Words vs. Things. Money vs. Things

["John Gelles" <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

        Prospect Magazine, UK, remains a constant source
        of good reading on political economy and the uses
        of history -- viewed from Europe rather than North
        America.

        In approaching our task, (which narrowly viewed is
        no more than to apply what we know of production
        to the task of raising living standards for all those in
        need, and protecting the planet to make likely that
        such standards won't soon fall back for them and
        everyone else), we resort to ideas from philosophy
        to create foundations for economic reform.

        A most useful review of contesting philosophical
        views is at
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/highlights/words_things_apr99/index.html
        In addition to identifying a great many thinkers in
        the war between empirical applications in the social
        sciences (summed up in the word "things") and
        literary examinations of the human condition (summed
        in the word "words"), the author brings us up to date
        with a plea to avoid extremes on both sides -- in favor
        of an appreciation of the whole scene wherein the
        war goes on, and by doing your best for now.

        The difference between words and things, between
        the map and the territory, is known to us all in general.
        We also know that there is a limit to how fine you can
        draw the difference and the uses to which you can put
        it.  A very similar difference is our main concern on
        this forum -- the one between money and things.

        Our task is to supply people with things, and then to
        protect the planet from processes and events. Money
        is one of the tools to help in the task.
                    Yet we also believe in the magical power of
        money, once rooted in human imagination, to motivate
        men to make things. We find ourselves looking at the
        chicken and egg.

        I strongly recommend the article. As you read it think
        of global markets and individual pain experienced by
        those caught both inside and outside their economic
        reach. Think of the words and money attempting to
        describe the pain due to global capitalism and
        remedies too.

        On the empirical side of matters are some of my
        favorite homilies: "you can't be too rich or too thin",
        "it isn't really money 'til you spend it". They fit
        our immediate need to end poverty in a world
        where it's possible. Yet they're not true all the time:
        too rich is possible and unspent money is the very
        tool we want to make spending possible at all.

        There is nothing inherently wrong with words and
        numbers. Without them we would remain animals
        waiting for nature's codes to be altered by time.
        But in the end they are not the things we need --
        they are a part of the means to make them.

              John Gelles   jjgelles@xxxxxxxx
                                  http://www.1944.org
                                  http://www.rain.org/~jjgelles/


        P.S. Also in Prospect for salaried academics is
        a most interesting article on the economics of
        higher education.

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/highlights/american_way/index.html