Even as we are reaching the limits of what the Western mind is willing to contemplate, the circumstances of peak oil, climate change, biosphere destruction, and consequent civilization collapse are going to require an utter rearrangement of that mind.
On the one hand, I share the feeling that as an intellectual matter, the Western mind/metaphysics may need to be revised/expanded/further developed in order to catch up with the discoveries of modern mathematics and science. On the other hand, I am not yet clear as to how such a putative gap between our metaphysics/mindset and the results of science and mathematics (such as Gödel's Theorem or quantum physics) bear on our ability to address the immense practical challenges you list above.
Obviously, I don't mean to exclude the possibility that other metaphysics/philosophical outlooks can make valuable contributions in our overcoming these challenges -- in fact, I fully expect them to (e.g. the notion of harmony [和] from Chinese philosophy). It's just that I am still unclear as to why the Western approach -- however you construe it -- is inadequate to the task.
(In somewhat similar fashion, while I am still working on understanding Pirsig's "metaphysics of Quality", I don't see that embracing Chris Cook's open corporate model of economic organization requires going outside a Western metaphysics or mindset. The proof of Pirsig's pudding will be in the eating of it.) Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The proof of Pirsig's pudding will be in the eating of it.
I meant to write,
The proof of Chris's pudding will be in the eating of it.
My very point was that Chris's pudding need not be served with Pirsig's Value sauce, as long as it tastes good on its own (although combining the two may add a certain relish.) Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
The current system is based upon thinking of "Money" and "Property" as "objects", and also upon "absolute" property rights.
Perhaps the key point is the role of Time in all of this.
Current financial and property rights are split as between two absolutes: absolute permanent infinite ownership on the one hand, and temporary "use", for a defined finite term, on the other.
The use of the Open Corporate as a vehicle for encapsulating the property relationship (the relationship between the subject "owner" and whetever is the object of his "ownership") allows an entirely new property right of indefinite duration.
We may now, using this approach, synthesise the conflicting legal claims of Secured Debt and conventional Equity into a simple new continuous asset class consisting of "nth's" in ownership of a productive asset, and its production.
Moreover, that that production may then be "unitised" using time as a divisor eg KiloWatt/Hours; SquareMetre/Years.
I have used the Mobius strip as an analogy to try to illustrate the continuity over time inherent in the model.
But the beauty of it is that it's not a matter of either this model or the existing one. This new model is complementary to the existing one, and will, IMHO both assimilate it and render it obsolete. I am not saying that every enterprise need be an LLP or LLC, but rather that those which do not become members of networked LLP and LLC frameworks will be at a competitive disadvantage to those that do.
The existing "closed" Capitalism will consume itself.
I find it difficult to explain all this: much is intuitive; but I know based upon a career in financial services at a pretty high level and a track record in financial innovation, that what is emerging will wipe the floor with everything else out there. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
And my gut says you're right. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
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