[saymaListserv] Good vs. bad capitalism

[jewen at bellsouth.net]

And take a look (again) at Walter Wink's series of books on the Powers and Principalities, especially the general work, The Powers That Be. Even when one has an "angel" in one's corner, a power, whether political or coroporate, can face heavy going...and be thwarted not only by its own flawed nature but by well-intentioned and well-disposed other "entities"... They all benefit from intercessory prayer...yes, it does work. See Wink.

Julia
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: free polazzo 
  To: sayma at kitenet.net 
  Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2004 6:11 PM
  Subject: Re: [saymaListserv] Good vs. bad capitalism



  Hi Larry,

  Friend speaks my mind.

  Thanks for helping Friends understand that all corporations are not the same.   Just like people, there are good and there are bad and there are in between and they even change their spots!   Once an organization grows beyond "human" scale, trouble begins.

  Max Weber wrote about bureaucracy and how it stifles people's best intentions.  

                  http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/Weber/WEBERW8.HTML

  I also recommend Reinhold Neighber's book "Moral Man and Immoral Society" as a further study on why it is tough for any group to be "moral".    (even Friends).  

  I maintain that it isn't only For Profit large corporations that can do "bad'.   Not for profit (I call them Tax Exempt) corporations can be placed in the same category as the rest.

  Regards,

  Free

  PS:     I am part owner of a small business.  Check us out at :  www.friendlysystems.com


  At 02:17 PM 8/11/2004, you wrote:



    Friends,

    There has been some conversation on this list lamenting the negative opinion many modern Quakers alledgely hold about business.

    Another way to frame the discussion is about what kinds of business are good and what kinds are bad.  E.F. Shumacher took this approach.  Rather than uncritically condemning or embracing capitalism, he tried to discern what scale of economic endeavor was best, with "best" defined as community health rather than size per se or the wealth of corporate executives and investors.

    In my mind, my father owned a "good" business, one that provided support for my family and those of 6-8 other people.  He lived in the community in which his business was located and worked tirelessly on behalf of the common good through various groups like Rotary International.  In Appalachia where I live, it is easy to see examples of "bad" business that extracts wealth from the region, destroys the land and viewscape, and pays back little in terms of wages or taxes for local social infrastructure like schools.  A historic study around 1980 found that the extent of absentee ownership of wealth in Appalachia was inversely related to a county's well-being in terms of such measures as poverty, income, and social capital.

    Here is a provocative article by David Harvey critiquing current trends in today's business world.  While it may appear negative to business, I see it as trying to discern a happy medium between greed and impoverishment.  Hope you find it informative.

    Peace like a river,

    Guy Larry Osborne



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