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sharkonomicsPaul Kordis, October 2008 Predatory economics have apparently overtaken the United States through privatization of profit, externalization of cost, and socialization of risk (Galbraith, 2008). It is an economy in which personal responsibility is abdicated and social responsibility is decried as weak and dangerous (Frank, 2008). It is an economy based on ever increasing consumption, centralization of wealth, debt, expansion and militarization (Bacevich, 2008). Based on the recent machinations of Wall Street and our government it is now undeniable, if it were not abundantly clear already, that we are living in a shark infested economy. So what is a shark economy? Simply put, it is one in which the notion of, "I'm going to get mine no matter what and getting mine will be even sweeter if you don't get yours!" is the prevailing philosophy, ideology, and operations manual for an economy in which everyone besides the sharks are going to take it in the shorts and eventually, after the rest of us have been devoured, the sharks will dine on each other. In other words, it is a win-lose game that will ultimately foster a lose-lose result for everyone, including the sharks. But in our current economic environment this not-so-subtle outcome has apparently been so obscured by the sharks that they ultimately have become blind to it themselves. To achieve this remarkable feeding frenzy required four fundamental maneuvers:
But I am getting a bit ahead of myself. Let's return to what a shark economy really is, because, in fact, it is really an economics of adolescence. It is an immature economy run by the worst of teenage mentality. It is a pimply-faced, hormone-riddled, gangly, awkward, and blatantly shallow and self-interested economy with no larger perspective other than achieving those things that "...will put me in charge, make me really popular, and get me wasted and laid on a routine basis." There is no focus on the future. There is no concern for being a good citizen. There is no desire to maintain order or hygiene or discipline. Just shut up, give me the keys to the car, don't ask me when I'll be home and don't bother me if I trash the neighborhood, drive too fast, drink too much, smoke a little dope, get into a fight, wreck the car, or have unprotected sex. Live for today, dude! You just don't understand! Leave me alone! In other words, it is an economy where the sharks can do what they want with no oversight or consequences. It is an economy without parenting or any other authority figure that might impinge on their good time. It is an economy in which sharks can engage in risky behavior and win big. But it is also an economy in which, even if they lose, nothing is really lost. This isn't to say that adolescence is all bad and that all teenagers are irredeemable. After all, with few exceptions we all go through it and usually come out all right in the end. But sane and competent parents don't let adolescents run their home, and for good reason. Adolescents generally don't have the maturity or the perspective to make good decisions regarding things that are bigger and more complex than the world of high school. This is why their first experience of college is often both liberating and overwhelming. That is, if they make it to college. It is also dysfunctional as an adult to remain mired in adolescent behavior. And it is even more dysfunctional to allow governments, religious institutions, societies and economies to run on the same juvenile principles. If we do, then the big lose-lose looms on the not-so-distant horizon. The socially pubescent desire to overachieve, to attain egregious status and celebrity, to hyper-compete and to keep a conspicuous score must be regulated. After all, there are pretty strict rules in the Olympics aren't there? Michael Phelps most likely wouldn't have achieved greatness if all Olympic swimmers were given guns and knives and the winner was the one who made it alive to the finish line. Olympic distinction may not be socially pubescent, but it is the final and most visible competition for many athletes. It cannot be a free for all. And neither can our economy. Unrestricted and unregulated capitalism, flying under the banner of free-market fundamentalism and existing as the primary goal of sharks for the last two centuries of American history, eventually and ironically becomes socialism for the most successful sharks and a system of plutocracy, oligarchy, corporatocracy, and theocracy under which the rest of us must labor. Once government is in the sharks’ pocket, once the feed stock has been bamboozled, once the rest of us have become captive to a system of servitude, the sharks can enjoy a form of welfare that ensures that the game will go on to the bitter, and ultimately catastrophic, end. referencesBacevich, A. J. (2008). The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. New York: Metropolitan Books. Frank, T. (2008). The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule. New York: Metropolitan Books. Galbraith, J. K. (2008). The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. New York: Free Press. Respond to this topic. |
founderPaul L. Kordis, PhD advisorsJames H. Banning, PhD Gary Geroy, PhD Ed Goodman, P.E., MSCE Bruce Hall, PhD M.L. Johnson, EdD, PhD David T. Moran, PhD Beverly Title, PhD
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