MONETARY: Metaphysic of monetary reform

[Steve Nieman <stevenieman@mac.com>]

I have enjoyed the discussions in various forums of COG, most recently this barrage of exchanges on Monetary Reform. The back-n-forths certainly have the potential of revealing truths.

But these discussions, like all human endeavors, have certain inherent limitations, many of them paradoxes, which we all have to acknowledge or then much of this verbal exertion won’t affect change in the real world.

We could revisit, I suppose, the limitations of words to express reality. And how a lot of people get all contorted-up when certain “noises” are used. I always loved the rejoinder, “Dem are fightin’ words!” Which ones? I’m just trying to come up with something from this linguistic symbology that we all agree to use—and you’re going to fight me over my selections?! Gosh, under what pile is my thesaurus? 

And how all freedoms are restrained by inevitable forms of slavery.

How can there be freedom as long as the “you” persists? A “you” makes choices, shoulders responsibility and has to be consistent. But if you dump the slavery to “you” won’t there be more freedom to observe what’s actually there?

We all know the correct line of conduct for humans to interact successfully together. More often than not we don’t follow it, blaming our defects on everyone else.

Many of us find pleasure in being more talented than other people and in dominating them by means of those talents.

Why do many of us seem so oblivious? Because we don’t take the trouble to examine our motives, because if we did we would find them discreditable. Some of us do pause, but then lie to ourselves to the point that we believe what we’re doing is honorable and good.

What benefit are purely verbal displays which merely remain on a page or computer screen? How about taking on the difficulty of putting your theories into actual practice?

These are some of realities. We’d all do better to contemplate the flipsides  of self-worship, lust for power and hypocrisy.