“Your Money or Your Life”: Money and Socialist Transformation

This article argues against a common-sense logic that money can assist in socialist transformation, espouses a non-market ecosocialist position and urges greater clarity in associated discourse. Analyses of capitalist operations show that growth is not simply a characteristic tendency of capitalism but rather an essential outgrowth of its deficiencies. Marx identified these deficiencies, indicating that the end of capitalism was an end to money, that is, exchange value. Money is not a tool but evolves as a code of conduct to structure social relationships that reproduce inequity, competition, distrust and alienation. Indeed, the existence of capitalists and capitalism without money is inconceivable and impossible in practice. Money refusal and the development and defence of fair non-monetary forms of livelihood continuously critique capital and demonstrate alternative (or at least “hybrid”) socialist forms. Contemporary anti-capitalists have developed constructive skills to move beyond money and capitalism in their practical development of “green materialism.” However, a wide-ranging discourse remains to be had on moving beyond money sooner rather than later. The final section of this paper sketches a non-market ecosocialist vision.     

Show Them Your Teeth First!

This paper investigates the choice of an interestgroup between lobbying (``words'') and pressure(``actions'') in order to influence a policymaker. Both lobbying and pressure are modeled asstrategic means of transmitting information that isrelevant to the policymaker. However, only pressure isdirectly costly to the policymaker. The interactionbetween the interest group and the policymaker isframed as a repeated signaling game. In equilibriumpressure – in contrast to lobbying – only occurswhen the interest group's reputation is sufficientlylow, and always improves its reputation. It is shownthat (repeated) lobbying cannot completely substitutefor pressure, and that the interest group may beforced to sustain its reputation through lobbying. Weconclude that pressure is typically used to build upa reputation, lobbying to maintain a reputation.     

A Plague on Both Your Houses

In response to Eugene Goodheart’s essay “Neo-Darwinism and Religion”, this essay criticizes both sides of the debate for their posing of false dichotomies. Atheist neodarwinists are illogical in arguing that the necessary chance emergence of physical constants that could produce a universe with intelligent life disproves the existence of God, since the same chance emergence would also necessarily produce a universe corresponding to traditional definitions of God. Religious anti-evolutionists are wrong in rejecting evolutionary accounts of the emergence of human religious instincts, since that emergence is a strong argument for the reality of what those instincts seem designed to register. Finally, Goodheart, as a humanities scholar, is somewhat blind to the distinguished history of writers, artists and scholars who found the highest spiritual inspiration in natural science.

Trust Your Compatriots, but Count Your Change: The Roles of Trust, Mistrust and Distrust in Democracy

Although trust is clearly central to human relations of all kinds, it is less clear whether there is a role for trust in democratic politics. In this article, I argue that trust is central to democratic institutions as well as to democratic political participation, and that arguments which make distrust the central element of democracy fail. First, I argue for the centrality of trust to the democratic process. The voluntary compliance that is central to democracies relies on trust, along two dimensions: citizens must trust their legislators to have the national interest in mind and citizens must trust each other to abide by democratically established laws. Second, I refute arguments that place distrust at the centre of democratic institutions. I argue, instead, that citizens must be vigilant with respect to their legislators and fellow citizens; that is, they must be willing to ensure that the institutions are working fairly and that people continue to abide by shared regulations. This vigilance – which is reflected both in a set of institutions as well as an active citizenry – is motivated by an attitude termed 'mistrust'. Mistrust is a cautious attitude that propels citizens to maintain a watchful eye on the political and social happenings within their communities. Moreover, mistrust depends on trust: we trust fellow citizens to monitor for abuses of our own rights and privileges just as we monitor for abuses of their rights and privileges. Finally, I argue that distrust is inimical to democracy. We are, consequently, right to worry about widespread reports of trust's decline. Just as distrust is harmful to human relations of all kinds, and just as trust is central to positive human relations of all kinds, so is distrust inimical to democracy and trust central to its flourishing.     

Looking over Your Shoulder: the Onlookers of Hegel's Phenomenology

The vexed issue of the end of history has again emerged with Fukuyama's celebrated text. But Fukuyama is only the latest in a line of such Hegelian thinkers. How have such philosopher-historians come to know that history has ended? In returning to their source, Hegel's Phenomenology , these theorists are found to ruthlessly fashion the very history that they relate. Using techniques akin to Foucaultian disciplines, the historical onlookers impersonate, disinform and reconfigure unwilling individuals to advance in history. This guidance becomes especially problematic when it is shown that the Hegelian onlookers are ignorant of their profound impact on history. When such influence is combined with ignorance the thinkers of the end of history appear quite harmful.     

Electricity Deregulation: Kilowatts for Nothing and Your BTUs for Free

Historically, the electric power industry has been viewed as a natural monopoly that could best be managed through governmental regulation. This article traces the evolution of deregulation in the electric power industry and the intellectual, political, and economic trends and forces that modified this traditional view. It concludes that, despite policy change, retail competition of electricity remains a difficult concept to implement in part because electricity is basically a commodity. Customers must be provided with sufficient incentives to shop between electricity providers and there must be supply incentives for more efficient production. Competition also requires technological advances such as affordable “smart” meters that make it possible for customers to specify tradeoffs between price and consumption, even to the extent of programming apliances to turn on or off in response to price signals. Mature wholesale markets and open access to transmission and distribution are also neede.     

Cash at Your Fingertips: Biometric Technology for Transfers in Developing Countries*

In recent years, interest has soared in the development potential of well‐designed cash transfer programs. One particular application is the use of transfers by resource‐rich countries (as recently initiated by Iran) to distribute rents across their populations. An emerging body of research suggests that the development impact of such programs tends to be positive and that, especially when received by poor individuals or households, they can unlock constraints on economic activities, allowing a further increase in income. This paper considers the use of biometric technology to underpin transfer programs and how new technology is opening up possibilities for effective transfer programs that, up to now, have only been a theoretical option in the institutional conditions that prevail in many developing countries. Once implemented, biometric identification systems can be used to support a wide range of other development initiatives including banking, voting, health care, and general identification systems. The paper reviews some of the programs using these technologies and how it is enabling poor countries to leapfrog rich ones in the area of identity, much as the cellphone revolution did in the area of communications.     

Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, ... But Make Sure They Have a Green Card: The Effects of Documented and Undocumented Migrant Context on Anglo Opinion Toward Immigration

Although few controversies in our political environment are as contentious as the current debate over immigration policy, the research on public opinion toward immigration is quite limited. In particular, we know relatively little about the contextual determinants of opinions on immigration issues. We address this issue by investigating the impact of migrant context on Anglo opinions toward immigration. We find that Anglo support for increased immigration is directly related to the size of the documented migrant population. Conversely, as the relative size of the undocumented migrant population increases, Anglo support for increased immigration decreases. We conclude with a discussion of the relevance of our findings for the study of immigration opinion, in particular, and the study of intergroup relations more generally.