Saturday, March 7, 2009

Missed Salon Topics

Discussion topics for March 6:
1. Does Capitalism promise luxury?
2. You are what you read.
3. Will Localism replace Globalism?

4 comments:

Ginger said...

1.Not to the poor.
2. No - though what you read can influence who you are.
3. It is a possiblilty, and probably friend, Mark, hopes so the most.

Christine said...

1. Only to those at the top. And really it doesn't "promise" anything.
2. To a small extent, and yes if you limit your reading only to what reinforces your own point of view. It's more true in a limiting sense than in a dangerous exploratory sense; more is better in this arena.
3. Hmm... it will be interesting to see. I'm worried about tough times pushing us back to nationalism, which is bad. But "localism" sounds good to me, as I read that as community-building and turning our attention to our neighbors. I just worry that if globalism does collapse to an extent it could turn into ugly cultural tension. Economically, I think increased localism would be great. Maybe the downturn will get us to work on making that change more viable and workable, and that would be a good thing.

W said...

1. I think capitalism only promises complete freedom to be perfectly selfish and step on whomever you please in order to get where you want to be. Some people call that luxury, I suppose.

2. If that's true we are all in trouble because I am fairly certain we have all read some complete tripe before.

3. I sincerely hope it does. There is such a desperate need right now for us all to restructure our lives and figure out what we really want to be, as a country. Do we really want to be the global bully that we have become? Or do we want to grow up and take responsibility for ourselves?

Ginger said...

Christine- in a way, I think Capitalism does promise luxury or else no one would "buy" into it.IMO it has to promise something, just like Communism promises equality, and socialism promises security.. Otherwise what's the use?

Tara, I think the way you descibe capitalism is how we've misused it. I think we've misused Communism and Socialism in the same ways. To me, that equals the fact that a few should not be in charge of anything.

Maybe localism is the way to go, but only if it has the meaning that Christine applies to it.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Missed Salon Topics

Discussion topics for March 6:
1. Does Capitalism promise luxury?
2. You are what you read.
3. Will Localism replace Globalism?

4 comments:

Ginger said...

1.Not to the poor.
2. No - though what you read can influence who you are.
3. It is a possiblilty, and probably friend, Mark, hopes so the most.

Christine said...

1. Only to those at the top. And really it doesn't "promise" anything.
2. To a small extent, and yes if you limit your reading only to what reinforces your own point of view. It's more true in a limiting sense than in a dangerous exploratory sense; more is better in this arena.
3. Hmm... it will be interesting to see. I'm worried about tough times pushing us back to nationalism, which is bad. But "localism" sounds good to me, as I read that as community-building and turning our attention to our neighbors. I just worry that if globalism does collapse to an extent it could turn into ugly cultural tension. Economically, I think increased localism would be great. Maybe the downturn will get us to work on making that change more viable and workable, and that would be a good thing.

W said...

1. I think capitalism only promises complete freedom to be perfectly selfish and step on whomever you please in order to get where you want to be. Some people call that luxury, I suppose.

2. If that's true we are all in trouble because I am fairly certain we have all read some complete tripe before.

3. I sincerely hope it does. There is such a desperate need right now for us all to restructure our lives and figure out what we really want to be, as a country. Do we really want to be the global bully that we have become? Or do we want to grow up and take responsibility for ourselves?

Ginger said...

Christine- in a way, I think Capitalism does promise luxury or else no one would "buy" into it.IMO it has to promise something, just like Communism promises equality, and socialism promises security.. Otherwise what's the use?

Tara, I think the way you descibe capitalism is how we've misused it. I think we've misused Communism and Socialism in the same ways. To me, that equals the fact that a few should not be in charge of anything.

Maybe localism is the way to go, but only if it has the meaning that Christine applies to it.