capitalism
Out of context: Reply #203
- Started
- Last post
- 1,535 Responses
- sofas0
"In this short video, Peter Fleming, author of 'The Death of Homo Economicus' (Pluto, 2017), answers the questions 'who was homo economicus?' and 'how does its ghost continue to haunt us today?'
The book is available now from plutobooks.com
---
In today's workplaces we work harder and longer, labouring under the illusion that this will bring us more wealth. As this myth becomes increasingly preposterous, it's time to understand why we believe in it, and where it came from.
The Death of Homo Economicus explores the origin of this oppressive myth, in order to destroy it. The story begins with the creation of a fake persona labelled the 'dollar-hunting man', invented by economists Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek. Today, this persona, driven by competition and ego, is used by politicians and managers to draw a veil over the terrible reality of work under capitalism.
Creeping into all aspects of life, the desire to constantly compete and accumulate must be resisted if we are to create a better way of life for all."
- Or you could create a population of unskilled workers who are useless who sit around and wait for gov't handouts.hotroddy
- is this russian fake news? Hard to see any relevance at all in this video. Basically a dude talking about nothing. i think u got trolled sofas********
- unless you are the troll.... trolling... either way check yourself for fake news cancer usually found under the left testicle********
- @hotroddy - do we need more graphic designers advancing society with their awesome commercials?sofas
- @deathboy ad hominem = trollingsofas
- Any way, I don't know if I agree with Mr. Fleming, just found it interesting.sofas
- Homo Economicus is a simplification of the darwinistic principles that underpin capitalistic economics... i'm not sure about this book either but there has beenkingsteven
- a ton of discussion recently about how theories debunking it as an adequate model for human behaviour could affect economic systems.kingsteven
- i don't see a direct connection between adopting more altruistic models for business and serfdom. if anything the proof lies in entities adopting such a modelkingsteven
- and being more successful and economically stable than their peers.kingsteven
- @sofas I see your point. But I provide a service and I get paid to be creative. The more businesses and entrepreneurs the more my services are in demand.hotroddy
- what other system is going to want my services? Will the gov't need my services? Should I do propaganda posters or design state park maps and flyers?hotroddy
- hotroddy, homo economicus refers to the persona that operates on competition and ego alone. it's not accurate as it doesn't reflect the actual makeup of thekingsteven
- workforce because businesses that promote a mix of egotistic and altruistic personas have proven to be more successful.kingsteven
- so the economic systems need to evolve to take this in to consideration. it's the death of a concept framed as the death of a person... you are not dying.kingsteven
- sofas how do you not know if you agree or disagree? are you waiting for someone to decide for you? step up and decide********
- and ad hominem doesn't make much sense since im not throwing shade on you or the author for the argument. Im simply saying I found 0 relevance in the vid********
- what motivates someone to post something they dont know how to think/feel about? Base your thinking on popular average? haha u funny********