[Altruistic-Economics] Dematerialism and altruism

[Robin Upton]

On 03/20/2011 11:44 PM, Tom Wayburn wrote:
> Hi Robin (and John if he sees this),
>
> It strikes me that John's is a very conservative proposal and is well within
> the political tolerance bounds of most people.  Dematerialism, on the other
> hand, attempts to take reciprocal altruism out of the economy.  People are
> supposed to disregard who benefits and by how much and concentrate instead
> on the pleasure they derive from manufacturing the good or providing the
> service with no account of the consumer as an individual.  
This is a very interesting angle. On the one hand, not thinking of
others sounds like a nonsense, and not a good way to help. On the other,
I think we are all aware of just how wrong the standard conceptions of
the world/how to help/etc. are. And this morning I was teaching the
children, by showing them videos of the Milgram experiment etc. of the
importance of thinking themselves, making their own decisions about what
to do etc. And asking them whether they had beauty in their lives. Could
you explain more of the philosophy of this approach?
> If consumers like
> what he provides and continue to request it, the economy will provide him
> what he values most - the privilege of doing the work.  
If you haven't already read John Taylor Gatto on the privilege of work
point, he comes with my very highest recommendation.
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/14j.htm is the most relevant
section of an excellent book of his.
> Dematerialism asks
> for an adjustment of human nature that rejects maladaptive propensities in
> favor of better ones.
>
> Tom Wayburn
>  
> P.S.  My ideas were influenced by the intrinsic motivational school of
> psychology including the work of John Condry, Ed Deci, and Richard Ryan.
A show I made on ex- v. in-trinsic motivation is at
http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/506
I came at this via my study of the money system and mass forced
schooling. I would value your thoughts.

Robin