Thought for the Day: Myths, Stories or Falsehoods?

Monday, 2 February 2015, 8:36 am
Column: Keith Rankin

On Wednesday, I commented on the BBC's debate about inequality "A Richer World, but for Whom?"

I drew an analogy between the well-known story of the demise of Rapa Nui through competitive economic growth, and the competitive growth processes in the world today.

A few centuries ago the two tribes of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) reputedly achieved rapid growth (in output of Moai) and achieved full employment in the process. Then the last tree was struck down, in order to transport the last Moai. So ended the Easter Island economic miracle.

Subsequently, I was taken to task for "perpetuating lies", and referred to this article: "Blaming the victims -- Jared Diamond's myth of ‘ecocide'."

Please note that I carefully used the word 'reputed', and that my comment was in no respect an insult to Rapanui. It's just that this 'myth' is a wonderful story about the futility of treating the global economy as a kind of sporting contest between nations. This story – whether historically true or false or somewhere in between – explains the absurdity of the way we (as reputedly intelligent 21st century people) tend to think about economics. We see economics as some kind of contest to the death that nations must wage against each other: a contest to maximise growth of production, maintain high levels of employment, and achieve financial surpluses.

The power of the stories in The Bible lies in their use as cultural references for us in the modern world. The bible is not a history book that must be regarded as true. It's a book of dramatised myths that, in most cases, probably have some basis in historical truth. The Greek legends of Homer, likewise, are powerful myths. When we say "beware of Greeks bearing gifts" we are alluding to the powerful story of the deception of the Trojans; we are not insulting Greeks. If anything we are doing the opposite: we are acknowledging the importance of Greece and Greece's literary heritage to the world we live in.

The Polynesians were the greatest navigators that the world has ever known. Their contribution to world history is incontestable.

Myths provide us with allegory and analogy. We learn about and make sense of the world through our literature. The Rapa Nui story is contested history of that island. It has special meaning for us however, not as historians of Polynesia, but because this is one story we have imported – that we have bought into – because it tells us westerners much about ourselves.

ENDS

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Keith Rankin

Political Economist, Scoop Columnist

Keith Rankin taught economics at Unitec in Mt Albert since 1999. An economic historian by training, his research has included an analysis of labour supply in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has included estimates of New Zealand's GNP going back to the 1850s.

Keith believes that many of the economic issues that beguile us cannot be understood by relying on the orthodox interpretations of our social science disciplines. Keith favours a critical approach that emphasises new perspectives rather than simply opposing those practices and policies that we don't like.

Keith retired in 2020 and lives with his family in Glen Eden, Auckland.

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