Quotation Of The Day: Of Morality And Markets And Hobby Lobby Edition

I seem to agreeing with a lot of conservatives lately. From this Patrick J Deneen piece at The American Conservative:

. . . Largely ignored is the fact Hobby Lobby is a significant player in a global economy that has separated markets from morality. Even as it is a Christian-themed brand, it operates in a decisively “secular” economic world. It is almost wholly disembedded from any particular community; its model, like that of all major box stores, is to benefit from economies of scale through standardization and aggressive price-cutting, relying on cheap overseas producers and retail settings that are devoid of any particular cultural or local distinction. The Hobby Lobby near us—on Grape Road in nearby Mishawaka—is about as profane imaginable a place on earth, accessible by six lanes of concrete roads where there is a heavy concentration of large chain retailers, where it anchors a sensory-deadening row of retail store fronts that border acres of cracked and barren pavement, awash in discarded plastic bags and crumpled fast food wrappers. On the rare occasion that I enter the store, even amid the Chinese mass-produced crosses and the piped in Christian music, under the endless florescent lighting and displays carefully-managed to optimize impulse buying, I am hardly moved to a state of piety, prayer, and thanksgiving. I am, like everyone else, looking for the least chintzy item at the cheapest price.

Hobby Lobby—like every chain store of its kind—participates in an economy that is no longer “religious” or even “moral.” That is, it participates in an economy that arose based on the rejection of the subordination of markets embedded within, and subject to, social and moral structures. This “Great Transformation” was detailed and described with great acuity by Karl Polanyi in his masterful 1944 book of that title. He described a sea change of economic practice that took place especially beginning in the 19th-century, but whose theoretical groundwork had been laid already in the 17th- and 18th-centuries by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Adam Smith. As he succinctly described this “transformation,” previous economic arrangements in which markets were “embedded” within moral and social structures, practices, and customs were replaced by ones in which markets were liberated from those contexts, and shorn of controlling moral and religious norms and ends. “Ultimately that is why the control of the economic system by the market is of overwhelming consequence to the whole organization of society: it means no less than the running of society as an adjunct to the market. Instead of economy being embedded in social relations, social relations are embedded in the economic system.” 

Chart Of The Day: What Americans Find Morally Acceptable Edition

From this IO9 post

A Minor Musing On Moral Failings

Over at Madville, Cory points to a letter to the editor from Representative Don Kopp of Rapid City. The local paper has not printed Kopp's missive, so I was unaware of it until I saw Cory's post. Kopp decries America's moral failings and quotes several of America's founders and General Omar Bradley.

Cory and several of his commentators castigate Kopp, but perhaps they misread Rep. Kopp.

I'm guessing Kopp like millions of others was reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq invasion and the on-going war that was started in part for WMDs that didn't exist and resulted in the incalculable loss of life. If one wants to look at the war's effect on the debt that will be passed on to future generations, at least $1 trillion of the debt comes from that war.

Perhaps, Kopp who I am sure is a good Christian man, is bemoaning the fact that his fellow Christians in Iraq are much worse off than they were under Saddam Hussein.

On the home front, the bankers who tanked the economy still have not been punished nor does it seem any will face legal sanction. The purchasing power of the wages of the average American has been shrinking for over 30 years. Some have suggested that those who are unemployed or underemployed should consider their involuntary "leisure time" a benefit and condemn those unable to get work for not utilizing such time effectively. Such a callous attitude seems indicate moral failing.

A well-connected elite in Nineveh would have the same sort of advantages in the economic realm that today's bankers and investors have. Cory's post pointed to Nineveh’s foreign policy arrogance. Surely, a well-read man like Kopp who is able to knowingly quote august Americans, is referring to injustices and moral failings such as these.

[Update and Correction]: This post originally identified Kopp as Koop. I blame dust on the bifocals.

A Minor Musing: Is Being A Teacher Immoral?

My little rant about education reformers seemingly wanting students to fail elicited the follwing tweeted response.

@Kal_ritle Key questions r: Why do we act like lemmings, even as we name our behavior as such? What exactly is worse then being a lemming?
— Mary Ann Reilly (@MaryAnnReilly) April 24, 2012

I replied to the what's worse than a lemming query with James 4:17.

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

I was being a bit glib, but upon further review, as the National Football League's referees say, my response leads me to believe that I have put myself in an uncomfortable moral position.

I know I should do good, but many of the current trends in education strike me as wrong as in "unjust," "dishonest," or "immoral."  I'd feel a little less conflicted if I thought these reforms were merely "mistaken" "unsuitable," or "undesirable."  To the best of my ability, I close the door and teach but there is still some good being left undone.  Mama and Papa Plainsman always warned me about the wages of sin.

While I wonder about the morality or propriety of staying in the profession, I have to confront the fact that the national employment rate is still over 8%; I'm on the wrong side of 50;  I have family responsibilities that require a paycheck, and it would probably be immoral for me to take risks that would make me a burden to my family or put them at financial risk.

I knew I should have learned to play the piano; I hear houses of ill repute are hiring piano players.

United We Stand?

William Saletan reviews Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.

Saletan summarizes Haidt's recommendations:

Our task, then, is to organize society so that reason and intuition interact in healthy ways. Haidt’s research suggests several broad guidelines. First, we need to help citizens develop sympathetic relationships so that they seek to understand one another instead of using reason to parry opposing views. Second, we need to create time for contemplation. Research shows that two minutes of reflection on a good argument can change a person’s mind. Third, we need to break up our ideological segregation. From 1976 to 2008, the proportion of Americans living in highly partisan counties increased from 27 percent to 48 percent. The Internet exacerbates this problem by helping each user find evidence that supports his views.

In short, people have to talk to people they don't like, live next door to people who frequently disagree with them, and listen before they speak.  How will the Internet survive?
Snark aside, Haidt's observations require serious consideration.  

I briefly discuss a Haidt New York Times briefly here.  Dr. Blanchard analyzes a Reason article here.