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The majority of people in the West seem convinced that the all the problems of the world are really economic. That economic "progress" is the only solution to the world's problems. Is that really true? Economists appear to work from a model that assumes that everyone is "rational," that is that everyone will act according to their "self-interest." What sort of definition of rationality is that which equates the rational with self-interest? Self-interest is a value. That suggests that the crises we face are economic only in a derivative sense. Rather it would seem we face a crisis of values. Read More
Rationality
The premise in economics that people are inherently rational has to do with the mathematical evaluation of cost. Of course, it has been shown to greater and greater degree that most people are in fact not able to accurately assess costs and benefits, and thus end up making "irrational" decisions.
While the concept of self-interest was integral to the second part of Adam Smith's defining work, most people fail to realize that there was a first part to his work. I wonder about some modern capitalists that seem to proclaim the triumph of efficiency over equity in totality; the idea that charity is a concept that humankind left behind some time ago. And so I agree, there is certainly a crisis of values in this modern day and age. Thank you for writing something that has given me a new perspective.
Not Values
The assumption the people are rational, whether its taken by economists or psychologists, is mostly incorrect. First of all, education can only be seen as an offshoot of the economic system. The failing public school system is an obvious example of the failing economic system. Its basic requirement is to keep the lower class in poverty.
Was it not Freud who discovered that people are mostly unconscious and irrational beings? This discovery is perhaps more true today than ever. Most people are irrational because they have adjusted to an irrational world - one that emphasizes profit and competition instead of intrinsic human values.
The economy is hegemonic because it influences people on a daily level. Since everyone works, and is forced to work, everyone also is forced to accept every other trivial meaningless experience connected to their job. Survival becomes ultimate, consciousness seems impossible. Values, in turn, are compromised by the economic system because work (earning a living, providing for yourself and your family) is primary. If you look around today, it is hard to find anyone with values that are unique or removed from the social capitalist system. Therefore, they cannot be analyzed without an understanding of a system with such vast influence on human character.
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