"And so, the American manufacturing story continues, not only as a story of material transformation, but as a site of ontological diminishment. What we are witnessing is not simply deindustrialisation, but a loosening of the world itself - its loss of depth, weight and resonance. The things remain, but they no longer speak. In their silence, the noise of finance becomes deafening - a substitute mythology whose power lies in its ability to mesmerise, not to ground. It offers the frisson of motion in place of meaning, ledgerised quantity in place of quality and abstraction in place of presence.
To describe this condition is not to lament what might have been, nor is it to prescribe what should be. It is to observe, with a clear eye, the exhaustion of a symbolic order and the ascent of another. It speaks of a shift from a world of work and things to a world of signs and simulations. And in that shift, the everyday is emptied of its former sacredness, leaving behind not a crisis, but a quiet metaphysical malaise: a society rich in fictitious output but poor in substantive meaning."
One will never be built but a pedestrian bridge spanning the Grand Canyon would be quite awesome and a major engineering feat. So much needs to be rebuilt in the East Coast cities, their water and sewer systems specifically. But for the Rentiers, there’s no money in it unless they can monopolize those structures and charge huge fees.
that term rentiers is a very good one... has it reached a critical threshold where everyone knows what you imply?? i know, but i don't think most people do..
the dictionary gives the meaning, so i suppose it can continue to gain traction!
rentier
noun
A person who lives on income from property or investments.
One who has a fixed income, as from lands, stocks, or the like.
An individual who receives an income, usually interest, rent, dividends, or capital gains, from his or her assets and investments.
The last sentence. Add to it the megalomania and pleonexia behaviors, and you have an excellent portrait of those who have waged wars for many centuries, all the way up to the present.
Agree with the rentier being generally nonproductive to the economy and society, however a time comes in life where you are too old to work and the banks no longer provide a decent interest rate nor are trustworthy. Not everyone can get a pension so the only real alternative is some property to rent to keep an income.
As to the article, the most admired societies from Egypt onwards built structures to impress, as did the West of course, now it is China, that alone tells us where the short to medium term future lies, expect that was the point of the article.
yes and no gary... we can build a society that doesn't have to prey on the weaknesses of others... some different form of capitalism, or it's replacement would be where to look... cheers..
There is a famous tale of the dangers of compound interest from the ancients. There was a brilliant General who conquered all the King's enemies. Delighted, the King wanted to reward the General, telling him to ask for anything.
The King expected the General to ask for jewels, land, or one of his daughters, but instead he asked the King to place one grain of rice on a chessboard square, then double it the next day, and so on until all the squares were filled
The King readily accepted such a trivial gift and was relieved. So, he placed one grain of rice on the first square, and two the next day and so on. By the 32nd square, the kingdom was emptied of rice.
Now, most people see this as a cautionary tale of the dangers of financial interest; however, those in Western financial circles say, "I wanna be the General."
Russia's currently blowing up bridges in strategic areas of the SMO. Still Ukraine didn't built most of them, much like the Power Stations or anything else worthwhile in fact in the country. No doubt there'll be an intensive construction programme for the new regions in the near future which will create an economic boom in itself with 200k North Koreans assisting in said construction and in the process gaining vital knowledge of Russian building skills/trades with a view to their own future domestic construction programmes. All them earned roubles to purchase cheap materials various. WIN/WIN
A while back some western magazine/rag scoffed at a map of North & South Korea where electricity consumption was compared with DPRK's map in near darkness. I'm going to review those maps again in 5/10 years and expect major changes with one country on the up, the other, a US poodle, stagnant. We already see South Korea (and Japan) turning to China offering contracts for boat/ship building, losing market share in a traditionally specialist industry for purely economic reasons.
Yes comrades, there are 3 certainties in life, death, taxes and Ukraine getting smaller.
G'day Ann, a few questions. How did the hohols know he was in Kursk and was the attack because he was there or something else. No one seems to be commenting on it and certainly no reports of it being an attack on his chopper in particular.
Onwards & Upwards while our lot scramble to find missile defence systems built 40 years ago and are hell bent on disrupting everyone of the above's progress.
Yet Trump wants to spend $200bil on building the "Golden Dome" while the F-35 can't fly, our aircraft carriers are sitting ducks to Ansar Allah missiles, we lost a war to the Taliban, Iraqi's, Houthi's.
"IMO, old school methods ought to be mastered before becoming reliant on calculators and computers because they’ll help people think better—to be innovative, you must use your mind"
True words. Calculators should be used for verification only.
In S/E Asia they have become so intellectualy lazy that shop staff and vendors use calculators for the most simple of calculations. In Thailand buy something worth Bt90, give them a Bt100 note and they reach for the calculator to calculate the correct change.
When there I like to say out loud the amount in their language, before they get the result, and watch their eyes widen in amazement.
I was always a quick-draw on figuring change. Say the tab is $18.79 to which I tender $20.04 for $1.25 back. But I use my debit card almost exclusively now so I don’t need to carry a bunch of change to make nice outcomes like the above and lessen the change load.
I'd fire someone in a heart beat if the dipshit pulled out a pencil to calculate the complex equations in my business, ie, the mechanical trades. You obviously live in a dream world.
It's not the use of manual systems, it's knowing the formulas and having them at hand in your head so you know what to plug into the calculator to get the result wanted. I taught many people how to do basic arithmetic in their heads. And then there was the day when Paper, pencil and slide rule were the norm, and people really had to use their heads--their brains. I remember calculus tests where no calculator was allowed, same with statistics and other maths.
Yes. Mathematics is a mental invention that must be developed and reliance on calculators and computers is fine as long as they are seen as tools. I had two thoughts looking at images of these bridges.
First, I actually got vertigo just from the photos, so I would not want to walk across. Second, the Americans will probably try to blow them up. That is what they do.
I showed my wife the pedestrian tourist bridge and she said no way! She has vertigo issues too. The Outlaw US Empire may try to blow some of those projects, but it will need to defeat China’s AD first as the only way they can be attacked is via stand-off weapons.
Impressive engineering design, construction and building costs.
Western engineers are equally capable, applied math being what it is. The sponsoring and financing organizations are clearly not.
One of the handicaps for any project in the US involving Federal funds is Davis-Bacon. The explains the cost and cycle time for the Francis Scott Key bridge replacement.
America will never go back to the level of engineering prowess seen in these Chinese bridges.
Lee Kwan Yee noted that in a multicultural society people vote based on race and religion. The same is true with hiring and college admission. Increasingly all that matters is whether you are the right tribe (and that sure isn't white male) not talent.
I love this article. The comparison of two civilizations couldn't be starker. We should watch the progress (or lack thereof) toward repairing the Francis Scott Key Bridge. It is a bellwether or harbinger. When a civilization is in its growth phase, building and repairing infrastructure is routine. Its immune system is strong and easily pushes back the chaos at the edges. On the other hand, when a civilization becomes ossified, its immune system itself breaks down. Repairs are no longer possible. Chaos and disintegration are no longer thwarted. All its energies are focused on preserving its center, its core elites. Like a diabetic who can't resist sugar, its extremities are left to crumble and die.
"And so, the American manufacturing story continues, not only as a story of material transformation, but as a site of ontological diminishment. What we are witnessing is not simply deindustrialisation, but a loosening of the world itself - its loss of depth, weight and resonance. The things remain, but they no longer speak. In their silence, the noise of finance becomes deafening - a substitute mythology whose power lies in its ability to mesmerise, not to ground. It offers the frisson of motion in place of meaning, ledgerised quantity in place of quality and abstraction in place of presence.
To describe this condition is not to lament what might have been, nor is it to prescribe what should be. It is to observe, with a clear eye, the exhaustion of a symbolic order and the ascent of another. It speaks of a shift from a world of work and things to a world of signs and simulations. And in that shift, the everyday is emptied of its former sacredness, leaving behind not a crisis, but a quiet metaphysical malaise: a society rich in fictitious output but poor in substantive meaning."
https://warwickpowell.substack.com/p/the-hollowing-of-myth?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1965102&post_id=164385058&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=sm9eh&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
One will never be built but a pedestrian bridge spanning the Grand Canyon would be quite awesome and a major engineering feat. So much needs to be rebuilt in the East Coast cities, their water and sewer systems specifically. But for the Rentiers, there’s no money in it unless they can monopolize those structures and charge huge fees.
that term rentiers is a very good one... has it reached a critical threshold where everyone knows what you imply?? i know, but i don't think most people do..
the dictionary gives the meaning, so i suppose it can continue to gain traction!
rentier
noun
A person who lives on income from property or investments.
One who has a fixed income, as from lands, stocks, or the like.
An individual who receives an income, usually interest, rent, dividends, or capital gains, from his or her assets and investments.
The last sentence. Add to it the megalomania and pleonexia behaviors, and you have an excellent portrait of those who have waged wars for many centuries, all the way up to the present.
Agree with the rentier being generally nonproductive to the economy and society, however a time comes in life where you are too old to work and the banks no longer provide a decent interest rate nor are trustworthy. Not everyone can get a pension so the only real alternative is some property to rent to keep an income.
As to the article, the most admired societies from Egypt onwards built structures to impress, as did the West of course, now it is China, that alone tells us where the short to medium term future lies, expect that was the point of the article.
yes and no gary... we can build a society that doesn't have to prey on the weaknesses of others... some different form of capitalism, or it's replacement would be where to look... cheers..
There is a famous tale of the dangers of compound interest from the ancients. There was a brilliant General who conquered all the King's enemies. Delighted, the King wanted to reward the General, telling him to ask for anything.
The King expected the General to ask for jewels, land, or one of his daughters, but instead he asked the King to place one grain of rice on a chessboard square, then double it the next day, and so on until all the squares were filled
The King readily accepted such a trivial gift and was relieved. So, he placed one grain of rice on the first square, and two the next day and so on. By the 32nd square, the kingdom was emptied of rice.
Now, most people see this as a cautionary tale of the dangers of financial interest; however, those in Western financial circles say, "I wanna be the General."
Yes, I’ve known of that tale for many years. The Chinese didn’t forget.
Diogenes, seeing a clumsy archer, sat right on the target to avoid danger. That archer reminds me of the grotesque Ukrainian dictator.
And Trump plus Biden.
Of course.
Anything you can do I can do better
I can do anything better than you
No you can't
Yes I can
No you can't
Yes I can
Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can
Anything you can build
I can build cheaper
I can build anything cheaper than you
No you can't
Yes I can
No you can't
Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can
Russia's currently blowing up bridges in strategic areas of the SMO. Still Ukraine didn't built most of them, much like the Power Stations or anything else worthwhile in fact in the country. No doubt there'll be an intensive construction programme for the new regions in the near future which will create an economic boom in itself with 200k North Koreans assisting in said construction and in the process gaining vital knowledge of Russian building skills/trades with a view to their own future domestic construction programmes. All them earned roubles to purchase cheap materials various. WIN/WIN
A while back some western magazine/rag scoffed at a map of North & South Korea where electricity consumption was compared with DPRK's map in near darkness. I'm going to review those maps again in 5/10 years and expect major changes with one country on the up, the other, a US poodle, stagnant. We already see South Korea (and Japan) turning to China offering contracts for boat/ship building, losing market share in a traditionally specialist industry for purely economic reasons.
Yes comrades, there are 3 certainties in life, death, taxes and Ukraine getting smaller.
There were several other choices for articles, one being the ASEAN Summit and associated happenings. Here’s one good review, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1334885.shtml
But, but... VVP's chopper attacked by a drone swarm?!????!!!
G'day Ann, a few questions. How did the hohols know he was in Kursk and was the attack because he was there or something else. No one seems to be commenting on it and certainly no reports of it being an attack on his chopper in particular.
Have you any verifiable evidence about it?
Onwards & Upwards while our lot scramble to find missile defence systems built 40 years ago and are hell bent on disrupting everyone of the above's progress.
Yet Trump wants to spend $200bil on building the "Golden Dome" while the F-35 can't fly, our aircraft carriers are sitting ducks to Ansar Allah missiles, we lost a war to the Taliban, Iraqi's, Houthi's.
the nutz are in charge
For a second I thought you were Donald Trump, what gave it away that you weren't was the fact Gold/Golden was used -vbg-
Anything you can do I can do better
I can do anything better than you
No you can't
Yes I can
No you can't
Yes I can
Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can
Anything you can build
I can build cheaper
I can build anything cheaper than you
No you can't
Yes I can
No you can't
Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can
"IMO, old school methods ought to be mastered before becoming reliant on calculators and computers because they’ll help people think better—to be innovative, you must use your mind"
True words. Calculators should be used for verification only.
In S/E Asia they have become so intellectualy lazy that shop staff and vendors use calculators for the most simple of calculations. In Thailand buy something worth Bt90, give them a Bt100 note and they reach for the calculator to calculate the correct change.
When there I like to say out loud the amount in their language, before they get the result, and watch their eyes widen in amazement.
I was always a quick-draw on figuring change. Say the tab is $18.79 to which I tender $20.04 for $1.25 back. But I use my debit card almost exclusively now so I don’t need to carry a bunch of change to make nice outcomes like the above and lessen the change load.
I'd fire someone in a heart beat if the dipshit pulled out a pencil to calculate the complex equations in my business, ie, the mechanical trades. You obviously live in a dream world.
It's not the use of manual systems, it's knowing the formulas and having them at hand in your head so you know what to plug into the calculator to get the result wanted. I taught many people how to do basic arithmetic in their heads. And then there was the day when Paper, pencil and slide rule were the norm, and people really had to use their heads--their brains. I remember calculus tests where no calculator was allowed, same with statistics and other maths.
Many countries now allow students to use calculators in Basic Maths exams.
They churn out illiterate and innumerate teenagers.
I wonder if the next generation will know how to tell time from a clock. I've already seen a person here or there that can't read a clock
We're not talking about complex equations, the subject is Basic Maths, adding and subtracting for everyday needs..
Yes. Mathematics is a mental invention that must be developed and reliance on calculators and computers is fine as long as they are seen as tools. I had two thoughts looking at images of these bridges.
First, I actually got vertigo just from the photos, so I would not want to walk across. Second, the Americans will probably try to blow them up. That is what they do.
I showed my wife the pedestrian tourist bridge and she said no way! She has vertigo issues too. The Outlaw US Empire may try to blow some of those projects, but it will need to defeat China’s AD first as the only way they can be attacked is via stand-off weapons.
fascinating! go china!
thanks karl...
Impressive engineering design, construction and building costs.
Western engineers are equally capable, applied math being what it is. The sponsoring and financing organizations are clearly not.
One of the handicaps for any project in the US involving Federal funds is Davis-Bacon. The explains the cost and cycle time for the Francis Scott Key bridge replacement.
Having fun using their minds doing poetically practical things.
The extravagance and beauty of the people only bridge.
What a shock for those in the west in adulation over having the dinosaurs as a mystery.
Under what spell have they been in ?
America will never go back to the level of engineering prowess seen in these Chinese bridges.
Lee Kwan Yee noted that in a multicultural society people vote based on race and religion. The same is true with hiring and college admission. Increasingly all that matters is whether you are the right tribe (and that sure isn't white male) not talent.
I love this article. The comparison of two civilizations couldn't be starker. We should watch the progress (or lack thereof) toward repairing the Francis Scott Key Bridge. It is a bellwether or harbinger. When a civilization is in its growth phase, building and repairing infrastructure is routine. Its immune system is strong and easily pushes back the chaos at the edges. On the other hand, when a civilization becomes ossified, its immune system itself breaks down. Repairs are no longer possible. Chaos and disintegration are no longer thwarted. All its energies are focused on preserving its center, its core elites. Like a diabetic who can't resist sugar, its extremities are left to crumble and die.
I'm a little late for this but I find China bridge building amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=china+building+bridge+fast
I’ve watched several excellent videos showcasing China’s construction binge. The HK to Macao project was amazing.