Yes ... - Wirearchy

In any event, that’s not really what I wanted to note this morning. Instead, a similar thought occurred to me in another context. I’ve been frustrated for a long time with the underlying conceit behind the notion that "markets are conversations." This metaphorical "framing," has, to me, been one of the most hideous and socially corrosive notions to come along in a very long time. Yet it has been embraced as somehow something that is informed, enlightened, indeed, even liberating and I have consistently failed to understand how anyone could believe that.

But now I think I understand.

Economic systems are a form of technology, and as such, they intermediate our perception of reality. Capitalism, or perhaps more accurately, consumerism or commercialism, has been a fantastically "successful" technology, creating vast quantities of financial "wealth." (Along with a significant downside cost we simply dismiss.) It therefore shapes our view of "reality," to include our social interactions, which preceded all our economic theories.

So indeed, our social interactions, our "being" as "social beings" is interpreted in an economic "framework," and "being" is ultimately subordinated to the framework of "commerce," hence "markets are conversations." This is not a good thing, but I don’t know of a successful competing technological or even metaphorical framework I can impose which might alter the current state of affairs.

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See Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom, circa 1941.

See also Wealth Bondage, Phil Cubeta, circa 2002.

UPDATE:

Yes …

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