[FRIAM] “Don’t they have grandchildren?” was The case for universal basic income UBI

[Russ Abbott]

Bill McKibbon writes a regular email sponsored by *The New Yorker* about
climate change. His latest (no link since it's apparently not on the New
Yorker website) how people (or corporations, e.g., oil company executives)
knowingly continue to exacerbate the damage caused by climate change. He
goes on to talk about "an interesting explanation in a new book from the
British psychoanalyst Sally Weintrobe. “Psychological Roots of the Climate
Crisis
<https://smile.amazon.com/Psychological-Roots-Climate-Crisis-Exceptionalism/dp/1501372866/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Psychological+Roots+of+the+Climate+Crisis%3A&qid=1621533777&s=specialty-aps-sns&sr=8-1>”.
The answer, he says, in the book's subtitle: Neoliberal Exceptionalism and
the Culture of Uncare.

McKibbon goes on, "Weintrobe writes that people’s psyches are divided into
caring and uncaring parts, and the conflict between them “is at the heart
of great literature down the ages, and all major religions.” The uncaring
part wants to put ourselves first; it’s the narcissistic corners of the
brain that persuade each of us that we are uniquely important and
deserving, and make us want to except ourselves from the rules that society
or morality set so that we can have what we want. “Most people’s caring
self is strong enough to hold their inner exception in check,” she notes,
but, troublingly, “ours is the Golden Age of Exceptionalism.”
Neoliberalism—especially the ideas of people such as Ayn Rand, enshrined in
public policy by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher—“crossed a Rubicon in
the 1980s,” and neoliberals “have been steadily consolidating their power
ever since.” Weintrobe calls leaders who exempt themselves in these ways
“exceptions” and says that, as they “drove globalization forwards in the
1980s,” they were captivated by an ideology that whispered, “Cut
regulation, cut ties to reality and cut concern.” Donald Trump
<https://link.newyorker.com/click/23897423.4743/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmV3eW9ya2VyLmNvbS90YWcvZG9uYWxkLXRydW1wP21iaWQ9JnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmwmdXRtX2JyYW5kPXRueSZ1dG1fbWFpbGluZz1UTllfQ2xpbWF0ZV8wNTE5MjEmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPWF1ZC1kZXYmdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZieGlkPTViZWEwOWRmMmRkZjljNzJkYzhiNzIyMSZjbmRpZD0xMjk3MjMyNiZoYXNoYT1hYmQ1NTdkMjU5M2E4ZmE4MTUxMWE4MTdiODNjOGY0YiZoYXNoYj05MjQ2MWRkMmFjNWRjMDMwNDhlNzMxYzk3YmU2ZGRiMzY2YmZkZWZlJmhhc2hjPTVhM2EyMjVmMWVhN2U5MjgwMTJhNzMzNGRiMzlmYTc2YjE2MmU1NDk1MGVkY2E2M2ZmYjdjM2MxMjdlZDA2OWYmZXNyYz0/5bea09df2ddf9c72dc8b7221Bfb3900b9>
was
the logical end of this way of thinking, a man so self-centered that he
interpreted all problems, even a global pandemic
<https://link.newyorker.com/click/23897423.4743/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubmV3eW9ya2VyLmNvbS90YWcvY29yb25hdmlydXM_bWJpZD0mdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1ubCZ1dG1fYnJhbmQ9dG55JnV0bV9tYWlsaW5nPVROWV9DbGltYXRlXzA1MTkyMSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249YXVkLWRldiZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJmJ4aWQ9NWJlYTA5ZGYyZGRmOWM3MmRjOGI3MjIxJmNuZGlkPTEyOTcyMzI2Jmhhc2hhPWFiZDU1N2QyNTkzYThmYTgxNTExYTgxN2I4M2M4ZjRiJmhhc2hiPTkyNDYxZGQyYWM1ZGMwMzA0OGU3MzFjOTdiZTZkZGIzNjZiZmRlZmUmaGFzaGM9NWEzYTIyNWYxZWE3ZTkyODAxMmE3MzM0ZGIzOWZhNzZiMTYyZTU0OTUwZWRjYTYzZmZiN2MzYzEyN2VkMDY5ZiZlc3JjPQ/5bea09df2ddf9c72dc8b7221Bd7279690>,
as attempts to undo him. “The self-assured neoliberal imagination has
increasingly revealed itself to be not equipped to deal with problems it
causes,” she writes."

This is all related to the discussion we were having about whether a
society of  reciprocity is possible.

-- Russ Abbott
Professor, Computer Science
California State University, Los Angeles
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