Oct 17 - 46/45 - McCain +01
Emancipation of the mind...
Thank you, Mr. Galbraith.
It was the last day in April and I was clicking around the BBC looking for something to post on. Anything. And I stumbled upon your obituary. I was not, in the least bit, saddened. Skimming the article I came across a few of your more memorable quotes:
"Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists."
"Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite"
And of course…"It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought"
I was mildly interested. But far from saddened. I made a mental note to pick up your most loved/hated work: The Affluent Society. It was on my list, just below The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (which I honestly only jotted down cause of the cool sounding title).
At the time I was just wrapping up Jack Kerouac’s super-undeniably-classic masterpiece: On the Road (a book that I must now confess, having just read yours, was an utter waste of my time.) Before that, I had been on a reading tear for a few months and was beginning to tire. Really tire. At the end of April, the prospect of picking up a 300 page Econ essay sounded about as fun as getting a botched root canal at the Case Western Reserve School of Dentistry.
But the library dragged their feet getting Salman Rushdie; and so I started flipping through your book half-heartedly.
And when I finished it, when I put it down…I was saddened.
Thank you, Mr. Galbraith. You will be missed.
By Robert - 5/30/2006
7 Comments:
The title of the post is a quote I pulled from the book:
"Emancipation of the mind is a no less worthy enterprise than emancipation of the body."
This is a great, great book.
What was the thesis of this book? What did you get out of reading it?
In the book Galbraith goes back and forth between economic nuances and broad philosophical questioning. (A person needs to have some interest in the science of Economics to enjoy it…and I confess the third fourth drags.)
The term “the conventional wisdom” was coined by Galbraith in this very book. That is basically anything that is true just because it is widely accepted.
He makes the point that only some people are “authorized” to question the conventional wisdom. A person needs to be a certified member of academia to be able to do so and be taken seriously.
He goes on to say that a large part of becoming a certified member of academia is proving that you are able to digest and regurgitate the conventional wisdom itself without question.
On a more socio-economic level, he talks about the myth of the importance of the production of goods. He demonstrates how the steadfast laws of Econ, created in a society of widespread need (in the life threatening sense) no longer apply in our affluent society.
He spends a lot of time trying to tie something resembling morality to Econ. Pointing out that not all supplies and all demands are equal, and that our GNP does not distinguish between the production and sales of school supplies and say…switchblades.
In the end he addresses taxation and talks about the battle between private and public goods and services:
“The family which takes its mauve, air conditioned, power-steered and power-braked automobile out for a tour passes through cities that are badly paved, made hideous by litter, blighted buildings, billboards and posts for wires that should long since have been put underground.
They pass on into a countryside that has been rendered largely invisible by commercial art. They picnic on exquisitely packaged food from a portable icebox by a polluted stream and go on to spend the night at a park which is a menace to public health and morals.
Just before dozing off on an air mattress, beneath a nylon tent, amid the stench of decaying refuse, they may reflect vaguely on the curious unevenness of their blessing.
Is this, indeed, the American genius?”
John Kenneth Galbraith was awarded two U.S. Presidential Medals of Freedom.
(One by JFK, one by your man Clinton.)
Kyle, I think you’d really love this book.
Sweet. That sounds interesting and I always need to read more on economics. I'll try and find it this weekend.
I haven't read his work widely, but I always viewed Galbraith as more Tocqueville of economics. He was a brilliant observer, with the ability to make his observance sensical and eloquent.
at any rate, he's a J. Ken I can get behind, unlike the one running for governor.
Nobody wants to bust my balls for calling On the Road an utterly worthless read?
Redhorse,
Speaking of Tocqueville, I am just starting his Democracy in America (the abridged 300pg version).
Did you read this?
Is it worth picking up?
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