tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post7365554435982577772..comments2023-11-05T22:35:31.766+00:00Comments on Neil Clark: Profiteering from other people's misery: the immorality of modern capitalismNeil Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10479041156190090119noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-86905109531843293162010-04-22T21:09:10.852+01:002010-04-22T21:09:10.852+01:00Mr Piccolo, many thanks. Tawney is excellent, but ...Mr Piccolo, many thanks. Tawney is excellent, but sadly not read as much as he should be these days, the same goes for Erich Fromm.<br /><br />Neil, I think 'The overarching problem IS a few capitalists making use of the laws of supply & demand. Forget the volcano debate and whether or not there was an over-reaction- and think back to 7-7 when hotels jacked their prices up in London, or other occasions when people have been caught up in some travel disruption. Or when some traders took advantage of the events of 9-11. Is it nice to rip people off at their hour of need? It's a moral question and my view is that our shift to a more aggressive, profits-obsessed capitalist system has made things a lot worse.<br /><br />Madam Miaow- quite. We hear a lot of talk from our neoliberal political masters about 'the Dunkirk spirt' but the very economic policies they advocate destroy solidarity in society at large. We definitely need new anti-profiteering laws.<br /><br />anonymous: good point. thanks for the link.Neil Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10479041156190090119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-62745929793768704232010-04-22T14:09:59.074+01:002010-04-22T14:09:59.074+01:00http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/8632901.s...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/8632901.stm<br /><br />"In the past six days manufacturers (of both jet engines and airframes) were brought together by the civil aviation authority to look at the scientific evidence and establish a safe threshold for a concentration of ash below which jet engines will not be damaged.<br /><br />This threshold has been set at 0.002g per cubic metre of air and the latest data indicate a concentration in UK airspace of 0.0001g per cubic metre."<br /><br />ie. The companies who make jet engines couldn't tell us how much ash their engines could cope with - until the CAA forced them to do so. <br /><br />How reassuring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-49372352184548006932010-04-22T11:49:24.559+01:002010-04-22T11:49:24.559+01:00Hello Neil
I am Peter Eyre I have a column in the...Hello Neil<br /><br />I am Peter Eyre I have a column in the Palestine Telegraph....would you be kind enough to contact me via Sameh Habeeb of the Palestine Telegraph and then we can discuss Harry's Place etc<br /><br />PeterPeter Eyre's Placehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13722989686680778049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-4239636874455491902010-04-21T21:54:45.808+01:002010-04-21T21:54:45.808+01:00So much for the spirit of Dunkirk — Eurostar. What...So much for the spirit of Dunkirk — Eurostar. What a criminal mentality. And now some of the airlines are grasping for excuses not to honour their legal commitment. Don;t we need laws and regulations to protect the public?Madam Miaowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10237951918529887305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-21385340602730612112010-04-21T14:17:37.643+01:002010-04-21T14:17:37.643+01:00The overarching problem with this is not a few cap...The overarching problem with this is not a few capitalists making use of the laws of supply & demand but of the incompetence & irresponsibility of massive EU state bureaucracy. It is becoming increasingly evident that there is not & never was a real danger from this volcano. It was just the massive reaction of bureaucrats whose default position is always that their job is to ban something.<br /><br />This is why the USSR fell. It is inherent in such bureaucratic centralism. If socialism is to become a viable option again it must separate itself from big state centralism.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-36104244907423414752010-04-21T01:01:00.000+01:002010-04-21T01:01:00.000+01:00Great post. I'm currently reading R.H. Tawney&...Great post. I'm currently reading R.H. Tawney's "The Acquisitive Society." It is a very good read and Tawney touches on the immorality, or perhaps amorality, of capitalism, and how that system was a major break from older conceptions of economics that had an ethical component, something we would do well to rediscover.Mr. Piccolonoreply@blogger.com