Economics and Edward Wadie Said

["John Gelles" <indexed-savings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Professor Edward Said's story is of both individualism and
individual achievement, and of ethnic belonging--his feeling
for family and nationality.

His idea that one state, not two, might contain Jews and
Arabs at peace, also has an ambiguous liking for an
individual identity based on family, friends and experience
and for another identity based on ethnic politics and the
possibility of sharing power and national responsibility.

Is there anything in his story that touches on our economic
dilemmas?
            In one of the reviews of his life and writings,
posted by Henry Liu, the reviewer mentions that some of
Said's books were written more as shouting than talking.
He was able to enter the political struggle in behalf of his
Arab ethnic people in Palestine, not as an objective reporter
but as a feeling involved partisan.
            As I read this I thought of my own anger tonight at
economist-banker-politician Pete Petersen, Chair of the
NY Federal Reserve Bank and former Secretary of
Commerce, a co-founder of the Concord Coalition of
deficit hawks.
            Petersen and Bill Moyers were agreed that current
debt and deficits were immoral--they were moving our
nominal debt on to the backs of our grandchildren.
These two had me mentally shouting at the TV as loud
as Said may have written.
            They put their views on debt it in very
individualistic terms: Petersen and his son were stealing
from his son's children and grandchildren -- and it was all
George Bush's fault.

Some of us know better. No doubt environmental
damage is passed on from generation to generation.
And no doubt, environmental economics offers wisdom
that should tame fundamentalist individualism.

But money and debt are current events. Tomorrow
takes care of such things as it so quickly turned Clinton's
and technology's dot-com bubble and surplusses into
the bust, deficit and debt we enjoyed in no time at all.

My anger at Petersen and our national failure to focus
on the things that money buys ( and focusing instead on
the less meaningful matter of money and debt) rivaled
Said's anger at people and events that conflicted with
his ideas and feelings on East and West and how they
may better live together.

So I found no direct economic analyses in what Henry
Liu treated us to on Edward Said. But, indirectly, I
found the Said story most enlghtening on matters of
who we are as individuals -- and how we often feel
about others -- other individuals and other
representatives of larger forces in play.

John Gelles