Patrice Riemens on Sat, 19 Apr 2014 14:06:27 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> Ippolita Collective, In the Facebook Aquarium Part Two, |
A bit 'hefty' piece to-day, hence short. Happy Easter Reading! p+5D! Libertarians - or a short history of capitalism on steroids (section 2, contd.) Society [in the anarcho-libertarian perspective -transl] is taken as being the outcome of (purely) economic transactions at the individual level (scale). But in order to understand how such a vision has come into being, a trip down Memory Lane is called for. As per Austrian economic theory, especially in the Ludwig von Mises - Rothbard's guru - declination, the individual is endowed with a praxis which defines her/him a priori, without need for her/his concrete actions to be taken into account. (And) by applying praxeology, studying this practice, one can arrive at unvarying axioms. And absolute truth springs forth from one (and one) axiom only: the Fundamental Axiom - or 'Action One' [4]. In other words, individuals /act/ in order to achieve their (subjective) /ends/, and in order to do so, apply /means/. All human beings, at all times, have taken this axiom for granted; it can neither be denied nor falsified, since by doing so one /acts/ (even if by negating). In philosophical terms one may therefore say that the action axiom is a / synthetic a priori proposition/[**]. From the fundamental axiom springs forth the following, equally absolute truth: all individuals always try to maximize their own interests ('utility'). An individual always acts in such a way as to alter her/his present condition, which sHe views as unsatisfactory (by definition), in order to replace it by a condition which sHe thinks would be a better one. Every human action therefore, consists in the elimination of a perceived want and of the satisfaction of a need. Put differently, every human action tends towards the advancement of one's own benefit [***]. Every action is geared towards individual profit, and this in an entirely subjective fashion. The individual cannot but act, move, maximize his profit, or at least try to do so, and this finds its materialization in the accretion of wealth. Plenty is good and more is even better - let the numbers talk for themselves! The concept of /time/ as a 'weak resource' sheds more light on the far-reaching influence this doctrine has exercised, according to which a human being is (only truly) free as (in the capacity of) consumer. This is exactly the definition of liberty underlying the digital social networks and the ideological aggregate going with the monicker 'Web 2.0'. As time is a weak resource, and all human action are geared towards the satisfaction of needs through the accumulation/consumption of wealth/goods, speed becomes the essence of achievement. From this purely deductive affirmation derives the case that in the matter of production and consumption, the shorter the action lasts the better. Individuals, as consumers driven by subjective needs, want it all now rather than latter. Soon is good, now is better - and fast is king! Of course, praxeology is a bit more complex in the writings of the Austrian School's authors than in our present rendering. Yet, like all theories pretending to hold absolute validity at all times, at all places, and for all people, praxeology displays a number of irreducible contradictions. Yet we need to pause on one particular aspect it shares with the anarchist American individualistic tradition: absolute subjectivism. (...) (to be continued) Next time: on objectivism in classic (esp. english) economic theory. ...... [4] Murray N Rothbard "Praxeology: The Methodology of Austrian Economics", in: The Logic of Action One Method, Money, and the Austrian School. Cheltenham: Elgar, 1997, pp 58-77. See esp p 70 of: https://mises.org/rothbard/praxeology.pdf [**] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578646/synthetic-a-priori-proposition [***] 'acquisition of utilities' in the original; I don't know if a literal translation would make much sense in English, hence my interpretation. ----------------------------- Translated by Patrice Riemens This translation project is supported and facilitated by: The Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/) The Antenna Foundation, Nijmegen (http://www.antenna.nl - Dutch site) (http://www.antenna.nl/indexeng.html - english site under construction) Casa Nostra, Vogogna-Ossola, Italy # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org