Re: Subsidiarity = Decentralization Without the Whole Divine Law

wesburt@juno.com wrote:
...
> The best brains that
> money can buy have worked for two centuries to
> sub-optimize the Capital Plant everywhere in our
> global economy, and with few exceptions, at the
> expense of the work force.
> 
> The true meaning of "sub-optimize the Capital Plant
> at the expense of the work force," is clearly illustrated
> by Fig11a.

Dear Wesley,

I had asked Prof. Robert Ashford (the co-author of
Binary Economics) a question about the money supply.

He is the brother of Nicholas Ashford, with whom I
had the delight of working, side-by-side at MIT on
health, safety and environmental regulations.

Having despatched an answer to my question, he
then proceeded to give me a one hour tutorial
about binary economics.

I was, for example, unaware of the root of the
name of the book, and quickly learned that what
is binary is labor (and various capital supports of
it) and capital (which has a will and mind of its
own).

Robert went on to explain that much of this economy's
problems are explained by the underutilization of
capital.

So, today, I read this e-mail from you, and you,
among other things, talk about sub-optimization of
capital plants at the expense of the work force.

In reflecting on binary economics, I could more
clearly read this sentence.

And, I could see, more clearly, that owners of
capital are sufficiently short-sighted to imagine
that their capital is worth something, even if there
is no one able to buy derivatives of capital in the form
of goods and services.

Thus, some of my commentary in yesterday's Debt Watch.

Robert said to me, you understand, that your newsletter
focuses on the symptom, not the cause.

I already knew that, and quickly agreed.

I said I was searching for the underlying mechanisms
that propel households to encur debt, well beyond any
means to repay it.

I said I had examined Douglas' A+B, where the absence
of a social credit might be the cause of excessive
borrowing.

Ashford, unlike Shakespeare (his co-author), bristles
at the mention of "Major Douglas."  He said of the
many mistakes of Douglas, the most aggregious mistake
was focussing on consumption rather than production.

As you know, binary economics derives from Kelso's work,
and various propositions are made by which workers can
become the owners of capital, such as via AESOPs.

Having said this, you are likely to respond by pointing
to one of your figures.  If so, I hope so.

Regards,

Curtiss

-- 


           W. Curtiss Priest, Director, CITS
   Research Affiliate, Comparative Media Studies, MIT
      Center for Information, Technology & Society
         466 Pleasant St., Melrose, MA  02176
   781-662-4044  BMSLIB@MIT.EDU http://Cybertrails.org