4 ms·

I think this is covered in the supplement, 4. Economics, f) Free market... I would agree that competition in some form is essential, but we must also be mindfu

I think this is covered in the supplement, 4. Economics, f) Free market... I would agree that competition in some form is essential, but we must also be mindful of issues with competition such as market failures.

seydor 4y ago
That says nothing about power or about academia itself. The whole supplement is a "list of superficial assertions we hold to be true even though we have no idea if they are", that are typical political anti-capitalist rhetoric
- brutusborn 4y ago
  They are "working hypothesis" to be studied, and thus implicitly they are being considered skeptically. I agree they should consider power, I would imagine that would come under cultural aspects. As to Academia, they explicitly criticize Academic silos; the whole network is a way to address problems with reductionism. I'm not sure what makes you think they are anti-capitalist. I suspect you didn't read the whole thing because they say "To be clear, the authors are not making blanket statements about the pros and cons of markets, capitalism, socialism, or communism. (These are tasks for the scholarly network whose creation we urge.)" Edit: on a side note, I'm genuinely interested in how you would envision a 'world without power'?
  - seydor 4y ago
    > I'm not sure what makes you think they are anti-capitalist. Their list contains these: - Our current economic model emphasizes means (income, spending) over ends (wellbeing) - The free market may not be the best way of meeting basic human needs, such as water, food, and air quality (empirically false) - Relentless focus on short-term performance and growth, together with a discount rate that devalues the future, blinds decision-makers to long-term challenges (content-free rambling) - Humanity will need to reevaluate its place in the natural world, shifting from consumerism to conservation, and accepting planetary boundaries - It is essential that humanity reframe its decisionmaking processes to value ecosystem health, resilience, sustainability, human rights, and true quality of life above traditional economic indicator > envision a 'world without power'? Not possible , but a world with less concentration of power is possible
    - brutusborn 4y ago
      That's a fair list and I can see how it can be read as anti-capitalist, but I think that is basically projecting political beliefs onto the paper (as I said before they explicitly avoid supporting any particular system). I hope that these points can be addressed within the current capitalist system, but obviously some changes to the status quo would be required. The essential point of the paper is the importance of studying these things within a multidisciplinary framework of planetary limitations. How would you best reduce concentrations of power? Personally I think some Austrian school ideas have merit (increasing local power relative to central governments) and direct democracy.

seydor 4y ago

That says nothing about power or about academia itself. The whole supplement is a "list of superficial assertions we hold to be true even though we have no idea if they are", that are typical political anti-capitalist rhetoric

brutusborn 4y ago
They are "working hypothesis" to be studied, and thus implicitly they are being considered skeptically. I agree they should consider power, I would imagine that would come under cultural aspects. As to Academia, they explicitly criticize Academic silos; the whole network is a way to address problems with reductionism. I'm not sure what makes you think they are anti-capitalist. I suspect you didn't read the whole thing because they say "To be clear, the authors are not making blanket statements about the pros and cons of markets, capitalism, socialism, or communism. (These are tasks for the scholarly network whose creation we urge.)" Edit: on a side note, I'm genuinely interested in how you would envision a 'world without power'?
- seydor 4y ago
  > I'm not sure what makes you think they are anti-capitalist. Their list contains these: - Our current economic model emphasizes means (income, spending) over ends (wellbeing) - The free market may not be the best way of meeting basic human needs, such as water, food, and air quality (empirically false) - Relentless focus on short-term performance and growth, together with a discount rate that devalues the future, blinds decision-makers to long-term challenges (content-free rambling) - Humanity will need to reevaluate its place in the natural world, shifting from consumerism to conservation, and accepting planetary boundaries - It is essential that humanity reframe its decisionmaking processes to value ecosystem health, resilience, sustainability, human rights, and true quality of life above traditional economic indicator > envision a 'world without power'? Not possible , but a world with less concentration of power is possible
  - brutusborn 4y ago
    That's a fair list and I can see how it can be read as anti-capitalist, but I think that is basically projecting political beliefs onto the paper (as I said before they explicitly avoid supporting any particular system). I hope that these points can be addressed within the current capitalist system, but obviously some changes to the status quo would be required. The essential point of the paper is the importance of studying these things within a multidisciplinary framework of planetary limitations. How would you best reduce concentrations of power? Personally I think some Austrian school ideas have merit (increasing local power relative to central governments) and direct democracy.