Sunday, July 28, 2019

Eight essential steps to transform our economy



文章連結: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/eight-essential-steps-transform-our-economy/

心得整理:

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一個垂死的星球不會有好的工作,拚經濟不能忽視倫理與社會責任。地球是有限的,再生是生命永續的奧秘。生命是整體的,需要我們共同的維持。

目前多數大學所教導的經濟學,使用錯誤的理論於倫理原則,它推崇與獎勵那些剝削地球有限資源,填滿自己荷包的人。這造成貧富的不均與社會精神病理學﹝societal psychopathology﹞。有錢人追求財富,以口袋馬克馬克為安心。殊不知,就貨幣學的原理,一切的盈餘都是廢物,一個人能吃、能穿的有限,為了支撐“無謂的”金錢遊戲,而產生了消費文明,進一步危害地球的生態。如何獎勵做人類與地球有益的工作 或稱永生的工作 - 是我們應該用心探討的問題。

盈餘應該用以推動大眾福祉,但是如何克服人性的貪婪是一大挑戰。反托拉斯﹝anti-trust﹞法也許是一個方向。例外私有銀行似乎不應該存在。

經濟學何以促進社會精神病理學﹝societal psychopathology﹞?錯誤的經濟學理論,致使貧富懸殊,社會不公,造成精神病理學的問題,如憂鬱症、精神病患與自殺人口的增加。
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846090/


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An economic system that serves everyone and the planet is necessary for our survival. Here are some guiding principles.
 

We’re running out of time. There’s spreading awareness of the institutional failure that is driving humans toward self-extinction, and related calls for a deep transformation of our economy. This is happening in every quarter, from college campuses to the Vatican to the U.S. presidential debates. Everywhere we hear calls for an economy that serves the well-being of people and Earth.
Pope Francis has spoken of the social and environmental failures of an economy devoted to the idolatry of money. Workers and their unions are joining in with the wrenching observation that, “There are no good jobs on a dead planet.”

教宗方濟曾談到一個致力於金錢崇拜的經濟的社會與環境的問題。工人與他們的工會正加入“在一個死的星球沒有好的工作”的痛苦觀察。

There is a related rising awareness of the need for a serious update to how we study and think about economics and prepare our future leaders. With few exceptions, economics, as it’s taught in universities, relies on the same badly flawed theories and ethical principles that bear major responsibility for the unfolding crisis. It values life only for its market price; uses GDP growth as the defining measure of economic performance; assures students that maximizing personal financial return benefits society; recommends policies that prioritize corporate profits over human and planetary well-being; and ignores the natural limits of a finite planet.

如何研究與思考經濟學並為未來的領導者做好準備的需要日益受到重視,除少數的例外,大學中所教導的經濟學,倚賴相同錯誤的理論與倫理的原則,對正在發展中的危機負有主要的責任。以市場價格為生命計價,使用GDP成長作為經濟績效的決定性衡量標準; 向學生保證最大化個人財務回報對社會有益; 建議以企業利潤優先於人類和我們所居住星球幸福的政策;忽略了有限行星的自然限制。

Here are eight guiding principles for a reformed economic theory to guide our path to a new economy for the 21st century.

Principle 1: Evaluate the economy’s performance by indicators of the well-being of people and planet; not the growth of GDP.
 
原則 1:以人類與星球的福祉作為經濟表現的指標,而不是 GDP 的成長。

Growing GDP serves well if our goal is only to increase the financial assets of the rich so they can claim an ever-growing share of the remaining real wealth of a dying Earth. If our priority is to meet the essential needs for food, water, shelter, and other basics for all the world’s people, then we must measure for those results so that we can get the outcomes we really want.

若我們的目標只是去增加富人的金融資產,因此他們可以佔據垂死星球剩餘真正財富一個不斷成長的比率,GDP 的成長會是一個好的指標。若我們的主要任務是去滿足世界所有人口食物、用水與住所與其他基本的需要,那麼我們必須測量這些因子使我們得到真正想要的結果。

Principle 2: Seek only that which benefits life; not that which harms life.
 
原則 2:只生命有益的追求;不是那些有害生命的。

We should seek to eliminate war, financial speculation, consumption of harmful or unnecessary products, and industrial agriculture that pollutes the soil, air, and water and produces food of questionable nutritional value. We can eliminate most driving by designing infrastructure to support people living close to where they work, shop, and play. We can eliminate most global movement of people and goods by keeping production and consumption local, using recycled materials, and substituting electronic communication for global business travel.

我們可以追求消除戰爭、金融投機、有害或不必要的消費、汙染土地、空氣與飲水的工業化的農作,還有生產營養價值有疑義的食物。我們可以透過基礎建設的設計去讓人在住居鄰近之處工作、購物與遊玩以減少駕駛的必要。我們可以透過生產與消費的在地化,使用回收材料,並以電子通信取代全球商業旅行以減少人口的移動。

The labor and resources thus freed up can be redirected to raising and educating our children, caring for the elderly, restoring the health and vitality of Earth’s regenerative systems, rebuilding the social infrastructure of community, and rebuilding physical infrastructure in ways that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and simultaneously strengthen our beneficial connections with one another and nature.


因此而釋放的勞力與資源,可以重新導向養育與教育我們的小孩、照顧我們的長者、恢復地球再生系統的健康與活躍,重新建立社區與實體的基礎建設以減少對化石燃料的依賴,並同時強化我們與其他人,以及和自然有益的關係。

Principle 3: Honor and reward all who provide beneficial labor, including nature; not those who exploit it to get rich.
 
原則 3:推崇並獎勵那提供包括對人與對自然環境有助益工作的人;不是那些剝削它而致富的人。

Life depends on the labor of nature and people. Too often, the current economic system rewards those claiming ownership rather than those performing useful labor. Instead we should follow the model set by traditional societies, in which we earn our share in the surplus of the commons through our labor in service of it. Much of the current economy’s dysfunction can be overcome by eliminating the division of society between owners and workers—a problem corrected through worker ownership combined with an ethical frame that recognizes our well-being depends on much more than just financial return.

生命倚賴自然與人的努力。太過於尋常,目前的經濟系統獎勵那些主張所有權的人而不是那些做有益工作的人,我們應該遵從傳統社會所訂的標準,在其中我們透過付出勞力在共同的盈餘中獲取我們的持份,目前經濟的功能障礙可以透過排除擁有者與雇工的區分加以克服,結合一個透過工人擁有權與一個了解我們的福祉取不只決於財務回饋的道德架構來解決的問題。

Principle 4: Create society’s money supply through a transparent public process to advance the common good; not through proprietary processes that grow the profits of for-profit banks.

原則 4:透過一個透明的流程建立社會的貨幣供應去推動公共的福祉;而不是透過為營利的銀行產生利益的專有流程。

In a modern society, those who control the creation and allocation of money control the lives of everyone. It defies reason to assume that society benefits from giving this power to global for-profit banks dedicated to maximizing profits for the already richest among us. The system of money creation and allocation must be public, transparent, and accountable to the people. It must reside in democratic governments and be administered by public banks supplemented by individual community-owned, cooperative banks whose lending supports local home and business ownership.

在一個現代的社會中,那些管制金錢產生與分配的人控制了每一個人的生活,接受將來自這股力量的利益給予致力於最大化我們之間已經有錢的人的利潤的全球營利銀行是違反理性。金錢產生與分配的系統必須是公共的、透明的,且對人民負責。它必須存在於民主的政府之中,由公家的銀行管理,輔以個別的、社區所擁有的合作社,他們的貸款支援在地的家庭與企業所有人。

Principle 5: Educate for a lifetime of learning in service to life-seeking communities; not for service to for-profit corporations.

原則 5:終身學習的教育去服務追求生命的社區服務;而不是為營利的公司服務。

Most university economics courses currently promote societal psychopathology as a human ideal and give legitimacy to institutions that serve only to make money, without regard for the common good. We must prepare youth for future leadership that builds on a moral foundation that recognizes our responsibility for one another and Earth, favors cooperation over competition, and prioritizes life over money and community well-being over corporate profits.

目前多數大學經濟學以促進社會精神病理學做為一個人類的理想,並給予只服務賺錢,不在乎共同利益的學院合法性。為預備未來年輕的管理者,我們必須建立在一個理解我們對彼此與地球責任,有利於合作而不是競爭,讓生命優先於錢財,社區的福祉優於企業的利潤的道德基礎。

No one knows how to get where we now must go, and education cannot provide us with answers we do not have. Education can, however, prepare us to be lifelong learners, skilled in asking the right questions and in working together to find and share answers.

沒有人知道如何達到我們必須要去的地方,且教育無法提供我們所不知道的答案。然而教育可以讓我們成為一個終身學習者、提出正確的問題,還有與人同工去尋找與分享答案的技巧。

Principle 6: Create and apply technology only to serve life; not to displace or destroy it.
原則 6:只生產與應用為生命服務的技術;而不是取代或破壞生命的技術。

Technology must be life’s servant. Deciding how to apply technology based solely on what will produce the greatest short-term financial return is madness. Humans have the right and the means to assure that technology is used only to serve humanity as a whole, such as by eliminating destructive environmental impacts, restoring the regenerative capacity of Earth systems, facilitating global understanding, and advancing social justice, cooperation, and learning.

技術必須是生命的奴僕,完全根據甚麼會產生最大的短期財務利益決定如何的應用科技是個瘋狂的行徑。人類有權力與手段去確保科技只用於服務整體的人類,如移除破壞性的環境影響,恢復地球系統的再生能力,促進全球的理解,促進社會正義、合作與學習。

Principle 7: Organize as cooperative, inclusive, self-reliant, regenerative communities that share knowledge and technology to serve life; not as incorporated pools of money competing to grow by exploiting life.
 
原則 7組織成為包容,自力更生,社區再生的合作社,共享為生活服務的知識和技術;而不是將金錢集中於透過剝削生命的競爭中追求成長。

We can meet our needs through constant cyclical flows of resources. That was our standard way of living until less than 100 years ago. We can do it again. Urban and rural dwellers can rediscover their interdependence as cities source food, timber, fiber, pulp, and recreational opportunities from nearby rural areas and rural areas regenerate their soils with biowastes from nearby urban areas and enjoy the benefits of urban culture. Suburbs can convert to urban or rural habitats.

我們可以透過不斷的周期性資源流動來滿足我們的需求。這是我們直到不到100年前的標準生活方式。我們可以再重來一次。城市和農村居民可以重新發現他們的相互依賴性,因為城市從附近的農村地區採購食物,木材,纖維,紙漿和娛樂機會,農村地區通過附近城市地區的生物垃圾再生土壤,享受城市文化帶來的好處。郊區可以轉變為城市或農村的居住地。

Principle 8: Seek a mutually beneficial population balance between humans and Earth’s other species; not the dominance of humans over all others.
 
原則 8尋求一個人類與地球其他生物互利的人口數量平衡、不是由人支配其他的生物。
The health of any natural ecosystem depends on its ability to balance the populations of its varied species. This means maintaining free access to reproductive health care options and removing barriers to women in education and the workplace. Only starting from this point can we both maintain a free society and manage our population size.

任何自然生態的健康取決於不同生物數量的平衡,這意味能維持免費的取得生殖保健的選項,除去女性在教育與工作場所的障礙,只有由這一點開始,我們可以同時維持一個自由的社會,並管理我們的人口數量。

The basic frame of 21st century economics contrasts sharply with that of the 20th century economics it must now displace. The new frame is far more complex and nuanced. Yet most people can readily grasp it because it is logical, consistent with foundational ethical principles, and reflects the reality that most people are kind, honest, find pleasure in helping others, and recognize that we all depend on the health of our Mother Earth.
 
21 世紀經濟學的架構與現在必須被取代的 20 世紀有極大的差異。新的架構更為複雜與精緻入微。但是多數可以很容易的掌握因為它是邏輯的,合乎基礎的倫理原則,反映出多數人是善良的、誠實的,在協助他人中找到樂趣,並了解我們所有人的生存都仰賴我們地球母親的健康。

 




Monday, June 10, 2019

台灣獨立,或成為“正常國家”,之我見




Nation 是構成一個國家的人民,通常他們因共同的血統、語言、宗教或土地的依附等因素而組成。換句話說,這些“共同性”是 nation 組成的要件。當一群人生活在一起,難免會產生一些人際上的問題。為處理這些眾人之事(或稱需要治理的政治事務)而成立 state nation 為基礎形成的國家稱之為 nation-state

 但是 nation state 的關係並不是經常一對一。有時一群共同生活的人,因為共同性不足,會形成一些小群組,而不能構成一個整體的 nation。惟既然生活在一起,就有政治事務需要治理,為此他們成立了治理的單位 - state。因為沒有 nation 的存在,使這個 state 尚不能稱為 nation-state。這是目前台灣的狀況,也就是許多人口中所稱的不正常國家。

 因此台灣要成為一個正常的國家,就是要在這些紛擾的群組間尋找,或建立共同性,藉以成為一個完整的 nation state 的基礎,也就是穩固的 nation-state

 如何建立這個共同性呢?

 基本上的做法可以仿效美國的立國精神,合眾為一 - E Pluribus Unum,營造一種公民愛國主義﹝civic patriotism,就是以共同對國家與國民的為“共同性”,使不同的群組合一,而組成一個 nation。如此一來就可以讓台灣成為一個正常的國家,nation-state