Von Mises Mimesis -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1], 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:27:41 03/20/08 Thu
Author: CS Holden
Subject: Von Mises Mimesis

The Girardian notion of competition is similar in my mind to the free market notion of competition, though many would argue that competition in capitalism is a good thing, whereas competition between rivals is bad (to make things far too simplistic, I know). Fair enough. I just want to tease out some similarities and see what responses others have. I think it's worth considering, even though Girard tries to distance himself from any kind of Marxist arguments. That's not what I'm espousing here, either; I just think the structure of a free-market system tries to manipulate competition and rivalry, for good or ill.

I keep thinking about how many famous business stories there are that are essentially rivalries that form from partnerships. The creators of Facebook, YouTube, Macintosh, and McDonald's, almost all worked in groups or pairs, and once the worth of the object (the company) skyrocketed, there was an argument or lawsuit about ownership.

Wal-Mart is considered by many to be the epitome of good business: low prices, variety of selection, widespread appeal and convenience, etc. But it is also considered the enemy of small businesses, which in this context often see themselves in competition with the bigger conglomerate companies. So Wal-Mart, as well as IBM and other immensely successful businesses, is in a way a business deity and the object of a lot of scorn. I wonder if it's possible to scapegoat a business in the free market system (ie, boycots, demanding a trust buster or the dissolution of a monopoly, etc.).

The big world of business has been called "dog-eat-dog," and the like. Everyone is competing with everyone else for recognition. It's unfair to say the majority of businesspeople are weasels and scoundrels, backstabbers and such, but at the same time, does a free market system consciously pit people against each other for the benefit of all? Just some thoughts.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: Von Mises Mimesis -- Caitlin, 12:18:16 03/20/08 Thu