tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62781870015109686542024-02-19T04:56:13.832-05:00Marx, Baseball, and Rum?My Thoughts on: Marxism, Living Under American Capitalism, Marxian Philosophy, Baseball, Economics, Alcohol, and any other topic I feel like writing about.James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-13170376718833486332016-02-06T22:13:00.002-05:002016-02-06T22:16:36.551-05:00Disenchanted?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple of years removed from the formal sphere of academic theory I find myself frequently contemplating the day to day manifestations of anger and depression of many in my social circles. Regardless of what class analysis would point towards, I don't really see frustration directed towards the wealthy elite, that is, the appropriators of the surplus are not the target of the youngest working generation's frustrations. It would seem that those becoming insanely wealthy off of appropriating labor are at most an abstract concept that exist elsewhere, and can't really be fought. For most of the working class, the wealthy elite have become, at best, an object of scorn. There seems to be a general (if unspoken) consensus among many of my peers that there is no point in fighting against something that cannot really be changed. Just a few years after the occupy movement the "1%" have become non-relevant to most people as a place to manifest discontent as we search for meaning in our day to day lives. <br />
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Throughout history a person who is unsure of the source of their next meal will not fight for the well-being of their fellows, they will fight to find dinner. A better life is an abstract concept when faced with a major obstacle (such as subsistence calorie intake), trumped by the immediate need... The major obstacle for most American workers is not material survival, but rather relevance and meaning. The average working American does not rile against the abstract concept of a wealthy elite stealing their surplus labor, rather they fight for meaning in their day to day processes. These manifestations, albeit often misplaced, can be witnessed in attitudes towards the role of labor in life. Most Americans do not want to be defined by their work (which historically has been very different), instead most of us fight to leave their work "at work" whenever possible. Modern wealth and production gains have replaced physical needs with the need for meaning in labor. Or when meaning is not perceived as possible, the intentional stripping of all meaning out of labor. <br />
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Meaning, and therefore fulfillment, will not necessarily be found in the tasks preformed as wage labor (although that remains a common desire), but if not defined by our labor then defined where? If meaning does not come from the labor preformed for a wage, then the meaning of laboring to build a better life/standard of living for one's self and loved ones becomes an option. Sadly in modern capitalism both of these forms of meaning is generally lacking for a majority of those who are forced to labor without ownership of the means of production. <br />
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When survival is not really in question, but material meaning (growth of standard of living) beyond surviving paycheck to paycheck is unobtainable for most, what is left for the average working person? The work itself is generally viewed as something to be forgotten as quickly as possible after the wage is earned.... If society is not ready to change the system of production to one of non-exploitative labor perhaps smaller changes towards greater individual control in the work place?<br />
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I witness people, day to day, becoming more depressed, if not economically, certainly in spirit, by the perceived notion that change is not possible, and that they just "do as they are told" for fear of losing the ability to reproduce their own labor. From the first days of industrial capitalism to the present people have been working to earn enough to survive to get back to work.....Perhaps now that basic physical needs are easily met for most workers the point has been overlooked that other needs of the working class are not even on the radar.<br />
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The plight of the worker in modern American capitalism is not one of physical starvation but rather a starvation of power and control. The youngest working generation only knows of the middle class as a concept from history and reacts by treating their lack of relevance (in the work place and in society) by medicating themselves (or allowing their anger to build without any concrete direction).<br />
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American society may be a long way from a class based revolution, but I see more class consciousness in the generation just entering the labor force in statements such as "do I really want to go out again tonight? What's the point? " than I have ever witnessed in my own generation. I don't know if mass worker ownership will appear suddenly. However, I have witnessed small amounts of empowerment and hope in worker self management processes. These processes are not widespread and even where they exist are not presumably not that entrenched or strong but they do have potential. Convince a young worker to sacrifice for a communist revolution? Never happen. Convince a young worker in a capitalist enterprise that they deserve more of a say in the direction of their enterprise as well as their own day to day? Might actually be something the masses are ready to embrace? <br />
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Disenchanted? Sure. Find a Marxist who isn't? Hopeful? Always. <br />
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<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-76431758340478118502015-07-01T16:32:00.000-04:002015-07-01T16:32:15.320-04:00Just a Link Today. Perhaps not the Best Way Towards Wage Equality, but Awarness Matters, and on this Issue it Isn't Where it Should Be <br />
<img alt="via The Way Station Bar" class="size-full wp-image-33084" data-lazy-loaded="true" height="1036" src="http://www.bkmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Tardis3.jpg" style="display: inline;" width="1600" /><br />
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<a href="http://www.bkmag.com/2015/06/30/brooklyn-bar-to-sell-drinks-to-women-for-77-cents-on-the-dollar/">http://www.bkmag.com/2015/06/30/brooklyn-bar-to-sell-drinks-to-women-for-77-cents-on-the-dollar/</a><br />
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<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-56540043695531383642015-02-11T10:45:00.000-05:002015-02-11T10:45:06.328-05:00A Thank You of Sorts... To Jon Stewart?<br />
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This link is time sensitive, sorry for that, but it essentially links to Jon Stewart saying he will be stepping down from the anchor desk of The Daily Show, in a few months.<br />
<a href="http://thedailyshow.cc.com/">http://thedailyshow.cc.com/</a><br />
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Generally speaking I am very Luxembourgian in my reform vs revolution thinking, and capitalist apologizing liberals are not people I admire. Stewart to my knowledge has never apologized for capitalism, and I honestly believe that leftist educators owe him a debt of gratitude. <br />
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Many of my students over the years have got most, if not all of their national news from The Daily Show, and Jon Stewart (with his writing staff ) has never been kind to the absurdities (class based and otherwise) present in the American experience. I honestly believe that many manifestations on the left, by academics or otherwise have been given more room to blossom by The Daily Show. <br />
<br />For the cultural space fought for and often provided, in the minds of students, and in our society in general, a sincere thank you to Jon Stewart. I prefer the world that you were a part of to one without you. Best of Luck. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-11407524829486108532015-01-26T08:53:00.002-05:002015-01-26T08:53:49.457-05:00Did I Read This Right?<br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/paul-krugman-ending-greeces-nightmare.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/paul-krugman-ending-greeces-nightmare.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0</a><br />
<br />Long term readers readers will know that I usually don't support mainstream economics by mentioning it in a non-critical light, and certainly not by linking to it. This case is a little different. A squinty eyed reading of the last four chapters of Krugman's Times piece this morning might actually be construed as calling for economic revolution in Greece. A stretch maybe? <br />
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The election of Alexis Tsipras of Syriza as Greek Prime Minister is a joyous sign, the winds are blowing back in our direction dear leftists. Can we put aside our petty differences and focus on what makes us the same? In the United States the shattered left has a long way to go. Can Greece lead the way? Honestly I doubt it, a movement back to social democracy does not address underlying economic and class issues, and is certainly not a revolutionary economic shift, but it is certainly preferable in my mind to an austerity program. <br />
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Solidarity and Hope on a soon to be snow filled morning.<br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-5604625764613460562014-11-25T10:28:00.001-05:002014-11-25T10:28:59.218-05:00Status Quo in a White Man's World...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thanks to Adrian for reminding me of the MLK quote.<br />
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On the dawn of a new day after the decision of the grand jury not to charge (white) officer Darrin Wilson with the shooting of (black) teenager Michael Brown all, and I mean all, the news coverage is about the aftermath. I know the case has been covered, but the tone of the reports this morning sadden me greatly. Do we shake our heads when discussing the French revolution and say things like... <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/us/ferguson-missouri-violence.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0" target="_blank">“I really don’t have any hesitation in telling you that I didn’t see a lot of peaceful protest out there tonight, and I’m disappointed about that,” Jon Belmar, the St. Louis County police chief, said early Tuesday at a news conference. “I’m not saying there weren’t folks out there that were out there for the right reason — I’m not saying that wasn’t the case — but I am saying that, unfortunately, this spun out of control.”</a><br />
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So this is tricky, am I condoning violence and riot? <br />
I'll leave it to MLK on this one....<br />
have a peaceful day everyone... <br />
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"It
is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It
would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same
time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in
our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to
feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent
rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the
language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It
has failed to hear ...that large segments of white society are more
concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and
humanity." "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the
Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the
White Citizen's Council of the
Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order'
than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of
tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who
constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot
agree with your methods of direct action.'"James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-14948297702285371452014-11-22T08:48:00.001-05:002014-11-22T08:48:58.710-05:00Taxation Without Representation? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmTlCnfDiNSvoHkgkQ505_6Y5_UxKjV-TedEZMn7BUXMXNuxai0Pntzq-sxfiKboEe0h-lN-uMZd0PJurWe7B1TXRDctR5192R9kMrbOg6o9ouhwgX44vSbKUGJP1rxxBByVwftkYMr0/s1600/brugel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmTlCnfDiNSvoHkgkQ505_6Y5_UxKjV-TedEZMn7BUXMXNuxai0Pntzq-sxfiKboEe0h-lN-uMZd0PJurWe7B1TXRDctR5192R9kMrbOg6o9ouhwgX44vSbKUGJP1rxxBByVwftkYMr0/s1600/brugel.jpg" /></a></div>
For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about the US midterm elections earlier this month. I myself, to paraphrase one of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson" target="_blank">greatest writers of all time</a>, don't vote, so I can claim the system doesn't represent me, and thus justify my further lack of participation. Watterson's intention was sarcastic, but unfortunately for someone of my political leanings, not voting is more of a protest against the lack of an acceptable candidate than it is apathy. But many of my fellow American's do vote, and I guess what worries me is the general lack of knowledge about policy decisions past that most of us share. <br />
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I am not suggesting that the American system has degraded to the point of having taxes cripple us financially so our government can go off and slaughter Huguenots; without asking if any of us really care if the Huguenots are gaining numbers in the south west provinces am I?...Am I?<br />
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But I do wonder, in a system where a vast majority of the voting public votes for a party line and knows little to nothing about the policy record of individual candidates, how often do elected officials stray from their party lines? <br />
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More importantly, how often do political actions taken represent the desires of those who elected the official? "Almost never?" Yea that's my guess too. Outside of local politics, where I still see some hope, we are ruled by a wealthy elite....taxation without representation? yes and no, Policy decisions without representation, yes, profoundly yes. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-35028390004510085852014-11-21T11:16:00.001-05:002014-11-21T11:16:55.942-05:00Partial Explaination of the Growing Wealth and Income GapJust a link today, to a great short piece.<br />
I think the productivity gains cited here by Ruccio, combined with a narrative about even the "well off workers" no longer being "well off" explains a lot of what we are seeing today in the US. Namely, post-recession, post-occupy movement, return to business as usual. Massive excess on the backs of the American worker and all that. Happy weekend all, two days of cheap processed food and mass produced beer before you head back to being exploited on Monday. <br />
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<a href="https://anticap.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/we-allow-our-fellow-americans-to-be-exploited-for-the-benefit-of-corporate-greed-and-unnecessary-wars/">https://anticap.wordpress.com/2014/11/21/we-allow-our-fellow-americans-to-be-exploited-for-the-benefit-of-corporate-greed-and-unnecessary-wars/</a>James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-36734801115372191342014-10-03T09:21:00.002-04:002014-10-03T09:21:48.084-04:00I Thought This Was America...... Apparently so did the Fathers of MoonGoyle Films<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Those who recognize my title as a South Park quote my be inclined towards thinking this is going to be a light hearted post. Contrary to the suggestion of my chosen literary device, I am writing this with a mixture of anger an apprehension. <br />
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Yesterday morning the local rag of northern Connecticut, The Hartford Courant decided to fill its front page, and lead its website with a story about a local film company. The chosen title of the article <a href="http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-granby-principal-moongoyle-films-p-20141002-story.html#page=1" target="_blank">"Two Educators Behind Violence and Nudity in Slasher Flicks</a>" makes it abundantly clear the conservative and aggressive slant taken by reporter Matthew Kauffman (<a href="mailto:mkauffman@courant.com">mkauffman@courant.com</a>). I found this story troubling on a number of levels. <br />
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First there are two personal factors at work here: One: I am well aquainted with a member of Moongoyle entertainment (neither of the two men named in the story) and know that the article coincides with shooting and production of by far their biggest project to date (My intention here is not to advertise for them, so I will leave it to the interested reader to find more out on their own). The first things that crossed my mind was that The Courant was running this story to leach off the success of local film company and / or running the story as an excuse to put nudity and gore on their front page on a slow news day. This would be deplorable enough from an institution that at least in principal has a responsibilty to the community they report on to bring them "actual news". <br />
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Secondly: As someone who regularly shares controversial opinions in a public forum (here as well as elsewhere) the fallout from this story has worried me on a personal level. Regardless of my political and economic views I have grown soft and accustomed to having a roof over my head and food on my plate, both for myself and for 5 year old "little man" who relies upon us for these things in his life. As a result of this article two of the men from Moongoyle entertainment have their careers jeopardized. Jeopardized, as a result of perfectly legal actions that they undertook in spheres of their lives that they thought to be completely separate from their "day jobs". Both men mentioned in the story are waking up today realizing how little freedom we actually have left in this country. <br />
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As a result of yesterday's article the two men mentioned (a principal and a guidance counselor) have been placed on administrative leave by the Granby CT. school system where they are employed. I may not personally be a fan of the type of work done by Moongoyle ("slasher films" with gratuitious and exploitative sex and violence) however these films are not illegal, in-fact, are a commonly accepted genre of American film making, and are certainly not child horror pornography the way Kauffman seems to suggest in his article. This leads to the conclusion that regardless of its tastefulness, or lack there of, or their work being inappropriate for the children that they educate during the day, these men are in danger of losing their economic lives as a result of ART that they created on their free time and with their own (not schoolboard) resources. These film-makers should be celebrated by the Granby school system, not placed on leave and possibly fired. Personally, as a parent I would be thrilled that one of my child's educators could teach something about an experience they actually had instead of just something that they read out of a book. But I guess that wouldn't be preparing the students for some standardized test that is needed to prove how far behind we are falling compared to the rest of the world...but I rant...that is a topic for another day. The Courant's attack on MoonGoyle is at very least a sad commentary on the ever increasing power the conservative right is gaining in our school system and press. <br />
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The Hartford Courant's Matt Kauffman (as well as the editorial team that decided to run this garbage story at all, let alone on the front page) should be the ones in danger loosing jobs here. This story was clearly designed to get boobs on the front page of the paper while enticing conservatives and general Jesus freaks who will of course respond with "Would you want your own daughter naked in one of their films?" <br />
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No I wouldn't want my own daughter naked in a MoonGoyle film, but as long as the filmmakers are not breaking any laws, and we remain free to express ourselves artistically (which I am pretty sure is part of our basic right of freedom of expression), being in one of their films would be my daughter's choice. What worries me most* is that perhaps we are even less free to express ourselves that I thought, and my next entry will be about how the word "Marx" in the title of this blog has cost me my career as an exploited capitalist worker. <br />
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*Yes I am being a little overly dramatic....<br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-73456440037646939172014-08-29T21:59:00.002-04:002014-08-29T22:35:28.401-04:00Apologies Dear Reader....For my Absence and for my Return. And...Apologies dear Capitalist, You Remain the Root of the Problem. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am attempting a return to the world of blogging, and to some degree a return to the world of intellectual existence. After a long break during which I learned more about myself than I ever cared to know, I am once again ready to engage the world. What limited world I will be engaging is a question that can only be answered in time. For now, the time feels right, as right as it has felt in a long time at least, to return to caring about problems and questions of the mind and the world around me. After my break the world still needs to be changed, and I am again ready to actively contribute. The passivity of post-modern change aside, it feels good to be back.<br />
This brief paragraph of masturbation aside...I welcome you all...and more importantly (in so far as these things are important) myself...back to Marx, Baseball and Rum!<br />
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To paraphrase Gordon Wood: As a result of the revolution Americans changed from being subjects to citizens, and the difference is vast. My problem with this type of statement is what has driven me back to writing. Although we are free in political realm of our existence (sigh), we remain subjugated in our working lives. As long as the life of the average American remains not their own on the job, the reality remains, that in our economic existence we are nothing but subjects to the man who signs the check. We, my working American brothers and sisters are not free, we are not citizens of an economic republic, but rather we toil for the enrichment of a select few. Systemic change remains the goal! The Hope! The Reason to Get Out of Bed!. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-54023519385537603402013-09-06T01:02:00.003-04:002013-09-06T01:05:16.299-04:00One Thing Popa Marx Got Dead Wrong!....A Late Night Musing on the Rate of Profit in the US.........<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwvemfAeQjPJhAD6Ptr7hiD2kO6G0mCrVlHTiDpirvRKiD9Bvhybv_eMHdNSwE7JP8hIrD6ArHWaPlgR05hg8ufzGyi9eGG8Mg8X4rVQccU-ZIlQ4V3Z4Wye3Pwnx-Pe30ZLpUZj1GEY/s1600/prim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwvemfAeQjPJhAD6Ptr7hiD2kO6G0mCrVlHTiDpirvRKiD9Bvhybv_eMHdNSwE7JP8hIrD6ArHWaPlgR05hg8ufzGyi9eGG8Mg8X4rVQccU-ZIlQ4V3Z4Wye3Pwnx-Pe30ZLpUZj1GEY/s1600/prim.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Just started reading a book I bought a few years back that has just sat on the shelf. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1604860413/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=7963085801&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=s&hvrand=6692939072137429389&hvpone=14.49&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_46fw1w4nvf_e" target="_blank">"Wobblies & Zapatistas". </a>Wishing I had picked it up sooner...The first chapter already has me worked up!<br />
<br />
The book is interesting so far, but there is a major error in the application of Marxian theory in the first chapter. When discussing "globalization" in the lens of the Zapatista movement, the book cites the rising Organic Composition of Capital in the 1970's leading to a falling rate of profit for U.S. capitalists and thus the need for expansion. The result, of course, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Free_Trade_Agreement" target="_blank">NAFTA</a>, and all the ramifications for the Mexican people*<br />
<br />
What has not been adequately explained (at least to my mind) is that the profit rate did NOT fall during this period. It is beyond the scope of what I am going to undertake for a blog entry to find data to prove this but I would direct my reader to a lot of <a href="http://www.rdwolff.com/" target="_blank">Rick Wolff's semi-recent work for evidence.</a><br />
<br />
This common misconception that globalization was caused by the American capitalist looking for ways to increase a falling profit rate (due to a raising OCC) is just a simple case of finding results where the theory predicts they should be. The OCC rose, resulting in globalization, read Marx, the profit rate must have been falling??? I think Marx got this one really wrong! Globalization is a rusult of too much profit, not a falling rate, and the necessity to stick all of this surplus somewhere. <br />
<br />
What is at stake in this argument? A valid question dear reader....please help me with it.<br />
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<br />
*As an aside, an interesting something cited in this book that I have never come across in my own NAFTA work (albeit years ago now). The Mexican government removed a line from their constitution allowing land to be held communally by a village at the request of the U.S. government as a precondition to NAFTA. Perhaps more on this another night. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-54180825113570619182013-08-23T15:34:00.001-04:002013-08-23T15:34:18.664-04:00Spending, The Millennial Generation, and Life (Retirement) Goals, Some Bourgeois Consumption Commentary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtK2m7Ivx49eYegVV0J_9RX8b86df8Ytl1ysy58GS3sUynE_mVBOmP-BviInKZ5WIHhqgkVutG4gCJTl9KXLFPZ1Ur_vFKb2yTOyZPdsMVNDwhPg7Rn7fpHV-3mw_c3AJBB6EVrOTHU4/s1600/Gen+Y.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtK2m7Ivx49eYegVV0J_9RX8b86df8Ytl1ysy58GS3sUynE_mVBOmP-BviInKZ5WIHhqgkVutG4gCJTl9KXLFPZ1Ur_vFKb2yTOyZPdsMVNDwhPg7Rn7fpHV-3mw_c3AJBB6EVrOTHU4/s1600/Gen+Y.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Last night I had a discussion with my wonderful mother (Beth Miehls) about an article she had recently read about the millennial generation. This is the generation that started with my birth in 1981 and encompass everyone born up to the early 2000s. Thus there are hipsters, young business types, and a lot of over-educated bartenders. <br />
<br />
The point of the article that Beth read was that The Millennial Generation (Gen Y from this point on) has spending patterns that favor experiences over accumulation of material wealth. Basically she was making the point that Gen Y'ers spend more of their money on travel and high end food and drink than on houses and cars, etc. because we have some type of conscious or subconscious economic preference for living well rather than owning well. This concept is causality in neoclassical preference theory rearing its ugly head in the hegemonic bourgeois culture yet again.<br />
<br />
I am not arguing with the basic premise here. Gen Y has lead spending in the microbrew, localvore, eco-tourism, etc. movements. But are we making a choice to do these things rather than spend on accumulation?<br />
<br />
It is quite possible that Gen Y'ers are spending their money in ways other than accumulation of long term material assets such as property because these things are not available to us. The baby-boomers (to their credit) have a higher life expectancy than any American generation before them and already own much of the property, and hold most of the high-paying jobs. Life expectancy for American males was in the low 60s in the period leading up to the Golden Age of Capitalism (pre and durnig WWII) and has steadily increased post war. The average American male can expect to live into their mid 70s today. Living until 75 means that the average baby boomer (our parents) will hold their property for 15 years longer than their parents did. This, combined with many other economic factors means that the mean property sale price in the US has increased from<a href="http://www.census.gov/const/uspriceann.pdf" target="_blank"> $19,300 in 1963 to $272,900 in 2010 (US Gov. Census)</a>, far faster growth than the rate of inflation during this period. *<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Is my generation choosing to pay for experiences? or has the longer lives of our parents (thankfully I might add in the case of my parents, as we get along well and love each other) priced Gen Y out of the ability to buy land, houses and cars and forced us to spend our money on good beer and travel instead to give us a reason to get out of bed in this bourgeois culture of consumption? <br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
*I haven't even started to discuss the collapse of credit markets as a factor here, which will deserve its own post when I return to this topic.James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-89606055017175675652013-05-28T05:04:00.000-04:002013-05-28T05:04:09.160-04:00Looking Forward to the Next Eight Weeks: Teaching "Intro to the Economics of Crime and Social Problems" (again)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvsTczf7YbZYYxs7fvwzFUUHdP3a0RBS9KtTFnFsw6d381nAWkxW9vltuO0UqNu5vW9USnjC6viy8Q5OvgDe6_dhntO-lzxdU31UdZTwVCFkMLGjfW_O3BcfuquE_biBgG0sTOBTHi9s/s1600/blogmay28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvsTczf7YbZYYxs7fvwzFUUHdP3a0RBS9KtTFnFsw6d381nAWkxW9vltuO0UqNu5vW9USnjC6viy8Q5OvgDe6_dhntO-lzxdU31UdZTwVCFkMLGjfW_O3BcfuquE_biBgG0sTOBTHi9s/s1600/blogmay28.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
I am pleased to be wearing my adjunct professor hat again this summer for <a href="http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/" target="_blank">John Jay College of Criminal Justice (part of CUNY... the City University of New York system).</a> I am teaching a course that existed in the John Jay economics department before I started teaching there as an online adjunct (almost 3 years ago now), but I have made it my own.<br />
<br />
The course is Economics 170 "Introduction to the Economics of Crime and Social Problems" (online). I started out teaching this course as a hybrid between the syllabi of the chair of the economics department at John Jay who used mainstream methods with a liberal twist, and a John Jay professor who is a recent UMass PhD and radical economist.<br />
<br />
Although still containing elements of both of these professor's syllabi, over the past three years the course has morphed into something uniquely my own. I record video lectures in my home office and blend these with a non-mainstream into economics text <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Capitalism-Competition-Command-Change/dp/0195138651" target="_blank">(<i>Understanding Capitalism</i>) </a>, and a large amount of discussion responses and supplementary readings throughout the semester. <a href="https://vimeo.com/67110026" target="_blank">For those interested, you can get a better feel for the course in my introductory video for this summer's students</a>. (This will be the only material for the course that I will link to directly from my blog, as I don't want to get into intellectual property issues with John Jay).<br />
<br />
I realize that this post is self serving as most of my readers will never take an economics course at John Jay (if you are interested in signing up I have three or four spots left this summer, but the course starts today...so get on it asap!). That said, I think it is important to share what I am trying to do, in this world dominated by neoclassical economic thought and teaching. My goal when teaching Intro to the... this summer is to have the students study the interaction of economic, political, cultural (and criminal) processes not as something given, requiring the memorization of tools to analyze, but as a collection of fluid and changing ideas.<br />
<br />
The question "what is a crime?" is in a state of rapid change in our society as we re-make and re-define while we re-build American capitalism after this most recent systemic crisis (recession). The growing inequality in the United States in both wealth and opportunity for material advancement is going to require people to rethink many aspects of our criminal justice system. The US criminal justice system has been, and remains, notoriously biased against certain classes of people, but as a larger and larger portion of the country becomes "working poor", how the definitions and ideas of what is criminal change will have vast impacts. Will we allow the criminal justice system to continue as it has been operating, allowing affluence to buy justice when fewer and fewer people will be able to afford it? Possibly growing economic inequality might finally force society to address issues of inequality in justice that should have been resolved decades ago during the civil rights movement?<br />
<br />
I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to draw a paycheck (albeit a relatively small one) while engaging with this type of question again this summer (especially considering the positive experiences I have had teaching the students of John Jay College in the past) James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-62138577825728826322013-05-20T03:45:00.003-04:002013-05-20T03:45:32.606-04:00Great Link: A Podcast on the Morality of Gun Control <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLohsyNEACHmzn2-jHXfW1rU11jU3V8zTdhO0qZYK_KJJ__lfu5pAyCXdWtF61qWRJjmcVWM-yWIQvlJgXBqsqK3oudBF4S-mhMpeWe7GqAwZdeJHglQXYJhxBjIm8h-xL16s6irVnT4/s1600/Gun-control-experts1-600x350.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLohsyNEACHmzn2-jHXfW1rU11jU3V8zTdhO0qZYK_KJJ__lfu5pAyCXdWtF61qWRJjmcVWM-yWIQvlJgXBqsqK3oudBF4S-mhMpeWe7GqAwZdeJHglQXYJhxBjIm8h-xL16s6irVnT4/s1600/Gun-control-experts1-600x350.jpeg" height="186" width="320" /></a></div>
(New favorite image lifted from the web for my blog.) <br /><span style="color: red;"><b> </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>***</b></span><br />
<br />
It
is clearly wrong to take someone's gun away as they are about to be
murdered? You are violating that person's right to self defense?
Essentially you are complicit in that person's murder? Correct?<br />
<br />
Jeff
McMahan (on the Philosophy Bites Podcast) argues that "self defense" is
not a fundamental right, rather, "personal security" is a fundamental
right and private gun ownership violates this right. <br />
<a href="http://philosophybites.com/2013/02/jeff-mcmahan-on-gun-control.html">http://philosophybites.com/2013/02/jeff-mcmahan-on-gun-control.html</a><br /><br />
Just look at the statistics people!<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/us-guns-statistics-outlier_n_2331892.html" target="_blank"><i>The
U.S., with 4.5 percent of the world population, accounts for about 40
percent of the planet's civilian firearms, said Dr. Garen Wintemute, of
the University of California, Davis, Medical Center.</i></a><br />
<br />
I
have not been writing lately (a lot of grading at the end of the spring
semester this year), but as I ramp up my own writing I wanted to start
posting again. So I am starting slow, with a link, but a good one! <i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<span style="color: blue;"><b><i>***</i></b> To my valued readers: I have not been writing lately (a lot of grading at the end of the
spring semester this year), but as I ramp up my own writing I wanted to
start posting again. So I am starting slow, with a link, but a very good
one! The following is about a great episode from this past February of one of my favorite online shows. <i> </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://philosophybites.com/" target="_blank">Philosophy Bites</a>
is a great podcast! Simple and short (usually about 15 minutes) on
topics from current cultural processes all the way to philosophy's
biggest questions. I highly recommend a listen to a couple episodes. I
have found that the episodes often stimulate new lines of thought /
perspectives in my own thinking. The debt I feel from the free stimulation I have received leads me to link to them today. </span><br />
James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-88297878792270172282013-04-23T08:47:00.000-04:002013-04-23T08:47:02.275-04:00Congratulations to Fellow UMass Economist(s) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAbzy2t8cheG9RA28lxAlVrve2Pmmqd6ggsFvgRMWFBw_cj1oBBUFw33DriPcB2K_Zh469BHO1U-5w8duoIa3AKtITjtPsjqBKHhpo55Xq3TeOShGuhyphenhyphencinvfRsT_aAPPiH_9gFCOpds/s1600/austerity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAbzy2t8cheG9RA28lxAlVrve2Pmmqd6ggsFvgRMWFBw_cj1oBBUFw33DriPcB2K_Zh469BHO1U-5w8duoIa3AKtITjtPsjqBKHhpo55Xq3TeOShGuhyphenhyphencinvfRsT_aAPPiH_9gFCOpds/s1600/austerity.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Thomas Herndon is getting a lot of attention for his critical replication paper, that attacks the data / methods of a paper by Harvard's Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/grad-student-who-shook-global-austerity-movement.html" target="_blank"> http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/grad-student-who-shook-global-austerity-movement.html</a><br />
<br />
Those of us (and this includes most of my readers I imagine) who find policy implications based on econometric analysis in single papers are not terribly surprised to find errors in papers such as Reinhart and Rogoff's. That said, it is rare that the mainstream is forced to listen to our critiques. That coupled with the fact that Thomas' work has significant implications for austerity programs and governments the world over, this is a major achievement!<br />
Well done and congrats Tom! James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-88373332415661655912013-04-11T01:24:00.002-04:002013-04-11T01:24:42.171-04:00A Large Writing Project for This Year. Detroit, Fallen Cities and the US Macro Economy. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEwYbnV86eFx67jaewK6cPaW8FL-PjlX-IBzngt1k1bSEx5Ad5F_-SIFNkCpBReKT4F62HQ2DDosjNqh14o52PoCMsWUN0PT9W3klgq2TNiXk_8t9YbCj7zpfTFCYu2DK0uR4OEJ3yhE/s1600/detroit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEwYbnV86eFx67jaewK6cPaW8FL-PjlX-IBzngt1k1bSEx5Ad5F_-SIFNkCpBReKT4F62HQ2DDosjNqh14o52PoCMsWUN0PT9W3klgq2TNiXk_8t9YbCj7zpfTFCYu2DK0uR4OEJ3yhE/s1600/detroit.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I have finally begin to "ink" some ideas that I have for a large writing project this summer.<br />
These preliminary ideas have a long way to go and I would happily receive comments thoughts from my readers.<br />
<br />My work will be threefold. <br /><br />1. I will need
to write a summary of the coinciding economic histories of the city of
Detroit (housing patterns, taxes, etc.) and the corporations that
dominate the auto industry (mostly GM, but also Ford and Chrysler) as
they relate to Wayne county Michigan. Numbers such as populations,
employment numbers, etc. This is essentially to establish statistical
correlation between these corporations and the county that houses them.
This will be an important aspect as it will (hopefully) numerically
demonstrate how the people involved and the enterprises symbiotically
both built and destroyed a major urban area. Included will be analysis
of both the corporations, but also public services etc. offered by local
governments to their employees. <br />
<br />
<div>
<br />2. I plan to update the Marxian conception of the corporation.
The generation of surplus labor takes place not only within the
settings of the corporate environment, but also within a certain
geographic area. I hope to contribute to the Marxist corporate
literature from this perspective. Topics such as type of labor
available, as well as surplus generating policies of the enterprise need
to be updated to discuss the relationship with the communities in which
the enterprises are contained. Surplus is generated by real people and
they have to exist within a geographic area, this dynamic is not
adequately discussed in Marxian economics or geography. This section
will also include an analysis of labor relations, relative bargaining
power of the workers of these companies over time, union actions, etc.
Basically wage/labor relations history stuff, but in the context of
these things affecting both the enterprise and the community (something
new as far as I know>)<br />
</div>
3. Finally, and this is vague still...I want to be able
to say something meaningful about municipal policy, certainly as it
relates to "fallen" cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Holyoke, etc. and
how they should attempt to use the resources/factories that they have to
stimulate recovery (with or without the gentrification pattern that is
being followed in many American cities), but also, the future of other
American urban areas that rely upon manufacturing today, as well as
possibly some contributions on positives/negatives to the broader idea
of the moving away from "real" production into the service sector that
the American macro economy as a whole has experienced.<br />
<br />
Comments very welcome!<br />
<br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-53671484315046428622013-04-11T00:25:00.001-04:002013-04-11T00:29:19.068-04:00Finally...have we started to move past the need for sleep?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR0TQsToufThd4TWVU06BvH7Y_n0hxHiekz2ouN4yLS-f-4itzY-5mcJyYX-DCfQ3aI3AOHRAwVafDFPdnjZASOumfe5OTRwPaFyCZ1F-ItQe-m58ENd2ACQ34YYuQZkJW1N-C61S_0x4/s1600/sleep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR0TQsToufThd4TWVU06BvH7Y_n0hxHiekz2ouN4yLS-f-4itzY-5mcJyYX-DCfQ3aI3AOHRAwVafDFPdnjZASOumfe5OTRwPaFyCZ1F-ItQe-m58ENd2ACQ34YYuQZkJW1N-C61S_0x4/s1600/sleep.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
I have not been writing for a while. <br />In an attempt to get (my sleep deprived) brain working again I am starting slow tonight, with a simple link.<br />
This article discusses two new stimulant drugs that in trial seem to allow the brain to function normally without sleep. <br />Is it possible that we won't have to waste hours a day in the fight against capitalist exploitation for much longer?<br />
Not addressed are all the health and psychological benefits of a night of slumber. but .....still...steps in the right direction. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/jessa-gamble-life-without-sleep/">http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/jessa-gamble-life-without-sleep/</a><br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-69578747912829242502013-03-12T13:16:00.003-04:002013-03-12T13:17:38.945-04:00US News and World Report: Ranking of Graduate Programs in Economics. A Thought...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbV20j8dQJeDLUWT978r1QxhqhasO8jt4lPQhNMam8DwnxmIqOri9B5OL23qVH9G38GmsOfDKYBVTKW3xNAkOLdWa8djS1cB79G4ZG6H3SG9cbxhjSHA_V1PLpjSKqAu_7a7H7d2hyphenhyphenyo/s1600/rank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbV20j8dQJeDLUWT978r1QxhqhasO8jt4lPQhNMam8DwnxmIqOri9B5OL23qVH9G38GmsOfDKYBVTKW3xNAkOLdWa8djS1cB79G4ZG6H3SG9cbxhjSHA_V1PLpjSKqAu_7a7H7d2hyphenhyphenyo/s1600/rank.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings">http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings</a><br />
<br />
Check the "rankings methodology".<br />
It is essentially the academic equivalent of asking Anheuser Busch / Inbev employees to rank the best breweries. Hegemony breeds hegemony and bourgeois thinkers love bourgeois thought. The most remarkable thing here might be that I am even bothering to remark on this. <br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-51227102877491880942013-03-07T00:30:00.000-05:002013-03-07T00:37:10.673-05:00Politics and Baseball: The Death of Hugo Chavez and Cowardice of the Miami Marlins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As some of you may know, and I would guess that many of you, dear readers, do not, the World Baseball Classic is currently taking place. The WBC is an international tournament that takes place every 4 years during Major League Baseball's spring training season. It is commonly accepted that "baseball" countries other than the United States take the WBC more seriously than most Americans (both players and fans) do. This can be clearly seen by the players who choose to participate, with many top talent American players skipping the tournament while players such as Miguel Cabrera leave their major league training camps to represent their home nations. <br />
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It is no accident that I bring up Cabrera. He is a native of Venezuela. The Venezuelan national team (with Cabrera) played an exhibition game against the Miami Marlins on March 5th. Prior to the game the Venezuelans requested a moment of silence to honor recently deceased leader Hugo Chavez. <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/baseball-reacts-death-controversial-venezuelan-leader-hugo-chavez-203302516--mlb.html" target="_blank"> This request was denied, with the cited reason by the Marlins being there was "not enough time". </a><br />
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I love the game of baseball, but I will also be the first to admit that it is not the most action packed sport for the casual observer. "Not enough time", is that really the best the Marlins management could come up with? The 3 hour broadcast must have been too packed with adds for McDonald's "Fish McBites"? (Which have a ridiculous and somewhat hilarious jingle, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKmZhfRmtng" target="_blank">you can listen to it here</a>) to include a moment to honor a fallen world leader?<br />
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Why do the Marlins, and by association Major League Baseball have such a hard time being honest? They probably don't want "America's Game" associated in anyway with a leader who was openly critical of American consumerism, of US leadership as well as US foreign policy, not to mention being a self described socialist, and having a record of nationalizing most major Venezuelan industry and conducting major land reform.<br />
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I could easily argue that Chavez did a lot of good in Venezuela, and that many people there are far better off than they were before he came to power. It would be completely in line with the general theme of this blog to make such statements. For some statistics on the improvements under Chavez<a href="http://anticap.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/chart-of-the-day-187/" target="_blank"> please see this chart, posted on a blog I read regularly. </a><br />
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The truth is that I don't know as much as I should about Chavez and Venezuelan politics, and I don't want to comment where I don't have anything informed to contribute. What I do want to add is that I think this is just another example of cowardice and poor leadership by the Marlins organization. Either state that Chavez was not popular in the United States and you don't want him honored in your stadium, or accept that Chavez was a major world leader, and honor the Venezuelan team's request for a moment of silence before the game.<br />
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Bottom line; if a US leader was to pass away while in office and one of our national teams was denied a moment of silence to honor him during a sporting event in a foreign country we would likely go to war over it. I don't think the Marlins ownership has the right to deny something like this to team Venezuela, and if they are going to deny the request, they should at least have the cojones to admit that they are doing it for a reason other than "being short on time". <br />
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This is just the latest in a long line of examples of the Marlins ownership/management treating baseball fans like we are a bunch of idiots, that rant will have to wait for another post. I sincerely hope this becomes a major problem for the team. From what I know, no one deserves the negative attention more. Marlin's owner Jeffrey Loria and his management team should be ashamed of themselves. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-67133093170564718602013-02-22T01:45:00.000-05:002013-02-22T01:45:01.043-05:00Property Rights, Patents, and the Destruction of the Market for "Collectables", or , 3D Printing Series Part 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another possible economic implication of 3D printing technology that I have been pondering today: It is quite likely that 3D printing machines will (and already are) be (ing) used to circumvent many copyrights and reproduce protected/patented commodities.<br />
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One area that could be particularly hard hit is the market for "collectables". This includes things such as vintage children's toys, "limited edition" figurines, etc. As any collector knows, secondary markets for these types of goods can vastly inflate the price above the original "sticker". <br />
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I will not get into the whole "transformation problem" debate here, or suggest that the secondary market prices are in any way (except of course a vague and complex overdetermined way) representative of the value of these goods. Rather I will back up my point with an example: A search of EBay for "Star Wars Action Figure" followed by a sort of highest price to lowest shows numerous "toys" with active bids priced in the thousands of US dollars. <br />
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These markets rely upon collectibility and extreme scarcity, artificially perceived or real, to keep prices at these high levels. In the world of 3D printing I would imagine it is pretty easy to write a program to "print" a "vintage Yoda figurine" still in what appears to be original packaging. <br />
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Just as digital media has faced extreme problems in protecting copyrights of commodities that can be easily reproduced at low cost by a vast number of people, I would imagine that 3D printing technology will begin to present the same problem to suppliers in many other markets over the next few years (the case of collectable toys given here is just one example). James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-5019341860806915692013-02-20T20:17:00.001-05:002013-02-20T20:21:02.057-05:003D Printing and the Household: Implications for the Division of Labor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In what is becoming a series of posts about the possible implications of 3D printing; <br />
Following the lead of the New York Times (as embarrassing as that is for a devotee of Zinn's<i>, Manufacturing Consent</i> such as myself) , I am turning my attention away from the implications of 3D printing on industrial class relations to comment on one of the possible implications of having these machines in our homes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/garden/the-3-d-printer-may-be-the-home-appliance-of-the-future.html?hp" target="_blank">As this article from the Times website today</a> points out these machines are becoming affordable, and are capable of producing many things that we need around the home. The article cites fixing clocks, espresso machines, etc.<br />
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Is it possible that this technology may in a sense allow the modern household to return to frontier farm stead. It is easy to imagine a not to distant future where we are again producing ourselves, in the household many of the "small" commodities that we purchase for daily life. This change would essentially be a move backwards in time in terms of the division of labor in society. The definition of modern life is one of great specialization.<br />
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As I am fond of telling my students, "if I had to grow my own food, make my own clothing or generate my own electricity I would be dead in a week". I specialize in reading, writing, teaching, and mixing cocktails. The monetary gains from these few activities allow me to exchange for everything else that makes up the myriad of consumption that comprises my material existence. <br />
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It is possible with an in home 3D printer that many "highly" specialized people such as myself will no longer need to exchange for much of the array small commodities that we use in our daily life, but rather "print" them in our own homes. It is possible that the manufacture of relatively simple, inexpensive commodities may soon be relegated to the type of process that washing the dishes, making the bed, and sweeping the floor currently is for most of us in society; a processes completed in the home. The production of commodities for use, that were never intended for exchange, may be making a comeback. I am not meaning to suggest that rates of specialization in our paid labor will decrease, but rather specialization in certain areas of production will be rendered obsolete, forcing those currently engaged in production of many commodities based in plastics to evolve or face structural unemployment. <br />
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What are the economic impacts of these machines? I think it is clear that only time will tell, but it is not a big leap to suggest that the technology with the greatest impact on the organization of production since the personal computer may be here and structural unemployment of makers of household commodities is probably just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-67581820872637099402013-02-20T17:55:00.000-05:002013-02-20T17:55:04.374-05:00So You Want to Work in the United States? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just move to Luxembourg, Monaco, or Vatican City first... <br />
I came across some information today* about a rather strange wrinkle in United States immigration law. Leaving aside all the sub-programs for work specific visas it seems that the number of work visas available for people wishing to enter the United States is the same for every country of origin.<br />
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Every country of origin, regardless of size....that's right, the same number of visas to enter the US to work for people from the smallest countries as there are granted to people from the largest. It would suggest then that the path for an Indian or Chinese citizen wishing to immigrate to the US would be to first immigrate to Tuvalu or a similarly tiny nation. <br />
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I was aware that there were thousands of visas going unused each year, while hundreds of thousands of potential immigrants (mostly from Mexico and Asia) continue to wait in line. This goes part of the way to explaining why. Given that our current economic climate is one in which we desperately need economic growth, especially growth in employment markets, new blood, new ideas and new work ethic that can be brought by an influx of immigrants cannot help but be a good thing**. I know that the current administration is targeting changes in immigration law, it would seem that getting rid of the caps based upon country of origin without considering population would be a logical move. <br />
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*This information came from a fairly reputable source, however I have been unable to verify it from a quick internet search. If anyone happens to have navigated Home Land Security's site deep enough to verify this, or know where I can, I would appreciate it.<br />
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** This sentence is written largely to fire up people who continue to argue that immigrants "steal" jobs from "hard working" Americans. I intentionally did not argue the point well or back it up with data as I am hoping to start a fight with a certain college of mine whom I know reads my work. James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-53961281213270971382013-02-17T02:49:00.001-05:002013-02-17T02:49:15.196-05:00The Next Time Someone Asks Me for a Cigarette...<br />
...I am going to denounce them as a communist and suggest they move to Russia with their like-minded brethren. <br />
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I suppose this post would be more accurately titled: "Some Thougths on the First 100 pages of David Graeber's "Debt the First 5000 Years", but the cigarette example, lifted from Graeber's book, has more literary flair. <br />
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I have been reading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years" target="_blank"><i>Debt: The First 5000 Years</i>, by David Graeber </a><br />
In "Debt" Graeber is bold enough to suggest that at the most basic level many human interactions are communistic in nature. He suggests that "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need" is how we respond to many situations in life. Graeber suggests that people act according to this tenant of communism in many daily situations including those in which a smoke is "bummed". <br />
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I have the ability to give someone else a smoke, they have the need for it. The person asking me doesn't think much of the asking (according to Graeber they think far less of asking for a smoke than they would think of asking me for an equivalent amount of money or food), and I am not meant to think much of the giving. It is second nature to provide for each other in a community setting. If nothing else being a communist costs me at least half a pack of smokes a week. That aside, Graeber's book seems interesting so far: The argument that "communism" is not a system of political organization (he brings up the point that most prominent regimes have tagged themselves as "socialist" and "communism" will come far in the future after Marx's "withering of the state"), but rather something that is one of the basic (Graeber describes 3) ways in which humans interact with each other daily in regards to our material world is something that I would like to explore further. <br />
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An idea that has been nagging me for awhile is that as we form groups and arguments, (and yes...institutions as well) to organize production, we are essentially just expanding upon interactions that we are already familiar with from the processes of our daily lives, childhoods, etc. The past is of course the strongest predictor of the future. Reading the beginning of <i>Debt</i>, (for the record, is itself critical of capitalism), has brought back to the front of my consciousness the idea that the way out of capitalism (as well as its contradictions and problems), and into another system (albeit with its own sets of contradictions and problems to be sure), with a stronger sense of justice from a class perspective, might be steps towards decentralization of power and slightly more anarchy in our organizational processes (both political and economic). The idea, somewhat re-introduced by Graeber that many humans default to a variety of communistic practices in our daily interactions revives my hope that post 20th century capitalism our material lives can remain rich, while at the same time becoming less institutionally exploitative of each other, if we work at it that is. <br />
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There is tone to Graeber's analysis that suggests an arrogant rationalism behind many of his arguments, This is perhaps not a bad thing as the implications I have drawn out of the first 100 pages of his book seem quite positive, and possibly even hopeful for our future as a society. So far "Debt" is proving to be an enjoyable and thought provoking read. Chances are I will have more to write about it here in the coming days (especially if I find something to be more critical about). James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-55132256744675616922013-02-16T20:43:00.004-05:002013-02-16T20:43:59.224-05:00The Downside of Reliability <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130214/AUTO01/302140339/J-D-Power-Car-reliability-improving" target="_blank">According to a JD Power study released this week</a>, cars (all brands) that are reaching market in the United States are getting increasingly reliable (the number of major problems is declining). <br />
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At first glance this is clearly good news for the consumer. Reliability has been a major point of competitive struggle throughout the history of the auto industry, in fact it was a major factor that allowed the Japanese automakers to gain such a strong foothold in the US market in the 1970s and 80s. <br />
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A clear downside of cars not breaking as often is the lack of consumer spending that will result as less people need to fix their vehicles. In a similar contradiction to the realization problem, no individual wants their car to break, but it benefits the rest of society economically when any given individual is forced to spend money.<br />
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In the current economic climate of uncertainty and low consumer confidence (ever since the collapse of 2008) discretionary spending cannot be counted on to lead recovery. Something like a broken car on the other hand, it seems a good way to force people to spend, perhaps even to go further into debt....Debt spending got us into our current mess, can it not lead the way out? People need vehicles to get to their job interviews.....or drive to the unemployment office. The less people have their cars break, the less they will be forced to spend fixing them. Maybe reliable cars will help to make consumers more confident to spend elsewhere? But for now, it seems recovery will not be lead by auto mechanics becoming wealthy. <br />
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The entire tone of this post is meant to be somewhat sarcastic. The bigger picture point here is that historically US consumer culture has been one of "consume and discard". Just perhaps, quality is starting to matter as much as novelty to Americans in the automotive industry? James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-92096970603842668642013-02-12T19:48:00.004-05:002013-02-12T19:48:53.427-05:00The Product Diversity of Modern Capitalism <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Generally speaking product diversity (greater choice) is supposed to increase our total utility. This is economics 101 correct? Greater product diversity leads to increased marginal benefit when we make choices with our limited income? <br />
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In this case is anyone better off? Those who choose to purchase this product? Those who don't? Those who took the time to even think about it (sorry). Pizza Hut has followed the lead of the Burger King cult classic "Flame" cologne by releasing a scent of their own onto the US market. A difficult choice, do I want to smell like a burger or a pizza this valentines day? It seems this abomination started in Canada, just like me. <br />
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<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/pizza-huts-signature-scent-to-waft-over-more-countries/article8494216/">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/pizza-huts-signature-scent-to-waft-over-more-countries/article8494216/</a>James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278187001510968654.post-51209331840451728162013-02-11T17:12:00.000-05:002013-02-11T17:12:09.627-05:00Welcome Back Boys! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring Training STARTED today! No more pretending to care about football for a few months. Praise be to whomever you send your prayers in the direction of. <br />
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The only small down note on this otherwise great day:<br />
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A public thank you, and fond farewell (regarding the show only of course) to the hosts, and in general ESPN's "Baseball Today" podcast. It is now "off the air". <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=2386164" target="_blank">It has been replaced by a podcast version of "Baseball Tonight" with Buster Olney</a>. I will miss Eric, Mark and especially the "snark" of Keith Law. <br />
<br />For better or worse these gentlemen have been a major part of my daily life for quite awhile. The "nerdish" commentary and statistical analysis will be missed. There is always Fan Graphs, but still.....Thank you for hours of mediocre entertainment, I will miss the show!<br />
<br />James Miehlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261174841136456316noreply@blogger.com0