Rushkoff and Bloom Disagree

Howard Bloom, a longtime friend, has been Twittering some of his heartfelt disagreement for the conclusions I reach about capitalism in my book, Life Inc. He sees capitalism as essential to our continuing evolution as a species and a civilization (the Western one, at any rate), and means to prove the supremacy and sanctity of this economic system to me, once and for all.

We'll be hashing it out live, next week, on my WFMU radio show The Media Squat - Mondays at 6pm on WFMU, and http://WFMU.org, as well as by podcast, iTunes and whatever other spoils of capitalism are available to us.

Aug. 3rd: The Big Debate: Howard Bloom vs. Douglas Rushkoff.

Bloom and I will engage on the relative merits of capitalism, whether it’s really the way humanity can evolve, and whether it is a stage of development to be shed like a snake’s skin, or an ideology to embrace forever.

This is an extension of our long-running discussion about whether we should arrest the development of some of capitalism’s more perverse expressions – or whether we must push through by doing more. I, for one, think there’s got to be a way out of environmental disaster beyond hiring Monsanto to develop a new strain of eco-resistant rice. The way out is not always through – especially when “through” means piling more addictions onto the ones we already have. But Howard argues the other side as well as I’ve ever heard it done, and he can get even the most liberal-minded people to nod along with the notion that the only solution for McWorld vs. Jihad is the annihilation of a civilization, that mustering warrior energy might be the key to the West’s survival, and that capitalism and competition are as natural as the ivy pulling down the maple tree in my backyard.

For more information on Howard Bloom, check out his website and bio.

Also, his two books:

Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century

and

The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History

Comments

[treeves]

Your book proceeds? Are they going into the community-at-large i.e. development, philanthropy or the venue where you bank?

[mason]

If you search all the sites where Doug has written in the past year, you can get a pretty clear picture.

But don't fret, i'm sure some of Douglas' proceeds will go into the bailout. And don't forget the Corporations' second to last refuge, the Pentagon.

-mason

[Carol]

I tried but I couldn't listen to the whole of the show. If I wanted to listen to apologists for capitalism I could go to a MSM outlet. Capitalism has been "great in raising the poor and the oppressed"? Say this to the poor 2/3 of the world who've had their land stolen.

Hope this isn't a trend. I've got a lot out of the show in the past. Very disappointing.

[John R. Sedivy]

Thanks for the recommendation on Howard Bloom's books. I hadn't heard of him, or read his books, but they seem interesting - possibly on par with your own work, albeit from a different perspective.