From: Jerry Levy (Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Tue Nov 21 2006 - 05:15:42 EST
> Elmar Altvater and Ernest Mandel talked about capitalist society as > "combining partial rationality and overall irrationality". The idea here > is that behaviour which makes perfect sense at the micro-level (it is > reasonable and rational) has macro-level effects which are irrational and > harmful, and conversely macro-policies which seem rational have > micro-effects which are irrational. This is closely related to the notion > of unintended consequences, i.e. that the final or aggregate effect of > actions may be different or opposite to what is intended. Hi Jurriaan: Similar types of problems have been experienced in 'socialist' countries as well: they are sometimes referred to as internalities. > The underlying idea here is that a rational society would be a society in > which individual interests > and societal/communal interests would be compatible or harmonious, rather > than conflict, i.e. that societal irrationality is in good part caused by > its structure, the way it is organised. Even in a 'socialist' society there is struggle. How is it possible for such a society to have both 'harmony' and struggle? In solidarity, Jerry
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