Thomas Friedman is a very successful New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner and astute socio-political observer. He is American. Friedman commented recently: “….we need to get good at changing polls, not reading them.” Because Friedman, at heart, is a voice for positive transformation, even as he has honed his own special edge of criticism to knife through the madness, we acknowledge him. Thank you, Mr. Friedman.
It may be easier to agree with Friedman that the world is “hot and crowded”—than to rally to his message that social transformation is possible. What else could be inferred from “we need to get good at changing polls” except Friedman believes transformation is doable? And, if doable, Mr. Friedman must also believe that the nature of man, while complicated and barely rational, is a force majeure—translated—with a capacity to be big. Does Friedman suspect that a capacity to be big—is a capacity to be great? In legal parlance a force majeure is often associated with Acts of God. When Friedman coined the phrase “Great Disruption” he may have suggested a kind of parity between Man and Mother Nature—the Marketplace v. God, implying a capacity to be big. Such comparisons display chutzpah, for sure. If all the talk about “too big to fail” and “too big to fix” is not about chutzpah, Friedman’s assertion is no less worth considering.
We are not suggesting Mr. Friedman thinks man is deity. We are saying, as Thomas L. Friedman’s thinking continues to evolve, he senses that man is a “big” component of the destiny we can and will continue to “own” as the noisiest and most commercial resident of the planet. (Are we really talking about zoning issues at the end of the day? Is the planet zoned for man’s commercial pursuits? Are we the messy equivalent of locating a foundry next to a synagogue?)
In his recent book, “Flat, Hot & Crowded” Friedman actually uses the phrase “The Great Disruption” to describe acts of God and acts of Men coming together—as Mother Nature meets the Market. In Chapter 18, Friedman says, “I am coming to the conclusion that the market and Mother Nature both hit the wall here in 2008/2009.” (Note he does not say “they” hit each other—perhaps the “wall” they hit is yet a third force—like talk radio? Or social media?).
Is it possible to predict an Act of God? Not by definition. Is it possible to recognize an Act of God? After it appears. Friedman’s “Great Disruption” implies that man-as-market is measurable—a speed bump (or more) capable of disrupting Mother Nature or the unnamed “wall”.
I do not mean to put words into the capable mouth of Mr. Friedman, but I cannot help “hearing” his words in this manner.
I learned recently that the early Greek philosopher Thales (pronounced Thal-eze 642 BC to 546 BC) while serving in the army of his day, diverted a river in order for it to be passable—the un-diverted river was too deep and too swift for crossing. A tour de force, if not force majeure. "Thales Tames a River"--if we let our imagination consider an ancient equivalent of the "tweet".
Friedman may be asking us to ponder if the Market is the “unnatural” equivalent of the engineer’s levy or deepwater oil head as technique for taming Nature? Probably.
Watching Man attempt systematic agriculture (reducing the need to gather randomly) followed by the domestication of animals (reducing dependence on the hunt) is all about taming, not parity. Taming, in practice, is probably a way to homage Nature not disrupt it—which is why so many aboriginal communities build totem, smoke a pipe, feast, fast, dance and pray before the hunt or planting seasons. Agriculture is not about dominion, but a special collaboration between Man as observer and Nature as transpersonal a priori fact. The anxiety of food supply scarcity, therefore, is always just beneath the surface. The Ego urge that drives all tool development is simple: satisfy the anxiety (and maybe win the girl or a patent in the process).
Man’s fascination with tools is remarkable. Taming is all about mastering tools and technique. Tools, considered alone, do not ramify—tools simply possess the capacity to do work; they cannot consider the nature of the work they perform. This is the job of the scientist, the philosopher and the theologian (capital, a tool for taming time and resources, is equally ill-equipped to ramify itself.)
Mastering tools and technique can be satisfying—and in the hands of a maestro, human virtuosity yields the concerto even as it guides the surgeon’s knife. Technique, in all its forms, well applied, helps to relieve anxiety as it also identifies the heros in our midst, by solving problems with immediacy: from food storage to the flat tire repair.
More than one hundred years ago, Freud postulated the reduction of anxiety to be one of the primary goals of Ego.
In the intervening century, tools and technique, in every field of human endeavor have exploded. Ever seriously considered the capability of PhotoShop as a pure display of technique? As such, it may be unbounded. The potential of capital, thoughtfully considered, has a similar propensity. Today's capital designers, on a good day, are the equivalent of the able apprentice en route to journeyman status.
Anxiety on the personal and collective level of human experience has never been more extreme, more sustained or more disabling (today's political process, to wit). Here we invoke the prerogative of each new generation to declare the anxiety of its day the new high watermark for anxiety in all human history; a folly, likely. Immodesty and anxiety seem to go hand-in-hand. (If we could only keep in mind the words of de Mello: “History, after all, is the record of appearances, not
Reality...”)
Today’s political process and the madness it fosters betray a sorry conclusion that more money will soothe the beast. This is a step, individuals and societies, respectively, must indulge before concluding transformation is not about money—it is about capitalizing awareness (as tool and technique).
The republic we can see unfolding post 2001 (the inflection point of new age anxiety in the West) is the governance of money. No public office can be bought—this would be a crime. All public offices, however, are for rent—and campaign reform would be the equivalent of rent control—it may happen in Santa Monica, California but nowhere else. If anxiety has a proxy--it is the proliferation of high rent “tenant” politics. If Freud was right about the purposes of Ego—the remarkable levels of anxiety in our midst today may signal a massive collapse of Ego (this is would actually make the history that contains us a great epoch for being alive).
For now, a new and more puerile egotism like we have never seen before (with cable news its new poster child) will add to a general sense of discouragement. Circus attendance (understood as strip malls and box stores) will fall off. It is okay--they never were the seat of power to begin with.
Headline: “Human Ego Fails---Consumer Confidence Quits”.
Obama used to talk about “bending” the cost curve of medical care. Friedman wants us to consider “changing the polls” (instead of merely reading them). Bending, changing—each seems to imply a flexion that may call for a new yoga. A new yoga— so that we might be tamed? Let it begin.
The op-ed material for the Avarice Fellowship is provided by the Share-Capital Foundation, www.share-capital.com.
Keep the faith. We bid you peace.
