Difference between revisions of "Evolving Society Other Resources"

Revision as of 11:39, 31 July 2019

Core Readings

Beyond Debt Money

• "Positive Money." Link 4 min.

UK group advocates for monetary reform, including spending money into existence and ending bankers' right to create money. Watch video. Explore site further if you want more.

• Aponte, Inez. (2014). "From Dismal Science to Language of Beauty: Towards a New Story of Economics." Link 10pp., 15 min.

Inez Aponte critiques contemporary economics narrative and offers alternative by contrasting oikonomia with khrematistika.

• Tett, Gillian. (2011, September 9). "Debt: It's Back to the Future." FT Magazine. Link 3pp., 3min.

Gillian reviews Debt: The First 5000 Years, a book by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber in which he traces the history of debt, and offers the view that his reports of a "safety valve" to prevent dire consequences of debt may be worthy of attention in our era.

• "Debt: The First 5000 Years." Wikipedia. Link 3pp., 5min.

This article is mainly a synopsis of a book by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber, in which he argues that money is social relation, rather than artifact, and advocates a renewal of relations he calls "everyday communism." Graeber says, "The sociology of everyday communism is a potentially enormous field, but one which, owing to our peculiar ideological blinkers, we have been unable to write about because we have been largely unable to see it."

• Popper, Nathaniel. "Can Bitcoin Conquer Argentina?." (29 April 2015) NYTimes. Link 22pp., 20 min.

Popper reports on Argentine use of Bitcoin to circumvent banking and currency regulations and institutions in Argentina, and uses the Argentine example to describe growth to date and potential growth of Bitcoin with reference to larger context of traditional banks and investors in the US and other countries.

• "Monetary reform." Wikipedia. - Link 5pp, 5 min.

Brief overview of proposals for monetary reform. See, especially, "Examples of Government Issued Debt-Free Money."

Alternative Money and Banking

• Wikipedia. "Local Currency." Link 5 min.

basic ideas about local currency theory and global practice.

• Wikipedia. "List of Community Currencies in the United States." Link 5 min.

This list is an indicator of both the diversity and number of experimental local currencies, as well as their fragility and impermanence (note the number that are "inactive"). I consider potentially important the experiences that people gain through such ventures, regardless of whether they endure.

• Ellis, Blake. (2012, January 27). "Local Currencies: 'In the U.S. We Don't Trust'." CNN. Link 5 min.

States are rushing to explore issuance of alternative currencies.

• Gatch, Loren. (2008). "Local Money in the US During the Great Depression." Link 10-20 min., depending on how much you read

Paper by Loren Gatch of Department of Political Science at the University of Central Oklahoma: In this 16-page monograph Gatch details the types of scrip issued during the Depression, the entities that issued it, the interests served by it, and its successes and failures as money.

• "Bay Bucks - The New Economy 2.0." Link 5 min.

Participants in Bay Bucks promote localism in the SF Bay Area with complementary currency and related initiatives. I consider the books and videos in the "resources" list useful for gaining basic understanding of money and finance, current and potential alternatives.

• RT. (2014). "Strategic Failure: Iceland Allowed 2008 Bank Collapses to Support Households." Link 5 min.

Iceland lets banks collapse and writes off up to $33,000 of every household's mortgage.

• Editorial Board. (2015). "Opinion: Banks as Felons or Criminality Lite." New York Times. Link 3pp., 3min.

New York Times editorial board criticizes the modest penalties assessed banks and bankers after their guilty plea to currency market manipulation.

• Lietaer, Bernard. (2010). "The Wörgl Experiment: Austria (1932-1933)." Link 2pp., 3min.

How a small German town issued its own currency during the Great Depression and flourished as others floundered. If you prefer a longer version, read this: Mind Contagion."An Experiment in Wörgl." Link 4pp., 5min.

• Wikipedia. (2014). "Rotating Savings and Credit Associations." Link 10 min.

Called the "poor man's bank," these groups provide capital to people otherwise unable to borrow, and promote entrepreneurial activity. (For a more detailed analysis of ROSCA's in the US, see Henever, Christy Chung. (2006). "Alternative Financial Vehicles: Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs)." Skim to grasp the basic concept. Link

Cognitive Activism

• Gergen, Kenneth J.. "Theoretical Background and Mission Statement," "Social Construction: Orienting Principles." Link 2min.

Taos Institute. - Gergen lists central ideas shared by people aiming to use the perspective that we socially construct reality to move us towards a socially constructed narrative more consistent with observable phenomena.

• "Petrolify." Post Carbon Institute. (19 September 2014.) Link 5 min.

This satirical parody video begins with typical advertising inducements and ends with a host of ills resulting from product purchase, in this case petroleum.

• "Appreciative Inquiry." Wikipedia. Link 3pp., 5 min.

Appreciative inquiry is an approach to change in which people concentrate attention on the best of what is and aim to grow it, rather than upon "fixing" "problems." I think it classic "reframing," worthy of attention as we consciously evolve self and society.

• "The Most Dangerous Man in America. " Link

In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a top military strategist working for the RAND Corporation, leaked a 7,000-page document known as the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times. Disenchanted with the nation's conduct in Vietnam, Ellsberg believed the release of the top secret paper--which outlined the 'secret history' of the war--was crucial to educating the public about the government's lies and misdeeds. This documentary chronicles the media and political frenzy that Ellsberg unleashed, and traces the effect of the leak on public perception of both the war and the White House.

Rethinking Nuclear "Chicken"

• Hellman, Martin. (February, 2019). "Federation of American Scientists." "Rethinking National Security" [a)2B{y9(6iWF7LRxRmMrH Link] 12pp., 15min.

Stanford Electrical Engineering Professor and Turing Prize winner Martin Hellman poses tough questions about current policies. •Hellman, Martin. (2019). "69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting." "The Technological Imperative for Ethical Evolution." 36min. video Stanford Electrical Engineering Professor and Turing Prize winner Martin Hellman raises the spectre of nuclear annihilation and discusses the insanity of mutually assured destruction.

Beyond Single-Occupant Autos v. Mass Transit

• Cooper, Brad. Kansas City Star. (20 August 2014). "Hitchhiking App Hopes to Tap Into the Booming Sharing Economy"

Link 4pp., 4 min.

Jennifer O'Brien, a Lawrence, Kansas resident launched a drive to make hitchhiking safer. For more info: CarmaHop, Hitchwiki.

Redefining Prosperity

• Wikipedia. "Genuine Progress Indicator." Link, "Happy Planet Index." Link 5 min.

Alternative Economic Indicators (skim these to grasp basic idea).

Reshaping Higher Education

• Shiller, Robert. (22 May 2015). NYTimes. "What to Learn in College to Stay One Step Ahead of Computers." Link 3pp. 3min.

A well-known and respected economist talks about the benefits of general thinking skills and understanding of real-world enterprise as essential elements of higher education if students are to reduce the likelihood that they will be replaced by computers. I read this and thought that he affirmed much we do in valuescience. One thing Shiller omits is that computers are without need to learn how to live well.

Reconceiving The System

• Wikipedia. (2013). "Partnership and Domination Models." Wikipedia. Link 5 min.

Two contrasting templates for social organization. For more info see, Riane Eisler's The Chalice and The Blade and her website. Link

• Kick It Over. Adbusters. Link Images. 5min.

Adbusters project with their characteristic mix of provocative text and images to overthrow orthodox economics.

• Smith, Yves. "Was Marx Right?" Truthout. (14 April 2014) Link 10 min.

Commentary on concentration of wealth in the US, 1970-2014, ending, "as long as there is a sufficiently large remnant of the American middle class, still socialized to identify with the established order, no matter how beleaguered they are, it’s hard to see how any organized, large scale uprising could occur."

• Daly, Lew. The Week. 'What if Economic Growth is No Longer Possible in the 21st Century" Link 5pp. 5min.

Lew Daly of Demos makes a case for redistribution as a necessary alternative to growth in an era when the latter is no longer possible.

• Wingfield-Hayes, Georgie. "Capitalism: The Inner Battle." Occupy Wall Street. Link 2pp, 5 min.

Georgie Wingfield-Hayes draws parallel between change of narrative by which slavery was rejected and one underway by which current exploitation is being rejected.

Changing Business

• Kelly, Marjorie. (2001). Divine Right of Capital: Dethroning the Corporate Aristocracy. Link 6pp., 15 min. (Read summaries for chapters 7-12.)

Gideon Rosenblatt has summarized the book. Kelly begins with parallels to royalty, continues with discussion of world-view and paradigm shift, and proceeds to critique the current status and operations of corporations and to propose radical reforms. In the first six chapters Kelly treats history and present; in the final six she looks to the future. I predict that the ideas she sets forth here will become common currency over the next several decades.

• Alburty, Stevan. "The Ad Agency to End All Ad Agencies." Fast Company. Link 10 min.

Alburty describes how a group of employees refused a corporate takeover and created their own venture--the ultimate strike--which they imbued with their values.

• Kjerulf, Alexander. "5 Simple Office Policies that Make Danish Workers Way More Happy Than Americans." Link 5 min.

Kjerulf describes governmental and corporate policies that exist in Denmark and might well exist in the US. We can work towards these in whatever livelihood we choose and with collective action to influence enterprise and government policies.

• Cohen, Patricia. "One Company's New Minimum Wage: $70,000 a Year." (14 April 2015). NYTimes. Link

CEO of Seattle firm, Gravitas, announces $70k minimum wage for all employees.

Changing Government

• King, Mary Elizabeth. "Gene Sharp Is No Utopian." Satyagraha Foundation for Nonviolence Studies Link 10 min.

King summarizes the ideas and work of Gene Sharp, whose books about peaceful change have been widely read and applied.

• Sharp, Gene. "From Dictatorship to Democracy." Albert Einstein Institution. Link 5 min. to read Appendix 1.

Sharp explicitly describes how to make a democratic revolution. Appendix I: "The Methods of Nonviolent Action" lists 198. This is a 90-page book that has been translated into dozens of languages and is widely credited by leaders of revolutions in several countries. For all who wonder, "What shall we do?" Sharp provides plenty of suggestions.

• Caballero, Maria. (2004, March 11.) "Academic Turns City into Social Experiment." Harvard Gazette. Link 15 min.

An example of peaceful, positive social change.

Eliminating Racism

• Yancy, George and Mills, Charles. (16 November 2014). "Lost in Rawlsland." New York Times. Link 10 min.

Charles Mills, a Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy at Northwestern, explores past and present racism. "Whites have not merely an unrepresentative group experience, but a vested group interest in self-deception. Sociologists have documented the remarkable extent to which large numbers of white Americans get the most basic things wrong about their society once race is involved."

Health Care

• Mowe, Sam. (24 April 2014). "The Long Good-bye." The Sun. Link 15 min.

Interview with Katy Butler, author of Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death, in which she discusses death and dying with reference to the American medical system.

Cognitive Activist Art

• Jordan, Chris. (2008, February.) "Turning Powerful Stats into Art." Ted Talk. Link 10 min.

An artist visually represents some of the human and matterenergy trends of our times in order to assist us in seeing and grasping who we are and what we are doing, and to motivate us to ask, "What and how shall we change to become more as we want to be."

• "Not an Alternative." Link 5-10min.

Gutsy artists communicate radicalism in ways from which we may draw inspiration. (see also: Link) Browse "Projects" portion of site.

• Orwell, George. "Journalism is printing what someone else [more powerful than you -ds] does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." 5 sec. (Read quotation only.)
• Shem, Samuel. (28 November 2012). "Samuel Shem, 34 Years After 'The House of God'." The Atlantic. Link

Stephen J. Bergman, MD, PhD, novelist, radical critic of medical training and practice looks back at 70 and reflects upon what is important to him in medicine and life. Bergman's speaks to his own experience practicing peaceful and courageous resistance.

Rethinking Philanthropy

• Koru Kenya Link 5 min.

Here's an example of a small NGO working in diverse ways and at many levels to improve the human condition. I think we can make it inspiration to think creatively about how we can give.

• Appel, Jacob and Karlan, Dean. "More than Good Intentions." Innovations for Poverty Action. Link 30 min.

Economists Jacob Appel and Dean Karlan illustrate with case studies the necessity for valuescience in philanthropy. Read review and Chapter 1.

• Illich, Ivan. (1968). "To Hell with Good Intentions." Link 20 min.

Ivan Illich tells US "do-gooders" to stay out of Latin America unless they want to be tourists and spend money.

• Piller, Charles; Sanders, Edmund; Dixon, Robyn. (2007). "Dark Cloud Over Good Works of Gates Foundation." Los Angeles Times. Link 10 min.

Critique of Gates Foundation investment policy conflicts with its giving showing how foundation money is invested to finance the very ills foundation grant money is intended to remedy.

• "Hunger and World Poverty." Link 5 min.

Self-billed as people with "a practical approach to ending poverty," creators of this site offer statistics on major causes of death among poor people and concrete ways to reduce mortality among the poor.

• Heinberg, Richard. "Sustainability Metrics, Growth Limits, and Philanthropy." Post Carbon Institute. (25 June 2015.) Link 5pp., 5 min.

Heinberg calls on philanthropists to fund shift to sustainability and warns that endowments will be worthless in a depleted environment and collapsed society.

Interest Readings

• Bader, Christine. (21 April 2014.) "Why Corporations Fail to do the Right Thing." The Atlantic. Link 10 min.

A corporate insider writes about obstacles to altering current destructive patterns of behavior evident in people operating and supporting businesses.

• Email Newsletter. Schumacher Center for a New Economy. (29 May 2015). "Plugging Leaky Buckets." Link 3pp., 3 min.

Schumacher staff plug "localism" with story of success of "Buy Eugene."

• Tribe.net. (2007). "An Experiment in Worgl." Tribe.net. Link 2pp., 2min.