Collective Intelligence and Economic Fascism

The Milky Way, it turns out, is no ordinary spiral galaxy. According to a massive new survey of stars at the heart of the galaxy by Wisconsin astronomers, including professor of astonomy Edward Churchwell and professor of physics Robert Benjamin, the Milky Way has a definitive bar feature -- some 27,000 light years in length -- that distinguishes it from pedestrian spiral galaxies, as shown in this artist's rendering. The survey, conducted using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, sampled light from an estimated 30 million stars in the plane of the galaxy in an effort to build a detailed portrait of the inner regions of the Milky Way. Used with permission by: UW-Madison University Communications 608-262-0067 Illustration by: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC/Caltech)

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism and various religious practices offer systems for dealing these conditions while everywhere, electronics and media are distracting people with television, sports and other entertainments.  Most people I see on the streets and working are walking around their different countries with low levels of personal vitality, and many look like they wish they were somewhere else.

I recently read that the suicide rate for retired people in South Korea has quadrupled — four times more people are killing themselves.  The story was about a 65-year-old woman who went to the public square, swallowed pesticide and died. What had happened was that the government took away her pension because her son-in-law had just gotten a job.

As I read this, the words, “Economic Fascism” leapt into my mind.  In a flash, I saw that nearly everywhere, and most of the time, the impact of money, power and position trump people’s needs for security, festival and delight.

Economic Fascism is the underlying disease of our time.  Just as smoking needed to be considered a disease before many people acted on it decisively, so it is with Economic Fascism.   Most of us go around trying to do the right thing and trying to do a good job in the hope those general conditions will keep getting better.  But the news continues to be upsetting and the tunnel seems to have no light at its end.  Consider that the name of the tunnel is Economic Fascism in the guise of political, economic, and social systems with different names, all presenting  themselves as doing people a favor.

Another example:

Frequent Fliers, Prepare to Pay More

The world’s largest airlines have agreed to adopt a new standard for distributing airfare information that could significantly compromise the privacy of customers and allow carriers to charge travelers different prices for the same trip…. A majority of the group’s 240 members, which include most American airlines though not Southwest, voted for the standard….  It seems clear that the standard.., could also be used to present higher fares to, say, a business traveler who airlines determine could pay more because she travels between New York and Dallas every week. New York Times Op Ed- March 4, 2013   

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