The following argument is based on an recent enunciation of Derrick Jensen, which says: "Economics is no more than the justification for people with power to continue with exploiting the poor and killing the planet."
(The exact English phrase is not known to me, this is a translation from a Dutch source.)
I do not believe that mankind is able to destroy the planet.
I do believe that most economists are sincere servants who try to understand the mechanics of Economy and who mean to do well for the poor.
But there's commercial ignorance and indifference as well as economic blindness. And there’s also sheer political evil intent.
Therefore I like to formulate it in this way.
Economics is not a science.
Economics is a format, a set of rules, wrapped in a logical connection, enabling people who have got things well organized – the haves – to control those who are just fiddling around – the have-nots.
In various ways:
– it is a check for the effectiveness of proposed measures, conserving the state of affairs, in favor of the haves
– it offers a justification for the behavior of the haves towards the have-nots
– it guarantees moral pressure on the have-nots to accept the world as it is
This set of rules works very well in the trading between the rich man's world and the poor man's habitat. In the current juncture of restoration it serves well to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
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