Suffice is a very subjective term… I’d personally agree with this, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the points listed before it. And as much as I despise ideology in general, as mental crutch / opiate of the masses and whatnot, replacing one with another that is more adapted to the times can in fact improve the human situation. Up to the individual thinking about it as to whether the improvement is suffice though.

“a) retained eternal objectivity, and removed objective truth from the controlling hands of humans”

Circular. If you accept that human perception is fallible, and you are human, then you have to also accept that this idea you have of there being an objective fact that exists. Some physicists disagree even.

“b) removed human perfectibility from consideration (destroying communism), yet protected things like transhumanism and futurism as incremental enhancement”

Perfect is another dangerous term in logic… given how subjective it is. There is an argument to be made that everything is perfect as it is. Every ideology creates a bit of internal circular logic.

“c) defended the ability of humanity to continue solving problems”

This is obvious. Shouldn’t really need to be defendend really, as it’s so evident.

“d) wholesale destroyed broad “moral imperative” ideologies (socialism, modern progressivism, evangelicalism), in favor of incrementalism”

You make a huge jump here that I don’t see any connection with what you said before. The pace at which you change things doesn’t make it necessarily better or worse. Sometimes major and quick changes are needed, when things are acute, sometimes it seems most effective to leave things be, and sometimes it appears to work best to go at some pace in between.

This actually illustrates the problem with ideology. While there are fundamental patterns among the dynamic nature of the world we live in, to think that some grouping of ideas can explain the world around us, with it’s near infinite variables, is absurd. We can’t even predict the weather without a pretty wide berth… and there is far less variability in the weather than in human interaction.

Shakespeare had it right:

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

False. A claim made may or may not be correct. Problem is proving it one way or another. We know 1 + 1 = 2, for example, because we understand everything involved thoroughly.

Walther Micke
The Netherlands
The Civil Manifesto
wm9011@gmail.com

In the financial crisis we are in people come with ideas for a better society. I wrote the Civil Manifesto to promote discussion.

Please send your comment
Walther Micke
Netherlands
wm9011@gmail.com

CIVIL MANIFESTO

(Referring to “Civil Society”. “Civil Rights”, “Communist Manifesto”)

In the view of the authors of the Communist Manifesto the expulsion of the bourgeoisie by the proletariat was a natural phenomenon. It would be the unavoidable result of the development of the forces of production as free enterprise not longer being able to
satisfy the needs of the wage earners (“salary-slaves”) whereby subsequently the bourgeoisie
would be removed with force and the proletariat would triumph.
Meanwhile the communist experiment, besides having caused immense human suffering, has proven that, contrary to the expectancies of the authors of the Communist Manifest, the market is in a better position to satisfy the needs of the people than the centralized plan economy. In countries where the centralized plan economy is still functioning (North Korea, Cuba) the people suffer a wretched existence. And citizens of the former communist countries in Eastern Europe hope to profit by the prosperity in Western Europe.
Today there is again discussion about the market economy. But the uncurbed spread of the Casino-capitalism is not a natural phenomenon. The neo-liberal ideology is deliberately produced by humans. And Alan Greenspan, greatly inspired by Ayn Rand, has occupied (sic!) a central position in this process. He is greatly responsible for the development of the financial crisis by rejecting the regulation which could have prevented the crisis. Furthermore the government in the United States has passed tax laws according to which millionaires pay less tax than the man in the street.
Conclusion: The market must not be substituted by the plan (however some privatisation having gone to far should be pushed back) but must be regulated by law such as to prevent the destructive functioning which the market can assume in certain instances.

In the present crisis-situation several people make proposals for a more just and humane society. Think about the Occupy Movement, but also about the “Patriotic Millionaires”.
But sometimes the “Occupy Movement” is accused of being unclear about goals. A clear programme may be clarifying. A shortlist of goals for a couple of areas may be useful. Individuals and groups may specify their position regarding those goals. Thus the Civil Manifesto could be an instrument for the attainment of political power.

Income

-Specification of minimum income.
-Specification of the ratio: maximum/minimum income (for instance not bigger than 10).

Pensions

-Specification of age for retirement

Worklessness

-Specification of unemployment benefits
-Specification of duration of the payment of unemployment benefits

Banks

-Split of savings-banks and investment banks
-Prohibition of harmful derivatives
-Establishment of a national bank

Housing

-Integral housing policy
-Equal positions for renting and buying
-Maximal mortgage of 400 $

Healthcare

-No privatisation of healthcare (no profit generation for hospitals).
-Affordable healthcare of a good quality for everybody
-Elimination of superfluous layers of management

Education

-Good education for everybody. No restrictions for people with low incomes

Sustainability

-Furtherance of the efficient use of energy
-Furtherance of vegetable consumption, restriction of meat consumption.

-

J.S.D.

For another, it’s full of “recent-ancient” history. For example, what *really* happened in 1948 when Truman gave Israel official US recogition, and the “striped pants boys” at the Dept of State were most unhappy with that decision. Truman comes across as he probably really was: a feisty, humane, intelligent-but-uncredentialed outsider. He wasn’t one of the elites like Marshall and the others. But he was people smart and he rose thru the Dem political machine back home in Missouri & was apptd as Vice President as a nod to the “common people”. No one ever expected he’d have to run anything. That’s why he was given so little chance to win re-election by the pros.

Definitely a book to give to ANYONE under 50. Prof. Berdichevsky will fill in many of the lacunae in their knowledge of history. No one can fill in ALL of them, but that’s why the book has a bibliography.

“The Left is Seldom Right” is my favorite book of 2011. One of those books that makes you grab ppl by the lapels…