Can Walmart save the World?
No “giant corporations are evil” discussion would be complete without considering Walmart. Let’s see…bad for the economy, driving wages down, or lowering prices for consumers? I discussed the new genetic mutation of Supersumer that will take (consumer) evolution to the next level. And consider the dude that lived in a Walmart for 41 hours. Free rent! Wal-mart can’t be all that bad.
Wal-mart also might just help along a suburban craze for organic vegetables. Oh the irony…
March 30th, 2006 at 5:58 am
Nietzsche’s mistake is Walmart’s bounty
Before Mendel’s work on the segregation of genetic inheritance was re-discovered, Boltzmann’s proof of systems’ inevitable increase in entropy led a few thinking generations to believe Darwin’s theoretical mechanism of natural selection would lead to a homogenization of human populations. Nietzsche thought an Ubermensch (which it would later be assumed of Aryan purity) was needed to retain some interesting qualities amid the hoi polloi.
While genetic diversity is fortunately always maintained in unpredictable ways among mixing populations, cultural diversity unfortunately does not retain much diversity against the prevalent force of imitation in human societies (and THE global society) and against the newly discovered frequency dependence of the market (see the economist Brian Arthur’s website at http://www.santafe.edu/arthur/) and bio at http://www.edge.org). How many people do you know that truly lead rational lives, gauging every step on the basis of individual reason and utilitarian good? Easier to make judgments based on supply-side convenience and what your neighbor is doing. This is a strong argument for protectionism, but not all hope is lost. Rationality and creativity can be imitated too.
Does anyone know for sure what would be the next level of the Supersumer movement?
April 4th, 2006 at 4:55 am
The Übermensch was supposed to take it to the next level, via tha arcane arts, going against the grain, rejecting all that we know as false. It definitely wasn’t Nietzsche that made race a conditional for the Ubermensch. It was those Nazi uber-morons that misrepresented him.
If the masses will always be masses, it doesn’t make sense to argue I suppose, because they will always do what is cheap and expedient anyway. Fortunately, with open and free market economics, that ain’t a bad thing and works itself just fine more often than not. The problem comes when governments start meddling with price controls and taxes and subsidies: when will we learn not to fiddle with nature? People complain about Walmart (again, I have to emphasize the difference between the aesthetic and the moral argument) but in the end they’ve lowered consumer prices dramatically, which is good for everyone. Again, not that I care…I find Walmart too cheesy to even enter.
April 6th, 2006 at 2:42 am
The arcane arts are Kryptonite. Ironic that the concept of reincarnation, which grew into a political tool keeping the Hindus in check, is supposed to counter the weaknesses that lead to slave mentality. I guess we´re all enslaved by questions, in a good way.
Whats the answer for the West? Who is in control and who is slave, the supersumer or the bottom line? Is the bottom line really what drives them, or the things they think they need? The herds are crying out to be enlightened and empowered. Syndicate MUS!