The New Beginning

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Kevin Carson, Another By-the-Numbers Defense of Sweatshops

By definition, anything anyone does in a situation where there is a choice between more than one alternative is the "best available alternative." The question you should be asking is: why is the range of available alternatives so crappy in the first place? And a big part of the answer is the role of Third World states in carrying out land expropriations on the model of the English Enclosures, to drive peasants off their land and coerce them into the wage labor market. Third World states also play a major role in enforcing draconian restrictions on labor organization, tax their own people to provide subsidized road and utility infrastructure to offshored foreign industry, turn the peasants' confiscated common lands into industrial parks, and enforce the anti-market "intellectual property" [sic] laws without which the Nike model of outsourcing everything but marketing and finance would be impossible.

And Western capital is engaged in no small collusion with Third World states in guaranteeing a set of conditions under which workers accept employment on whatever terms are offered as the "best available alternative."

Western employers are engaged in parasitic activity, profitably selling crutches to people whose legs were broken by their partners in crime -- Third World states. (Never mind the role of the American state in backing death squads and military dictators to stop land reforms and make the world safe for corporate power, to subsidize the export of capital with World Bank loans for infrastructure, and to impose stuff like the Uruguay Round TRIPS Accords on the rest of the world).

You should be asking yourself how labor and capital would be directed in Third World countries if it weren't for all those broken windows.

What? Really?

Rob Vischer, Should Sarah Palin thank Ruth Bader Ginsburg? (And can CLT help her do so?)

I don't always agree with Dahlia Lithwick, but I do appreciate this short essay on the feminism of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and how her contributions to the law helped make the public and professional careers of women like Sarah Palin more feasible. Can Palin express appreciation for Ginsburg's achievements without endorsing the entire legacy of those achievements? Maybe Palin has, in fact; I don't know, but I do know that there is a tendency to demonize categorically entire worldviews and the folks who hold them, whether they be labeled "radical feminists" or "the religious right." It seems to me that one valuable contribution of Catholic legal theory is its embrace of nuance and complexity; in its refusal to be captured by any particular ideological or partisan political position, CLT should have the capacity to stand back and applaud figures coming from a wide array of perspectives, even while speaking out about where those figures have lost sight of foundational values and/or the fundamental reality of the human person. In other words, what can make CLT seem frustratingly elusive equips it to reach across today's sharply drawn lines and affirm the good, wherever it is found.

1. Sarah Palin is a feminist who owes a lot to feminism, there is no doubt about that, I don't think. The question is whether the achievements of feminism are actually positive contributions to Western society. Does Sarah Palin repudiate feminism? One sort, but she is touted as a symbol of a "new feminism." Still, even if it is not hostile towards men and claims to be "socially conservative" it is still rooted in liberalism and radical egalitarianism. It is like how "conservatives" and "liberals" may differ on specifics but share assumptions about the nature of society, freedom, and so on. The old school and new school feminists may disavow her as one of their own, but it is merely a question of who is less "wrong" and I do not see any indication that Sarah Palin is anything but a political opportunist who has failed to take care of her family properly, rather than a principled "conservative."

2. Is it to demonize a worldview to issue a syllbus of errors? And are some errors more serious than others because they are closer to the beginning, and thus there are many more consequences? How about worldviews that undermine a [traditional] Christian society? And what does Catholic legal theory have to do with anything, unless it has imported erroneous premises from liberalism? Is it the case that those who believe in "meritocracy" are unable to offer principled support of patriarchy? The toleration or admission of women to a certain office in accordance with custom (e.g., the question of sucesssion) is not the as "gender-blind" policies that look at ability only (which many who support the entry of women into the military, even combat roles, and other traditionally male-dominated professions like law enforcement, hold).

3. So what good is there to feminism that it did not already have from traditional Western morality? (Its opposition to certain unjust acts.) And how does it compare to the evils that it has promoted?

Mark Sisson on being a locavore

Is Eating Local Best? Perhaps Not

Are the numbers in the NYT guest editorial by Stephen Budiansky correct?

Budiansky spends the rest of his editorial illustrating a larger perspective on American agriculture. Although today’s farms are responsible for supplying three times the populace and exporting ten times the product, he explains, total farm acreage is essentially the same as it was in 1910. Growing and raising food where it most flourishes, he says, makes the most environmental sense. Not only does it save us additional soil erosion, added chemical usage, and vegetable greenhouse heating costs, it spares countless acres of land for wilderness. In other words, geographically suitable trumps the proverbial “sustainable” message that circulates through the locavore movement.

Industrial agriculture where we have it now versus spreading industrial agriculture in other places may seem like a bad idea, but isn't sustainable and organic supposed to do something about soil erosion and the use of chemicals?

Rob Hopkins offers a critique of John Michael Greer's recent proposals

Why "green wizards" get us nowhere new... (original)

Susan McWilliams on Adultlescence

Where Are All the Grownups?

Part of it is cultural, leading to a moral problem characterized by the failure to adopt adult responsibilities (and having a job and supporting one self is a necessary part of that, but it is not all of it). Those who might not be qualified to participate in rule can at least do some its tasks with their families, but adultlescents aren't even doing that. In addition to the cultural and moral problem there are the "structural problems" of our political economy which are a burden to some who seek to have families but are unable to do so.

More Julianne Hough vids

Decided to cut that previous JH post into two, since the jump break wasn't working well for some reason.

Monday, August 30, 2010

CNet: MySpace finally plugs into Facebook

How much longer can MySpace last? Those who use it for commercial purposes may have a reason to continue, but what about those who use it for personal networking? How popular is its blogging feature?

One of the more interesting things he did was to question whether most Catholics need any theology at all, let alone philosophy. Rather, what they need is catechesis and spiritual formation. He contrasted the "learnables" with the "developmentals," suggesting that the latter have been overly neglected in our culture -- especially (but not only) secular culture. Of course, he added, seminarians need the "learnables" too, and even theology and philosophy -- but perhaps not in the way they're often taught, where they are taught apart from the practical concerns of the "developmentals."

Mrs. B. came back to work today; she had been out for several weeks recovering from surgery? Mandated leave time? She told me today that "Bloom" from her class last year is the nephew of one of this year's K students, diara. A bit mind-boggling, even if you are used to people having large families? Anyway, this is Mrs. B's 30th year of teaching. Her sub was one of her former students, from a while back. Many in San Jose maintain roots, but if they had the means and opportunity would they go somewhere else?

One of the boys asked to go to the bathroom but couldn't unzip his pants in time so he had an accident. Of course he was crying, but I just had him wipe himself. If someone were in the room, I would have had him taken to the office to be picked up early, but since I was the only adult in the room at the time, I decided he'd be ok for the last 10 minutes of class...

Big companies with a lot of applicants may think they can get away without sending some acknowledgment that an application has been received, even reviewed, but I think a form letter (or e-mail) is better than nothing. Otherwise they are just showing a lack of respect for wage slaves, and this is contemptible. Has business culture declined since the 1950s?

CMA Music Festival- Julianne Hough - Country Music Awards

Haven't heard much from her lately, either... apparently she will be releasing a new album soon.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Kevin Ryan, "The College Bubble"

MercatorNet

James Chastek, On a fruitful opposition between Christianity and science

Just Thomism

But wait, this last part isn’t what I meant to say. That was a critique of how the Leviathan- machine could be abused. In fact, there is a downside to the Leviathan-machine itself. Human beings can’t have human political or social relations with more than a few thousand people over a few dozen miles – I’m reminded of Aristotle’s striking claim (to us) in the Ethics that it is obviously impossible for a city to have 100,000 people. But the Leviathan gives powerful incentives for a human being to live within the machine- city: we get our news from national sources, we see politics as primarily national if not international, we entertain ourselves with shows that are watched by million and billions, we admire celebrities that are celebrities to billions, etc. All of this places us in a context where we are no longer having human relations with others. We live within a world consciousness where we cannot do anything but see. There is no smells, physical contact, need to express oneself, etc. There is no interaction. If not for television, we would all be speaking to our neighbors and acting within our communities: not because of any great civic virtue or love of neighbor, but simply because it would be the only way to keep from going insane.

Centering Prayer

This morning, on 1260 AM Immaculate Heart Radio there was a show--I think it was hosted by the director of vocations for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, but I cuold not confirm this with the station's schedule. Any way, the guests were defending centering prayer as being traditional, being a part of the Catholic contemplative tradition, and citing the Trappists. (Were they thinking of Thomas Merton?) I didn't listen to the show since I had to get ready for Mass, but I asked my mother to jot some notes. The guests, Mery English and George Beaning, are associated with Contemplative Outreach Northern California. The acknowledged Fr. Thomas Keating as the founder of the movement and teacher. Unfortunately the show is not archived, and I have to rely on the notes my mother wrote. Unlike the prayers of other religions, Catholic centering prayer focuses on Christ or God. "Abba" is a sacred word. (I don't know if it is actually used in prayer.) My mother writes that one can be sitting in one's chair or lie in bed, and closing one's eyes or staring at the wall, one choses a sacred word, which is a symbol to draw God's presence into you - Jesus, Lord, Christe, Kyrie. One clears one's mind, focuses on the mind and the presence of God and gently says the sacred word to himself, remaining calm and detached, for 20 minutes, twice a day. Sounds a bit similar to Eastern Christian hesychasm, and I believe Catholics promoting centering prayer have made this connection before.

Apparently Mary English meditates/does Centering Prayer for 3 to 4 hours a day, 1 hour at a time. Workshops are offered at St. Benedict's Monastery (where Fr. Keating is a monk).

Once again, the bad historical claim was made that before, God was understood as Creator and was distant, but now, Centering prayer enables us to change our relationship with Him so that he is our Father, Abba.

What does it have in common Eastern prayer traditions, like Buddhist or Hindu meditation, or the sitting prayer of the Confucians, and so on? It would be one thing to use the name "centering prayer" as a means of evangelizing Asians. But to help Catholics with their prayer life? The big question is how is God present to us in our minds? Is He present through Faith and grace? Or are we in some way a representation of God? And is Centering Prayer the be-all and end-all of Christian spirituality? Or is meditation just the beginning?

The Pillars of the Earth

(Trailer via NPW)

Since it's on Starz, it would probably be rated R (as the trailer would seem to confirm).

Reviews on Time, NY Daily News, and LA Times.
Ken Follett
Oprah's Book Club has a reading guide.

Part 2 of Thomas Storck's series on Catholic Social Teaching

From the Beginnings Through Leo XIII

Plus, Ryan Grant responds to Jeffrey Tucker: The Chips Begin to Fall Where They May,

Another interview with Ximena Navarrete

Entrevista a Jimena Navarrete Miss Universo 2010 - CNN en Español

Published too soon, here's one more:

Another question about theology of the body.

Does it seem like some theology of the body enthusiasts take their direction from romance novels written for women? Is the source to be found in Love and Responsibility? We can say men should be considerate, caring, and so on to their wives, at all times in their marriage, and prior to and during mraital relations, but does this always manifest itself in the same external actions? How specific do TOB enthusiasts get in their recommendations? And how much should be left to the discretion of spouses, as they learn to appreciate each other and the differences between men and women? Some might claim that the man "taking the lead" or showing some dominance is too animalistic (perhaps because this is instinctual, but for other reasons as well), but is it possible that going to the other extreme is problematic, leading to a "disembodied sexuality" (even if it sounds oxymoronic) as it does not take into account the differences between male and female psychology. One can criticize men for being "selfish" but is it possible that a man we might characterize as being "selfish" nonetheless satisfies his wife? And if that is the case, is it really being selfish? (Or is that behavior really wrong?) Can we always judge this to be selfish behavior? Should Catholic moralists really go beyond giving concrete guidelines and proceed into the "privacy of the bedroom" and examine everything that happens there? Barring those actions that have been judged to be immoral by "traditional" moral theology, should we judge what happens between a husband and his consenting wife as not attaining to some higher, "spiritual" standard, and thus guilt them for not being good "Catholics"?

Full of Grace, Seasoned with Salt: Woman Adrift: The Scope of the Question (Part 1)

Woman Adrift: The Scope of the Question (Part 1)

David Holmgren's take on the current economic crisis.

Money vs fossil energy: the battle for control of the world (original)
David Holmgren, Holmgren Design Services
This essay [by the co-originator of the permaculture concept] provides a framework for understanding the ideological roots of the current global crisis that I believe is more useful than the now tired Left Right political spectrum. I use this framework to provide a commentary on current political machinations around Climate Change and Peak Oil. Building from the same energetic literacy that informs Permaculture and Future Scenarios, it challenges much of the strategic logic behind current mainstream climate change activism.

His website.

Miss Universe 2010

Yes, Sarge you did call this result before the finals. This year's winner is Ximena Navarrete, from Mexico. (Wiki.) So when are we going to brave the cartels and go down to Mexico?

Why does The American Catholic have a layout that is similar to Vox Nova's? Some of the comments by certain Vox Novatians to Joe Hargrave's "Enough is Enough: The Crusades & The Jihad Are Not Equivalents" have been amusing. Yes, the Church teaches that murder is wrong and not to be done, but the killing that is done by those pursuing a just war is not murder. Also, moral theologians have distinguished between the just killing that is done in war from that which is done in self-defense -- the former is "intentional" or "direct" while the latter is permissible through the principle of double-effect, it cannot be directly intended. (Aquinas's treatment of war in the ST.) Is this a problem with the CCC or with the one reading it?

Dominican General Chapter

Zenit: Dominican General Chapter Shows Modern Touch

I hope the new Master General is more encouraging of the use of the Dominican rite. The General Chapter opens this Tuesday.

Related: Dominicans; General Chapter 2010
Dominican Province of St. Joseph, Provincial Chapter

(source of photo)

Misc. Blog for Archbishop Terrence Prendergast - Journey of a Bishop