I have just finished rereading Ivan Illich's chapter entitled "Disabling Professions". Wow it is possibly the most well written and extensive piece of work that uses informed criticism to fully show that the way we live now in society is pretty much entirely as a consequence of a mafia style. With doctors teachers lawyers judges mass producers and many more have caused what Illich describes when he defines gangsters : " But gangsters. for their own profit, corner a basic necessity by controlling supplies" ( p.15 'Disabling Professions") Professional dominance in all our lives must be considered in everything, and what this piece also highlighted to me was how the media through many different ways advertises products that will take you to a paradise , that is until a new paradise is created when an even better product arrives.
Read it again! I will
Lord Jurg
Last post......
17 years ago
Yes, I agree. Schon is doing us all a favour by alerting us to some of the many ways in which we can be (and are!) manipulated by professionals of all kinds. Which surely is exactly how professionals are NOT meant to behave?
ReplyDeleteI agree that Schon is doing us a favour by alerting us to this but I wonder how many consumers of 'professionals'' services have read this kind of stuff!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to think that all consumers of goods and services were so well informed of these manipulations!