Lecture 4 - Capitalism 11.12.11
diary assignment
What I think and my
response? What did I take out of that?
Movie “White”
Capitalism
“You do not know what I
need!”
outward appearance
money (liquidity,
something to buy) – capital (is the issue of capitalism, power
domain)
product (exclusive)
- commodity (something made available for mass, e.g. water now)
“capitalism needs
conformity of consumers to function”
capitalism runs on profit
→ sustainability not possible
→ synchronisation of
culture → not possible to have creativity and innovation
Christianity represents
fundamental characteristics of certain companies e.g. Disney, IBM,
Capitalism on all areas
Lecture 2,3 - the question
of imperialism and the media 10.12.11
US foreign policy 1948 –
today
1973 11. sept. - world
criss, Chile Eliende
2011 11. sept. - twin
tower bomb attack
1922 11 sept. - 1
displacement of palestins (Palestine)
Imperialism
- India power over Nepal/ Bangladesh
- two explanations to this term, Marxist (goes further and talks about the importance of economics to such political acts) and non-marxist (strategies of expansion)
Marshall Plan
- prevent communism spread and enhance capitalism
Monroe Doctrine
PR (manufacturing
consents), changing public
Red Scare
Truman Doctrine
South Sudan new
country
Lecture 1,2 - War &
the Media 8.12.11
case study of 1991 Gulf
War and
embedded journalism
Europe to obey to global US lead
Use of language to
manipulate and bring values across (ideologies)
I. Introduction
This course is designed to help address various questions associated with the ideas of democracy and freedom by examining the cases of ancient Athens, the United States and modern India. It also examines the rise and decline of the Maurya Empire of ancient India. In its approach, the course draws upon game‐theoretic reasoning (what would actors driven by their ambitions do?) as well as philosophy. For instance, the rise and stability of a constitution (a system of governance with its associated institutions and laws) will be viewed in light of the actions of rational agents or factions in power. Likewise, the adoption of various laws, institutions, systems of checks and balances, and the extent of freedom the people enjoy will be examined on the basis of the relative power of their supporters and opponents. In brief, the course will tend towards the tradition of positive theory, a sort of cause and effect analysis. It is hoped that the approach would enable students to become independent and formulate their own views.
There are four distinguishing features of this course. First, it introduces the case of ancient Athens in considerable detail, and Sparta to some extent. As a result, a student reading Aristotle’s Politics or Plato’s Republic would have a concrete basis to comprehend the abstractions in these texts because considerable part of Plato’s and Aristotle’s writings are based on the events of Athens and Sparta. Moreover, once Aristotle’s Politics is understood, the readings of other great thinkers, all the way down to the modern times, would become easier because many continue to draw upon the events of ancient Athens and most continue to address Aristotle’s questions albeit in the modern context.
Second, it is based on Great Books1, those that are deep and forever relevant. Great Books offer wisdom and ideas that are applicable to both ancient and modern worlds. Considering their longevity, it would appear that their main ideas are like mathematical theorems but instead of being deductive, their wisdom is drawn from experience and reflection. Great Books on the Management of Societies would refer to books pertaining to social, ethical and political philosophy with special emphasis on the management of civil societies. They (e.g., Aristotle’s Politics and Chanakya’s Arthasashtra) suggest “objective” conditions necessary for the rise of a system of government, and manmade structures (e.g., institutions and laws) necessary to implement and operate such systems. Not surprisingly, questions about installing, preserving and managing such systems have commanded the attention of the best.
Third, probably because of the great books, the course is in the spirit of general equilibrium approach wherein institutions and laws arise from within the society, which could be subject to mutiny and invasion. The winning system of government could be competitive (democracy) or monopolistic (monarchy, dictatorship) where winning and losing depend on the economic surplus, and military resources and organization.
Fourth, the lessons from all of the above would apply to large organizations and modern societies. For example, when should a large organization choose to be hierarchical or democratic? Would the general public benefit from the current movements for splitting larger states in India into smaller states? What are the threats to India’s democracy and if something could be done about these threats? What should be the constitution of a grampanchayat?Would the constitution of a gram panchayat work in the absence of political
competition at the local level, and how could the problems, if any, be addressed? What should be the governance system to manage higher education in India? What governance systems should India adopt to manage its Environment?
