dr.van nostrum
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Ash……. I have no quarrel with the obvious fact that limitless growth is an absurd fantasy. What I DO object to is the ridiculous idea (born of historical or philosophical ignorance?) that America is somehow unique in its greed, exploitation,etc.etc. This drive to dominate, this willingness to exploit, the drive for “profits” which translate into “the power to control” is UNIVERSAL. If America seems to have been better at the job than most, it is only that we are at present at “the top of the heap”. Go back 100 years, it was Britain and Germany. !00 before that, it was France and 200 before that it was Spain. This is what goes on among peoples. As to any hope of even a partial movement towards “steady-state”, the very first thing that MUST take place is de-centralization on a massive scale. No central banks, no European Unions, no powerful central governments that micro-manage each state or region, no globalization and no world government. These are the perpetrators of tyranny, the originators of local apathy, the destroyers of community, and the evangelists of the “endless growth” lie.
I am a contractor in the Dallas Texas area. About 6 months ago I overheard a conversation between two management types at a local family-owned builder-supply business. They were dumbfounded that another builder-supply business in the area had just secured financing from a British financial institution at an !!% rate! Apparently, this other business had done this TO SURVIVE!! These men knew the complete impossibility of such a gambit and were amazed that anyone could be so foolish! Not being a shy person, I insinuated myself into the conversation. As a result, I also learned of another large building supply company in the area that can only be described as a “zombie” company. These management guys at the family-owned business were angry because Wells Fargo Bank was “keeping alive” a competitor. The family-owned business has no debt. Their competitor continues operating in the market because it apparently owes Wells Fargo so much money that the bank could not allow it to go out of business. This of course screws up the market pretty badly while putting completely unnecessary and unfair pressure on the debt-free business! Two examples from my corner of “bankruptcy avoided”.
