[MD] Walmart, Final Answer

[Platt Holden]

Dallas --

Your answer to Walmart's growth:
> 2nd: Its dynamic growth I would say represents the reflection of a clinging to
> static patterns. In other words, it's been able to grow so rapidly because there
> is a lot of fear out there to exploit. The fear of poverty, (which William James
> called a social disease) is probably a prime contributor.

Fear (an emotion) is a biological pattern. Poverty is a low quality social 
pattern that most people prefer not to inhabit. As Sophie Tucker explained, 
"I've  been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better." I see no immorality in 
seeking seeking to improve one's quality of life by buying goods that will add 
to one's well being. I'd rather sleep on a mattress than on the ground, 
wouldn't you?

> Let me give you a good example of the fear of poverties influence on static
> patterns: Let's imagine a pair of jeans, real expensive, real quality. Dynamic
> quality inspired...

"Real expensive" means somebody is trying to make a tidy profit by selling 
those jeans. Isn't that so?

> Now, imagine a pair of generic jeans that imitates that
> dynamic quality. Now, imagine another pair of pants that is not the high fashion
> designer jeans, but is a used pair of army surplus pants. (did pirsig refer to
> the honesty of such clothing? I thought so, could be mistaken). The army surplus
> pants are of a higher quality than the generic pants because they are honest,
> and honesty is of dynamic quality. The generic jeans are imitations of the
> expensive jeans... They are made purely for the sake of image and profit, they
> are not honest, and they are thus static and of a low quality. Remember the
> "smokestack" dialogue in Lila? Same issue here.

I don't recall the "smokestack" dialogue in Lila. Could you cite the chapter? 
As for fashion and style, there beats in the human breast a desire for 
something more than bread alone. A pair of Army boots may be the most "honest" 
footwear ever devised, but I doubt if many people would want to wear them every 
day for all occasions. Status seeking is one of mankind's prime motivations. 
You and I may not like it, but social position means a lot to many people. I 
don't consider catering to such desires to be immoral. As Stephen King said, 
""There is fine Waterford crystal which rings delicately when struck, no matter 
how thick and chunky it may look, and then there are Flintstone jelly glasses. 
You can drink your Dom Perignon out of either one, but friends, there's a 
difference." I'll gladly pay for that difference, just as I'll gladly pay for a 
Bocelli record but not a Snoop Doggie Dog record. :-)   

> Now, is profit dynamic quality? Is growth dynamic quality? Or is it mere
> accumulation? Who is richer in spirit, the monk who lives in the mountains
> or the person with millions in the bank? I've been studying Mike Tyson a bit
> recently, he made over $400 million, but the guy was never happy. I am getting
> ahead of myself...
> 
> I would say that profit and financial success are items of a high social
> quality, but lets remember that the social rung is below intellectual, and
> intellectual is below dyanmic quality itself. Dynamic quality can create
> profit, but profit itself is merely a social trait. I don't think that
> profit can create dynamic quality. "Can't buy me love".

We agree that profit is social quality as are most economic matters. We agree 
that profit can't create DQ, but I don't agree that seeking to make money  
precludes one from responding to DQ.

> I recalled Pirsig saying that anything created purely for the sake of beauty was
> of a dynamic quality... I'll have to look it up, I could be mistaken.
 
I hope you can find it. Even if he didn't say it, I believe it's true.

Platt