The myth of the free market assumes some parity among the horsetraders. In olden times, there were proscriptions against usury that were in effect from the church, when usury was against the law. Not only usury, but there was a level short of usury which was considered, if not a legal matter, at least an ecclesiastical matter, and people would be warned against the un-Christian nature of “sharp practices.” Sharp practices included the kind of farming mentality that confused husbandry with being sure to plant the fruit trees on the side of the property close to the fence, so the shade would fall on your neighbor’s property and the fruit would fall on your own.
But the Bible taught that the first two rows along the edge of the road were dedicated to passing travelers who in those days of non-frozen or concentrated foods, could not possibly carry enough food for a very long journey, and probably didn’t have any actual money on their persons as they traveled.
These were cultural norms. Some may say that is naive and it was easier then, and there are more people now and times are harder. But two rows alongside the field of a giant complicated farm is virtually insignificant. There are huge quantities of food produced and harvested these days, but two rows could still be done without damage to the industry. It is merely that sharp practices have become “normal”, which is to say not right or acceptable, but done by so many people that the curve describing the frequency of that action is near the norm. — Excerpted from Rendered Infamous, by Stephen Gaskin.
Resume:
Farm 1973
Tofu Shop 100,000 a year 75-81
2 daughters valedictorian Santa Fe
2 daughters Ivy League grads
Provider of Humates, the most organic substance on earth;
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Expose on capitalism. Even the trees should be set back from the road to let them dry and thaw. And the Church said a penny for a penny, and Christ said, keep the penny. Then the Medici arose and figured a penny could be a product and traded pepper for gold and tender given to you on credit, yet reading Stephen is like eating an apple, it takes three hours to digest, so hopefully you’ll let me write again.
It appears that there is a conscious and concerted effort to exercise sharp practices with the assumption that making a profit purifies all efforts to obtain it.
A coworker once compared the “freedoms” laid out by our cooperate bosses to a fun-park electric car ride. You had the freedom to steer anywhere along the road but a center rail kept you from straying too far to either side.
This reminds me of the Left-Right dichotomy that our corporate media adheres to, as if it’s the only model.
I have noticed that no matter how whacked out and weird some are, as long as they are making money, they get a place at the table.
It is those of us with relatively little or no money that have no significant vote in that scenario (as in one-dollar-per-vote.)
I have come to conclude that these profit-first advocates have no real interest in democracy.
We need a defense mechanism. I do not mean a military defense. I mean something more like an immune defense so that we recognize ourselves in each other the way our own bodies avoid attacking our life support systems.
I have also come to realize that some people are on the offensive and know full well that their limiting rail will not allow us little drivers to steer clear of their steamroller. There is no point in calling for reason in the face of that.
This implies jumping the track to survive.
“We need a defense mechanism.”
Life Dollars. This is it.
I have done some research on economics with the idea of posting a more informed description of my views. My premise is that economic systems are inherently flawed when based purely on a monetary system.
I do not mean that economic systems cannot include currency of some kind. I mean that currency has no intrinsic value other than what we agree on. I think that economic systems should be based on the actual life-sustaining properties of our planet.
People apparently understood this when they discouraged usury and sharp practices.
As has often happened when I embark on research to flesh out my ideas, I find someone has already said it with far more articulation and backup research than I can muster. Again, I happily find that I am not alone.
Check out this post by William Danials, entitled: “WE ARE MISSING THE POINT OF ECONOMICS & FINANCE.” It is rather lengthy but comprehensive. Here in an excerp:
”
Second Principle.
FINANCE IS NOT ECONOMICS
Webster’s defines economics as “a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services”. Contrary to popular belief, none of these take money. Nature has never demanded money for sunshine, oxygen, crude oil, water, growing plants or ANYTHING else that humans use in our economy. Nature DOES require that we observe it’s laws, and these laws don’t change.
”
http://www.bfi.org/our_programs/bfi_community/education/education/true_economics
In the Year One Reed, in the Day One Reed
December 2, 2009
Tonight is the Long Night Moon or some call it the Full Cold Moon. We have gathered most of our naming of the moon from the Native Americans, who watched the moon so closely, generations of its movement where recorded upon rock deep within hidden places in the high desert of the southwest.
This month we also have a second unnamed moon, a Blue Moon, a betrayer moon, on the last day of the year. The native americans of the southwest would be able to tell you when the last time that happened, 1971 and the time before that, 1952 and the century of December 2 moons. Long Night Moon is actually the native american name for the December Moon. The moon’s arc directly travels overhead, its path the slowest and longest of the year. The name Cold Moon came from the Celts, another moon watching people. The colonists called it the Yule Moon.
http://humates-nm.com/humates_produce_information.html
response to J. Gibbons says: “…Moon[s]…”
You did not relate this to subject of Sharp Practices so I will make a connection.
Before the industrial revolution far more people paid attention to seasonal changes and moon cycles because we relied more directly on agriculture, in those times. Our present day urban and suburban population relies more on currency-based value judgments to assess available resources. Thus, in my opinion, the increase in sharp practices.
For example: Who cares if Wal-Mart sucks the money out or your community to send off to corporate HQ if you can buy the item for less up front? Isn’t this buying into sharp practices for purely personal benefit?
The idea of ‘Life Dollars’ (as Francis Ayley implies) is that our currency system could somehow reflect the actual life-sustaining value of the product and merchandiser. Or, we can pay attention to how resources get to us and purchase them (using today’s dollars) with some knowledge of how the product effects life on earth.
A Google search of ’sustainable’ returned 11.9 million hits in 0.2 seconds. People are waking up.
Here is one site I was drawn to:
Sustainable South Bronx
http://www.ssbx.org/