Ethical Individualist's Posts (24)

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Ethical Individualism
Lets look at the Greek debt crisis from an ethical perspective. We will examine two principles from extremely different sources, one from the insurance industry and another from Muslim Shari’a Law. An Ethical Individualist is not restricted to a fixed set of given ethical principles but is open-minded and,

“sees a certain value in all ethical principles, always asking whether this or that is more important in a particular case.” (POF 9.4)

Greek debt crisis
Greece owes European countries and banks €340 billion borrowed over the past five years. To afford the debt repayments, Greece made huge cuts leaving many impoverished. As Greece lagged on repayments, they were told to make more cuts. Greece refused. The big problem now is that Greek banks are running out of money.

Two principles that could be applied in this case are moral hazard (suffer the consequences) and forgiveness (debt relief).

Principle Of Moral Hazard (suffer the consequences)
Moral Hazard originated as an insurance company principle. It occurs when all the risks shift to one party after a financial transaction has taken place due to the removal of the severe consequences that force the other party to act appropriately. In this case, Greece will lose the incentive to pay back the huge debt if it is granted debt relief.

The thrifty Germans, the biggest opponent of debt relief, insist on more harsh austerity measures, even though that makes it even less likely that Greece can pay its debts. By ignoring the Greeks terrible economic plight along with the disparaging language that is routinely used about Greeks, the Germans seem more interested in inflicting punishment rather than any genuine reform.

Principle Of Forgiveness (debt relief)
To explain the principle of forgiveness I will turn to Islamic financial principles guided by Shari’a Law. Islamic finance must contribute to the development and good of the community. Not surprising, then, the fundamental feature of Islamic finance is socio-economic and distributive justice. Islamic finance principles state clearly that individuals who have trouble repaying their debts should have their obligations made easier for them and not more difficult. It is immoral for a lender to harass or pressure a person who has borrowed money and is unable to repay the loan, if that person has fallen on hard times. Instead, such individuals are deserving of charity.

Do you agree with the finance principles of Shari’a Law or the finance principles of the insurance industry?

sources: Frances Coppola and Dr. Kara Tan Bhala

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*The first chapter in the original Philosophy Of Freedom was entitled The Goal Of Knowledge. In 1918, in later editions it was removed as the first chapter and placed at the back of the book as an appendix.

Shake off every kind of authority
Chapter 1, The Goal Of Knowledge (in the original 1894 edition* of Rudolf Steiner's The Philosophy Of Freedom) begins with these two sentences:

“I BELIEVE I am indicating correctly one of the fundamental characteristics of our age when I say that all human interests tend to center in the culture of human individuality. An energetic effort is being made to shake off every kind of authority." POF 0.0

The path to freedom begins with a struggle to be free of oppression, an energetic effort to shake off every kind of authority. While the Philosophy Of Freedom is considered a path to "inner" freedom, the long journey to inner freedom begins in the second sentence of Steiner's freedom philosophy, with the struggle for "outer" freedom. From the earliest age when a toddler first shouts “No!” to authority, the human being strives to be free.

The violent outer suppression of people disrupts the long path to inner freedom, that at a later stage of development can no longer be suppressed. The support of inner freedom of the mind involves also the support of the outer freedom of action to allow the space for personal development and individual expression. It is interesting to see that mainstream churches are joining in the struggle to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.


Will the churches end the oppression of the Palestinian people?
This week the United Church of Christ (UCC) voted by an overwhelming 80% majority to divest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and to boycott all Israeli settlement goods. Joining the UCC in showing support to end Palestinian oppression are the Presbyterian Church, World Council of Churches United Methodist Church, the Church of England synod. Other churches are considering joining the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“In approving this resolution, the UCC has demonstrated its commitment to justice and equality,” said Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Christian Palestinian. “For Palestinians living under occupation or facing systematic discrimination as citizens of Israel, enduring the destruction of their homes and businesses, the theft of their land for settlements, and living under blockade and siege in Gaza, this action sends a strong signal that they are not alone, and that there are churches who still dare to speak truth to power and stand with the oppressed.”

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String theory is progress, but it is far from the theory of "everything". It is limited to force and matter in the external world. String theory implies that the particles that comprise all the matter that you see in the universe—and all the forces that allow matter to interact—are made of tiny vibrating strands of energy. These vibrating strings are the fundamental building blocks of nature.

The theory of everything does not include everything, it just finds a common unifying element --tiny vibrating strings-- in force and matter.

To meet our human need for knowledge we must find the common element of truly “everything”. By everything I mean all that we experience in life, what we experience within and without. This includes everything that we observe; all sensations, all perceptions, contemplations, feelings, acts of will, dreams and fantasy images, memories, concepts, ideas, all illusions and hallucinations. Inner and outer observation gives us a multiplicity of separate objects. We are not satisfied until we place each thing within a harmonious whole.

What is the common element in all the separate things we experience? What is the common element in literally everything? Everything has an ideal content, or pure concept that is the principle or rule that governs the object. This conceptual content becomes connected with all other conceptual content within a unified system of concepts within our mind.

“It is futile to seek for any other common element in the separate things of the world, than the ideal content which thinking supplies. All attempts to discover any other principle of unity in the world than this internally coherent ideal content, which we gain for ourselves by the conceptual analysis of our perceptions, are bound to fail.” POF 5.9

The mere appearance of a snail and a lion does not tell me why the lion is a higher developed creature than the snail. Thinking contributes the ideal content to the snail and lion from the world of concepts and ideas to make them intelligible and place them within the whole. All the separate objects that we observe gradually become unified into one whole by adding this ideal content. POF 5.10

All progress in knowledge depends upon incorporating all observed phenomena into the harmony of the conceptual world.

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note: Rudolf Steiner was a critic of his contemporary Theodor Herzl's goal of a Zionist state, as well as of any other ethnically determined state, as he considered ethnicity to be an outmoded basis for social life and civic identity.

Editorial
Jewish Daily Forward

Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprising and decisive victory in the Israeli elections has created a wrenching dilemma for many American Jews: how to continue to love Israel while a government that violates many of our community’s values is in place.

This may not be an issue for those who unequivocally support Netanyahu’s aggressive, nationalistic stance, and cheer the fact that he won by dismissing the two pillars of American Mideast policy: the creation of a two-state solution with the Palestinians and the pursuance of a nuclear deal with Iran. The Bibi chorus of our community is already gloating, excusing the candidate’s offensive words about Arab voters, quickly accepting his “clarifications” and falling back on the ancient pull of peoplehood to rally American Jews once again.

It may not work so well this time.

The denial of Palestinian statehood aspirations and the blatant resort to racist statements that Netanyahu expressed in the last days of his campaign won’t soon be forgotten or reconciled, no matter what he now says.

Thus, the dilemma. For years we have been told that we must put aside our liberal values – the values that have allowed us to prosper into the Diaspora’s largest, most proud and significant community – when it comes to Israel. Ignore the occupation. Ignore the domination of an ultra-Orthodox rabbinate.

The occupation and settlement growth can’t continue indefinitely without dramatic change or renewed violence. For one thing, Israel’s already fraught diplomatic and economic relations with Europe will certainly worsen.

It will be harder to contain the growing resentment on college campuses and the growing alienation of many younger Jews. And it will be much harder to support the unquestioning amount of U.S. financial, military and diplomatic aid that Israel receives every year when its government sometimes works against American interests and policies.

The question now for us is how to maintain a genuine connection to Israel and what we believe are its deeply grand and humanistic values while distancing ourselves from a leader who stands for the opposite.

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