Madness and Civilisation by Michel Faucault

We had better read "Madness and Civilisation" by Michel Faucault. It explains how the modern "society" has started discriminating those who are seen handicapped and mentally challenging. Faucault sometimes romanticises the past way too much and overestimate communism as a solution. However, he provided a productive scepticism about unconditionally accepting development and modernisation without questioning and he criticised not only capitalism but also socialism both of which discourage liberty of individuals and their free self-expression.

Mad and handicapped individuals used to be more accepted in the past as just different. They were even sometimes treated as useful because they have a unique ability of challenging something beyond capacity or being able to perceive something not perceivable. They are integrated into their community with the rest majority, and they found their own virtue of being parts of humans' activities. There was not any specific definition of distinguishing individuals between normal and abnormal/disabled/mad, and they naturally accepted the difference of characteristics.

But, the modern "society" started labeling them as "non-conforming" as a product like a cogwheel. Faucault successfully pointed out that individuality is rather forfeited in this modern world although it often puts emphasis on individuality. Individuals are allowed to enjoy benefits from the modernity as long as they are approved as conforming as the "products" contributing to functioning the apparatus called the modernity. By contrast, those who are labelled as nonconforming are treated as useless and/or inferior.

Human individuals nowadays live in a more materially better off but more complex world. The modernisation has brought a lot of benefits and developed human-individuals' intelligence by inventing a big and complex function of modern society. On the other hand, the big complex nature of this society requires an intensive conformity straining individuals to adjust themselves and contribute to its function as the cogwheel mobilising this apparatus of modern society. After having achieved a development of modernity, it has come to the point where individuals had better learn from the inclusive characteristics of pre-modernity to compensate for the stressful strain of modern society while maintaining the benefits of modernity.

Brief Introduction of an economic policy of Kakuei Tanaka 田中角栄

On 04/05/1918, Mr. Kakuei Tanaka 田中角栄, who has dedicated his life for Japanese political development and advocated the base ideology of Japanese Liberal-Naitonalism, descended to the earth. With welcoming his birth day, this document is dedicated to show respect for Kakuei Tanaka and reminds his achievements. His great talent as the Japanese prime minister contributed to enable Japan to be diplomatically independent as a true sovereign state. Moreover, his project called "the Plan to Remodel the Japanese archipelago 日本列島改造計画" stimulated Japanese rapid economic growth thanks to his rare innate talent not only as a politician but also as a capitalist/entrepreneur. I am firmly proud of the part of Japanese history in which Mr. Kakuei Tanaka existed.

Mr Tanaka is the charismatic figure for majority of Keynesian economists (the group of economists supporting to preserve market economy (capitalist system) while putting emphasis on controlling the business cycle with the positive interventions by government as a mediator of the market into economic activity. In the contemporary period the prime minister Tanaka and his policy were inevitably required for Japanese economic growth which was quite immature for the foundation of economic growth so then needed to form the sophisticated relation between government and market.

Mr. Tanaka was a revolutionary figure in Japanese politics who challenged against the traditional incompetent characteristics of "politicians" as authoritarian figures. He was successful because he combined his talent as an entrepreneur and as an politician together. Entrepreneurs (Capitalists) are good at planning for capital development and optimising resource usage while being trained in various business competitions and acquiring trusts from individuals. By contrast, politicians can only secure their job security by means of relying on extracting taxation which is collected from individuals with their authoritarian enforcement. Following this fact entrepreneurs seem to be much productive and better at self-management. But if politicians are always under the pressure to accomplish their job and are obliged to obtain trusts from individuals without an authoritarian collective force, they may become responsible to contribute and compete under the pressure as similar to entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile entrepreneurs naturally get involved in competition and enforced to accomplish their duties, politicians can be spoiled and make the environment less competitive in the occupation secured by their esteem. They collect their profits from a political theft called taxation, and it is not necessary to gain respects from individuals because these individual citizens have to pay tax involuntarily regardless of these tax contributors' satisfaction rate. Therefore, unlike entrepreneurs who always need to make an effort of attracting their customers by providing them with satisfying goods and services in order to gain profits. Especially in the immature democratic system like in Japan tends to remain such a fact. Amazingly, despite this tendency the former prime minister Kakuei Tanaka conducted his business pursuit established by Mr Tanaka himself to lead both private business and government body help each other so then laid the basis of Japanese economic growth.

Predicted Financial Havoc in 2019 by means of the position of Jupiter and Neptune

The position of Jupiter is the key factor in terms of modern western astrology to focus on the financial luck. Money is represented by Jupiter and various kinds of flows are represented by Neptune. Then, the combination of money and the flow is the symbol of the financial market characteristics.

In appendix, the single chart of both April, 2018 and January 2019 is displayed. These single charts indicate the environment of the world situation by means of the astrological analysis. Please refer to these charts to read the following sentences.

When Jupiter and Neptune form triangle (60 degree) or zero degree , it is considered to be the fortunate angle (triangle is fortunate unless there is any bad-luck aspect on it. Zero degree is controversial to say whether good luck or bad luck but it often exaggerates the characteristics of both planets together). So, the world financial situation will be stable in this year. This positioning of Jupiter and Neptune is also called as the "bubbling aspect" because of its financial fortune.

When Jupiter and Neptune form square (90 degree) or face each other from opposite side (180 degree), it is considered to be the risky angle. This is often said to be a bad luck but it can still bring a fortune when we realise how to handle the situation set by these planets' position. According to this positioning, a significant risk will arise in the world financial market when Jupiter starts crossing the ascendant of Aries.

Because Neptune is already on the process of crossing the ascendant of its own sign Pisces, the impact caused by Neptune is already strong. So, the impact of the transition of Jupiter from crossing the ascendant of Scorpion to the counterpart of Sagittarius will be significant. In January, 2019, because Jupiter and Neptune will form the tight square (90 degree), the effect will emerge very sharply.


The interesting factor is that the current world financial market is stable but it is still in the stagnation. Both European Central Bank and Bank of Japan have announced that they may end their quantitative easing programme in 2019. This implies the financial stability sustained by the artificial quantitative easing by major central banks will hit the world financial market negatively.

The concern is that the current financial stability has been artificially propped up by the artificial intervention by these major central banks in stead of the natural recovery of the world economic structure. The fundamental economic structure does not seem to recover because majority of countries still struggle with improving their economic performances (employment, average income, debt repayment, etc). Then, the end of the quantitative easing will cause the volatility of the market on the top of this current stagnation.

However, even though many may lose their financial fortune, there will be a gateway to earn extra financial fortune nn January, 2019. At that time, Jupiter, representing money and philosophy, forms a triangle with Uranus, representing spontaneity and revolution, and Saturn, representing stability, structure, and tradition, forms a square with Uranus. This seems to imply that there will be an innovation and a revolutionary method of investment which will be difficult to be recognised by the mass. Thus, this will be a havoc bringing financial misfortune for many as well as a risky chance of gaining a fortune for some.


* Appendix *

Astro-Chart in April, 2018




Astro-Chart in January, 2019

Monopoly of Corporatism Expands in Present Day Capitalism: Average Cost sfhits Rightward

The transaction cost of physical capital and information has significantly declined due to lowering the economic and political barrier of regulation across national borders in capitalism in the present. This expands the economics of scale and enables the specialisation of production so that both quantity and quality of goods and services have increased. The classical model of market multiple firms compete each other and constantly replace their market leader used to prevail when the economic of scale was smaller than nowadays.

Nevertheless, market competition is rather discouraged when market is freed because the market judges that selected firms capable to expand their production scale so that the classical model hardly prevails nowadays. When the economies of scale expands, a bigger production scale minimises the average cost of quantity produced. This also means that the firms having a big capacity of expanding their production scale take advantage of this expansion, and the other counterparts struggling to obtaining enough (physical and human) capital tend to suffer from losing in the market competition.

Big corporations and a few small firms succeeding in a remarkable innovation are those who are able to take an advantage of expanding their production scale to the optimum level minimising their average cost. By contrast, majority medium and small scale firms often struggle to compete with the wider productivity scale of the aforementioned counterparts taking advantage of their bigger capacity of expansion. This is one of the remarkable reasons why there are many merge and acquisition among various existing firms taking place.

Therefore, nowadays, instead of multiple firms with relatively small production capacity competing in a market, it is feasible to select a few firms which are capable enough to expand their production capacity. In another word, the production is more collectivised in capitalism in the present than capitalism in the past so that this sounds like the prediction of Vladimir Lenin about how capitalism eventually evolves has become reality.

Capitalism in the present has its benefit for not only the successful minorities owning means of production in a bigger scale than the past but also majority consumers enjoying goods and services with better quantity and quality available. Furthermore, those who have an innovative idea and some special talent are more easily discovered to be promoted thanks to the current development of information technology than the past.

The painful characteristic of this economic model in the present is that the number of those who are able to own means of production decreases. Due to the higher requirement of their production scale, less individuals are able to gain their access to run their business with an optimum cost required by the current market. On the top of it, not so many individuals can frequently innovate ideas guaranteed to contribute to an economy. If everyone were innovative enough to always have an equal opportunity to succeed, none would suffer from the constant threat of being deprived and everyone would be rich already.

The decreasing number of firms producing goods and services implies lowering the quantity of labour employed. Mere consumers not owning means of production have to compete with the others to gain their income source. Then, although majority consumers may enjoy higher quantity of goods and services with a lower price in a short run, their income level and their opportunity of gaining income may be repressed due to facing the higher competition of selling their labour. Therefore, they may have to restrict their expenditure in order to save their income in a medium-long run.

It does not necessarily imply to reincarnate the past economic model to shrink the current economies of scale because the current economic environment still has its benefit. What it should require is transforming the current model to adjust in order to maximise the happiness of individuals by minimising the pains from this market transition. It ought to innovate the method of mitigating the pains of this model such as restricted competition among individuals and access to owning means of production while taking an advantage of high productivity.


** Appendix **

Graph 1: Average Cost Curve shifts Rightward


Graph 2: Average Costs and Average Revenue = Demand Curve


Graph 3: Marginal Cost = Marginal Revenue

Re-post: Lower Credit Rating = Higher the Risk Premium = Higher Interest Payment

* Posted on Monday, August 08, 2011 *

The credit rating tends to be determined by the frequency of trade of this national debt. Long (buy) = higher the rate; Short (sell) = lower the rate. This decline in the credit rate means rise in the risk premium so that the interest payment has to go up. The investors (the saving curve) requires higher security on investment to the government (the investment curve): The saving curve shifts left along the investment curve. Therefore, the quantity traded goes down, and then the value of this share goes down...

Power of Logic

Many human individuals tend to rely on their experiences and cultural-traditions as the base of their decision making processes and the measure of social justice. These measurements are based on what have happened in the passed, and these individuals following this method tend to implicitly assume their past events will repeat in the future as similar to the past.

Of course, human individuals may be only able to acquire their knowledge used for their analytical inference is highly limited to what they have already known. Nevertheless, their decision making process for their personal life choices and social justice in their living environment exists to create the path for individuals leading them to their desirable pleasant future instead of limiting their imagination to the past events and experiences having already happened.

Then, there needs to be a principle tool enabling individuals to stimulate innovative actions and estimate their future outcomes, and this ought to be a logical inference. For example, mathematical logical analyses enables individuals to imagine the existence of zero and infinity as well as abstract formulae, complex numbers, other various mathematical notations.

Knowing there are infinitely small and big scales in our living nature infers there is always a possibility of discovering an unknown characteristics in both much bigger or smaller scales than it has ever been discovered. Mathematical logic expresses something abstract which does not exist to measure substances existing in the real nature such as complex number. But, an invention of this abstract has enabled individuals to use this abstract as a tool for helping their thought process to create a highly innovative output.

The disadvantage of logical inference is that there is no objective measurement which can self-evaluate the validity of a process and a conclusion of logical inference like mathematical axiom. Someone may use logic just for a mere intrigue purpose to convince others for some personal interest. Someone may use an unpleasant criteria basing logical inference which can be irrational, scientifically false, or utterly unproductive, and this logical inference guides other individuals and their environment to these unpleasant paths.

There are some philosophers claiming there ought to be a universal principle guiding logical inferences to prevent individuals falsely following a path deviating from their believing path. By contrast, there is a counter-argument suggesting that it is highly risky to hypocritically assume there is a universal principle basing logical inferences. Even though this universal principle sounds good and looks like functioning, a good intention does not always induces a good desirable outcome. It should leave some freedom of choices for individuals for testing their own hypothesis and compete with each other unless it considerably harms others in an unfair way.

While hedging for any potential risk of failure, bets by logical inferences should be carried on in order to invent creative ideas and productive solutions. Finding an interaction of things will lead to find something new by discovering a core element of an interaction of ideas and things. Union of ideas and things will lead to a new alternative something. Abductive reasoning will lead to discover an unexpected relation of many things.


*** Please kindly read my following essay for your further understanding about my emphasis on logical analyses and inferences. ***

- Read Ethical Principles explained by Mathematical Logic Pt1


- Read Ethical Principles explained by Mathematical Logic Pt2

- Read Ethical Principles explained by Mathematical Logic Pt3

- Read Ethical Principles explained by Mathematical Logic Pt4