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"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of
evil to one who is striking at the root" - Henry David Thoreau Culture, Law and Economics This blog often addresses concerns about vaccine safety - but vaccine adverse effects also belong to a pattern of problems in technology today : namely, of products or practices that serve us in important ways ; but are then at some point found to have intolerable downsides effects that, perversely, we're unable to challenge or change. We tend to notice these problems only one at a time as they affect our lives. As many as we recognize, we fight vigorously ; but we may not notice the high number of them, or the pattern of factors keeping them in place. We fill the air with the leaves and branches of evil, so to speak - but do not discover its roots. Despite even heroic efforts, harm and tragedies of this kind multiply multiply, threatening our whole planet and species. It's now the case that, although our thinking is overwhelmingly scientific, some of the greatest dangers we face have been created by science ; and that once established, they may be almost impossible to un-establish. Our greatest strengths, so to speak, have become our greatest vulnerabilities. How does this happen ? Causes these many, serious problems have in common are not at first easy to discern. Our modern situation has evolved gradually, over a period of centuries. It includes not just our outer, material circumstances, but our concepts - how we understand ourselves and our world. Because they've also evolved gradually, our concepts are highly familiar to us - even to the extent that they become automatic : habits of thinking we take for permanent truths, and never challenge or question. Thus while the problems we face cause us pain, or even extreme harm, they don't necessarily change the way we think And the dangers we face are not limited to technology. Our great economic achievements, our worldwide, efficient mass systems of production and distribution are accompanied by deepening inequalities of wealth, and in various countries, the specter of economic collapse. Likewise the realm of rights and government, our means to improve freedoms and protections in our lives, is prone to infringements on civil and human rights, and a drift into catastrophic wars. What is perverse, seemingly in every sphere of human social life, is the contrast of the immense ability and goodwill of human beings everywhere - and our almost magnetic trajectory towards instability and destruction. On the one hand the goodness and potential of humanity ; on the other fear, doubt and hatred, deepening into an abyss What are the reasons for this - and equally important, what is the way out ? In the aftermath of World War I an idea emerged, that shed crucial light on these questions. This perspective identified three core realms of human social life as 1) Cultural and spiritual life, including education, science, medicine, religion, the arts and other activities arising from the gifts and abilities of individual human beings 2) The realm of laws, rights and government, serving the need of all human beings to be free from injury, harm, coercion or fraud 3) Economic life, encompassing production and distribution of goods to meet the physical needs of life common to all human beings Each of these areas, though different, is essential to human life, and provides something beneficial and necessary. Problems arise, from this perspective, when any of these realms encroaches on another, disrupting or intruding into its natural sphere of activities Although vigorously presented and discussed in Germany after the war, the will could not be found for more. And amid conditions and events that soon led to a still more devastating war, it could not yet take root practically. It was not lost, however, and remains as a seed, waiting to grow into a greater, more fruitful social movement. This perspective is known as the threefold social idea Renewal - Or the Abyss ? The threefold social idea is not an ideology, but an observation of real phenomena ; of factors that lead to health in human social life - or to progressive social destruction. It also not a program or prescription for society, or a rigid party platform. Whoever understands it does not force it on others, but rather thinks and feels differently in social situations, and makes choices contributing naturally to social health, increasingly in his or her affairs. For our present ominous situation to grow into "the threefold social order", what's needed is that as many people as possible understand the needs of culture, law and economic life, and the necessary boundaries between them. The linked article below gives an overview with examples, and a view of where this idea might lead, in a positive sense. More resources on this theme are listed as well ! http://livingwaterswellnessresources.weebly.com/culture-law-and-economics.html
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AuthorJeff Smith RN, born 1950. A registered nurse since 1984 - but holistic in my outlook to health since probably around 1968. Living Waters Wellness considers not just the health of the physical body, but our soul and spirit, our social forms, our environment - and as a matter of fact, our whole earth. It's a new website, and a work in progress - but by all means, have a look around ! Archives
March 2021
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