Economics: Science or Voodoo?
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Real Statistics: A Radical Approach. Chapter 1 Life Journey, Section B: Dreams of Economics as Orientalism. Edward Said's book Orientalism established that all Western discourse about the East was deeply influenced by the power West acquired over the East via the colonization of the globe. All Western discourse was colored by a superiority complexity. This led me to wonder if the discipline of Economics was similarly biased. Whether the concepts of "developed" and "under-developed" reflected an Orientalist bias, rather than reality. Gradually I was led to the realization that all of economic theory was a projection of the soft power of the West over minds, and served the needs of the powerful countries. But how to prove this? I made this my ambition and dream, and started taking small steps towards a thousand-mile distant goal. For writeup, see HTTP://bit.ly/AZlife2
Economics: Science or Voodoo?
- 1. Dr. Asad Zaman Part 2 of My Journey towards Light Discussion of my life experiences which led me to understand that the deep wisdom of the Quran was far superior to the knowledge I acquired at the finest universities in the West For a writeup of this video/talk, see http://bit.ly/AZlife2 Life Journey 2:Birth of a Dream Image by D叩vid Sterbik
- 2. Deep Dilemma The Quran is the greatest gift of God to humanity. It contains complete and perfect guidance for us, until the end of time. The power of the Quranic message is demonstrated by the amazing rise of ignorant and backwards early Muslim to world leadership, and the creation of a civilization which enlightened the world for 1000 years. BUT TODAY: Muslims are ignorant and backwards. Power, Glory, and Knowledge are all in the West. Quran and Sunnah seem obsolete and irrelevant, incapable of solving modern problems.
- 3. Western versus Islamic epistemology Western approach: In conflicts between heart and head, ignore the heart, and follow the head. Eastern approach: In conflicts between heart and head, trust your heart, and revise your thinking to bring it in conformity. FAITH: The Quran says that the believers will be led from darkness to light. REASON: The light of knowledge today seems to be shining in the West, while the believers are covered in darkness. Hold on to faith, revise thinking to resolve the conflict.
- 4. First Clue: Orientalism: Edward Said Orientalism: http://bit.do/azori European conquest of 90% of globe by early 20th Century shapes our knowledge of the world. Entire field of knowledge is Eurocentric! Europeans acquired a superiority complex. Racist theories of superiority of whites invented to create justification for colonization. The key to understanding is the study of History and the role of Power in shaping knowledge.
- 5. History is the Conquest Song of the Victors Fabricated History: The Deadliest Weapon- http://bit.ly/AZDeadly European goals of life: pleasure, power, profits spread through Western education. Useful knowledge helps us to achieve life-goals! Western education promotes as useful knowledge which helps us get pleasure, power, profits, Islam teaches us knowledge for success on the day of judgment, through realization of the infinite potential for excellence which all human beings are born with.
- 6. Birth of a Dream Edward Said discredited an ENTIRE field of knowledge. Departments of Oriental Studies were dismantled. The world Orientalist was a specialization, a label of expertise. After Edward Said, it became a pejorative. Is it possible that all of Economic Theory is merely a form of Orientalism? A way of saying that the West is superior to the East? Some evidence: Definitions of development changed to match current world leaders speciality. Development: Myths & Truths http://bit.ly/AZmyth New Name of Faculty of Oriental Studies
- 7. Goal: Show that all of economics is a FRAUD! A HUGE task, requiring vast amount of energy and effort. How to do it? A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- 8. Pedagogical Principle: One step at a time. Subject matter is difficult ONLY because students are asked to take too many steps at once. This destroys self- confidence. Teach students to take one-step. Give thanks to Allah for small increases in understanding. Allah Taala will reward with more Ilm Believe in your students ability to achieve the greatest goals. See How to Inspire and Motivate Students http://bit.do/azhims
- 9. Small Steps Towards Rejection of Economics Paul Bairoch: Economics & World History: Myths & Paradoxes Theory of Free Trade developed by England, AFTER it had 50 year lead on other European countries via Industrial revolution. Free trade theory, applied, led to depression in Europe and rapid growth and prosperity in England German Economist Friedrich List developed theory of Infant Industry, which required protection. Application of this theory protected European industry, and allowed it to develop and compete.
- 10. Power Shapes Knowledge One of the key lessons of Orientalism is that modern intellectual disciplines glorify the West because the West is currently powerful, and is able to shape the minds of students around the world through education. We can counter this power by learning the historical context of economic theory!! WHY was this theory created? WHOSE interests did it serve? See The Education of an Economist http://bit.ly/AZeduc
- 11. Concluding Remarks Modern Economics appears like a magnificent edifice built on deep and sophisticated mathematics, impossibly complex to master. On closer examination, I learned that there are serious and irreparable cracks in the foundations. My eyes were not dazzled by the brilliance of Western Knowledge They were protected by the dust of Madina and Najaf. The Dazzle of Western Knowledge: http://bit.ly/AZdazzle
- 12. Links to Related Works Part 1 of this talk: My Life Journey: Beginnings http://bit.ly/AZlife1 Writeup of this part: Life Journey 2: Birth of a Dream http://bit.ly/AZlife2 Video of complete talk, with Q&A: My Journey Towards Light (MJTL) http://bit.ly/YTMJTL
Editor's Notes
- #3: In part 1 of this talk, I explained how my faith in Quran as the greatest gift of knowledge was contradicted by my Western education, which taught me that intellectual developments in Europe were the greatest kind of knowledge available today, My heart testified to the truth of the Quran, but my reason and observations testified to the power and glory of the West.
- #4: My Western education had taught me that when the head and the heart are in conflict, we should listen to the head, and ignore the heart. But my training in Islam, coming from the perspective of Tableegh and Dawah, taught me the opposite lesson. Trust your heart, and modify your thinking to match the guidance from God.
- #5: I was looking for flaws in Western wisdom, which would prove it was defective, unlike the Quran, which is complete and perfect. The first major step came when I read the landmark book called Orientalism by Edward Said. The book said that our perspective on the world is shaped by the European colonization and conquest of nearly 90% of the globe. European knowledge was created to justify the enormous amount of brutality and violence required for this conquest. Racist theories which promoted supremacy of the West and the white man were at the heart of Western knowledge.
- #6: I learned that over a century of battles among Christian factions in Europe led them to reject Christianity. This led to adoption of purely materialist goals: pursuit of pleasure, power, and profits. European knowledge was created to help in this pursuit. In contrast, Islam teaches us the that true success is that of the day of Judgement. To achieve this success, we must pursue the path of spiritual progress, and learn to develop the capabilities for excellence that Allah Taala has give to all human beings. Islam teaches us how to become better human beings, while modern Western education does not.
- #7: The book Orientalism had a tremendous impact. Departments of Oriental Studies were dismantled. Academics stopped using the label Orientalist to describe their field of study. Encouraged by this, I was led to wonder: Is it possible that all of modern economic theory is just a branch of orientalism? A way of proving that the West is superior to the East? I started to look for and find evidence that this was indeed true.
- #8: This encouraged me to set for myself a HUGE goal: to show that all of modern economic theory is a FRAUD. Obviously this was a huge task which would require years and years of effort. However, I was not discouraged. I decided to take as many steps as I could towards achieving this goal.
- #9: My lifetime experience in education taught me that all knowledge is acquired bit by bit in small steps. As teachers, we should try to teach students to take one small step towards learning, and to be grateful for small increases in knowledge knowledge is highly prized by Allah, and gratitude for what we receive will be rewarded with more knowledge. Also, as teachers we should believe in our students, and motivate and inspire them to set high goals.
- #10: To show that Western knowledge is not as brilliant as it pretends to be, I started to look at the flaws of economic theories. One important breakthrough came when I read a book by Paul Bairoch. This showed the Free Trade theory was developed by England when it served the interests of England. The Infant Industry argument for protection (against free trade) was developed by a German economist, and helped German economy develop. So it became clear that economic theories were developed to serve the interests of those with power on the world stage.
- #11: One of the key lessons of Orientalism is that today we believe in the brilliance of the West because a Western education glorifies the West and ignores and suppresses the contributions of other civilizations. So, to counter this, we need to learn more about the true history of Europe and also relearn
- #12: Western knowledge dazzles us with its brilliance and glamor. But close examination of its origins reveal toxic messages of pursuit of pleasure, power, and profits, without any concern for others. This is the message which enabled the ruthless and brutal policies required to conquer and colonize the globe. It is only after we overcome the dazzle of Western knowledge that we can learn to appreciate the deep wisdom of the Quran.