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| Beats4Change encourage cultural
activities to raise awareness and funding for sustainable development
of caring communities Cultural and economical activities, based on principles of mutual aid,which lead to: - a world economy with ecological and social responsibility - a free and manifold world culture - the creation of a common future, based on work, knowledge and love |
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SOCIAL THREEFOLDING |
About the meta-political view of the threefold social organism - Social Threefolding |
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FREEDOM in the
CULTURAL SPHERE SOLIDARITY in the ECONOMICAL SPHERE EQUALITY in the RIGHTS SPHERE First presented by Rudolf Steiner |
| When the invsible hand becomes visible - economic
events proceed from human will, not market forcesIt is often stated as "proof" for the height of civilisation presented by the economic and political elite, that the more prosperity and military force a nation has, the more civilised it is, the extend of democracy, the quality of the civilisation is hardly ever measured - and it is to some extend true.. The economic development in western civilisation was necessary to seperate the individual as an independant being... from 1810 the money-market became a market of it's own, the significance of this being the rise of democracy as a motive force which then became extended to wider groups of individuals, than white male's with certain amount of property ... So when we speak about economy, it is turned around, it's not the economic growth, the quantitative side that is important, this a progress philosophy based on the real economic life, that became "mercantile materialism", and as economy develops into more and more abstract nature has become a "pro-capitalist materialism", which Marx in full consequence make into an abstraction of everything .. Marx's abstraction in theory was a result of an abstract economy, that is dehumanising all participants into tools for economic development, rather than economy being a tool for humanity's development. This development of abstract economy served a purpose, and when we see the purpose, it becomes clear to us, then we can turn it around, it is not the development of economics that has produced education, health care, education and so on, it is the need for these things to be manifested as a spiritual life for free individuals, that has worked through the abstract economic life... When this is realised, the humanist values, become the consciouss purpose of the unconsciouss processes in economic development... the "invisible" hand of God in economic life becomes consciouss (this of course is the total opposite of Marx, but also of modern pro-capitalist economic theories, that see the economic development as the goal, and the humanist values as necessary means to continue economic growth - both basically materialist, the latter just with a dynamic, a nut in the shell). As long as the spiritual life superconscioussly worked through the economic life, it of course easily gave rise to the abstract idea that it is the economic life that determine the spiritual life. And from the 14th century onwards the spiritual life for a majority of people was something they had no access to - the ones with piles of bread told the hungry "man don't live by bread alone" .. this is what people experienced, as the economy develops and more skills is needed, people experienced they were given education only because it was necessary, but they also became aware of the ideals of the spiritual life.. however these ideals didn't presented themselves as rights for the majority, but as priveleges of an elite... the spiritual, economic and political elite didn't represented rights for all individuals, but priveleges for a few ... Marx twist this around 180 degrees and reject the ideals (the nut), and keep the shell: economy explains everything - Steiner don't throw the baby out with the bathing water, but want to make the ideals into rights for everyone - to have access to a free spiritual life, which then consciously make economy a tool for satisfying basic human needs - and qualitative, rather than quantitative wants The whole point is a history about the value of money as they work in economics... from basically being just means of exchange based on real stuff, they became connected to value in gold, and since the seventies they are totally freed from any material value, actually.... you know the expression immaterial assets... But still we think about money, our consciousness about money is that the value is like an exchange of a sack of flour for a sack of onions... most people see money this way, as real material assets based on real material things ... Of the transfers on the international money-market 4% is based on a market of production-distribution-consumtion of goods and services - the rest is immaterial transfers .... the value of money today is solely based on one thing - TRUST As this value becomes consciouss the free will that now mainly works in economic life, unconscioussly in the body, can be taken to a "higher" level, and work consciously from the spiritual life.. the "invisible" hand of God in the market, instead becomes the consiouss hands of humanity, free initiatives instead of free enterprise. This also meaning that our humanist values can manifest as a leading motive force, a qualitative value that replaces the quantitative values in economic life, which today usurpates the political sphere and spiritual life From being economic transfers money can become transfers of trust, capital invested as a visible hand where we trust it will benefit our will, both for production, but also regarding human rights and environmental quality Steiner used to label different politico-economic impulses anglo-american, french, german aso .. and that was the reality then, when the companies was mainly national enterprises, today it is ofcourse meaningless to put national labels on economic enterprise, and in Social Threefolding this is excactly what Steiner's at, economy isn't a "national" issue, in a healthy economic life there is local and international economy ... and here's the point, as economy becomes globalised, and the consciousness is there, what purpose does that serve, it must be followed by the ideals of western civilisation as rights not privileges - the spiritual goal of globalisation isn't further abstraction and invisible workings of Gods hand - it is the spread of the humanist ideals... the longer it is done as a privelege for those God rewards (according to the mercantile-materialist progress teology), the more the working of Gods hand hits back in terror, warfare, clash of civilisations... the conditions of late 19th century in western european national economies is now manifest on a global scale, and instead of abstract marxism and moderate socialism, we see reactions rooted in less abstract forces - only vital ideals as living realities rooted in a radical humanist view - humanity as a middle between the material and spiritual worlds, in consciouss interaction with the ecosphere, each other and the "beyond" can rightly call itself a high level of civilisation .. if the western world fail to take this step, it'll become an empty shell of high ideals exercising more and more barbarism ... | |