flawed mindsets chart

[Roberto Verzola <rverzola@phil.gn.apc.org>]

Perhaps, this will show better... See notes below. (Please do not post
on other lists yet. We need to fine-tune this chart.)


TRANSFORMING THE SYSTEM:
Y2K-RELATED FLAWED MINDSETS

           ,---> Cost (min.) --> COST       * social costs
          |            |       EXTERNALIZ.  * ecological costs
          |            |                    * future costs
 ,----> Input          |                    * false cost-acctng.
 |        |            |                      (e.g., GNP)
 |        |            |
 |        `--> Amount (max.) --> GLOBALISM  * one big system
 |                     |           |        * "there is no
 |                     |           |           alternative"
 |                     |           |
 |                     |           |        * global
GAIN <------------> QUANTIF. <====='----->    financial
MAX.                 FETISH  <-----.          bubble
 |                     |           |
 |                     |           |
 |                     |           |
 `---> Xfer function (max.) --> TECHNO-     * technofixes
                                WORSHIP     * "value-free"
                                            * "rational"
                                            * corp.-directed
                                            * technomalies
Notes:

1. Gain is maximized by increasing input and maximizing the transfer
   function (amount of output per unit input). Gain-maximization is a
   growth-oriented mindset which recognizes no limit.

2. While the amount of input has to be maximized, gain-maximizers try
   to minimize the input cost for themselves.

3. All these maximization and minimization require that all factors
   be quantified, resulting in a fetish for quantification.

4. A major way to minimize cost is to "externalize" it to other social
   sectors, to the environment, or to the future, beyond a short
   planning horizon (ie, postponement). It can also be falsely
   reported as gain (e.g., GNP). Cost postponement was a major factor
   in creating the Y2K problem.

5. The input amount is maximized by expanding coverage until it covers
   the whole globe. Globalism will not leave anybody or any community
   alone. It is the globalization of the computing infrastructure,
   production systems, the financial system as well as media which
   turned the Y2K problem into a major crisis.

6. The transfer function is maximized through technology. More
   powerful technologies create more output per unit input. Any
   anomaly they cause are solved with even more powerful fixes, which
   in turn can cause even bigger problems. Because of quantification,
   today's technologies claim they are "rational" and "value-free".
   Blind and total dependence on technology makes the Y2K crisis an
   issue of survival.

7. Gain-maximization, globalism, and the quantification fetish have
   combined to create a global financial bubble oriented towards
   making a pure quantity like money beget more money, without regard
   for nature, people, and real goods and services. The Y2K problem
   will probably worsen the current global financial crisis, turning
   it into a bubble that can burst anytime.

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