Boring stuff, economics?
Mention the word economics and people will start diving for cover:
"It is really boring and it has nothing to do with me. I'm not into that stuff..."
"It's all about figures and people in gray suits - boring"
"I leave all that kind of thing to the experts."
"You need to go to University to understand all that."
"What do you know about it anyway - you're not an expert."
"Economics is about the government and business; it has nothing to do with ordinary people."
Yet.
What do people do with their wages every week, or month; and if they are unemployed, their dole money? They each economise. How much does the rent, or mortgage cost? How much space do I, or my family need to live in? Could I, or we, do with less space? Do I need more space? How much would it cost? Could I move closer to my workplace? Is the rent cheaper further from my work? Could I buy a car and move further away to cheaper accommodation? How much time would I spend in traveling? Could I save money working from home? Would it be possible to work from home?
The above is a tiny percentage of the thoughts that go through the average person's head when making decisions on how to budget their income and resources. If we add even one other object to the list, such as school, telephone, clothes, or children, the process becomes very complicated and daunting. But this is what we do almost every day of our lives. We attempt as best we can to balance our life-style with our income. We are happy usually if we can attain the result Dickens, describes above - "happiness". But on too many occasions for so many people the result can be "misery". This is perhaps why we find economics so "boring". The fact that we look for so little in return for so much of our toil; and the reward and worth of our endeavour is always determined by the judgements of others. This, along with the fact the general public are not encouraged much to involve themselves with such high-faluting ideas such as economics.
The major obstacle that confronts the ordinary person is not the calculations of their daily, monthly, yearly budget. It is whether this can be afforded and when; how to spread the money out to meet the demands of their given situation. This they CAN do. The thing that makes economics boring and frustrating is that everything that they attempt to do to improve their lot is judged or valued in accordance with a rigid system that is specifically designed to keep them exactly where they are, so they see no point.
Lets put it this way. If the above is not the case, how come:
Those who, earn the most money also have the best jobs, do the most creative work, own the most property, make the most decisions that affect us all, have the best educational opportunities, take up the most space, use the most resources, to power their lifestyles.
Where as:
Those of use who do the worst, dirtiest, boring jobs,get the least wages, do the least creative work, stay in the most unhealthy environments, do very little of the decision making, get the worst education system and so on...
The economic system we live under (capitalism) is not designed to serve human needs. It is designed simply, to keep the rich and powerful at the top and the poor at the bottom.
There is not much of the above that we do not already know.
However:
What we have in the present system relies on competition, false markets, waste, cheap labour, mass advertising, mass production and long hours for the workers. The economics is driven by propaganda through advertising, lack of education, politics and the misrepresentation of history. It is a system of economics that is so imbedded in the public psyche that it is sometimes difficult for people to see that there could be an alternative.
But there ARE alternatives! And they would work better with the way people imagine their lives should be lived.
There of course is a catch before we set off on these other alternatives. There are two prerequisites. They have nothing to do with economics. The first one is "hope" - without the hope in one's ability to change things, one feels lost. The second is "vision" - without a vision of where one is going one is equally lost, even with hope.
None of the ideas of western economics trancended from a higher plane. The formula was concocted by capitalists mainly to keep the power both physically (through using armies), and economically (through markets), to both exploit and keep the "rabble" under control. These value systems were developed by human beings, flesh and blood - like you and me, and will only be changed (for the better) by human beings - just like you and me. With a little help from our friends >> Next page 2
With a little help from our friends >> Next page 2