CONSCIOUS SOCIETY
by Rudolf Steiner
2020-12-30 09:13:21
Delivered in the context of post-war cultural and social chaos, these lectures form part of Rudolf Steinerâs energetic efforts to cultivate social understanding and renew culture through his innovative ideas based on âthreefoldingâ. St...
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Delivered in the context of post-war cultural and social chaos, these lectures form part of Rudolf Steinerâs energetic efforts to cultivate social understanding and renew culture through his innovative ideas based on âthreefoldingâ. Steiner develops a subtle and discerning perception of how social dynamics could change and heal if they were founded on real insight into our threefold nature as individuals, social beings and economic participants in the world. He doesnât offer a programmatic agenda for change, but a real foundation from which change can organically grow.Social forms and reforms, says Steiner, are âcreated togetherâ, not imposed by lone geniuses. Nevertheless, the detail of some of the thoughts and ideas he presents here as a possible model â down to the economic specifics of commodity, labour, taxation, ground rent and capitalism itself â are staggering in their clarity and originality. This is no mystic effusion but a heartfelt plea, backed by profound insights, to change our thinking and the world we live in. As he points out, thoughts create reality, and so it is vital how and what we think.Among the many contemporary and highly-relevant topics Steiner discusses here are: the nature of money and capital; taxation and the state; free enterprise and initiative; capitalism and Marxism; the relationship between employer and employee; âadded valueâ theory and the concept of commodity; and âclass consciousnessâ, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
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