Categoria: contemporary socio-economic situation

No fool like an old fool – or old age brings wisdom

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in academic life - living in academia, contemporary socio-economic situation, quotes

Just reading again one of these trashy books – The Poverty of Philosophy, the answer Marx gave in 1847 to the Philosophy of Poverty by M. Proudhon. – Unfortunately some still didn’t understand it, though the old sentences are well worth to be remembered, e.g.

Those who, like Sismondi, wish to return to the true proportion of production, while preserving the present basis of society, are reactionary, since, to be consistent, they must also wish to bring back all the other conditions of industry of former times.

I had been made aware another time of the deep truth by having a look here – “Manchester today” (sorry, it is in German language, showing extrem exloitation in India)

Rosa Luxemburg – how wheelchairs indicate that she was right

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in academic life - living in academia, contemporary socio-economic situation, general, Peter's Log, works, projects, publications

Sure, there are good reasons for privatisation of elements of economic processes – at least if we trust the advocates of the respective measures.

Now, leaving the serious central debate and its macro-perspective aside one came to my mind when I went to the grocer’s shop. But what do I say, really ‘grocer’s shop’? In actual fact, there are few real grocer’s shops left. What we may find is highly specialised shops: the ones of butchers, bakers or also those selling fruit …; and the others are not really selling foodstuff as the original term suggests. They are selling nearly everything. So I went to one of them – by the way it may be of some interest (or interest to some) that the owner had been recently crowned as one of the ten richest people in Germany – ah, no its is not the one of which every little helps. It is the one who ALl DIstributes well into the own pocket.

Anyway, most of these grocer’s shops have now a wide range of products which can be bought without showing the immediate link to groceries. The most recent offer:

Wheelchairs.

Now, it surely would be unfair to say that the foodstuff they sell is such crap that eating it causes such health deterioration that it leads to its use.

It is more concerned with another dimension of the term grocer’s shop. Originally – looking at the so-called good old times – the term named shops where one could buy items that had came to these European countries from the colonies. Sure, Ireland had been itself a colony – but the Irish people had been forced to forget their language, adopt the language of the colonialiser and with this the hegemonic thinking as for instance carried about with maintaining names like the one of these shops.

But stop, what has a wheelchair to do with a product brought over from the colonies. And, of course, colonialism is by and large a thing of the past, isn’t it?

Sure, by and large it is. But now we can turn to Rosa, and in particular her writing on ‘The Accumulation of Capital’. She emphasises that capitalism depends on the exploitation of non-capitalist resources. Her approach is fundamentally different if compared with the Habermasian thesis of colonialisation of life world by system world. Whereas Habermas remains methodologically unclear between institutionalist analysis and proposing a ‘voluntarist opt-out’, emerging – in a quasi-institutionalist manner – from the logic of language, Luxemburg starts from a perspective of actors, emphasising the different interests as they emerge from the requirement of the capital accumulation itself. She draws attention on the work of Karl Marx, highlighting

the dialectical conflict that capitalism needs non-capitalist social organisations as the setting for development, that it proceeds by assimilating the very conditions which alone can ensure its own existence.

(Luxemburg, Rosa, 1913: The Accumulation of Capital. Translated from the German by Agnes Schwarzschild. With an Introduction by Joan Robinson; London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,1951: 366 – see also the contribution Peter Herrmann/Hurriyet Babacan, forthcoming: The State as Mechanism of Exclusion – Nationhood, Citizenship, Ethnicity [working title]; in: Babacan/Herrmann [eds.], forthcoming: Nation State and Enthic Diversity; New York: Nova)

This had been frequently also termed ‘inner colonialisation’ – and there we are with our grocer’s shop. This goes, obviously, much beyond or better: a different way than being a matter of concentration and centralisation of capital. Luxemburg had been looking on a different level at things. Namely she had been concerned with the very process of accumulation of capital; and as such it had not least been a matter of sucking an increasing number of areas into this process: capitalisation as a core moment already outlined in depth by Karl Marx, gains in Rosa Luxemburg’s work an additional component. The capturing of ‘the entire life’ as matter that is not simply subordinated under the laws of capitalist production. Of course, All DIhese wheelchairs are not really showing anything new. They only make so very obvious the fact that everything …., no, not commodified. As true and important as this is, we are now talking about a different stance: everything is part of the productive process, here the production and reproduction of the workforce. Admittedly this is in someway an oversimplification – as may wheelchair users will not be part of or return into the productive system. Sure, many could but we won’t look at this now. Of interest is another point. The normality and centrality of health issues, treatment and remedies of different kind. Let us be honest, there is nothing wrong with it at first instance: We live longer. And we live a liveable, reasonably comfortable life even under conditions which did not allow anything like that in ‘the good old times’. However, there is another dimension to it: the technological and commodity dimension taking over and the social side being only and at most accompanying. As much as this allows professional help, it allows something else – and this is the central point here: the inclusion of the reproductive sphere – and the production of the labour power as immediate concern of the process of production. It is not a matter of ‘delivering’ the workforce but the production of workforce itself is immediate and increasingly central to the process of accumulation of capital. This difference seems to be small, at first glance even difficult to comprehend. Nevertheless, it is an important one.

Much could and should be said – but working in education, i.e. a university that claims proudly to be ‘modern’ – there is one area of special interest – especially as this sector of production is in an awful state. And apologies are hopefully accepted for my cynicism. I propose to exploit the possibilities of bringing social work education even closer into the accumulation process. Tiny measures may have huge effects. Imagine, every social worker gets with his/her MA-certification …, let us say 5 “social work cases” for the first three years after the training. This should be a sufficient number to allow the social worker to develop his/her own ‘workshop’ where a pool of new raw material for permanent and enhanced accumulation can take place. Of course, the attentive reader will be well aware: raw material that is needed for social workers for ongoing accumulation are for instance poor people, drug addicts, battered and raped women as well as abused children, criminals (imagine, the latter two are produced in one act: the victims and the perpetrators) … – and aren’t all these and many more produced in an increasing number?

There seems one problem left unresolved so far: times of crisis lead to an increased number of ‘cases’ for social workers. At the same time, as much of the social work is financed by the state there develops a bottleneck as the state, due to unemployment and decreasing tax intake (logically, due to further decreasing tax income due to a lower sum of wages and firms that run bust, and increasing tax evasion*) is not in a position to answer the need. But an answer exists: making social work again more explicitly what it once had been: part of the system that produces and maintains capitalist work force. I know that this is not and had never been the full story. But we can now make it the full story. As said, give social workers with the MA-certificate some raw material to build up thair own business

– Let us face it, seriously: for many, the way out of the miserable state of Third Sector Education is a kind of prostitution, worse than it had ever been before. Worse, as it is now a mass-phenomenon and a matter of institutional prostitution rather than a matter of individual prostitutes.

I may add an additional business idea – for those social workers who are advanced then: enter an arrangement with Al DIese shops: they may even produce the raw material for you … –

You don’t believe it? Coming back to the shopping experience of the Sunday (I only arrived back the other evening, being welcomed by an empty fridge): the cashier seemed to be a nice person, to be honest I had been at some stages caught by her friendliness. May be that the slight Polish accent contributed to it …, but be it as it is, the way she greeted the guy in front of me, the way she said the amount to pay, looking up to him, the way of taking the money, returning the change … . When he left I had been busy get my stuff ready and getting myself ready for the high-speed scan and pack game. Now, my turn: I politely answered the kind

“How are you?”

I replied

– “Great day, isn’t it – even if people like us are working.”

I didn’t say that I just left the office, and would have to continue working at home. Instead I had been busy to get the stuff packed. “19.43” she smiled at me. I had been wondering how she could be so consistently friendly even if I had been …, well there had been something in the undertone. After finishing business, after I heard her saying “Have a nice evening”, I wanted to say something nice too, just like: “Have a nice evening too – it is nearly closing time.” But I couldn’t. She turned already to the next customer:

“How are you?”

she said it with the slight tiredness, the plaintiveness that allowed to carry on …, for some time, until she would not be able anymore to sell, until she would finally be sold … – or sell herself to a Social Worker Ltd.

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I recently read an interview, somebody mentioning that Rosa Luxemburg had been killed on grounds of her ideas, her critical judgment. And the interviewer, comparing the interviewee with her, said: Today there are still fights, serious disputes – but nobody would be killed for not following the mainstream ideas. Let’s hope that it is true. At least it is true that critical thinking, thinking that is aiming on really questioning the foundations of the world we live in, will not arrive in such a comfort who believe in the good rather than analyse the bad. It is the captivating silencing of a creeping process, killing us softly.

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* other factors could be added

Greece – Few Impressions

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in contemporary socio-economic situation, general, Peter's Log, works, projects, publications

The following is a short reflection of one part of a visit of different groups in Athens – the visit had been initialised by the cooperation between attac France and colleagues in Athens, but quickly included colleagues from other national attac networks and also other organisations that wanted to express their solidarity with the Greek people and develop fiurther activities against the strangulation policies and the emergence of more authoritarian “governance” processes all over Europe.

Part of the solidarity visit had been a meeting in the Parliament, neighbouring the Syntagma square – that day (the 29th of February) the venue of a mass demonstration against the strangulation policy pursued by the quadriga: EU, IMF, WB and the national government in Greece. Part of the solidarity delegation met representatives of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). And as much as entering the building had been obviously a matter of crossing borders – the ordinary security checks of such buildings bloated by the additional platoon – the content of the talk can be subsumed under that topic too: the crossing of borders, four of them will be briefly mentioned in the following. – Looking at the talk in the office of the Parliament in the context of the overall visit, it is probably fair to say that they had been issues characterising the discussion also with other groups.

First, as obvious as it is to say that the population is upset and full of desperation and change-oriented unrest, it is obvious that this is only part of the overall story. On the other hand it is also more than clear that for many desperation is a matter of negative feelings, of resignation and also of distraction. This had been put forward during the presentations and discussion. An important point is in this context that the provision of incomplete and moreover wrong information can easily result in the wrong conclusions. At stake is in particular the playing-off the EU-member states against each other, resulting in animosities between nations and thus concealing that that the situation is about genuinely social conflicts. Provision of appropriate information is therefore a decisive aspect of any strategy forward. Such visit seems to be important, initialising visits in other countries had been also considered to be useful and importantly, the general problems of representative democracy had been another time coming to the fore.

This leads to the second boarder which urgently needs to be crossed and had been discussed during the meeting: the border between the different parties. Unfortunately there is currently no strong and united opposition in the country. The parliamentarian left is split into four different groups – and it is at this stage apparently unlikely that a united left can emerge from here. The proposal of an at least temporary coalition had been tabled but up to now it had not been taken up positively. – Part of the problem is the fundamental split between “reformist” and “revolutionist”, “fundamentalist” and “realist” strategies.

A third border springs to the fore, namely the concern with the fact that the Greek question is surely a European question and to the same extent the EUropean question is actually a global one. At stake is not least a reordering of global relationships and positions. The Lisbon2000-strategic orientation on developing EUrope as a most competitive region means also that this envisaged position of Europe within the centre of even as centre of the world system requires also determining a new role of those countries of the EU-periphery as part of the envisaged world-centre EU. In this light it may well be that Greece is depending on support of the EU – but such support has to be seen in this light: it is only given in order to pursue the European strategy on the way towards global competiveness. In this context another issue came up – though more by accident rather than having been directly issued: the “fast-tracking of the area of the former airport at Ellinikon and the seafront area of Agios Kosmas into concrete”. This is taken from a flyer which had been distributed – making aware of a project with huge negative effects for the environment and further development of the area. This is in the present context of importance as it shows that the austerity policy is going beyond cutbacks and further redistribution of wealth according to the Matthew principle. Instead of truly supporting development in Greece the consequence is one strangulation package after another.

This means – coming to the fourth border that had been discussed – that in the present situation it is by no means clear if the left should orient towards remaining in the Eurozone or if opting out would be a better option. In any case, the actually important part is to orient on strengthening a national economy based on existing national potentials. Tourism had been mentioned. Another point is that many products are imported (e.g. Olives) although production in Greece could sufficiently answer the demand. In this context one of the dangers is surely that politics turns into a nationalist orientation. However, such possibility is by no means the only perspective.

And as so often, the end can be seen as beginning – unfortunately questions could be raised but only to the extent that we knew at the end where to move forward with the future debate. And the core of this is to think about alternative ways of production – and the production of global alternatives. As much as the current crisis is a crisis of the finance economy and it’s most focused outbreak in Greece, the solution has to be found in a move towards a new model of global production. – Greece, currently a laboratory for the defining of post-liberalism has to be used by the progressive forces as laboratory in the search for an alternative mode of production.

David back on stage

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in contemporary socio-economic situation, Peter's Log, quotes, thoughts on life and its philosophy

Returning from Athens – a visit in solidarity with the …, well actually perhaps better to say: in search for an overall European and global solidarity – reading something about Donatello’s David, surely one of the most felicitous pieces of art. Originally standing in the Medici palace in Florence the capture read:

The Victor is whomever defends the fatherland.
All powerful God crushes the angry enemy.
Behold, a boy overcame the great tyrant.
Conquer, O citizens.

The Medici: as usurper suggesting to defend the liberty of the subject.
– looking from here at the EU/IMF/WB-Troika, may be we are really back to New Princedoms?

Not the Time to Say Good-Bye

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in academic life - living in academia, contemporary socio-economic situation, general, thoughts on life and its philosophy

January 15th, looking back over the many years, one may even say: over an entire era that seems to be behind us, overcome – looking back to the 15th of January 1919 shows so clear that an era ended but this end is far from being the end of history.

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, most consequent members of the German left, fundamentally opposing against militarism not only by words but also by their political action had been killed on that day – after a trial: briefly pretending that everything would be dealt with according to the rules of the proverbial German law and order they had been stabbed and thrown in the river, showing to which extent the German law and order had been ready to bend the law in favour of ‘order’. It had been the order or normality – the mad normality. The 3rd commandment (see comments for correction) – here from the Exodus-version

Though shalt have no other gods before me

– had been translated by German law and order politics into the sovereignty of the state, disjoined from the people, disjoined from truth, opening the way to any arbitrary ruling within an illusionary world of rational-legal authority. It had not been by accident that one of the most pronounced analysis of the development of different systems of authority, ruling and governance had been presented by the German sociologist MaxWeber, not least pointing out the complex contradictions, highlighting the dangers of a development towards an iron cage in which we may be easily trapped; law and order – the seedbed and fruit of an authoritarian personality as analysed by Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson and Nevitt Sanford (1950), the dangers “eclipsed by the light of reason“.

It is true:

With the finest leaders of the German Communist movement murdered, the gates of rising German facism opened unhindered.

And it is equally true that shooting people, throwing them into a river as it happened to Rosa and Karl, is not the only way of killing. The Silent Revolution which Ronald Inglehart had in mind after wrapping everything into figures surely shows something as all statistics say something. But it easily lets us forget its companion: the silent killing – performed on the catwalk, in the statistical offices, and the careless orientations on an alleged elitism…, and the hesitant agreement with critical voices: remaining on the surface level or limited to agreement behind the closed doors …. all this should makes us think of the two and what happened to the world after they had been silenced.

It may sound distant – but it may sound obvious and challenging at the same time, not least for working in academia: we have to be brave, looking for powerful points even if they are not obvious, not matching the powerpoint-format.

Yes, it is time to look back – not in order to say good-bye, but in order to move forward.

The Moor Back on Stage

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in academic life - living in academia, contemporary socio-economic situation

The Moor has done his work – the Moor may go!

Reference to this sentence from Schiller’s tragedy Fiesco, or the Genoese Conspiracy had been made on a recent occasion, raising concerns over the ongoing validity of the Europea Anthem. But one may also say that with the supposed post-modern era all this doesn’t play a role – borders of spaces blurred: we live in Ireland, in Europe, in our workplaces and various leisuretime venues; we are ‘present’ everywhere and any time, GPS: globally positioned, systematically; time is time of presence, doesn’t know history and thus doesn’t have to think about future and …

…, well, and it ends with consequently loosing actuality, being reduced to pure immediate presence.

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright

We write about middle of January – it it not long time ago and many had been singing these lines from a poem, written in 1816 by the Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. The background of the lyrics is somewhat interesting – you my read it yourself, following the link. Summarising it: routines lost, the usual distraction not availabe leding to the need of considered means, approproating the situation: appropriating it by utilising the given means, doing things in an appropriate way.

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After recent debates concerning the public statement of the president of University College Cork, the following effort by the School of Applied Social Studies at the same University to defend numbers and also to defend the disadvantaged and their achivements in a letter sent – as open letter – to Mr Murphy, the accused defended himself, writing himself a letter, also as open letter to the members of the ‘university community’, stating serval things.

First, little bit reminding at the reaction of the little son of a friend of mine, frequently smirking ‘It wasn’t me’. In Mr. Murphy’s version (may be a practice test for a political carreer):

my speech to the Chamber of Commerce was mischievously reported, at best, in the local media.

Well, may be I like the gripe and should juyst ignore it – Sill, being far less ‘public’ then Mr. M, and being surely less exposed to such misreporting (actually media occasionally like to quote exactly what I say, thinking that this is offensive agsinst myself and positions I represent, they are thinking what I say is in itself undermining my reputation – and others quote it literally as they really like what I say), I (or groups I represent[ed]) would immediately ask for public apology and rectification,’offering’ in particular in such ‘mischievous cases’ just one alternative: a nice meeting, venue: court; topic: defamation, reputational damage … – Seems I missed that one by the president – or it had been forgotten to mention this in his answer (Ah, politicians are so forgetful when it comes to certain things …).

There had been some mails sent after the ‘university community’ received the mischeievous reply – at the end only very few; most of these not going even a quarter of an inch beyond number crunching, looking for better statistics and ‘clarifiaction of evidence’. As if all this would be a matter of penal relevance like a traffic incidence: Speeding, 20 miles or 25 miles too fast, looking for the exact ways of dealing with technicalities. But little could be heard about truly driving on the wrong side of the road let alone asking if we should change means of transport. – Not penality law is the matter in case: it is about questions of fundamental rights: ‘law of nations’ if you want …, and if you are ready to take it as law of people, as matter of rather fundamental rights.

One really intersting, valuable and serious exception of the mails circulated after Mr. Murphy’s statement had been issued – it had been a mail that unfortunately only sent to colleagues of the department (somewhat sympotmatically for today’s debates on such issues not just in Cork I think). It had been sent only to this illustrious circle – and so I will refrain from making it public. Nevertheless, I want to point at least on some aspects of the mail and also adding my reply, including some additional remarks.

Mr. M’s reply is indeed something we should be grateful for, enlightening in its own terms. If in fairness we

accept that sometimes words can be misinterpreted particularly if arguments are ambiguously phrased
(from the said mail sent in reaction to the president’s reply to the members of the department)

and we surely should do that, we should read the reply in this light: a statement, carefully worded, and making the point of … elitism even clearer. I actually hesitate to use the term elitism as it is in my eyes much worse; and much more complicated.

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So second then on the content of what never had been said – and not been publicly denounced as imputation: We are coming to the really crucial point – in need of discussion indeed much beyond the recent quarrel, much beyond Cork. I remember one of the mails, sent while discussing the School’s letter as reaction to the speech, saying that this would be a particularly important issue as the remarks made in the speech would very much concern the corporate image and indentity (sorry, I do not have the mail available, cannot quote it literally). So lt me have a brief look at the corporate socaial identity (surely a responsible one I ghuess). Part of this question is then surley the question of accessibility. Analytically there are different moments to this

  • emphasising the need of support for especially gifted students is one thing
  • ‘balancing’ this with with general educational requirement is another moment
  • and again different is the matter of accessibility for ‘people from disadvantaged background’.

Oh, holy trinity of academia: All this considers the existing ground pattern of education and of science as valid rather than being open for a more fundamental critique – questioning the Janus -faced holy Grail. This ommission however limits the debate on ‘mediocrity’ versus ‘excellence’, leaving the question ‘mediocrity’ versus ‘excellence’ of what outside of the equation, thus taking it as invariable.

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With this a third point shows up – and indeed it is an issue we – people who are lecturing, doing research, working in academia – frequently complain about it: the …, yes mediocrity of students, of publishing … . We sometimes complain about students not being ready to read, not being critical, not engaging in debates, focussing their work on the exams. Complaining about publications, hastily made, providing new ‘evidence’ for old ideas and concepts barely bringing forward new ideas – or complaining about publications not being made: holding new ideas back until they are completely matured, avoiding making them public at an early stage as this would allow others to exploit them for their own benefit (yes, I have to admit: seeing others taking off with own ideas is sad, depressing). The statement which had been the bone of contention made the ‘social question’ of access the core issue for mediocrity, suggested it as reason behind it: assisting people rather than challenging them beng proposed by Mr. M. as root of all evil. – Rings a bell? This is the other way round a notion of current employment policy, suggesting that people should be challenged rather than being assisted (known from the new ‘social democrats’ to the consersatives – or the other way round?).

I think when it comes to reasons for mediocrity a more important point than access is actually ‘standing’: the social position, the question where we locate academia. Coming to the speech in question then we learn that the reason for mediocrity is consequence of

expansion and democratisation of higher education

We should actually hesitate; the immediate rejection of the apparent rejection of

expansion and democratisation of higher education

may need further calrification. We should ask decisively: What kind of expansion and democratisation did we actually see? Is it just about numbers? Easing access and taking in more people? Let us be serious and hopefully sufficiently provocative in the formulation: the real problem is expansion and ‘opening the doors’. Content of teaching, subjects and the syllabus of many courses is not following the interest as it emerges from academic insight, it is not based on the ‘rational being’ as it had been envisaged by great thinkers of enlightenment and Sturm und Drang: Kant, Voltaire, Descartes, Humboldt, Schiller, Paine …; let alone that it is following the ‘need of people and society’. It is part of a larger hegemonic system: bureaucracies, economic interests and also self-elected professional ‘peers’ acting as gatekeepers not over access of students but holding the key for the ‘golden gates’ which opens the door for what actually may be said in our lectures, part of research and gets the acceptance in the race for excellence-research. Sure, McCarthy is dead, the West-German Berufsverbots-law discontinued. But thi sis not the end of various mechanisms securing hegemonic power, guiding us to the wrong demoi of money, growth, skills rather than knowlege … – such a wide field for later anthropological reasearch of tribe leaders of the early 22st century and the role of te fetish.

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Fourth, then: I asked for including a paragraph on the science shops in the letter of the School – the science shop, an initiative of the School of Applied Social Studies, and going back on more or less radical efforts to change academias agenda and curricula. Especially in its very notion, the science shop idea had been obsessed by the idea of developing a rdaical shift towards an understanding of science for the people, enabling the people to make use of science in their very own interest. This is quite different to the simplistic idea of opening academic institutions for the, ar at least for more people, right? It is a core moment as we can now come to the very moement of democratisation, Yes, I would say: Mediocracy had been and is a problem of expansion. But only because most of the expansion had been taking the wrong demos as point of reference: the demos of capitalist expansion, of growth, orienting academia on a partnership with growth policies.

To compete in a knowledge intensive world the majority of the population must enjoy a high quality third level education …

… these words evoke the same chill as the words of the 2000-Lisbon strategy, striving for ‘making Europe the most competitive ….‘ Can intelligent people not grasp the importance, the only valid standard of cooperation, of open systems, striving in permanent debates with the people for improving society. Competitiveness of countries, enterprises, universities … will fail: countries may see themselves ending in gravel of competitive wars and crusades, enterprises undermine the means of their own existence and universities loose their universality ….

Opening doors, expansion is only then a matter od democratisation if the demos is not a demon.

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Fifth and finally expanding on the statement from the speech in question, suggesting

To compete in a knowledge intensive world the majority of the population must enjoy a high quality third level education and a substantial minority must embrace 4th level education delivered by institutions performing to world beating standards.

This seems to be nothing else than frothing [would be such a nice play with words in German – if you translate the German for frothing literally it is ‘beating froth’ ;-)] Even standard economists as Joe Stiglitz learned in the meantime that growth of GDP is not all, competitiveness has to be about something else (though it sadly seems that such trivialtiy and pragmatism is sufficient for gaining reputation.* But people who make reference to

the ephemera of the Celtic Tiger

fail to see that it is not about restoring economic prominence. We are searching something we may still not be able to define in proper terms. But not knowing exactly the question is surely no excuse for hastily giving an answer.

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Coming to a preliminary end, much of the debate seems to go a wrong way, looking for privileges for all rather than a way towards a society of which the real privilege is that, indeed, we all are living in a society as outlined by Marx in the German Ideology, a society

where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic.

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In the beginning of this note I wrote:

time is time of presence, doesn’t know history and thus doesn’t have to think about future and ……, well, and it ends with consequently loosing actuality, being reduced to pure immediate presence.

So there seems to be no reason for starting with silence, and consideration. ‘Statistics‘, ‘evidence’ successfully flattening the argument in advance – simplicity of countering an unfettered financial market by some more or less loose regulatory strings, preaching against hectic and meaningless hassle and bustle, putting forward the call for a good life – libraries filled with books that simplify complex analysis by telling us nothingness about positive thinking, blogging appeals to quit and to do it now – like the idealist, illusionist proposal to meet the concept of a smart economy by proposing a smart society:

All is calm, all is bright

And from here, it seems, we lean back – all seems good

Silent night, holy night

Postmodernism allows apparently everything – even the celebration of refusing to accept evidence by providing evidence for the lack of its relevance. So it may be a good thing that people in Cork get these days an invitation to a lecture titled:

Professional work and the interference of evidence: Why evidence-based practice is not really a good idea.

Leaving aside that fact that this should be well known by now [many years ago and in various discussions many of us gave evidence for this, discussing the seemingly hot topic of evidence based practice as another means of frothing ;-)] one thing lets me hesitate to full-heartedly welcome this invitation. The presenter is somebody from a School of Education, somewhere abroad. Although I surely like to see the crossing of borders, welcoming people who are coming from abroad I am not sure why somebody has to cross this border, why somebody has to cross the border at this point: from education to all other social science. The abstract, sent with the invitation, promises the need to

focus on assumptions about the nature of professional action and the role of knowledge and values in this, on assumptions about the relationship between knowledge and action, on the different ways in which research can be of practical use, and on what might be required to make things ‘work’ in the domain of human action and interaction

But for this we surely do not need primarily educationists but … – those who are looking for education, those who do not want to cross the border into the elitist system but who want remove the walls, and claim a new practice, as I asked for on another occasion: a practice that does not occupy but liberates from occupants. This is surely different from postmodern arbitrariness, a step to decisive commitment.

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* I have to add a personal note: this remark sounds disrespectful. However, I have to admit that I have huge respect for the work of another member of the Commission, namely Amartya Sen who had been its advisor. Though I surely do not entirely agree with Amartya on different aspects and criticised his work also in some publications, again, I respect his circumspect approach and openness to debate …, and I am grateful not least for the personal warmth and respect I experienced in our encounters.

The World is a Stage or Felix Krull Enlightening the View on Capitalism Today

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in academic life - living in academia, contemporary socio-economic situation, general, joys - what we usually take for it, thoughts on life and its philosophy

And frequently it is suggested that the sociologist Erving Goffman coined this phrase. Without disregard: what my great colleague Erving did, is nothing more than sociologising what William Shakespeare outlined already around 1600 in his comedy As you like it, (first published in 1623).

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women, meerely Players;
They haue their Exits and their Entrances,
And one man in his time playes many parts,

And before Erving Goffman presented his Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (published in 1959), Thomas Mann dedicated time to this topic, writing the Confessions of Felix Krull (the genesis of this unfinished novel spans between 1905 and the middle of the 1950s).

In some respect one may say, it is all one topic: the roles we play, the images we present – a reality that is fictive by presenting its reality in certain images as much as it is real to the extent to which it is a combination of fictions, stories we tell and combine in different ways. Own stories and our stories, interweaving with the narratives told by others.

The Seven Ages to which Shakespeare refers, in 1838 depicted by William Mulready; the confidence, which is a misleading English translation of imposture about Thomas Mann, is actually talking: the mendacity of a time that at the first instance moved towards WWI, and later, when Mann took up the work again, lost itself in the emerging German post-WWII economic miracle; everyday life Erving Goffman has in mind when analysing a society that suggests its own modernity in Rostowian sense as archetype of development’s ultimate goal.

All the Same – All Being New.

The Basic Rules of Capitalism in a World of Change are surely not a novel or a play for the stage of any theatre let alone a comedy.
Nevertheless, the supposed fictive character that seems to provide the foundation of today’s economy shows exactly the withdrawal not into an illusionary world but on the contrary the establishment of a real world that follows entirely different rules: the rules not of a fictive accumulation but the rules of a real appropriation.
The theory becoming a material power (as Marx mentioned it in his Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right from 1843/1844) can only merge into this new realm if it fully acknowledges this seemingly small difference between accumulation and appropriation.

________________

Bastian Kraft staged his version of Felix Krull in Munich’s Volkstheater in a masterful way, showing exactly this difference. Felix – the ‘three Felix’ – appear smart like today’s economy, likable and handsome – and they do it to such an extent that some kind of participation offers immediate conciliation. And only leaning back allows to recognise that all the camouflage is a seductive play, not allowing us to escape or forcing us to abscond completely.

There is not much that has to be added to Michael Weiser’s critique in the Kukturvollzug, a digital feuilleton for Munich:

It is Felix Self-Threesome, a Krull-trinity, that orders power onto the stage: one may say Mühlenhardt, Fritzen and Fligg embody different facets of Krull’s real character. The three do not agree in their respective version of their own history; again and again they interrupt each other and repeat scenes of the story of imposture. … . What is the essence, the true character of the human being? This is the question one poses again in the next story which probably again doesn’t lead anywhere. It may be already revealed that at the end the three show real intuition before Felix Krull’s imposture ends in a complete crash.

(Here the German original text)

Es ist ein Felix Selbdritt, eine Krullsche Dreifaltigkeit, die Kraft auf die Bühne beordert: Mühlenhardt, Fritzen und Fligg verkörpern quasi verschiedene Facetten des Krullschen Wesens. In den Variationen ihrer Geschichte sind sich die Drei durchaus nicht einig, immer wieder fallen sie sich ins Wort und spielen zur Selbstvergewisserung Szenen jener Hochstaplergeschichte nach. … . Was ist des Menschen Kern? Das fragt man sich und ist schon wieder in der nächsten Geschichte, die vermutlich wieder nirgendwo hin führt. Im Finale, so viel sei verraten, beweisen die furiosen Drei nochmals richtig Fingerspitzengefühl, bevor Felix Krulls Lügengebäude einstürzt.

This crash, its charcter and cause, are important. It is the crash of a tower, erected in a sensible way by putting block on block, changed in a seemingly reasonable way: taking one block away from the bottom and putting it onto the top and taking one block away from the bottom and putting it onto the top and taking one block away from the bottom and putting it onto the top and taking one block away from the bottom and putting it onto the top … and, yes: towers, societies and economies are not established in a way that they can survive without the foundation they stand on ….

And the performance had been nothing of a crash – and exciting adventure, the music by Arthur Fussy adding to an experience of a sociological didactic play that makes for a most pleasant …, learning.

_________

Coming briefly back to the title of Erving Goffman’s book: The Presentation of Self ….

The Presentation, living in a world of presentation is as such not the problem. The real problem is the presentation of presentation, the duplication of the process.

And as much this is a matter of the economic development, it is also a matter of academic life today: the thinking in models, the suggesiton of blueprints as reality …. –

– … the European model worked, until it distructed its own foundation …; the liberal economy suceeded as long (well: as short) as it could claim to a reasonable extent its liberalism …; finance capitalism could maintain its profitability as long as it managed to pretend to have its foundation in the real economy ….

But fiction remains fiction – even if it develops by griping the masses.

Ode of Joy and the Tragedy of Europe

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in contemporary socio-economic situation, joys - what we usually take for it, social quality, works, projects, publications

In the tragedy Fiesco, or the Genoese Conspiracy Schiller’s Moor says at the end of the fourth scene the words

The Moor has done his work – the Moor may go.

And perhaps the times we are asked to say the same to the masterpiece chosen to be the EUropean anthem.

A piece of music, bringing together the genius of Beethoven as composer and the Schiller as poet.

For Beethoven it had been the culmination of his work, for the first time bringing the human voice into the tonal language. And for the listener it is at first glance an impression of the utmost humanist idea.

Beethoven as composer made an important step in the history of music – and surely expressing a fundamental change of society: Rather than being composer to the court or to the church, he had been free composer, realising his music for a market, following his own gusto, following but as well shaping the Zeitgeist – which at the time had been surely sparked by revolutionary ideas. And it is this new freedom reflected in the ‘Ode to Joy’ – humanist in the deep understanding of the values of the time:

Liberty – Equality – Fraternity

Words, however, are not much more than empty notions.

Looking at those values at the time we also have to consider time – that time. And that time had been very much about the celebration of the individual, responsible to him-/herself (though she had been very much oppressed, considered as ‘not-existent), seen as rationally and morally responsible. However, this responsibility had also been founded in the idea of independence: not the relational personality as we may interpret it in the spirit of Aristotle. But the individual whose action is only later compounded by an ‘invisible hand’. We may say the hierarchy up to hitherto given ex ante by god(like beings) emerged now ex post by the new godlike law of the market. An interesting feature is developing from here, full of tensions – and looking at the Ode of Joy we can see the joy of independence, the new freedom of the artist who did not need a mediator between the self, the emotions and the world but could act immediately: express immediately the feelings. On the other hand we know too well that a new mediator came up: the unknown other, competitor on the market or customer.

But the laws that had been mentioned before had been ‘created’ not only by following the laws of the market but also by permanently creating the market: production on demand and production of demand. An endless circle, though a circle in need of overtaking itself, the production of demand coming out on top.

And then, on the formal level, we can still claim that EUrope follows this ambitious notion of  Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Translated into 2011-plain text:

Free movement of capital, goods and services and workforce – Equality of participants on the market – conspiracy of the governing bodies

No doubt, analytically each of them is a complex field, often also a minefield.

* The free movement is surely limited by ‘converse economies of scale’: though we usually discuss economies of scale as matter of an exorbitant growth of seize, reaching a level that is beyond operational scope, we find in particular the advantage of large scale operations when it comes to such ‘free movement’ …;

* of course it is not only the equality of participants o the market(s) – equality is not less relevant for the non-participants: in all countries their number grows, we find the equality amongst those in precarious situations, the equality of an increasing number of people whose basic human rights as for instance the right to organise themselves in trade unions is limited ….;

* and we find many in fact joining the conspiracy fair while claiming fundamental opposition.

And of course, we find other movements too:

* major efforts to control the freedom by way of social responsibility and even social obligations …;

* the equality amongst those who are ready to live together by way of examples of what a better life could look like …;

* and the fraternity of those who stand together: in their protest and their visions … .

At least we can be sure that today Beethoven and Schiller would be an unhappy couple, seeing what ‘their Europe’ looks like. She lost …. – he gained. She had been the Europe of vision and passion, bringing together ευρύς (width) und οψ (sight). He left a state of actual weakness – severely hurt by the one-sided orientation on a single market and single currency which became end in itself, serving the perpetuation of a system that lost its own foundation. We may of course characterise the situation as crisis of finance capitalism – and that is surely correct. However, we may also say that this is actually only the technical side. Behind this we find a more fundamental crisis of the capitalist mode of production – and we surely have to go a ling way to fully understand its meaning.

___________________

At least something from a recent mail to a colleague in England (slightly modified):

“Thank you both, your formulation is little misleading I suppose

the worst (for capitalism) is still ahead of us

Let us hope it is still ahead – the worse for capitalism is its end and that can only be good.

You are surely right, saying that we have to question existing institutions. And moreover we have to question certain ideologies. But all this means we have to be even more careful and mind thinking about bating water, endangered little children, hens and chicken …, and not least we have to look for the tap from which the water comes and the egg that surely plays a role too.

What I want to say is the following: I am frequently afraid that there is one issue that remains dealt with in a very casual way: the role of politics, polities and economics.

* Two examples. Reading in a Wagenknecht/Geissler interview in Die Zeit

Geißler:

This is what my world would have to look like: priority of politics over the finance world and economy. Furthermore: a global Marshall Plan by the rich countries and an international market society, based on the ethical foundation of the social, ecology and peace. (1)

I am getting alert, at least having a question, though not claiming to have the answer as well: A major progress of capitalism (an ECONOMIC formation) has to be seen in its ability to overcome arbitrariness and violence of all systems hitherto.

* The debate about Human Rights, the rights of indigenous people is in my opinion to a large extent misleading as it is very much based on the idea of individualism … . And we surely have to look for ways of defining truly social rights. This is in some respect simple: sufficient material resources etc. And of course, it is also about the right to choose the “own” productive/economic system. So far so simple. But then we are confronted with the question of how to reconcile this with communitarian oppression and ‘nationalist exclusiveness’ of the traditional systems. And there still is a question which I may put forward in a cynical  way: Talking about different life styles, modesty etc. is rather simple …. as long as we can be sure that it does not mean to die with 40 or 50 (average). Recently I had been talking to a well-known human rights activist from Turkey – and it had been so difficult to look into her face and to say: Yes you are right, you have to claim your right as a people. And nevertheless, you are wrong with all your nationalism … . A discussion, now more moderate, we have also in Ireland; and in some respect one can see it also here in Germany where apparently the difference between Ossis and Wessis is still more important (for many) then the “difference between rich and the poor” (an expression that only captures part of the surface).

May be I am too much structuralist and also too much idealist that …. – that I do not see that we actually may need a “morally different capitalism”: the “patrons of the good”, a new Gaius Cilnius Maecenas alias Bill and Melinda Gates … – this is what I mean with “fundamentally reconsidering the mode of production”. It would be too simple to mean talking about “New Princedoms” literally; but I think it is also too simple to see an Economic Leviathan. Sure, the “abnormal normality” (or normal abnormality?) is frightening and remarkable: people begging, people falling outside of health protection … . What is not less remarkable is the “new normality”: indeed, the small (“Tafeln”, soup kitchens …) and the large (B&M-Foundation …) good doers, the permanency of “sales”, closing down (and immediately opening again or not) sales, the 1-Euro-shops, discount bakeries, book-shops with permanent special offers (“returned books sale” …), “swap markets” based on lack of resources …but as well: the raise of biologic/organic food, fair trade (yes, also in the large chain shops and supermarkets) ….

Short stories if we take them on their own; I guess long stories if we take them as chapters of a book, perhaps a new volume of world history.

Questions only …, but I suppose important enough to be asked and to be answered at some stage.

____________________

And to be clear again, at least trying to be clear: I am convinced that we cannot move on by simply using the old concepts: seeing a development from liberalism to neoliberalism to ultra(neo)liberalism. I am convinced that more has changed, that we are not concerned with a “fundamental alteration” of the previous stage. I am conventionalist in so far that I think we are still facing a capitalist system. And as such, the system is – amongst others – characterised by (i) the production of surplus value, somewhat independent of the production of the production of exchange value; (ii) the need of the production of use value, which is under the conditions of  capitalist production however “added value”, not necessarily depending on exchange value (iii) and in many cases actually independent of it as it emerges in spheres outside of the market, (iv) providing the foundation of a rather fundamental division of labour (and power) within societies and between societies. And as much as these fundamental patterns remain in place as true seems to be that the relationship between them are socially dislocating their relational positions, “crossing borders” like undergoing a tectonic movement without actually breaking at their core. This is at least one of the major reasons behind the limitations of moral appeals and small-scale solutions in the search for a better world. And it is equally a major reason behind the limitations of a morally-based corporate social responsibility. The concept of an ongoing accumulation by dispossession may be one of the entrance doors for further consideration. Paul Boccara reflected on this under the heading of a modele anthroponomique. And I published some considerations in the my chapter in the book I edited under the title All the Same – all Being New and also in the chapter I wrote together with Sibel Kalaycioglu in the book we edited under the title: Precarity. More than a Challenge of Social Security. The problem remains to find a fundamental origins and shortcomings of methodological individualism of life.

In an interview with Federica Matteoni, Michael Hardt has a simple answer: The current crisis did not arise from the separation of the real economy and a fictive sphere of the finance capital as real- and finance economy are today inseparably linked. Such insight seems to be trivial and/or ignorant especially if we read further:

What seems to be new and challenging for me in connection with this crisis is that the capitalist production in general moved towards taking a a fictive character.

This sounds good and is surely in some way true – but it does not help us any further. As said, one point may be that looking at an ongoing accumulation by dispossession is sufficient to explain what is going on. The important point is that it really and fundamentally sticks to value production, thus allowing to analyse surplus value as surplus value, i.e. as moment that is inherent in the economic process, i.e. the process of production. Hardt, contrary to this, suggests to leave this area half way: fictive capital is one thing, fictive value another, and a fictive real economy will remain a hoax. Possibly it works for a while but only to fall even deeper – and here we arrive at the current crisis as it is: the separation of the real economy and a fictive sphere of the finance capital.

If we want to turn the notion of a move towards a fictive character of the economic process productively, we may speak indeed of the re-appropriation of politics by those forces who have control over economic resources rather than controlling the economic process as productive process which is based on the commodification of labour power and the with this possible production of surplus value. If we really move further down this road of interpreting the current situation as re-appropriation of politics by those forces who have control over economic resources we have to be aware of the fact that we can actually not continue with ease speaking of capitalism. At least concepts as neo-liberalism or as well the proposed shift from a fordist to a post-fordist accumulation regime, including the shift Towards a Schumpeterian Workfare State as proposed by Bob Jessop would not have sufficient power for explaining the current situation and development.

At this stage this cannot be discussed further – the aim being only to table the question in which way we can utilise Marxist analysis, be it by way of analysing the current capitalist system or by way of looking for the fundamentally new character of capitalism, focusing on the economic question, i.e. the question of value production.

A short remark may be added. Suggesting at least for some time that the thesis of re-appropriation of politics is correct, we can actually explain the hype around topics as greed, the ‘new interpretation’ with which people like Sarah Wagenknecht approach the ‘social market economy’ but also the queer developments of capitalists like Bill Gates presenting themselves as revolutionaries. Not least important as with all this we easily arrive again at claiming rights as matter of being good like god – rather than rights being derived from a society based on the production of goods, i.e. commodities.

Remains a double-A: accumulation versus appropriation. And remains the search for a triple-A: overcoming accumulation not by appropriation but by acknowledgement: the acknowledgement of

Fraternity, Equality and Liberty

or in other words

People’s Liberty – Equality – Fraternity

____________________

In this context it may also be worthwile to revisit the concepts that had been discussed at earlier times in history – and that may be especially meaningful when it comes to discussions on legislative systems. Interestingly, the French revolution introduced the principle of fraternity – and it is important to note that that it had been the last in a row, after emphasising liberty as the core value, interpreting it as a matter of equality which would lead to a ‘modern brotherhood’. In actual fact, it had been very much a brotherhood with two connotations: the one merging into the paternalism of the enterprises, the capitalist patron replacing the earlier master of the guild-system; the other merging into the solidarity based system of the working classes. Subsequently, solidarity – and it had been solidarity in the second meaning – had been seen by some as synonym for fraternity. And subsequently refers to the terminological synonymisation but also to the fact that only some used it in this way. And there had been a good reason for being split on this topic, indeed. Originally solidarity – as juridical rather than as social and political concept – had been the commitment of members of a group to cover the dept of one of their members. In other words, the new understanding based the social and political meaning on an economic concept, carried economy into the socio-political realm. This means that we are facing a radical shift, a radical approach as well to the economy.

Pierre Leroux, in his work De l’Humantié from 1840 elaborated this, positioning solidarity against the principle of charity and also against contractualist approaches as they had been put forward for instance by Hobbes and Rousseau. In his understanding he rightfully argued against the latter by highlighting their principal stance of seeing people as in principal atomised individuals; where as charity had been characterised by forcefully putting the individual under a community, continuing the view on the community as given by the almighty will of god rather than seeing it as genuinely human and humane. Following Leroux consequently to the end, we see the tyranny of the secularised individual versus the tyranny of the divine community. Tertium non datur? Leroux saw the ‘third way’ in solidarity: a just society based in genuine social existence. Taking up what had been said before (at the end of the previous paragraph), we see that solidarity in this perspective had been a germ for an ‘alternative’ economy: an economy based on common property – the germ of socialisation its its true meaning.

Surely a long way to go, from the joy, where we still ask for approval of the creator

Be embraced, millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the starry canopy!
Beyond the stars must He dwell.

Leroux’ creator could only be the self-creator, the social authority emerging from true social existence.

____________________

Coming back to Europe then, and the efforts to permanently ignore this depth of the crisis it does not make a difference if He enters the stage as Iron Lady, frankly stating that

One cannot rely on the fact that things that are said in advance of elections, is maintained afterwards (Angela Merkel in 2008) (2)

and ready to claim:

that we will not allow that something being technically possible is not utilised by the state (Merkel in 2008 during a canvassing event in Osnabrueck on the topic of surveillance) (3)

But even she, i.e. Merkel knows

Democracy is not always a matter of individuals deciding but it usually is the business of opinion making by many. (4)

Occupy? Sure, but not simply by building a wall of defence. What we need is a positive outlook – a new approach to understanding

Liberty – Equality – Fraternity

As

People’s Liberty – Equality – Fraternity

Sure, there had been the version of history where Europe appears only as victim – and this is what she was.

Fighting against this is a matter of thoroughly thinking about strategies and we all have to acknowledge what Merkel said in 2007 (mind, she is scientist and in this case she definitely knows what she is talking about)

Banging the head against a brick wall won’t work. It finally always means that the wall will win. (5 [see photo 19])

But equally sure, she had been also the one looking further and following this Europe is not least a matter of joining Frigga Haug in the debate and work on a Four-in-One-Perspective.

And surely this is well linked into the ongoing work on Social Quality

The latest step of which is the publication of Foundations 3rd Book

Social Quality. From Theory to Indicators

_______________________________

There remains, at the end of 2011, and looking for ways in 2012 surely also an outlook which fits well under the

Ode to Joy

And when the announcement on the website to yesterday’s performance of Beethoven’s work states

on occasion of the turn of the year it is nearly a must

we may join in it: It is a ‘must’ to look for the positive power of its suggested

Liberty – Equality – Fraternity.

It is a ‘must’ to remember these two great and idealist German thinkers.

And it is also a ‘must’ to remain alert – referring to Slavoj Zizek, writing in the New York Times – we see that

at Bar 331, the tone changes totally, and, instead of the solemn hymnic progression, the same “joy” theme is repeated in the “marcia turca” ( or Turkish march) style, a conceit borrowed from military music for wind and percussion instruments that 18th-century European armies adopted from the Turkish janissaries.

The mode then becomes one of a carnivalesque parade, a mocking spectacle — critics have even compared the sounds of the bassoons and bass drum that accompany the beginning of the marcia turca to flatulence. After this point, such critics feel, everything goes wrong, the simple solemn dignity of the first part of the movement is never recovered.

But what if these critics are only partly correct — what if things do not go wrong only with the entrance of the marcia turca? What if they go wrong from the very beginning? Perhaps one should accept that there is something of an insipid fake in the very “Ode to Joy,” so that the chaos that enters after Bar 331 is a kind of the “return of the repressed,” a symptom of what was errant from the beginning.

Sure, looking at what we (too easily) call neo-liberalism should not be underestimated – and we surely have to criticise positive historicism, its representatives as Comte, Mill, Buckle and much later Rostow for their short-sighted utilitarianism; but we should equally be aware of the dangers of metaphysical historicism, reaching from Plato over Hegel and Toynbee to … those who remain in the marcia turca of carnivalesque parades. – Comte and Plato, Mill and Hegel, Hayek and Habermas …., all shaking hand with each other.

Only when put back on its feet, when freed from all the bombastic pomp, the joy will be a real one, one for all of us and one we find in very day’s life, without the danger of turning into tyranny. Until that day we may simply enjoy such events, taking the greatness they have as animation for acknowledging the part we can take – acknowledging the claim to participate.

We may like it or not, the way leading us there will still be a stony one, overcoming the bombastic pomp depending on solidarity amongst different, overcoming the artificial divisions rather than pretending equality where it does not exist. Yes,

Be embraced, millions!

But there is still a way to go – and a question to ask:

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
when tomorrow comes…
Tomorrow comes!

_______________

(1) So müsste meine Welt aussehen: Priorität der Politik gegenüber Finanzwelt und Ökonomie. Außerdem: ein globaler Marshallplan der reichen Länder und eine internationale Marktwirtschaft, deren ethisches Fundament das Soziale, Ökologische und Friedenspolitische ist

(2) Man kann sich nicht darauf verlassen, daß das, was vor den Wahlen gesagt wird, auch wirklich nach den Wahlen gilt

(3) Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass technisch manches möglich ist, aber der Staat es nicht nutzt

(4) Aber Demokratie ist nicht immer eine Sache von einsamen Entscheidungen, sondern in der Regel ein Geschäft der Meinungsbildung vieler.”(Interview with the Berliner Zeitung (7//11/07)

(5) Mit dem Kopf durch die Wand wird nicht gehen. Da siegt zum Schluss immer die Wand.

Be aware of Europe: where there is a chicken there is a hen

da Peter Herrmann's Blog, posted in contemporary socio-economic situation, general

or:

Hungary: Forseeable, though still sad – a word of caution

Yesterday’s Guardian published an editorial under the Heading:

Hungary: Playing Chicken

Kind of mind-boggling, reading this at the end of 2011.

I remember when I had been for the first time visiting professor in Hungary several years ago – at Elte univesity. Part of the stay had been a public presentation. Before we started, I talked to some colleagues – also about outlining what I was going to say: very critical remarks on the EU, the danger of engaging in the EU-Lisbon strategy, striving to be the most competitive region…, which also meant for the individual countries striving for being the most competitive nation… – I had been asked to keep a little bit back with my critique, talking more about the way to success, the glorious Celtic tiger.

Something similar happened when I gave few years later a presentation to PhD-students of Economics. During the talk I had been confronted with some skeptical remarks, that had been not least referring to Peadar Kirby who apparently praised the success and not least the outstanding positive role of the “partnership-agreements”. And surely, they had been successful: in domesticating and pacifying even the slightest germ of a proactive movement of the workers. But all this had been part of a complex pattern of developing the Irish economy, the “politico-economic culture” behind it and the actual economic development, foreseeable leading to what we see now: the death of a clown, a country of which the government and even more so the people are degraded to something like string-puppets of EU/IMF/FDI and the …, well, call it greed if you want the small elite of the country itself.

Sure, two things remain to be discussed further when we look at the developments in a global perspective: the actual role of national governments and the fundamental changes of the economy, beyond what is simplified by interpreting it as neo-liberalism and austerity policies.

For the Celtic tiger: Poor beast – dead, as foreseen. For the Hungarian perspective Not nice to see that I had been right at the time, now looking at another doomed man …