Economics in the face of the epidemic

The stores have been closed. Offices were shuttered and everyone was advised to stay home. No work. Jobs were not open. Employment was limited to a few areas and industries that were considered (whether they were on not) essential. Grocery stores, restaurants, home repair stores and gun shops were some of the few commercial establishments allowed to operate. Hospital and doctor's offices were open but limited to treating the victims of the epidemic.

Money was dumped into the coffers of corporate entities. Small businesses got a few bones. Idle workers were deemed eligible for unemployment based on the widespread impact of the shutdown. Also, the unemployment benefits so liberally and generously granted were enhanced to provide the ability to function at a minimal level. With so many families highly leveraged the ability to keep up with all of the debt service, in addition to the household operating expenses, was non-existent.

We are getting ready for the savage social darwinism of a selfish, self-interested, highly individualistic cultural creature that will gnaw its own leg off to free itself from economic devastation or an enlightened turn toward cooperation, collaboration, social support and inclusion that bring the economic sphere of the society to heel in service of the social sphere. Whether we call it socialism, communism or gentle capitalism, it will attempt to provide the greatest good for the greatest number or it will be scapegoating and slow descent into disorder for all of us.

Days of future past

There is a concept in science called entropy. The word is related to the Greek word for transformation. It suggests that energy becomes less ordered over time and transformed into a more disordered state with each use. This concept can be extended to social phenomena. Another concept that is referred to as protoscientific is called alchemy. The word is related to the Arabic word for transformation. It suggests that matter can be transformed from a lower (less ordered) state to a higher (more ordered) state like lead to gold. This concept too can be extended to social phenomena.

Both ideas are connected to a nonlinear view of the world. They also reflect the ebb and flow of existence where we as physical beings are testaments to both entropy and alchemy. In terms of entropy we move from sperm and egg to zygote to fetus to human and back again in the conception, birth, life, death cycle. In terms of alchemy, similarly we move from the disorganized elements of food that is consumed by our parents and made into the constituents that form the sperm and egg that ultimately is ordered into a human being. This awareness is part of traditional wisdom and is dawning on  contemporary european/western epistemology through quantum physics. We are both particle and wave at the same time.

In terms of social relationships, we find a similar occurrence where we as adults (ordered) give birth to children (disordered) and care for children in their youth and in return after the children mature as adults (ordered) they care for us in our old age (disordered).  Also we see the transition that the great philosophizer Franz Fanon talked about when he said "Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it." Adults create a world out of their experience and understanding and attempt to maintain it during their life and hope to sustain it even after they die. So this reflects both alchemy and entropy. The alchemy part is where we create sense of the relatively senseless elements that constitute the world. The entropy is the response of our children who find the world of our creation has limited usefulness for them based on their experience.

We are in a constant state of ordering, falling into disorder and reordering. The past is never past. It is the building blocks of the present and the basis of our future. We reflect this in the admonition to our children of "show me your friends, I will show you your future." Making away out of no way is another instance of the entropy/alchemy axis. Moving from one state to the next is a constant. Our ability to move with it is the X factor.

Demystifying gentrification

I recently shared my belief that just like possession is 9/10ths of the law, perception is 9/10ths of reality. We hear people 

talking about gentrification of communities. I contend that there is no such thing as "gentrification." 

GHETTOIZATION = DISINVESTMENT

The concepts of ghettoization and gentrification are actually disinvestment and investment. We all from experience and 

the evidence that African people have been victims of disinvestment both at home on the continent and throughout the 

African Diaspora. We all know the stories of home that U.S. government through discriminatory housing policy denied 

insurance to areas where African people lived. It was exposed for all to see in the 1970s and called "redlining." Too often 

outcomes that result from public policy are recast as personal deficiencies. Descendants of Africans Enslaved in the U.S. 

(DAEUS) move into a community and investment moves out. No grants, bank loans or equity investments = No resources 

= disinvestment = "ghettoization." 

GENTRIFICATION = REINVESTMENT

Similarly when Europeans move into a community reinvestment occurs. Access to 

grants, bank loans and equity investments = Mo' resources = reinvestment = "gentrification." But if you didn't know that 

disinvestment resulting in lack of resources to maintain a community you might think it is the personal deficiencies of the 

inhabitants, because you see it happen again and again, and sleep on the policy decisions that lead to the outcomes. 

Similarly the reverse is true when resources are made available to maintain a community you might think that it might be 

related to the individuals merit, character, thrift, intelligence, etc. rather than the impact of policy decisions. 

POLICY DECISIONS CAST AS PERSONAL DEFICIENCIES

No ghettoization or gentrification which mystifies the policy decisions that create the conditions often blamed on personal deficiencies. Just disinvestment and reinvestment.

Developing new economic possibilities: Community developmant and local currencies

The new normal for the economy is brining to the forefront many approaches and strategies that have formerly been developed and utilized by economically marginalized communities. But in response to the weakening of the overall U.S. economy widespread adoption of similar strategies are increasingly emerging.

Local currencies as an alternative to standard currency is being adopted around the world. This moves us one step past barter by creating abstract value that is transferable and fungible. In a Wall Street Journal article (September 20, 2011, pA1) titled "In pockets of booming Brazil, a mint idea gains currency" the efforts of the citizens of Silva Jardim, Brazil to use a local currency to monetize the skills of residents and nurture the local economy. While this does not create hard currency it does provide exchange.

The persistent presence of unemployment and the deindustrialization of the American economy requires us to rethink what constitutes livelihood. A reordering of the societal values that define and determine the nature and relationship of individuals and the economy is in order.

Shifting fortunes/fuel, food and the future

The real world is fast catching up with fantasy. One of my fantasies that I came up with a few years back. I had thought that possibly the displacement of oil from the earth's crust resulted in earthquakes* due to the removal of volume and the empty space resulting from the displacement of pumping oil out of the earth. This increasing empty space is/was resulting in tectonic shifts. But an article in the Wall Street Journal seem to suggest that I may not have been too far off. While it focused on the displacement of pushing more liquid into the earth, the opposite action of removing liquid from the earth may be true.

What does this say to us about the environmental effect of "our way of life." Life imitates art or was Marvin Gaye a prophet or keen observer of the human condition when he wrote the lyrics to "Mercy, Mercy Me"? There are those who feel that the mechanistic view of the world allow for whatever current technology breaks to be fixed by future technology. We are, unfortunately, looking at a long track record where that hasn't been true. In fact many civilizations have had their demise attributed to environmental conditions of their own creation.

We look at modern agriculture and are reminded of the injunction there is no such thing as "modern" without reference to european culture (possibly a quote from Marimba Ani). The mono-culture, chemical nitrogen fertilizer, chemical pest control farming practices are suffering the effects of entropy.We, who choose to see, are looking at the warning signs of a civilization's death knell.

There is evidence that the top soil is eroding and being washed away. Insects are dying at a rate that alarms those who are most knowledgeable about the potential impacts of such an occurrence. We are all aware of the warnings concerning chemical herbicides, whether dioxin of Rachel Carson's text "Silent Spring," human studies of the impact of Agent Orange of Vietnam War veterans or the more recent case against the common household weedkiller, RoundUp. Also, with the diminished microbial activity in farm soil due to herbicides and other impacts, the nutritional level of food is decreasing. All of this from the things we are to use to promote and preserve life, i.e., growing food.

There are other activities that are a function of the culture (way we interact with the environment), world view (mechanical universe) and conceptual framework (duality of sacred and secular) held by and embedded within the dominant euro-narrative that informs and drives this culture. It is time to head for solid ground in the face of our shifting fortunes.

*Study Ties Fracking To Quakes In England, Wall Street Journal, Thursday, November 3, 2011, pg.B3
*The Good New and the Bad News/ Yes, we can cause earthquakes, Wall Street Journal, Saturday, November 19, 2011, pg.