I went to listen to Bryan Gould, once almost PM of the UK and former VC of the University of Waikato, speaking in Hamilton last night on "Democracy Hijacked". He thoroughly and eloquently laid out the story of 40 years of big business supplanting elected democratic government, and the dire consequences for the majority of us who are cast as consumers instead of citizens.
His new book sets out the details - to be published later in the year. I will be reading it as soon as I can.
I am struck by how little a part of the total world economy is product-based marketing. Most so-called wealth - for the already rich - now comes in trading money rather than making things and doing things that serve real basic needs.
Marketing is a powerful apparently democratic idea if taken back to its roots - going to market to buy and sell surplus outputs. It is a massive lost opportunity to make lives better if marketing is reduced to the easy path of finding ways to sell people what they want - we deserve - and need - better than this.
Service for reward is the authentic purpose for modern commerce, otherwise the cost of profiting is just too high.
Bryan Gould consistently talks sense on things that matter in our society. He is evidently a good man, with good intent. He urges us to talk deliberatively on important matters.
I also recommend Marvin Brown's book "Civilizing the Economy: A New Economics of Provisioning".
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