The following is an edited form of the paper and presentation I delivered at the Weber State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology Sixth Annual research Conference on April 17, 2009. The pictures are from my presentation slides.

Abstract

The United States of America was founded on concepts revolutionary in their day. But arguments on the inalienable rights of man; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were not original to the men who ratified this nation. Indeed what had been ratified was a social contract designed by the early social thinkers of the First Industrial Revolution, and that contract was one where the butcher, the brewer, and the baker could live and work together to create a greater society, and thus the invisible hand was born.

What was this social contract, why it still matters, and what it means to the environment is what I plan to discuss.

The Promise of Capitalism

The term social contract is recognition of the means by which a populace surrenders a certain level of autonomy to attain social order. In 17th century England, social theorist Robert Filmer published his arguments to maintain the existing social contract in Patriarchia where he excused the monarchy as being the divine right of kings. Political theorist and social activist, John Locke seized on this when writing The Two treatise of Government and offered criticism to this social contract by exploiting what he perceived as a flawed logic, primary to which, God created man, not kings. Through this he challenged the existing contract by suggesting that man exists in a state of nature where, “"The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it….” Based on this law of nature, Locke surmised that all men were created equal and as such it was each man’s responsibility that, “….no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions….” (Locke, II, 6)

With this sense of equality and the recognition of a social contract, Locke went further with suggesting such contracts as revocable in that any civil government depends on the consent of those who are governed, which may be withdrawn. Also from this equality, Locke stated that land only held value after being cultivated by a person and it is that person who should acquire it and its fruits as a result, thus requiring the central function of government to be the protection of private property and one’s own means of production. A caveat to this was that no man should be allowed to acquire beyond his means and that nature should not be exploited in harvesting its resources. (Locke, V, 31)

The document was among the great instigators of organized civil disobedience leading up to The Boston Tea Party for colonial elite and commoner alike. Key in this movement was Thomas Jefferson who on identifying with the meaning of Locke used near direct citation from the second of the two treatise when he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As it was already said by Locke that land is an extension of the body, Jefferson equated health and possession with happiness.

The American Dream

Experiencing this transition period firsthand, from colony to developing nation, Benjamin Franklin gave rise the American Dream by coming to Philadelphia penniless to later rise as one of the wealthiest men in America. For that reason he is the only man pictured on US currency who was never a sitting president. Fortune magazine columnist Stanley Bing rates Benjamin Franklin number four on his list of 7 saints he admires most; right under Nicolo Machiavelli. Attila the Hun tops that list, followed by Augustus Caesar. Bing praises Franklin for his ability to remain fluid and redefine himself over the ages and even declares him the contemporary of Bill Gates; starting small, building a monopoly, then becoming a philanthropist.

Franklin’s arrival in Philadelphia was more than one of a penniless traveler, he arrived at the age of 17, a fugitive after fleeing a contract of indentured servitude. With this new freedom he began working when his way through a printing apprenticeship when he found himself in the Machiavellian court of the governing body of the colonies, the General Assembly. Later as he graduated from apprentice to journeyman, Franklin was made clerk of the Assembly where he used his relationships with its members to gain contracts he later came to refer to as “printing money,” which in fact was the printing of currency and most all of the legal documents for the New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania colonies. (Franklin, X, Poor Richard’s Almanac and Other Activities)

Because of this, Benjamin Franklin became a very wealthy man and was able to retire by the age of 42. He died at 84, far exceeding the expected age of his contemporaries. Also it should be noted that practicing business as he did then is now considered illegal and that is where the American Dream went.

The Father of Capitalism

Adam Smith is considered by many the true father of capitalism. Born in 18th century Scotland, Smith is currently the first, and only non-British citizen featured on a British bank note. Around the in the same time as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Smith published An Inquiry Into the Wealth of Nations, a book regarding his observations and assumptions on a free market economy. In the book he uses such symbols as the butcher, the baker, and the brewer to describe how a free market economy would function, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.” (Smith, Ch. 2)

Smith utilizes these symbols time and again throughout the work to reflect elements of an economy that when working to serve their own self-interest, they unintentionally improve the circumstance for society by circulating monetary gains and creating a better standard of living.

While he did explain this as also being beneficial on a global scale through international trade, he also explained that the same self-interest the capitalist operates would manifest as patriotism, causing him to patronize local, not international markets in times of economic downturn.

These points as Smith described them came to be known as the Laissez-faire economy that for a time was used in France with ill effect. Some still argue that a Laissez-faire system would be beneficial and government intervention retards its self-corrective nature. Others argue that unfettered business destroys resources, exploits the working class, and supports governments having a record of infringing on another’s human rights.

232 Years Later

Where this has brought us now is in many ways far from what was envisioned by these men who shaped early American history, though with characters such as Bernard Madhof it could be assumed that Franklin’s American dream is alive and well. Situations only being realized in contemporary society would be the McDonaldization of businesses and consumers with its accompanying health problems of stress and obesity, whole businesses seeking welfare capitalism as their failure threatens the destruction of the global economy, and retailers capitalizing on third world economies to increase their margins.

But those are only the surface issues, what has been left in plain sight as if its mere presence makes it acceptable.



Greater environmental issues exist that are hidden from the casual observer. I recall driving to Yellowstone national park in 1995 when I noticed light showing between the trees as I zipped passed. After stopping the car to investigate and walking some 20 feet into the tree line, I found that whole areas of the forest had been decimated. The accompanying satellite photo shown is of the area immediately west of Yellowstone national park. The patches are roughly two square miles each left over from clear cutting operations nearly fifteen years ago. They recessed these from the road so as not to spoil your scenic drive into the park. It will be another 85 years before those forests recover.

On February 2 the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council filed suit in US District court to block resumed logging operations in this area. (Associate Press, 2/2/09)



Something that also goes without notice is the North Pacific Gyre whose current state was discovered by Charles Moore in 2007 in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the continental United States. Also called the North Pacific Garbage Patch, this gyre according to a recent Wall Street Journal column, contains a mass of floating plastic whose collective surface area is estimated at its minimum to be twice the size of Texas. (WSJ, 3/25/09) That is the equivalent of small continent floating around in the ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the potential for such an event in 1988. Since Moore’s discovery, the largest response has been from the cruise-line industry in steering ships around the area so as not to disturb guests.



Another issue that goes without much concern was found in 2003 at Hill Air Force Base when a jet fuel storage tank was reported to be leaking carcinogens into the groundwater. This issue first came to their attention in 1977 when a neighboring property owner reported that his secondary water was orange. The slide area affected by this extends through several communities west of the air base extending almost to the Great Salt Lake.



Yet still in 2005 the US Geological Survey reported finding 25 nanograms per liter of methylmercury in the Great Salt Lake. This reading is one of the highest findings in the US. On tracing it to the source they found that it had been leaching into the groundwater table from Kennecott Copper.

Now an official Superfund site, clean-up efforts are underway yet this mercury is dissipated throughout the lake, across migratory bird refuges extending up to northern shores where many businesses extract table salt.

Overall there are some 35 Superfund sites in Utah, mostly in the areas between Provo and Ogden. This is what happens when business is allowed to run enfettered in society, imagine what it would be if they were given absolute autonomy. This is also what happens when government grows beyond control, imagine what it would be if they were allowed to continue with business as usual.

Remember the three symbols presented by Smith; the butcher, the baker, and the brewer? Smith uses them symbolically to illustrate varying roles within the economy. Primarily what they represent is the three driving factors of the economy; the government, the businesses, and the consumer; each working to support and make a better life for themselves and consequently the other. Our social contract is one where the government protects private property and the interests of industry; where industry provides jobs and technological innovation to the consumer; and where the consumer provides continued support on which the government depends to function. But what has happened here is that the consumer has defaulted on their part. Each is also meant to monitor the actions of the other which is how we avoided a Lazzier-faire economy. This system of checks and balances could be best compared to the three branches of the government; none lives in a vacuum; each is answerable to the other.

Global markets could be just as easily blamed on a monolithic government or big business, but in reality the problem is us. The consumer has found themselves in a state of anomie fed on by their over consumption while forgetting that just as every time they vote support a politician in office, they also vote in support big businesses by patronizing their products and stores.

The moral is of course to stop buying so much crap. When you do make a purchase, buy responsibly. Make intelligent decisions on not only how this effects you, but your community. By supporting local businesses during economic downturns you not only enrich the lives of your neighbors, you also enrich yourself by protecting the value of your own property. Also consider that the waste created by consumerism goes somewhere. It goes in our soil, it ends up in our oceans. It destroys ecosystems. The waste we create today becomes the artifacts of tomorrow. Capitalism at its heart is a workable system that is beneficial to all, but you have to play a role and not just consider yourself a product of it. What we’ve been fed was nothing more than a dream, and by becoming overgrown ourselves, we’ve allowed other interests the same. Be a capitalist, not a consumer.

Works Cited

•Associated Press. Environmentalists sue to block logging near Yellowstone National Park. The Missoulian (Feb. 2, 2009)

•Bailik, Carl. How Big Is That Widening Gyre of Floating Plastic? The Wall Street Journal. (March 25, 2009)

•Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. (1922) Holt.

•Locke, John. Two Treatise of Government. (1690)

•Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations. (1776)

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This post is actually from Sept. 2, 2009, but was posted on a different site that I am in the process of closing down. I reposted it here for my own amusement.

I remember when I was young and idealistic – as opposed to my older idealistic self – and the occasional reminders I’d suffer in regards to my value of self expression. Usually that would come in my seeing the world change for other people. On that end I would watch as older generations bemoaned the loss of familiar comforts like vinyl records, 8-track tapes, and oversized cars. The future was not what they’d expected and they’d failed in seeing that new frontiers were coming to them, not them standing at the precipice. Granted, I never thought myself one to hang onto the past; I remember my grandfather’s cantankerous opposition to change and how I would sometimes stare with slack-jawed awe at the shear level of commentary he would offer. Statements that always began with, “When I was your age,” and end with some commentary on the moral turpitude of contemporary society.



This isn’t a soapbox and it’s not yet my turn to ask where the flying cars are; I just think that commercial is funny in that it’s Avery Brooks asking the question. As far as culture goes though – in a sardonic way – I almost can’t help but wonder what happened. Was I sleeping? I must have been as almost overnight Christian groups are now embracing the once damned Harry Potter as the metaphor of Christ and just as suddenly I see people wantonly emulating that movie’s characters in public. Beit the lanky guy with glasses I saw the other day zipping around the office waving his pencil like a wand and yelling, “Expelliarmus!” or the Hot Topic brand Goths I saw at the Project Pitchfork show the other night. In fact I overheard Severus Snape and Lucious Malfoy lost in conversation about how C.C. DeVille was the Keith Richards of our generation. The situational irony was amazing! There must have been a big sale on those costumes somewhere. Being an individual is great, especially when you look like every other individual.

So what did happen? There was once a time that if you wanted to be punk or industrial you had to actually work at it. It wasn’t a kit you could just buy at Hot Topic-mart. If you wanted a look, you had to work for it; there were military surplus and second hand stores to visit, clothes to be dyed, etc. Of course technology did make the world smaller, but movies and the internet are hardly to blame for the commercialization of a subcultural phenomenon.

Much of what happened has less to do with feelings of disaffection from society and more to do with what people are willing to spend their money on. The world of marketing is acutely aware that any niche can be exploited and familiar holdings can be adapted. Beyond the Harry Potter examples, examine these two recent events which transcend generational boundaries: Disney Studios purchased Marvel comics, and the PBS staple of 26 years, Reading Rainbow ran its last episode on August 28, 2009.

My daughter looked at me like I slapped her in the face when I told her about the passing of Reading Rainbow, and truthfully I’m not sure what to think of the Disney deal. Will Cyclops now tease Wolverine not to throw him in the briar patch? Or for that matter; what about any of the near S&M clad figures whom were once the Marvel staple; will they be made to clean up their act? Guess we’ll have to continue watching the show.

Sophocles, Freud, and everything in between.

This post is actually from Feb. 23, 2009, but was posted on a different site that I am in the process of closing down. I reposted it here for my own amusement.

Yeah we’ve all been played with, or teased online and it’s somehow amusing to me when I see it reflected in another’s profile. Profiles are interesting to me. It’s interesting when I see someone set out a laundry list of what they’ll have and what they won’t. It’s like the fairy tale expectation that someone tall, dark, and handsome is going to kick down their door and whisk them away to some promised land of devotion and carnal pleasures. Thing is that in revealing yourself to so much of what you want, you leave yourself exposed to what you don’t.

Think of it like the epic trilogy of Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The story in itself is very good, though by way of Freud it’s been given a perverse tone not worth exploring. For many reasons I wonder if Freud even ever read the story because a grown man sexing his mother is not what the story was about. What it is about is that in our attempting to avoid fate, we end up neck deep in it. I’ll paraphrase the story so forgive me for what I omit.

Oedipus was born the son of a king who ordered the infant Oedipus be executed after it was prophesized that Oedipus would later kill him and marry the queen. Of course the people given the job fail and passed the task until the infant ended up in the care of a neighboring monarchy who raised Oedipus as their own. As the child grew, young Oedipus came to suspect his being adopted and sought his own prophecy.

As the story goes, the prophet, Tiresias repeats the earlier prophecy, yet makes no mention of his dad’s identity. Oedipus was a bit more about the content of this new information than what he’d been asking to begin with, and in his denial and attempt to distance himself, runs away to a neighboring kingdom whereupon he is nearly run down by a chariot when crossing a road. Words are exchanged and Oedipus beats the driver to death. Later in town he hears word that the king has been murdered and he decides to fess up to his deed. On entering the king’s court though he is quite taken by the queen’s beauty and decides to play it out, and later hooks up with her.

Things are going great for Oedipus: he avoided killing his dad; he got away with murder; he’s got a hot wife; and his own kingdom. Then he starts hearing rumors about this child the king had sent away and is at first concerned that the kid may return to claim his birthright. Long story made short: through a series of revelations, Oedipus finds that he is in fact that child and in his unwillingness to confront issues, he has fulfilled both prophecies. Quite well too, I think he even got a few kids from it. In his literal horror, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and leaves to wander the land so he may never have to again look upon the results of his deeds.

Now like I said, in your aversion, you may well end up neck deep in what you’re actively seeking to avoid, and with that I offer the following advice: confront your demons. What’s the source of you aversion and does it justify that all X equals Y? Or for that matter that all exes equal XX or XY? I think we’d all do better not to justify the acts of one as being indicative of the whole, and consider that in this world, there are some people who are just that messed up.

Certainly I’ve had a few exes who have made me want to shut the door and label their kind another species, or as pop-psych guru John Gray labeled them, as being from another planet. Really all it has done though, and all it should ever do, is make me examine what it was I was seeking to begin with.