Economic ideology
As I become more aware of the economic theories and their proponents, I realize that economics is less a science than an ideology; though one replete with plenty of formulae, statistics and graphs. From left Marxism to middle road, reasonable Keynesianism to Hayak and Freidman on the extreme right, we have teleological apocolypsians who skew all interpretations of data to their own ideologies and confirmation biases. Keynes makes the most sense, since he understands that the world can only work on non-absolutes and immediate practical remedies. The hopes and fears of all of the Free Market boys’ years requires, identically to Marxism, a mythical future towards which all economic activity must directed. An immediate fix will only ruin the chance of the future, “further on.” “Further on,” said the practical Keynes, “we will all be dead.” But living in the needs of the present would never occur to a True Believer, be he Christian, Marxist, or Free Marketeer. All failures of Marx or Markets are explained by failure to sedulously impose rigorous implementation of the system’s infinite requirements for perfect outcomes. The Marxists looked to the suffering brought on by the collapse of Capitalist systems as the opportunity to weaken the enemy and start their revolution; the Free Marketeers likewise look to civil turmoil as a starting point to impose their austere economics: we know the atrocities of the left – Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao. The Free Marketeers joyfully gave us Pinochet in Chile, the murderers of Argentina and Uruguay, and the destruction of other economies. Destruction of the status quo, and complete dismissal of concern for the millions who suffer from these political/economic convulsions, are the outcome of all ideological teleological approaches. Life is of the moment and its solutions are immediate solutions. Absolute ideals with only vague future rewards are the playthings of intellectual egoism. In 2008, when the recession came crashing down upon us, I am sure many Free Marketeers, committed to the Shock Doctrine, saw it as the cataclysm that would allow them to treat the US as they had treated Chile and the others. Even the moronic Bush knew better, and his actions, impotent and inadequate as they were, were bitterly opposed by the Economic Right. Whenever the Right talks of jobs or alleviating the suffering of people, they only speak in the far future tense. They talk of 2030 and later, of our “grandchildren’s” well being. These are the reddest of the red herrings. Christianity, Marxism, Free Marketism. all find their justification in an unknown and unknowable future.
