may be disastrous if all countries reduce their workforces. Wages are both costs and demand or purchasing power. Neoliberal myths and assumptions give unbounded freedom to capital while demeaning labor as only an inevitable cost. The articles "Learning from History," "Community Centers in O Canada," "Nature as Healer and Teacher," "Cinderella's Sisters and King Midas" and "Shouting from the Caboose" are invitations to ecological, sustainable, respectful and future-oriented change. "We must be wounded to be healed," Dorothee Soelle said. Have we been sufficiently wounded by materialism, imperial hubris, the financial crisis, deregulation, commodification, instrumental rationality, suburbanization and the work religion? In "Surveying Utopia," the emeritus professor Elmar Altvater shares the Polish proverb: You can make fish soup out of an aquarium but you can't make an aquarium out of fish soup. The future should be anticipated and protected in the present, not extrapolated from the present. The future could be full of community centers, free Internet books and soft power if we become active subjects and not passive objects, enthralled in the present and future like children. Music, books and questions make our lives rich and independent of the trickle-down market jingles.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Unlike a chair, an idea can be shared by a whole people. The time is right for alternative economics, reduced working hours, redefining work, security, health and happiness, person-oriented work, labor-intensive investment (not capital-intensive investments) and soft power. The only way to solve the three crises of mass unemployment,m environment destruction and trade imbalance is to move from quantitative to qualitative growth (cf. Hans-Christoph Binswanger). Access could replace excess as enou9gh could replace more. Possessions possess us more than we possess them. The car is more than a metal box but is a whole way of thinking encouraging domination, narcissism, solipsism and self-righteousness. Consumerism goes through the roof, not population. We have enough for everyone's need, not for everyone's greed (cf. Gandhi). The dialogue "Surviving Utopia" with Elmar Altvater and Raul Zelik intimates the wonders and obstacles to utopian thinking. Utopia, the place of no-place, is more a goal and objective than a concrete reality. Economics changes with the times. Once savings was the elixirr and then spending became the elixir. States are different than Swabian housewives. They can become indebted and invest and safeguard their future. What is rational from a microeconomic perspective can be destructive from a macroeconomic perspective. Increasing competitiveness is sensible for an individual corporation or businessperson but may be disastrous if all countries reduce their workforces. Wages are both costs and demand or purchasing power. Neoliberal myths and assumptions give unbounded freedom to capital while demeaning labor as only an inevitable cost. The articles "Learning from History," "Community Centers in O Canada," "Nature as Healer and Teacher," "Cinderella's Sisters and King Midas" and "Shouting from the Caboose" are invitations to ecological, sustainable, respectful and future-oriented change. "We must be wounded to be healed," Dorothee Soelle said. Have we been sufficiently wounded by materialism, imperial hubris, the financial crisis, deregulation, commodification, instrumental rationality, suburbanization and the work religion? In "Surveying Utopia," the emeritus professor Elmar Altvater shares the Polish proverb: You can make fish soup out of an aquarium but you can't make an aquarium out of fish soup. The future should be anticipated and protected in the present, not extrapolated from the present. The future could be full of community centers, free Internet books and soft power if we become active subjects and not passive objects, enthralled in the present and future like children. Music, books and questions make our lives rich and independent of the trickle-down market jingles.

More books from BookRix

Cover of the book Typisch Frau? Die Lust anders zu sein! by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Knitting Clothes for Babies by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Versaute Witze by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Wolfstod - Von Werwölfen und anderen Gestaltwandlern Band 3 by Marc Batko
Cover of the book EAM als Instrument zur Ermittlung und Steigerung des Wertbeitrags der IT by Marc Batko
Cover of the book How to become an Entrepreneur by Marc Batko
Cover of the book THROUGH MY EYES by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Der Weg nach Nurmiran by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Das tödliche Medikament by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Eyeful Edging Patterns by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Jazede by Marc Batko
Cover of the book DIE 120 BESTEN ARZTWITZE DER WELT by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Poldi Band 1 by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Low in the Grave He Lay by Marc Batko
Cover of the book Geliebter Zigeuner by Marc Batko
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy