Hi 120,
I'm not sure I'd agree with that position. I suspect it's a feedback loop but, then again, 've always had problems with the mono-causal arguments used by some of the socio-biologists .
Now we are getting into the classic Prisoner's Dilemma game. The one problem with that model, as you note, is when any player can destroy the entire game field .
Well, I've always thought that the one-worlders are both hopelessly naive and, at the same time, insanely dangerous. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket! I really wish that they would read up on evolutionary theory, but they aren't likely to do so . The classic problem with that mindset is that it becomes an internally oriented institutional mind set where what happens inside the institution is more important that what happens in the environment. We've seen that dynamic operate in religions, governments, businesses and pretty much every organization humans have ever put together.
Nualla Beck (Shifting Gears: Thriving in the New Economy) has a really neat discussion of this in the business life cycle (which is really an organizational life cycle).
I will leave it to the reader to decide how much this sounds like a certain ex-Secretary of Defense .Disinflation: Everything still looks rosy from the outside, but behind the brave words of the corporate chieftains lurks genuine fear. They've discovered to their shock and horror that in real life nothing grows forever. Under the sheer weight of all the overcapacity piled on in the expansion phases, competition really starts to bite....
The clue that a company or industry has hit this painful stage is the emergence of catch-phrases like "lean and mean" as in: "We're going to become leand and mean, so that we can tackle all the unfair competition grabbing an increasing piece of our market." Translation: "Maybe if we lay off lots of workers and cut some extravagances, like sales meetings in exotic locations, our shareholders will be happier with out performance."
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