TU 113 Fundamentals of Philosophy and Religion

09/02/2015

Some of the lyrics from a song by the Eagles called “Take it to the Limit,” from the 1970s.

You know I've always been a dreamer
(spent my life running 'round)
And it's so hard to change
(Can't seem to settle down)
But the dreams I've seen lately
Keep on turning out and burning out
And turning out the same

So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time

You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?

And when you're looking for your freedom
(Nobody seems to care)
And you can't find the door
(Can't find it anywhere)
When there's nothing to believe in
Still you're coming back, you're running back
You're coming back for more

These lyrics describe the social mood ascribed by David Loy to modern Western society. Loy says this is like Buddhist dukkha, or a general undefined dissatisfaction with life.

09/02/2015

So we have a cartoon and a photo of the characters/actors in the hit TV show ""The Big Bang Theory". Mostly these are "nerds" who do a lot of science but have poor social relations. They seem to get along with the girls, though. And of course some of the girls are nerds too.
The big bang theory is a real idea put forward by astro-physicists, saying that they don't know why, but the evidence points to a single large event in the very distant past in which the universe began, with a bang. Christian fundamentalists who read the Bible literally take some comfort in this theory, for the timing is wrong but at least it is closer to the biblical story than gradual evolution.

09/02/2015

08/02/2015

Here is the text from the first video shown in class last week. I'll try to keep them all simple in the future.
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Gekko: Well, I appreciate the opportunity you're giving me, Mr. Cromwell, as the single largest shareholder in Teldar Paper, to speak.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, we're not here to indulge in fantasy, but in political and economic reality. America, America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market, when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company!
All together, these men sitting up here [Teldar management] own less than 3 percent of the company. And where does Mr. Cromwell put his million-dollar salary? Not in Teldar stock; he owns less than 1 percent.

You own the company. That's right -- you, the stockholder.

And you are all being royally screwed over by these, these bureaucrats, with their steak lunches, their hunting and fishing trips, their corporate jets and golden parachutes.

Cromwell: This is an outrage! You're out of line, Gekko!


Gekko: Teldar Paper, Mr. Cromwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents, each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can't figure it out. One thing I do know is that our paper company lost 110 million dollars last year, and I'll bet that half of that was spent in all the paperwork going back and forth between all these vice presidents.
The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be "survival of the unfittest." Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated.
In the last seven deals that I've been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. (applause) Thank you.
I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them!

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.
And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.
Thank you very much.
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What are some other words or phrases for "greed" as it is used in this movie clip?

Overall, this fits into David Loy's grand psychological /philosophical analysis in that it is an example of how we put our faith in a monetary system that has become so abstract that most investors do not really understand it. In fact fewer and fewer financial specialists understand it. This is clearly described in the follow-up movie clip that you can find under "greed is not good".
Historically this present clip refers to an earlier period before the financial system completely loses its contact with reality, around 2008.