[lit-ideas] Re: FW: Corporate Welfare
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 16:04:04 +0900
On 2005/09/14, at 14:43, Mike Geary wrote:
"Do you really think that anything matters in America besides
money? Like, maybe -- what?"
Matters to whom? For what purpose? Judging from the content of mass
and other media, food, fashion, family, relationships, sport, travel,
music, celebrities, cars.... all sorts of things, at least to some of
the people some of the time. If money were all that mattered, choices
would all come down to price and us fellows who work in advertising
would all be out of business.
I direct your attention to Amartya Sen, who in (I believe)
_Inequality Reexamined_ observes that all discussions of fairness
assume equality on some dimension. Where they differ is in the
dimensions they choose to prioritize. Sen goes on to argue that
contemporary political and economic debate revolve around two models
of fairness, one in which equality is measured in dollars (or any
other legal tender of your choice), the other in which equality is
measured in human beings.
The first supplies the logic of corporate shareholding; if I own more
shares, worth more dollars, it is fair for me to have a bigger say
than you who owns fewer shares, is worth fewer dollars, and thus has
less say.
The second supplies the logic of democratic elections; the rule is
one voter, one vote. (There are, of course, issues concerning who is
allowed to vote. Please bracket these for the sake of the broader
argument.)
As Sen sees it, we are caught up in a global debate over which of
these models should be given priority or, if taken to the extreme,
exclude the other. When those like yourself who ask, "Do you really
think that anything matters....besides money?" The answer is, of
course. There is a tacit assumption that fairness model 1 (the dollar
model) has become so dominant that fairness model 2 (the human model)
is irrelevant, as are any competing models (doing God's will, living
one's dharma, that sort of thing). But if that were truly so, the
sorts of debates in which we continually find ourselves embroiled
would, long since, have come to an end.
They haven't. QED.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
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