Democracy Uprising
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      Jeff Bezos Has Enough! It’s Time for a…

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      Jordlösa kombinerar radikala visioner med praktiska reformer (Swedish)

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      Hacer Que Nuestras Demandas Sean Tanto Orácticas Como…

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      Is Market Access the Answer to Poverty? (in…

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      2006: A Global Justice Year in Review (In…

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      WTO: Best Left For Dead? (In Thai)

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      Is Market Access the Answer to Poverty? (In…

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      Globalizers, Neocons, or… ? (in Thai)

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      泛美洲人 爱德华多·加莱亚诺的世界 (Chinese)

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      Hacer Que Nuestras Demandas Sean Tanto Orácticas Como…

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      Las reformas no reformistas de André Gorz

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      ¿Adoptará el nuevo papa la teología de la…

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      Wall Street quiere que les estemos agradecidos

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Democracy Uprising

  • About
    • About Mark Engler
    • About Democracy Uprising
  • Books
    • This Is An Uprising
    • How To Rule the World
  • Topics
    • All Book Reviews Environment Essays / First Person Global Economy Immigration Labor Latin America Social Movements Religion U.S. Politics / Elections War / Militarism
      Social Movements

      Could we be entering a ‘movement moment’ against…

      Social Movements

      Trump’s backpedaling shows he’s not invincible

      Blog

      It’s going to take multiple strategies to win…

      Social Movements

      A new wave of movements against Trumpism is…

      Latest Articles

      How to make sure your disruptive protest helps…

      Social Movements

      Why protests work, even when not everybody likes…

      Social Movements

      Harold Washington’s lessons for taking on a political…

      Social Movements

      Strategy is a Craft

      Book Reviews

      The Pan American

      Book Reviews

      The Godfather of Microcredit

      Book Reviews

      Capitalism as Catastrophe

      Book Reviews

      Four Ways of Looking at an Aztec Eagle

      Book Reviews

      The Ascent of Niall Ferguson

      Book Reviews

      Ordinary Outrages

      Book Reviews

      No Better Place

      Book Reviews

      In God’s Country

      Environment

      Why Wendell Matters

      Environment

      The Gulf at the Gas Station

      Environment

      Climate Disobedience

      Environment

      Farming the Everglades

      Environment

      The Winter of the Climate Denier

      Environment

      Climate of Change: An “Inside-Outside” Strategy Against Global…

      Environment

      Provoking an American Climate Crisis

      Environment

      The Real “Farmer” Story: So God Made High-Fructose…

      Essays / First Person

      Is Rambo Still A Republican?

      Essays / First Person

      On the Price is Right

      Essays / First Person

      The Last Porto Alegre

      Essays / First Person

      Six Essays About War and About Peace

      Essays / First Person

      Republicans Among Us

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      New York Says “No”

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      The Sideshow Rebels

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      A Week in New York

      Global Economy

      Meet the Bailout’s New Slush Fund for Corporate…

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      The Seattle Protests Showed That Another World Is…

      Global Economy

      Jeff Bezos Has Enough! It’s Time for a…

      Global Economy

      The Amazon Effect: Sweat, Surveillance, Exploitation

      Global Economy

      The Godfather of Microcredit

      Global Economy

      Capitalism as Catastrophe

      Global Economy

      Immigration Economics: An Interview with Professor Giovanni Peri

      Global Economy

      The World Is Not Flat

      Immigration

      When Undocumented Activists Infiltrated ICE

      Immigration

      The Children of Intervention

      Immigration

      Immigration Economics: An Interview with Professor Giovanni Peri

      Immigration

      Science Fiction From Below

      Immigration

      Four Ways of Looking at an Aztec Eagle

      Immigration

      Treated Like a Criminal

      Immigration

      When Sanctuary is Resistance

      Immigration

      The Massive Immigrants Rights Protests of 2006 Are…

      Labor

      This new model for upholding labor law may…

      Labor

      Democrats Won Power in Several States. Will They…

      Labor

      The Case for a Social Distancing Wage

      Labor

      The Seattle Protests Showed That Another World Is…

      Labor

      Reviving the General Strike

      Labor

      Jeff Bezos Has Enough! It’s Time for a…

      Labor

      There’s Still Power in a Strike

      Labor

      The Amazon Effect: Sweat, Surveillance, Exploitation

      Latin America

      How movements can maintain their radical vision while winning…

      Latin America

      The Pan American

      Latin America

      Lessons from the Pledge of Resistance

      Latin America

      The Children of Intervention

      Latin America

      Against Shithole Nationalism

      Latin America

      The Last Porto Alegre

      Latin America

      Kissinger Is Not Our Friend

      Latin America

      Even If You Have Nothing to Hide

      Social Movements

      Could we be entering a ‘movement moment’ against…

      Social Movements

      Trump’s backpedaling shows he’s not invincible

      Social Movements

      It’s going to take multiple strategies to win…

      Social Movements

      A new wave of movements against Trumpism is…

      Social Movements

      How to make sure your disruptive protest helps…

      Social Movements

      Why protests work, even when not everybody likes…

      Social Movements

      Harold Washington’s lessons for taking on a political…

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      Strategy is a Craft

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      In God’s Country

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      Reverend Billy’s Holiday Shopocalypse

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      Toward the “Rights of the Poor”

      Religion

      The Pope and the Poor

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      Will the Next Pope Embrace Liberation Theology?

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      Remembering Romero

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      John Paul II’s Economic Ethics

      Religion

      Against the God of Free Trade

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      Could we be entering a ‘movement moment’ against…

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      Trump’s backpedaling shows he’s not invincible

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      It’s going to take multiple strategies to win…

      U.S. Politics / Elections

      A new wave of movements against Trumpism is…

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      Strategy is a Craft

      U.S. Politics / Elections

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      This new model for upholding labor law may…

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      Does It Make Sense to Protest a President…

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      Lessons from the Pledge of Resistance

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      Is Rambo Still A Republican?

      War / Militarism

      War: The Wrong Jobs Program

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      The Ascent of Niall Ferguson

      War / Militarism

      Those Who Don’t Count

      War / Militarism

      Six Essays About War and About Peace

      War / Militarism

      The Dangerous Dignity of War

  • Translations
    • All Arabic Thai Chinese Deutsch Español Français Italiano Japanese Português
      Translations

      Jordlösa kombinerar radikala visioner med praktiska reformer (Swedish)

      Español

      Hacer Que Nuestras Demandas Sean Tanto Orácticas Como…

      Italiano

      C’è più di un modo per colpire il…

      Português

      As reformas não reformistas de André Gorz mostram…

      Español

      Las reformas no reformistas de André Gorz

      Deutsch

      Die nicht-reformistischen Reformen von André Gorz

      Italiano

      Richieste dei movimenti: sia pratiche che visionarie

      Chinese

      泛美洲人 爱德华多·加莱亚诺的世界 (Chinese)

      Arabic

      Abandoning the World Bank (in Arabic)

      Arabic

      The Return of Daniel Ortega (in Arabic)

      Arabic

      Where’s The Jubilee? (in Arabic)

      Arabic

      The Last Porto Alegre (in Arabic)

      Arabic

      Seattle At Five (in Arabic)

      Arabic

      Is Market Access the Answer to Poverty? (in…

      Arabic

      Mexico’s Democratic Transition Still Incomplete (in Arabic)

      Thai

      Progressive Good Tidings of 2007 (in Thai)

      Thai

      2006: A Global Justice Year in Review (In…

      Thai

      WTO: Best Left For Dead? (In Thai)

      Thai

      Is Market Access the Answer to Poverty? (In…

      Thai

      Bush’s Bad Business Empire (In Thai)

      Thai

      The Last Porto Alegre [Thai]

      Thai

      Globalizers, Neocons, or… ? (in Thai)

      Chinese

      泛美洲人 爱德华多·加莱亚诺的世界 (Chinese)

      Chinese

      Why Wendell Matters (in Chinese)

      Chinese

      Globalization’s Watchdogs (in Chinese)

      Deutsch

      Die nicht-reformistischen Reformen von André Gorz

      Deutsch

      Als Martin Luther King seine Feuerwaffen aufgab

      Deutsch

      Mikrokredite: Die Entlassung eines Nobelpreisträgers

      Deutsch

      CAFTA – am besten stillschweigend beerdigen

      Deutsch

      Bush in Mexiko

      Deutsch

      Das globale Duell in Evian

      Deutsch

      Die Rückkehr des Daniel Ortega

      Español

      Hacer Que Nuestras Demandas Sean Tanto Orácticas Como…

      Español

      Las reformas no reformistas de André Gorz

      Español

      ¿Adoptará el nuevo papa la teología de la…

      Español

      Wall Street quiere que les estemos agradecidos

      Español

      Si Las Monjas Se Fueran a una Huelga,…

      Español

      ALEC retrocede; a la derecha le da un…

      Español

      ¿ALEC disgustado ante la pérdida de patrocinadores? Se…

      Español

      La vida en la nación prisión

      Français

      La révolution non-violente a-t-elle échoué en Egypte?

      Français

      Le pari risqué du populisme au Pérou

      Français

      Hong Kong Phooey

      Français

      Bush Nuit Même Aux Compagnies U.S.

      Français

      Le dynamisme du mouvement pour la paix

      Français

      La déroute de l’ALCA dans une Miami en…

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      Ceux qui ne comptent pas

      Français

      La guerre en Irak : une expo des…

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      C’è più di un modo per colpire il…

      Italiano

      Richieste dei movimenti: sia pratiche che visionarie

      Italiano

      La strategia di Gandhi per il successo –…

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      Le promesse infrante di Obama

      Italiano

      Guantanamo deve sparire

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      IL BANK TRANSFER DAY: UN SUCCESSO

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      Come il movimento Occupiamo Wall Street si sta…

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      Economia tabù

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      ガンジーはどのように勝利したのか? (Japanese)

      Japanese

      Truth Versus Superpower (Japanese)

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      Bush’s Bad Business Empire (Japanese)

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      Revenge of the Combat Cartoonist (Japanese)

      Japanese

      Bush’s Uneasy Mexican Visita (Japanese)

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      Mark Twain in Iraq (Japanese)

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      Globalization’s “Lost Decade” (Japanese)

      Japanese

      Hawks Say the Damnedest Things (Japanese)

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      As reformas não reformistas de André Gorz mostram…

      Português

      A vida na Nação Prisão

      Português

      Outro pretexto?

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      O império hipotecado

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Global Economy2009-2010

Breaking From the Dismal Life

by Mark Engler March 1, 2010
written by Mark Engler March 1, 2010
Breaking From the Dismal Life

Market-based thinking has imperiled the planet and created the need for a democratic rebirth, argues Raj Patel in The Value of Nothing.

Published in the March 2010 issue of In These Times.


In 1971, the most popular field of study at colleges and universities in the United States was education. Social sciences and history came in a fairly close second, with all other fields falling far behind. But by the turn of the millennium, those patterns were a distant memory. Business had become king on campus. It now awards twice as many degrees as any other field. As a corollary development, the famed “dismal science” is also surging. Ask undergraduates at Harvard what they are studying and their most likely answer will be “Econ.”

In this age of bailouts and bonuses, when the high priests of finance lord over public policy, the words of Oscar Wilde seem hauntingly relevant: “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

This, at least, is the premise of Raj Patel’s new book, which draws its title from the quote. A writer, academic, and former analyst for the Oakland-based Institute for Food and Development Policy, Patel traces the origins of the dominant market-based worldview, examines its negative impact on the planet, and finally maps an escape route.

He writes, “The dazzle of free markets has blinded us to other ways of seeing the world.” The appropriate remedy, he later argues, “is not a democracy run by experts, but the democratization of expertise and resources.”

In his investigation, Patel goes back to the eighteenth century—to the enclosure of the English countryside described in Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation—and then works his way to the present. Along the way, he shows how the type of thinking that views social relationships as commodities can lead to some very scary places.

In a notorious 1991 memo, Larry Summers, now director of President Obama’s National Economic Council, contended that African countries are “vastly under-polluted”—that “the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable.” Using the same kind of reasoning, one can come to the conclusion that the poor are overly possessed of kidneys and should be allowed to sell their organs to the needy rich. Indeed, Patel tells us that this argument was already made by University of Chicago economist Gary Becker, whose neoliberal views have become all too prevalent in Washington.

The market is not just amoral; it is shortsighted. Patel’s most eye-catching claim is that a Big Mac, while commonly available for under $4, would properly go for $200 if its true costs to society were factored in. This is not an entirely novel concept; Patel cites a study from the Center for Science and the Environment in India, which in turn was the subject of a 1994 Financial Times article. Still, he uses the catchy example to give a skilled explanation of “externalities”—all those societal costs that are not reflected on the price tag of an item.

In the case of the burger, the high cost owes something to the fact that a significant portion of the beef grown worldwide comes from pastures that are clear-cut from ecologically precious forests. Add that fast food chains often pay workers so little that employees’ “poverty-line wages are supplemented by Medicare, food stamps… and other government services.” Lastly, consider the vast public health costs associated with a rising crisis in diabetes and childhood obesity. After we pick up the tab for all these things, that burger no longer looks like such a great deal.

The Value of Nothing does not draw on the kind of weighty archival research that might give a book door-propping heft, and it contains too few reported scenes to qualify as a journalist’s exposé. Rather, at a slight 194 pages plus notes, Patel’s essayistic narrative is half a critique of the market’s penetration into our collective consciousness and half a showcase of bottom-up social movement responses. A good portion of the work consists of introductory lectures on the likes of Polanyi, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Karl Marx—with some bits of Malcolm Gladwellian social psychology and neuroscience thrown in.

In other words, it is left-wing political economy in a contemporary, user-friendly format. To the extent that our era of economic crisis cries out for such mainstream repackaging of venerable but too-often-ignored ideas, it is a fine and noble contribution to today’s political debate, if not an altogether groundbreaking one.

Patel is a witty writer, capable of some fun turns of phrase. Yet he too often reaches for tired references. He cites Eisenhower warning America about the military industrial complex, as well as FDR (in a story that is popular but, Patel neglects to mention, probably apocryphal) telling activists “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Now go on out and bring pressure on me!” He gives us Hobbes calling life in the state of nature “nasty, brutish, and short.” And he reminds us that the first rule of Fight Club is that “you don’t talk about Fight Club.”

One of the more humorous passages in the book is a paragraph about Ayn Rand. It goes: “There are two novels that can transform a bookish fourteen-year-old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish daydream that can lead to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood in which large parts of the day are spent inventing ways to make real life more like a fantasy novel. The other is a book about orcs.”

Unfortunately, although it is presented as original in Patel’s book, this quip was circulating on the Internet in the spring of 2009 and was first composed by Los Angeles-based writer and comedian John Rogers. (When I alerted the author of this fact through his publicist, Patel indicated that he was embarrassed by his inadvertent error and issued an on-line apology.)

When he turns to discuss solutions to market madness, Patel effectively uses—and properly acknowledges—a different joke, one about activists’ penchant for long meetings:

Q: How many Zapatistas does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Come back in two weeks.

So frequently are the masked rebels from Southern Mexico lauded by international admirers that one would not expect Patel to come up with fresh insights about them. But he does. All joking aside, he argues that just as environment- and health-conscious eaters are rejecting McDonald’s and opting instead for Slow Food, “What the Zapatistas are practicing is slow politics.” In the autonomous communities that they control, they use village-wide assemblies and rotating governing councils to bring all community members into decisions about local governance.

“It doesn’t feel efficient, and NGOs get frustrated at being made to wait,” Patel writes, but the deliberate process pays off. Slow Food and the Zapatistas share “the notion that everyone has the right to participate in, and enjoy, the world around them, and that genuine democracy takes time.”

Of course, this brings to mind another one-liner frequently attributed to Wilde: “The trouble with socialism is that it takes up too many evenings.” Other than participatory process, what “slow politics” would entail remains a bit unclear. Patel approves of the organizing efforts of dissident Chinese workers, Florida campesinos, South African shack-dwellers, and free software developers. However, he does not wrestle with the hard questions of whether “small ‘d’ democrats” should engage with political parties, how influential but ossifying labor unions in many countries might still make a difference, or what lessons can be drawn from the intricate interactions between social movements and newly elected progressive governments in South America.

Yet, if sometimes vague in its positive program, The Value of Nothing makes a forceful case that our reliance on the market to solve public problems must end. After poking numerous holes in pro-business plans for a cap-and-trade system to address global climate change, Patel casually observes, “it seems unwise to use the same tools that have hewn [the trillion-dollar economic meltdown] to solve the most pressing problem facing the planet.”

It is a beautifully understated conclusion. Business majors take note.

__________

Photo credit: Jan Sturmann, Raj Patel / Wikimedia Commons.

 

Mark Engler

Mark Engler is a writer based in Philadelphia and an editorial board member at Dissent magazine. His latest book, written with Paul Engler, is entitled This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century.

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Mark Engler is a writer based in Philadelphia and an editorial board member at Dissent magazine. His latest book, written with Paul Engler, is entitled This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century (Nation Books). Mark’s full bio is available here.

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