[MD] Where have all the values gone?

[Platt Holden]

Hi Arlo:

> [DM had said]
> We can invest in assets, assets are quality things we have made. What  have
> quality things got to do with profit?
> 
> [Platt responded]
> Profit makes possible quality things. Pirsig's books would not have been
> possible without profit.
> 
> [Arlo interjects]
> How, then, on earth did all those books from Hammurabi on up ever get written?
> Was profit responsible for Socrates writings? What about Confuscious?

Hammurwho? Those folks all lived BC when what got made got made by slaves or serfs.
Not the most morally uplifting way to produce books (or stone tablets) would you say?

> What do you say to this, if we consider "profit" to be divisible into "material"
> and "symbolic". That is, some forms of profit are "material", they involve the
> physical acquisition of stuff (such as money, homes, cars, boats, etc.). Other
> forms of profit are "symbolic", they involve such intangibles as respect,
> social praise, esteem, historical recognition and cultural-social admiration.
> 
> In your statement above, do you feel material profit is required, or would
> symbolic profit potentially "make possible Pirsig's books"? Is material profit
> more powerful than symbolic?

Celebrity a form of "profit?" Now there's a quaint idea. Anyway, books are made of
paper which comes from trees which come from forests. No easy job to go into those
forests, cut down those trees, transport them to the mill, grind them up into pulp,
and then make paper. Now you can force people to do such work, or you can motivate
them. Which do you think is the more moral? Or, have I missed your point?

> Now let's consider a possible third form of "profit", and call that "personal".
> This form of profit would consist of internal satisfaction, fulfillment and
> self-worth.
> 
> Does that form of profit underscore any work activity? Does that "make possible
> Pirsig's books" (potentially)? Or are you suggesting that only (or primarily)
> material or physical profit (renumeration, money, things) are responsible for
> Quality things when you say "Profit makes possible quality things".

I'm saying that it's better to produce books and run the publishing business using
voluntary rather than slave labor. The media by which Pirsig's ideas get transmitted
beyond a small circle of conversationalists requires thought and labor. Better for
everyone if that thought and labor is motivated by the carrots of profit rather than
sticks of force. I'm sure you agree.

Perhaps I sould revise and extend my remarks to say, "Profits or coercion make
possible quality things. Which would do you consider more moral?"

Best,
Platt

 


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