Send us your sightings of the Invisible Hand.
The Invisible Hand is one of (neo)classical economics’ most enduring mythologies. Its magical power is to ensure that social benefit is maximised as long as everyone acts in their own self-interest through the market – apparently. But what if the Invisible Hand were less benign than this?
The recent torrent of images of police brutality which have come out of the US, have got me wondering whether this is the Invisible Hand at work – keeping the Ponzi scheme we call capitalism at play. Maybe it was the Invisible Hand that knocked on my partner’s door a couple of years ago demanding instant payment on an old debt ‘or else’. Perhaps it was the Invisible Hand that set of the brutal explosion that destroyed the 46,000 year old sacred caves of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people in the Juukan Gorge, on behalf of Rio Tinto.
Building on the late David Graeber’s reflections on the crucial role violence and the threat of violence play in maintaining our economic system, I invite you to submit photographs / sketches / collages / diagrams / prints / doodles of recent sightings of the Invisible Hand you have come across or heard about. These will be incorporated into the Moneylab #X experimental online publication and collated into an e-pamphlet in early 2021.
— HOW TO TAKE PART —
Please send the following via email to: info@laralunabartley.com anytime before the end of the year.
- An image of a recent sighting of the Invisible Hand (ideally 300dpi)
- Place and date/time of the sighting
- What makes you suspect this is the Invisible Hand (150 words max.)
- Your name / pseudonym (optional)
