Integrity Blog entry 01-07-2008

 

The Battle For The Soul of Capitalism

 

Today I came across an interesting book, as I was doing research for my appearance at the April 2008 Green Festival in Seattle.  (I'll be appearing in the "What's The Economy For, Anyway?" track, on a panel titled "The Cost of Consumerism" along with Annie Leonard, the host/producer of "The Story of Stuff" (see below). The book is The Battle For the Soul  of Capitalism, by John C. Bogle, the former founder and chair of the Vanguard Group. The Vanguard Group was created as a mutual fund management company, and yet Bogle lambasts how the mutual fund industry has ruined capitalism!  Actually, what I came across was the transcript of a speech he did at U of VA where he plugged his book, and his indexed mutual funds.  But self-interested self-critique aside, I was somewhat impressed to see a disparaging analysis of the current state of capitalism from one it's main beneficiaries.  I found his commentary very relevant to Joe Dominguez's critique of "the market".

Here is Bogle's most bogglingly aligned quote:

"If we investors simply have the wisdom to understand how the financial system works and to move our own money where our own common sense dictates, then the system of financial intermediation that has failed so many investors in the modern era will change."

Hello, Joe, and your "disintermediation" edict!

The Story of Stuff

 

If you have not already seen Annie Leonard's interactive online video, go watch it now!  It is a brilliant little de-programming tool that could be very useful for study groups and workshops.  (Note that it's got a Creative Commons Copyright, so you can use it freely!)  In Annie's blog, there is an entry with many, many comments on how to use this in educational settings (and some valid criticisms of some of her assumptions around government, imho.)

I'm not really an advocate of capitalism, but I can't help but note that if shareholders watched "The Story of Stuff" and advocated for their own empowerment a la Bogle's advice -- we'd be on our way to some interesting solutions to Affluenza!

Why We're All In This Mess

 

On a side note, I went to the Bank of America online banking website today, and was assaulted by the most pathetic ad campaign I've seen from a major financial institution.  It said YOU COULD GET UP TO $35,000 TODAY.  It had a picture of a woman daydreaming on a couch, and floating above her were a bunch of words like: cruise wedding bahamas laser surgery, and what item won out, in much larger type than anything else on the page: MONEY FOR LAS VEGAS. 

Get $35,000 instantly to gamble away in Las Vegas?! I don't know how many different religions would find every aspect of such an offer completely ignorant (at best, you darn softy Buddhists) and damningly sinful, but I'd venture to say every value system in the world would find Bank of America repugnant at this point.

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