Managerial versus Statist Ideology

In Work and Authority in Industry the sociologist Reinhard Bendix traces the evolution of managerial ideology in England, the US, Russia and East Germany (the book was published in 1956). Bendix dissects the ideologies of managerial power in each nation. In the case of the nations that turned out to be economically successful, the United States and the UK, there was an evolution of ideology. Bendix traces the pattern whereby Calvinism gave way to an emphasis on virtue, as in the case of Benjamin Franklin's writings on success. In turn, the virtue ethic morphed into social Darwinism and social Darwinism into the New Thought ideas that positive thinking leads to success. In turn, the success-conscious ideology was replaced by scientific management. Bendix implies that the scientific management and human relations school ideas that were prevalent in the 1950s were themselves ideological rather than empirically based. That was not the case. Scientific management had an efficiency rationalization that 19th century managerial ideologies, based on justification to aristocrats in England and to the public, lacked. However, scientific management in fact increased productivity. To the extent that the human relations school tempered scientific management and reduced labor problems while maintaining constant or increasing levels of productivity, it too could be validated. However, the chief advances in the second half of the twentieth century in management, lean manufacturing, computer integrated manufacturing and total quality management, had even greater effects on productivity.

Political ideologies have not advanced in the same manner as managerial ideologies. THe ideology of the 19th century, laissez faire, was associated with rapid industrial advance. Its competitor, mercantilism, had been associated with economic progress in the 17th and 18th centuries, but paled in comparison to the progress that laissez faire generated in the 19th. This was true in Britain and the US. Marxism, various strands of socialism and in the late 19th century progressivism evolved as critiques of some of the social ramifications of laissez faire. These ideologies, though, once implemented, were unable to evolve, unlike the managerial ideologies. Marxism today does not posit an economic model much different from Marxism in the 19th century. Oskar Lange was unable to overcome the arguments of Ludwig von Mises, and in any case socialism in practice was unable to efficiently implement Lange's idea. Similarly, the ideas of Progressivism intensified into the New Deal, but have not evolved since the early twentieth century. Progressives today still rely on scale economies rather than innovative management practice as a source of value. But scale is no longer a critical source of economic value. Correspondence of output to customer needs, reduction of loss through stabilization of the production funciton and taut management of production processes (along with evolution of organization structure to flatten hierarchy and increase employee responsiveness) have not been viewed as possible within the public sector. Much as processes have failed to improve, so program conceptualization, strategy and flexibility in the public sector remain rooted in early twentieth century bureaucratic forms. The evolution of centralizing tendencies in public sector management goes back to the 17th century and reflects the ideas of Lord Shaftesbury and other mercantilists. The debate between Federalists and anti-Federalists, Whigs and Jacksonian Democrats and Progressives and advocates of laissez faire revolved around the question of the relative merits of centralization and decentralization, of price versus central plan, of economies of scale versus dynamism of innovation. However, unlike the ideology of decentralization and laissez faire, which considerably evolved in the twentieth century, the ideology of Progressivism and planning stagnated.

A Resolution Declaring Independence of National Television News

WHEREAS: National television news has failed to tell the truth or perform the function of providing truthful and valid information to the American public;

WHEREAS: National television news has failed to inform the American public about vital facts concerning the presidential election and the candidacy of President Barack Hussein Obama;

WHEREAS: National television has failed to inform the American public about vital public policy and political questions, specifically, the activities of the Federal Reserve Bank; monetary inflation; national economic policy; and subsidies to corporations and banks;

WHEREAS: National television has lied to the American public about the Iraqi War:

I hereby urge all Americans to discontinue viewing network or national cable television or any television station that carries nationally distributed news and to hereby join me in declaring:

"I desist from watching or turning on any television station that carries or broadcasts network- or cable- based news in any form."

The Internet and Group Directedness

Riesmann identifies a transition from tradition to inner to other directedness. The transitions relate to technology and religion. Tradition-directedness exists in most societies. The Protestant reformation led to an emphasis on conscience and individual responsibility that previously had not been known in most societies. Most important in the transition to inner directedness was the invention of the printing press that facilitated publication of the Bible in the vernacular. This led to a new emphasis on conscience and faith. The printed word was thus associated with the development of inner directedness. Inner directedness was potent in developing major breakthroughs in science, business and technology. The United States was transformed from a small agricultural frontier nation to the leading manufacturing nation in the era of inner directedness. Naturally, technological advance led to transformation of communication from the telegraph to the telephone to radio and television. With respect to transportation, inner-directedness progressed from sea, foot and animal-based power to canals and railroads, then trucks, automobiles and air travel. As these developments occurred, inner-directedness gave way to other directedness. In the book The Achieving Society David McClelland identifies success not only with focus on achievement or achievement motive, but also other-directedness. Yet McClelland's classic study was done after inner directed society had made major technological advances. In the period since McClelland wrote The Achieving Society, the era of other directedness, there has been considerably less achievement and technological innovation than there was in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, there has been one critical invention: the computer and its attendant telecommunications and Internet capacities that have revolutionized communication and mass media.

Much as David Riesmann argued that mass media played a pivotal role in the transformation from inner-directedness to other-directedness, so it must be that the new communication methods, the Internet, computer, cellular phone and related, emerging technologies (my students are ahead of me on that) are likely to revise modes of personality.

Other-directedness involved a focus on the opinions and needs of others. But the Internet focuses people not on all others but on peer-group others. Interpersonal skills are minimized because much communication occurs on the Internet. Therefore, while interpersonal skills remain crucial for success in the other-directed world, much as a number of inner-directed traits do as well, group directedness is replacing other-directedness in many contexts. Group directedness calls for different skills from other directedness. It is hinged on narrower segmentation than was other directedness. Tastes are increasingly fragmented, and segmented preferences can now be tailored to so that pleasing the crowd becomes less important. Much as today's students may be gay or straight, they may prefer different lifestyles and need not feel obliged to fit in in the way that students did in the 1950s.

Contrairimairi Responds to White-Hooded Blogger

A pro-Obama blog calls me names ("trembling hellcat") for posting Contrairimairi's e-mails, and, like a white sheeted Klansman scurrying in the shadows of cyberspace, relies on anonymity. Methinks the lad must be a "progressive"! Perhaps when the inflation rate hits 12% our name-calling Klansman will not be so enthusiastic about the "change" that Mr. Obama and his backers have in mind.

Contrairimairi just forwarded this e-mail that responds to the name-caller's posts concerning her e-mails:

>Whoever the poor obamabot is posting at a website questioning posts regarding Obama's family, and references to the Ford Foundation, should really get a grip.

>First, many, many kudos to Mitchell Langbert who lists who he really is at this site. He also has a host of websites that are of like opinion, and who work in concert to get to the truth in the news. I will not even mention who the other blogger is, because I would hate to direct any poor soul to his blog. He is unidentified, and has a whopping total of FOUR, yes, you read that correctly FOUR back-up blogs. What a pathetic obamabot he is. Hope the O is paying him well for his derelict services.

>He had a major problem with the transferring of Oyama Mabandla to a possible Mayandla ( nickname Maya?) Obama. He also doesn't seem to realize that very often in American culture, last names list first. (Actually he appears ignorant enough to never have attended school where so often last names are used first.) He hasn't a clue how many times we have found the family names juxtaposed just enough to give a hint it might actually BE someone other than a family member. Like Soetoro being changed to "Sutoro". Unfortunately for this person, we are wise to the game. He should read posts at the many sites who back up Mitchell. He might finally be "educated".

>I noticed he made no reference to what the "actual" Mayama Obandla was up to. Guess what.....the man linked to the same address as big O's mama has joined a group of land speculators in Africa. I'll bet they are busily getting their hands on every piece of property they are able to. Funny, because Oyama worked for just one year at an African airlines that had FINALLY turned a profit just before he took the reigns. A year later, and I believe a tidy sum of money later as well, the airlines did go belly up, and Oyama was gone to buy up properties. AMAZING!

>Of course, the obot never makes mention of why anyone would suspect that the name change seems more than fairly plausible due to the number of apparent aliases used by everyone in the SAD and O family. He also never takes the time to mention that the crux of the article was regarding the microfinancing that was going on, and most probably, not just in Indonesia. Loan a poor woman $70.00 to buy a sewing machine to hang all her family's hope on, and when or if she defaults, own the very ground on which she lives. If he had even bothered to check further, he would have found out all the properties found so far, (I am sure many are still missing from the public eye, but I trust that with the number of people still working on this, more will be found) that seem to end up in the hands of the SAD family under whatever name they are using at that moment in time.

>I know the little obot is worried about the suggestion of organ trafficking, but "sad" (no pun intended) to say, it is a means for people in third world countries to make money, and one has to just think that the numbers of doctors whose names are connected to SAD's "hints" (it was only a suggestion, not a full-fledged accusation) of what so many of us, who have seen how disgusting so much of this truly is, need to worry about. Let's just say.......we wouldn't be surprised.

>Poor little obot. If you had been able to DISprove anything, I might have had enough respect for you to post on your blog. However, after visiting your site, I was overcome with laughter. Those of us who KNOW how you bots act, are far too intelligent to fall for your idiocy. Honestly......FOUR "back-up blogs". My suggestion.... Get a REAL life!