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Bees and economy
Links: Medical care in East Timor. Hydropower plants and dams in Laos. The opposition parties in Singapore.
A poem which elucidates the ideological basis of the modern economy was written more than 300 hundred years ago. In 1705 Doctor Bernard Mandeville wrote a short poem entitled “The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves Turn’d Honest.” This did not gather any public attention. In 1714 he republished the poem as “Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Public Benefits.” This was the poem which made the author famous. But scholars during that time still ignored the work. It was only in 1723 when the new edition of the poem was launched with the subtitle “A Search into the Nature of Society” that it elicited a strong reaction from various writers.
Religious leaders described the poem as a nuisance. Mandeville was accused of promoting immorality. But the author did not advocate the propagation of vices. What he wrote was merely a satire on British society which helped explain the paradox of the capitalist economy. Mandeville’s poem influenced the development of English political economy. It was cited by numerous economists and philosophers like Voltaire, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Malthus and Keynes. The poem remains relevant today.
What was the thesis of Mandeville? The title of the poem was the message: Private Vices, Public Benefits. Greed is good. Vices and selfish motives propel the economy forward. Society benefits if individual vices are tolerated. Isn’t Mandeville’s “private vices” similar to Smith’s concept of self-interest? That if each individual is allowed to pursue his/her own self-interest, this will lead to the creation of more wealth for the community. Mandeville seemed to have unlocked the philosophical basis of capitalism.
Smith and Malthus dismissed Mandeville as a “coarse cynic.” Smith insisted that “egoistic striving and action” are not vices. However, Marx called him an “honest and clear-headed man...infinitely bolder than the philistine apologists of bourgeois society.”
Mandeville argued that excessive spending is beneficial as long as this creates demand and employment. Hoarding wealth (thrift) does not produce economic activities. He wrote how private vices can lead to the benefit of the public through the “dexterous management of a skillful politician.” Mandeville cited the role of government in promoting spending. Isn’t this what Keynes advocated during the Great Depression in the 1930s?
Mandeville used the fable of the bees to deliver his point. He described the hive in this way:
A Spacious Hive well stock'd with Bees,
That lived in Luxury and Ease;
... No Bees had better Government,
More Fickleness, or less Content
... Vast Numbers thronged the fruitful Hive;
Yet those vast Numbers made 'em thrive
Millions endeavouring to supply
Each other's Lust and Vanity
Whilst other Millions were employ'd,
To see their Handy-works destroy'd;
They furnish'd half the Universe;
Yet had more Work than Labourers.
Some with vast Stocks, and little Pains
Jump'd into Business of great Gains;
And some were damn'd to Sythes and Spades,
And all those hard laborious Trades
Where willing Wretches daily sweat,
And wear out Strength and Limbs to eat:
Whilst others follow'd Mysteries,
To which few Folks bind Prentices
That want no Stock, but that of Brass,
And may set up without a Cross;
As Sharpers, Parasites, Pimps, Players,
Pick-Pockets, Coiners, Quacks, Sooth-Sayers,
And all those, that, in Enmity
With down-right Working, cunningly
Convert to their own Use the Labour
Of their good-natur'd heedless Neighbour.
These were called Knaves; but, bar the Name,
The grave Industrious were the Same.
All Trades and Places knew some Cheat,
No Calling was without Deceit.
Lust and vanity prevail in society. Fickleness is dominant. Everybody is aiming to dupe his/her neighbor. Some are wealthy despite performing no labor while the rest are condemned to wretched living. Mandeville also wrote about the professional bees. The lawyers are greedy, doctors are after wealth and fame instead of attending to the health of patients, priests are ignorant, justices are bribed, and soldiers want to escape from their duty while accepting double pay.
But society is thriving. Wealth is being created.
Thus every Part was full of Vice,
Yet the whole Mass a Paradice;
Flatter'd in Peace, and fear'd in Wars
They were th' Esteem of Foreigners,
And lavish of their Wealth and Lives,
The Ballance of all other Hives.
Such were the Blessings of that State;
Their Crimes conspired to make 'em Great;
And Vertue, who from Politicks
Had learn'd a Thousand cunning Tricks,
Was, by their happy Influence,
Made Friends with Vice: And ever since
The Worst of all the Multitude
Did something for the common Good.
Luxury and pride are creating jobs. Vanity is helping the poor. Fickleness is generating wealth.
The Root of evil Avarice,
That damn'd ill-natur'd baneful Vice,
Was Slave to Prodigality,
That Noble Sin; whilst Luxury
Employ'd a Million of the Poor,
And odious Pride a Million more.
Envy it self, and Vanity
Were Ministers of Industry;
Their darling Folly, Fickleness
In Diet, Furniture, and Dress,
That strange ridic'lous Vice, was made
The very Wheel, that turn'd the Trade.
In the hive
... Thus Vice nursed Ingenuity,
Which join'd with Time, and Industry
Had carry'd Life's Conveniencies,
It's real Pleasures, Comforts, Ease,
To such a Height, the very Poor
Lived better than the Rich before;
And nothing could be added more:
Then the bees began complaining about the vices. They cursed the politicians, soldiers, lawyers and doctors. They asked God to restore order in the hive. God listened to the bees and He removed the vices, corruption, vanity and evil actions in the community. The result was economic disaster.
The Price of Land, and Houses falls;
...The Building Trade is quite destroy'd,
Artificers are not employ'd;
No Limner for his Art is famed;
Stone-cutters, Carvers are not named.
...The slight and fickle Age is past;
And Cloaths, as well as Fashions last.
Weavers that join'd rich Silk with Plate,
And all the Trades subordinate,
Are gone. Still Peace and Plenty reign,
And every Thing is cheap, tho' plain:
...As Pride and Luxury decrease,
So by degrees they leave the Seas.
Not Merchants now; but Companies
Remove whole Manufacturies.
All Arts and Crafts neglected lie;
Content the Bane of Industry,
Makes 'em admire their homely Store,
And neither seek, nor covet more.
Unemployment rises, goods are not bought, construction has stopped. Russian economist A.V. Anikin writes: “What a society in which parasites, warmongers, spendthrifts and rogues bring prosperity, and such unqualified virtues as love of peace, honesty, thrift, and moderation lead to economic disaster!”
A similar message was suggested in the Hollywood blockbuster Bee Movie. In the film, humans were found guilty of stealing the honey collected by bees. All honey products are returned to their rightful owners, the bees. The result was chaos. Bees have stopped working. Honey collectors lost their jobs. Flowers died because bees have stopped pollinating. It seems the only way the system can function is to continue the stealing and exploitation committed by humans.
This is the paradox of the modern economy.
Related entries:
Excess and lack
1848-1970
A poem which elucidates the ideological basis of the modern economy was written more than 300 hundred years ago. In 1705 Doctor Bernard Mandeville wrote a short poem entitled “The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves Turn’d Honest.” This did not gather any public attention. In 1714 he republished the poem as “Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Public Benefits.” This was the poem which made the author famous. But scholars during that time still ignored the work. It was only in 1723 when the new edition of the poem was launched with the subtitle “A Search into the Nature of Society” that it elicited a strong reaction from various writers.
Religious leaders described the poem as a nuisance. Mandeville was accused of promoting immorality. But the author did not advocate the propagation of vices. What he wrote was merely a satire on British society which helped explain the paradox of the capitalist economy. Mandeville’s poem influenced the development of English political economy. It was cited by numerous economists and philosophers like Voltaire, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Malthus and Keynes. The poem remains relevant today.
What was the thesis of Mandeville? The title of the poem was the message: Private Vices, Public Benefits. Greed is good. Vices and selfish motives propel the economy forward. Society benefits if individual vices are tolerated. Isn’t Mandeville’s “private vices” similar to Smith’s concept of self-interest? That if each individual is allowed to pursue his/her own self-interest, this will lead to the creation of more wealth for the community. Mandeville seemed to have unlocked the philosophical basis of capitalism.
Smith and Malthus dismissed Mandeville as a “coarse cynic.” Smith insisted that “egoistic striving and action” are not vices. However, Marx called him an “honest and clear-headed man...infinitely bolder than the philistine apologists of bourgeois society.”
Mandeville argued that excessive spending is beneficial as long as this creates demand and employment. Hoarding wealth (thrift) does not produce economic activities. He wrote how private vices can lead to the benefit of the public through the “dexterous management of a skillful politician.” Mandeville cited the role of government in promoting spending. Isn’t this what Keynes advocated during the Great Depression in the 1930s?
Mandeville used the fable of the bees to deliver his point. He described the hive in this way:
A Spacious Hive well stock'd with Bees,
That lived in Luxury and Ease;
... No Bees had better Government,
More Fickleness, or less Content
... Vast Numbers thronged the fruitful Hive;
Yet those vast Numbers made 'em thrive
Millions endeavouring to supply
Each other's Lust and Vanity
Whilst other Millions were employ'd,
To see their Handy-works destroy'd;
They furnish'd half the Universe;
Yet had more Work than Labourers.
Some with vast Stocks, and little Pains
Jump'd into Business of great Gains;
And some were damn'd to Sythes and Spades,
And all those hard laborious Trades
Where willing Wretches daily sweat,
And wear out Strength and Limbs to eat:
Whilst others follow'd Mysteries,
To which few Folks bind Prentices
That want no Stock, but that of Brass,
And may set up without a Cross;
As Sharpers, Parasites, Pimps, Players,
Pick-Pockets, Coiners, Quacks, Sooth-Sayers,
And all those, that, in Enmity
With down-right Working, cunningly
Convert to their own Use the Labour
Of their good-natur'd heedless Neighbour.
These were called Knaves; but, bar the Name,
The grave Industrious were the Same.
All Trades and Places knew some Cheat,
No Calling was without Deceit.
Lust and vanity prevail in society. Fickleness is dominant. Everybody is aiming to dupe his/her neighbor. Some are wealthy despite performing no labor while the rest are condemned to wretched living. Mandeville also wrote about the professional bees. The lawyers are greedy, doctors are after wealth and fame instead of attending to the health of patients, priests are ignorant, justices are bribed, and soldiers want to escape from their duty while accepting double pay.
But society is thriving. Wealth is being created.
Thus every Part was full of Vice,
Yet the whole Mass a Paradice;
Flatter'd in Peace, and fear'd in Wars
They were th' Esteem of Foreigners,
And lavish of their Wealth and Lives,
The Ballance of all other Hives.
Such were the Blessings of that State;
Their Crimes conspired to make 'em Great;
And Vertue, who from Politicks
Had learn'd a Thousand cunning Tricks,
Was, by their happy Influence,
Made Friends with Vice: And ever since
The Worst of all the Multitude
Did something for the common Good.
Luxury and pride are creating jobs. Vanity is helping the poor. Fickleness is generating wealth.
The Root of evil Avarice,
That damn'd ill-natur'd baneful Vice,
Was Slave to Prodigality,
That Noble Sin; whilst Luxury
Employ'd a Million of the Poor,
And odious Pride a Million more.
Envy it self, and Vanity
Were Ministers of Industry;
Their darling Folly, Fickleness
In Diet, Furniture, and Dress,
That strange ridic'lous Vice, was made
The very Wheel, that turn'd the Trade.
In the hive
... Thus Vice nursed Ingenuity,
Which join'd with Time, and Industry
Had carry'd Life's Conveniencies,
It's real Pleasures, Comforts, Ease,
To such a Height, the very Poor
Lived better than the Rich before;
And nothing could be added more:
Then the bees began complaining about the vices. They cursed the politicians, soldiers, lawyers and doctors. They asked God to restore order in the hive. God listened to the bees and He removed the vices, corruption, vanity and evil actions in the community. The result was economic disaster.
The Price of Land, and Houses falls;
...The Building Trade is quite destroy'd,
Artificers are not employ'd;
No Limner for his Art is famed;
Stone-cutters, Carvers are not named.
...The slight and fickle Age is past;
And Cloaths, as well as Fashions last.
Weavers that join'd rich Silk with Plate,
And all the Trades subordinate,
Are gone. Still Peace and Plenty reign,
And every Thing is cheap, tho' plain:
...As Pride and Luxury decrease,
So by degrees they leave the Seas.
Not Merchants now; but Companies
Remove whole Manufacturies.
All Arts and Crafts neglected lie;
Content the Bane of Industry,
Makes 'em admire their homely Store,
And neither seek, nor covet more.
Unemployment rises, goods are not bought, construction has stopped. Russian economist A.V. Anikin writes: “What a society in which parasites, warmongers, spendthrifts and rogues bring prosperity, and such unqualified virtues as love of peace, honesty, thrift, and moderation lead to economic disaster!”
A similar message was suggested in the Hollywood blockbuster Bee Movie. In the film, humans were found guilty of stealing the honey collected by bees. All honey products are returned to their rightful owners, the bees. The result was chaos. Bees have stopped working. Honey collectors lost their jobs. Flowers died because bees have stopped pollinating. It seems the only way the system can function is to continue the stealing and exploitation committed by humans.
This is the paradox of the modern economy.
Related entries:
Excess and lack
1848-1970
posted by: mongpalatino at August 18, 2008 12:56 |
link | comments |
economy
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