4, 5, 6 - Anatomy, physiology and pathology of a State - blood

All the components of the human body requires sustenance. At every organizative level - systems, organs, tissues, cells - nutrients must be delivered and wastes removed. That is accomplished through blood circulation. Let us analyze it by looking at anatomy, physiology and pathology through our approach.

Anatomy - money as blood, heart as trade, blood vessels as...

Everything in the body is made of cells, or a product of cells, and all human cells to live require oxygen and glucose, and more. In our effort of analyzing the State as if it was a human body, we established that individuals are like cells. To survive, cells needs blood to flow, so what would be a good metaphor for blood in the context of our society? What do people need to keep going with their lives, to do their jobs, to form families and in general realizing their goals? It is money.

    Just like blood flow is fundamental for the organism survival, money circulation is fundamental for the State. 

Blood must flow. Just not at

a Red Wedding, possibly.

    Going further, what does make the blood flow in all the body? That is the heart, pumping blood and mechanically assuring it flows. In a State that needs money circulation, what would be that pump? What would stand for the heart? What moves money in a society, what is the motor? We can answer, trade.

    In a State, trade is the main fundament of economy and its dynamics. Trade is what makes money run around, from hand to hand, like blood being supplied to cells. 

    Then, in the human body what does allow the blood flow? Under the propulsion from heart contractions, where is blood channeled in order to reach cells in all the districts of the body? Of course, blood flows within blood vessels, arteries, veins, capillaries.

    Blood vessels are the ways by which blood is physically delivered throughout the body. Thanks to them, blood comes close enough to the cells and is then taken away; thanks to the blood vessels, the nutrients carried by blood can be distributed and wastes can be removed. In society, what makes money available to individuals? And what removes it, leading to a constant exchange? Money comes from work, and can be supplied by the credit system to buffer situations. If someone requires and excess of money, banks can accord loans and mortgages. Then, money is also taken away by the cost of life, through many expenses, not last taxation. Even there, the same credit system can be involved.

    Through work, cost of life and banks, the flow of money to and from individuals is indeed capillary.

    Of course, the blood is actually complex enough to be a tissue itself, with cellular and soluble components deputed to specific functions. Blood is not limited to nutrients and oxygen delivery, it also vehicolates immune cells and molecules, coagulation factors, many proteins and so on. We could make many links to other functions, but this is not the day.

Physiology - money translates in purchasing power, not equally distributed

Wishing your house

faucets were like this?

Yeah, me too.

Blood flow requires a pumping heart. Money is moved by trade. Food, raw materials, refined products, locations, services can all be traded. Their existence or their manufacturing alone are not enough to run an economy. They must be exchanged and traded to make money flow. Without trade, money gets stale and ultimately useless; exactly like blood when the heart stops.

Blood brings a variety of nutrients to cells. Oxygen and glucose are fundamental for cellular respiration and energy production; then there are lots of organic (like nucleotides, aminoacids, lipids) and inorganic (ions) molecules important for cells. Once within cells, such molecules are used in many ways and metabolic pathways. Similarly, money in society can take many forms and can come from various sources and type of work. And once people have money they use it in many ways according to what happens in their life. Money gives purchasing power, allowing to buy what is needed. Like cells use nutrients for metabolism, people use money to adjust their own lives.

    However, is blood evenly distributed and available? In a body, some organs and tissues are more consistently irrorated by the blood flow (brain, heart, kidney). At the cellular level, cells with a higher metabolism consume more and uptake more. Likewise, some categories of people, and some apparatuses of the State, get access to more money than others. It can be an adaptation in functional systems, where successful work is rewarded with more money; and efficient and strategic parts of the State have higher funds. This can be a factor of change and flexibility contributing to a dynamic economy; or it can easily become an obstacle.

Pathology - economical crisis as cardio-vascular diseases, credit choke as ischemia 

The blood flow in the human body can be subject to diseases. Cardio-vascular diseases are very heterogeneous, with many different causes. The main consequences still is an increasingly difficult delivery of the blood and its nutrients to organs, tissues and cells. We have the various types of anemia, with reduced oxygen available for cells; ischemia, with blood flow interrupted with very critic effects if interesting the brain or the heart; cardiac defects; and so on. 

    If the body is affected by these pathologies, what would be an appropriate comparison for dysfunctions in our society? Which diseases of the State can affect the flow of money? Those would be economical crisis - pathological conditions of a State economy, with many potential causes and the common effect of reducing money flow and availability.

Choking the blood flow is not good.

As it is not choking the money flow.

    In this context, a more specific case would be atherosclerosis. In atherosclerosis, progressive accumulations of cholesterol partially obstructs arteries. Blood flow is thus physically hindered and reduced. We can compare it to a credit choke - where money flow is limited by specific factors but not blocked. It can hit just some parts of the system, without necessarily affecting the whole flow of money. And yet, if the parts it hits are strategic enough it can be very dangerous nonetheless. Moreover, both atherosclerosis and credit choke are usually part of wider and more complex situations, cardio-vascular diseases and economical crisis, respectively. We can make a point that exaggerated taxation works in a similar way.

    A different situation would be an hemorrhage, a loss of blood, either internal or external. In an internal hemorrhage, the blood remains within the body even if out of the blood vessels. In society, that would correspond to money diverted, not delivered to their supposed targets - and are ultimately wasted. It is what happens with lost public funding, international or not. External hemorrhages are on par with a loss of money out of the system, like a State bleeding money to outside causes. It can be the case of wars or international speculation targeting anything from the credit system to the currency stability. 

Multi-factorial cardio-vascular diseases parallel the multi-faceted West economic crisis

Summarizing, blood and money brings fundamental support to every part of the body and of the State. Both blood and money need something to actively keep them flowing. While the heart and the trade assure movement, blood and money still must be directed and canalized. Work, cost of life and credit system act together like blood vessels, delivering and taking away the money to ensure its proper flow. A variety of dysfunctions can unbalance both the flows of blood and of money. Usually, such situations have multiple causes. It is the case of the multi-factorial cardio-vascular diseases and of the economical crisis.

    In a twist of dark irony, cardio-vascular diseases are the most common pathologies in the West; the same West is experiencing a long economical crisis. Indeed, the West crisis is due to many factors and they are not directly related to the flow of money. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and so on, along with all the competent Ministries in the interested States, tried and are trying to act on the money front to address the crisis. Still, now it is clear that it is not a simple task. This again points to further, deeper reasons to explain why the West feels diseased. How it comes, and which parts of the State (or organs of the body) may be involved, will be discussed in the next articles.

    See you there.