Sunday, September 28, 2008
It's all funny money anyway...
Discussing the origins of this escalating financial crisis is a great opportunity to put into question the notion of "value." How could houses be worth a lot one day and very little a year later? What is the re-sale value of a debt? What is the "good name" of "Lehman Brothers" or "Morgan Stanley" worth? What is money worth if it buys fewer and fewer things we need to survive? What is our labor worth when it is used to produce these things? When it is used to produce things that end up as garbage, or to provide services such as insurance that depend on our vulnerability?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It's remarkable how many conversations I've had about the financial crisis that quickly become conversations about growing food and having chickens on a piece of collectively-owned land somewhere. Without skipping a beat. Even people from middle-class backgrounds seem to recognize implicitly that "the economy" is actually contrived, fragile, and doomed to failure. What will be challenging (in some circles) will be to encourage ideas of self-sustainability without sounding like nativist/isolationist "country first" reactionaries who would seek American autarky as long as they don't have to share any wealth...
Post a Comment