[P2P-F] Money and Magic

Fri Nov 18 04:24:50 CET 2011

The problem with all "money cures" (gold standard, credit-money, Utopian
schemes) is that the critiques of each of them are basically correct. There
is no "cure" for money because money is a symptom, not a disease.

Money is symbolic, ritualistic, it has no inherent meaning. What it means
depends entirely on the quality of human relationships. If there is trust,
money means trusting. If there is domination and oppression, money means
dominating and oppressing. This is regardless of the technical feature of
the system -- gold standard, credit-money, modern monetary theory or
moon-beam dollars.

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 12:33 PM, mp <mp at aktivix.org> wrote:

>
> on that note:
>
> Ioan Couliano: Eros and Magic in the Renaissance [1].
> Frances Yates: The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age [2].
>
> [1]
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Renaissance-Chicago-Original-Paperback/dp/0226123162
> - "It is a widespread prejudice of modern, scientific society that
> "magic" is merely a ludicrous amalgam of recipes and methods derived
> from primitive and erroneous notions about nature. Eros and Magic in the
> Renaissance challenges this view, providing an in-depth scholarly
> explanation of the workings of magic and showing that magic continues to
> exist in an altered form even today.
>
> Renaissance magic, according to Ioan Couliano, was a scientifically
> plausible attempt to manipulate individuals and groups based on a
> knowledge of motivations, particularly erotic motivations. Its key
> principle was that everyone (and in a sense everything) could be
> influenced by appeal to sexual desire. In addition, the magician relied
> on a profound knowledge of the art of memory to manipulate the
> imaginations of his subjects. In these respects, Couliano suggests,
> magic is the precursor of the modern psychological and sociological
> sciences, and the magician is the distant ancestor of the psychoanalyst
> and the advertising and publicity agent.
>
> In the course of his study, Couliano examines in detail the ideas of
> such writers as Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della
> Mirandola and illuminates many aspects of Renaissance culture, including
> heresy, medicine, astrology, alchemy, courtly love, the influence of
> classical mythology, and even the role of fashion in clothing.
>
> Just as science gives the present age its ruling myth, so magic gave a
> ruling myth to the Renaissance. Because magic relied upon the use of
> images, and images were repressed and banned in the Reformation and
> subsequent history, magic was replaced by exact science and modern
> technology and eventually forgotten. Couliano's remarkable scholarship
> helps us to recover much of its original significance and will interest
> a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences.
>
> [2]
>
> http://www.amazon.com/RC-Bundle-Philosophy-Elizabethan-Routledge/dp/0415254094/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321526315&sr=1-4
> - "It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by
> Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult
> sciences. To her work can be attributed the contemporary understanding
> of the occult origins of much of Western scientific thinking, indeed of
> Western civilization itself. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan
> Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide
> learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible
> survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work
> of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. The book is
> invaluable in illuminating the relationship between occultism and
> Renaissance thought, which in turn had a profound impact on the rise of
> science in the seventeenth century. Stunningly written and highly
> engaging, Yates' masterpiece is a must-read for anyone interested in the
> occult tradition."
>
>
> On 17/11/11 19:40, Sandwichman wrote:
> > Timely: *Money and Magic: A Critique of the Modern Economy in the Light
> of
> > Goethe�s Faust*. By Hans Christoph Binswanger. Chicago: University of
> > Chicago Press, 1994. Reviewed by William Darity Jr., *History of
> Political
> > Economy* 31:1 1999 (excerpt):
> > http://ecologicalheadstand.blogspot.com/2011/11/money-and-magic.html
> >
> >
> >
> >
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