[MD] scatological economics

[david buchanan]

Gav said:
war is very very good for the economy. with war billions are made on 
producing and using weapons. then after the devastation other corporations 
make billions from rebuilding. war is very sensible in a capitalist economy. 
  ...illness is very good too. cancer, heart disease, depression etc make 
trillions for the medical and pharmaceutical industries. better to cultivate 
then treat (porrly) disease, rather than prevent it. where's the dough in 
prevention?

dmb says:
Yep. The problem stems from the fact that cash value and humane values are 
often at odds with each. But what I really want to focus on here is that 
evil little piece of conventional wisdom; war is good for the economy. I'd 
like to make a case that this is one of the most destructive nuggets of 
bullshit that ever circulated in our culture. And even if it were true, what 
kind of insane value system would it take to conclude that death and 
destruction is an acceptable way to achieve economic vitality? Maybe a more 
honest and direct way to put it is, "evil is good for the economy". But 
there is also a rational reason to reject that absurd lie. The truth is NOT 
that war is good for the economy. What's really going on there is that war 
serves as a rallying point for collective action. War is one of those times 
when right-wingers forget about how much they love the individuals and hate 
collective action. War is a cause that engages the efforts of millions for a 
single purpose. What's good for the economy is not the loss of life and 
treaure entailed by war, its the productivity of collective and co-ordinated 
action. What's good for the economy is the large scale economic activity 
that war generates. But imagine what sort of things might happen if nations 
used that martial spirit to organize people around an activity that built 
things instead of dropping bombs on them. Imagine what we could do with that 
martial spirit if it were applied to healing instead of killing. That would 
be good for the economy. I'm talking about the new and improved, death-free 
martial spirit. Now with 90% less evil! Because, of course, the economy is 
supposed to serve people and not the other way around.

How about if we say that hunger, disease and ignorance are the axis of evil. 
If we're stuck with war metaphors, let's demonize those things and make war 
on them. If we're stuck with money as the supreme value, then let's at least 
insist that it very much matters how profit is generated.

Ooops. gotta go. Don't wanna be late for work. gotta get to the bomb factory 
by noon.

_________________________________________________________________
All-in-one security and maintenance for your PC.  Get a free 90-day trial! 
http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwlo0050000002msn/direct/01/?href=http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwlo0050000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://www.windowsonecare.com/?sc_cid=msn_hotmail