Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Argument from progression and argument from prosperity

Baraka_Guru · 01-13-2011, 11:15 AM

I think much of this likely stems from postmodernism's (arguable) collapse, and the hangover we're experiencing from nearly 100 years of modernism and its dependent successors.

What we have is the apparent fall of irony and a craving to return/rebuild what the (post-)modernists spent decades destroying or otherwise mucking around with. So I think this is what leads us to—somewhat naturally perhaps—utilitarianism. This is what leads us to find use value in everything. This is what marginalizes anything that cannot be commodified or otherwise tied into our material reality.

What frustrates many is that a post-colonial, post-imperial world is essentially post-capitalist. We aren't quite there yet, but we see the capitalist system (which really was a driving force even in its proto-capitalist/post-mercantile forms since the Age of Enlightenment and subsequent industrialization) lurching and spiralling through crisis.

The world is finite and capitalism is running its course. This is not to say that capitalism as a mode of economics isn't going to be around; however, capitalism as a primary mode of governance, as a primary mode for building and managing societies, is, perhaps, in crisis. Growth for the sake of growth is a fool's game. Prosperity and growth aren't the same thing.

I suppose one measure of a culture is whether it's still around.

01-13-2011, 11:15 AM	#13 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	I think much of this likely stems from postmodernism's (arguable) collapse, and the hangover we're experiencing from nearly 100 years of modernism and its dependent successors. What we have is the apparent fall of irony and a craving to return/rebuild what the (post-)modernists spent decades destroying or otherwise mucking around with. So I think this is what leads us to—somewhat naturally perhaps—utilitarianism. This is what leads us to find use value in everything. This is what marginalizes anything that cannot be commodified or otherwise tied into our material reality. What frustrates many is that a post-colonial, post-imperial world is essentially post-capitalist. We aren't quite there yet, but we see the capitalist system (which really was a driving force even in its proto-capitalist/post-mercantile forms since the Age of Enlightenment and subsequent industrialization) lurching and spiralling through crisis. The world is finite and capitalism is running its course. This is not to say that capitalism as a mode of economics isn't going to be around; however, capitalism as a primary mode of governance, as a primary mode for building and managing societies, is, perhaps, in crisis. Growth for the sake of growth is a fool's game. Prosperity and growth aren't the same thing. I suppose one measure of a culture is whether it's still around. __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 01-13-2011 at 11:20 AM..