Are We Free?
In Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy, Anthroposophy, true human freedom is one of the tenets. In his major work, A Philosophy of Freedom, (renamed– Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path) describes how freedom involves the understanding of the basic foundation of our actions. We all have so many influences throughout our life time that direct our thinking and actions without even realizing it. If we finally realize this situation it is still hard to overcome the power that these influences have over us. This is the power of the paradigm which not only directs our personal behavior but also the behavior of groups of people including even the whole global population.
As young adults entering the economic world we are encouraged to take on debt. Fresh out of high school there is a cultural push to extend our education to insure a successful future and to pay for this schooling with student loans. After college we take on a car payment, a mortgage for our house and credit card debt. Each step along the way helps to establishes credit which is deemed essential in our debt society. The credit paradigm doesn’t end with just personal debt but it also extends into the group where citizens vote in leaders that borrow money for resources used in municipalities, states and countries and this has become a global paradigm.
Money itself gives us access to resources whether the money is borrowed or saved. For example, it really doesn’t matter if I take money I have saved or take out a loan, if I walk into a store with that money I expect to be able to purchase items from the shelf. Not considering inflation the more money spent the more resources will be used. The borrower promises to work, or through rising asset values to pay back not only the loan but also the interest incurred at a future time. The amount of global debt has reached record highs and is estimated in the trillions and the rate of increase is accelerating but this credit does not include underfunded liabilities which are promises to pay out funds in the future and include programs such as Social Security and pensions. All of these funds are intended to purchase resources to meet the needs of people at a future time. This economic paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as we see the younger generation failing to participate while debt resulting in resource use has tried to keep up to the high demands of our complex societies. Many people and even countries have lost their freedom and are caught up in a debt cycle they can’t escape.
It was the rural electrification project of the mid 1930’s that captured the excitement of our nation. By connecting houses and farms with electrical lines everyone could have the modern conveniences that were being produced such as washing machines, sewing machines, water pumps, farm equipment and electric lights. Slowly over time the electrical grid grew and people became more and more dependent on one electrical invention after another as the years went by. At first the electrical inventions freed up the time spent in doing daily chores and evolved to the point where trade, directions, entertainment, water supply, and food production all depend on the power grid, once again decreasing human freedom. This electrical grid paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as we witness extreme weather events taking down power lines, a rising possibility of terrorist and hackers attacking the grid, and the aging electrical infrastructure's ability to meet the increasing demand.
I was very young but I still remember when my relatives grew and stored their food supply. Living with them during my summer months, I ate eggs that my uncle's chickens supplied and ate homemade bread and vegetables from their garden. I was about 6 years old when a change came and thinking back, it was swift and relentless. My biggest memory was the introduction of ‘Wonder Bread’. The small rural town had a ‘Wonder Bread’ pet parade and I was so excited to participate with our dog Ginger. After the parade I no longer wanted homemade bread and had to have ‘Wonder Bread’ instead of homemade and my relatives were sold because it was easier and it built my body in 7 ways. It became easier to shop at the store for vegetables and the huge garden became lawn. All across America homegrown food was abandoned and was replaced by the industrialized farm which grew food more efficiently making food easier and cheaper to buy at the store. In depending on this aggregated food supply we have lost our personal freedom. This food producing paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as supply lines depend on the rising debt load, uncertain electrical supply, diminishing soil health, depleting water supplies, and the rising number of extreme weather events.
When I went to college in the 1970’s I experienced a liberal arts education that opened the doors to many experiences and directions. Many of us at this time had no idea what we wanted to do in life, while others had an idea but we were given the space and time to change their minds. The buildings that were at our college at the time were older and simple. A few years ago I went back and visited the new science building and was gazing up at photographs of all the professors and teachers that had taught there years ago and a receptionist walked up and asked if she could help me. I told her that I had gone to the college years ago and then pointed to the teacher who influenced me the most. I described how he only had time for the students that had an interest in not only his topic but life itself and sometimes ignored those that did not. She was astonished and said he would not make it at the college as a teacher today as she explained that colleges are in competition for students to gain the tuition to keep the school running. I left the building and as I walked around I noticed many of the old simple buildings had been removed and replaced by larger more complex buildings and I realized the school had to compete to be able to pay for the ever increasing infrastructure. It feels to me that a teacher’s freedom to teach out of core beliefs has been taken away and a student’s freedom to get a well-rounded education is removed in lieu of specializing to make sure a job is waiting after graduation. Even at the high school level we are pressured into the competition to enter a prestigious college. The educational paradigm is entrenched and is faltering as operating costs are rising dramatically straining budgets, as students increasing need for borrowing large sums of money to attend, and then in a realization that after graduation wages do not cover living expenses which include repaying those loans, and there is always the advice to further ones education as a means of increasing wages which includes more debt.
In each case the paradigm follows the Law of Diminishing Returns where at first the results were positive and when advancements were made there were many added benefits and few deficits. In the case of the debt paradigm the added money allowed opportunities for a solid foundation for a bright future, the food paradigm allowed more time for leisure and we could explore a variety of different foods, the electrical grid paradigm increased our comfort level and the ability to accomplish more in life, and the educational paradigm opened us up to new and diversified ideas while preparing us for employment. Of course, there are many other paradigm categories we could explore such as technology and they all demonstrate the same tendency of following the Law of Diminishing Returns. At first, when the paradigm is new and developing the benefits are quite evident and as the time clock ticks the deficits begins to grow until it smothers the benefits, however, the participants in the latter stages are dependent on the existing habits and can see no alternatives but to try to fix what already exists and is failing. It is at this point that the existing complex paradigm must transition into a much simpler reliable paradigm.
As young adults entering the economic world we are encouraged to take on debt. Fresh out of high school there is a cultural push to extend our education to insure a successful future and to pay for this schooling with student loans. After college we take on a car payment, a mortgage for our house and credit card debt. Each step along the way helps to establishes credit which is deemed essential in our debt society. The credit paradigm doesn’t end with just personal debt but it also extends into the group where citizens vote in leaders that borrow money for resources used in municipalities, states and countries and this has become a global paradigm.
Money itself gives us access to resources whether the money is borrowed or saved. For example, it really doesn’t matter if I take money I have saved or take out a loan, if I walk into a store with that money I expect to be able to purchase items from the shelf. Not considering inflation the more money spent the more resources will be used. The borrower promises to work, or through rising asset values to pay back not only the loan but also the interest incurred at a future time. The amount of global debt has reached record highs and is estimated in the trillions and the rate of increase is accelerating but this credit does not include underfunded liabilities which are promises to pay out funds in the future and include programs such as Social Security and pensions. All of these funds are intended to purchase resources to meet the needs of people at a future time. This economic paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as we see the younger generation failing to participate while debt resulting in resource use has tried to keep up to the high demands of our complex societies. Many people and even countries have lost their freedom and are caught up in a debt cycle they can’t escape.
It was the rural electrification project of the mid 1930’s that captured the excitement of our nation. By connecting houses and farms with electrical lines everyone could have the modern conveniences that were being produced such as washing machines, sewing machines, water pumps, farm equipment and electric lights. Slowly over time the electrical grid grew and people became more and more dependent on one electrical invention after another as the years went by. At first the electrical inventions freed up the time spent in doing daily chores and evolved to the point where trade, directions, entertainment, water supply, and food production all depend on the power grid, once again decreasing human freedom. This electrical grid paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as we witness extreme weather events taking down power lines, a rising possibility of terrorist and hackers attacking the grid, and the aging electrical infrastructure's ability to meet the increasing demand.
I was very young but I still remember when my relatives grew and stored their food supply. Living with them during my summer months, I ate eggs that my uncle's chickens supplied and ate homemade bread and vegetables from their garden. I was about 6 years old when a change came and thinking back, it was swift and relentless. My biggest memory was the introduction of ‘Wonder Bread’. The small rural town had a ‘Wonder Bread’ pet parade and I was so excited to participate with our dog Ginger. After the parade I no longer wanted homemade bread and had to have ‘Wonder Bread’ instead of homemade and my relatives were sold because it was easier and it built my body in 7 ways. It became easier to shop at the store for vegetables and the huge garden became lawn. All across America homegrown food was abandoned and was replaced by the industrialized farm which grew food more efficiently making food easier and cheaper to buy at the store. In depending on this aggregated food supply we have lost our personal freedom. This food producing paradigm is entrenched and is now faltering as supply lines depend on the rising debt load, uncertain electrical supply, diminishing soil health, depleting water supplies, and the rising number of extreme weather events.
When I went to college in the 1970’s I experienced a liberal arts education that opened the doors to many experiences and directions. Many of us at this time had no idea what we wanted to do in life, while others had an idea but we were given the space and time to change their minds. The buildings that were at our college at the time were older and simple. A few years ago I went back and visited the new science building and was gazing up at photographs of all the professors and teachers that had taught there years ago and a receptionist walked up and asked if she could help me. I told her that I had gone to the college years ago and then pointed to the teacher who influenced me the most. I described how he only had time for the students that had an interest in not only his topic but life itself and sometimes ignored those that did not. She was astonished and said he would not make it at the college as a teacher today as she explained that colleges are in competition for students to gain the tuition to keep the school running. I left the building and as I walked around I noticed many of the old simple buildings had been removed and replaced by larger more complex buildings and I realized the school had to compete to be able to pay for the ever increasing infrastructure. It feels to me that a teacher’s freedom to teach out of core beliefs has been taken away and a student’s freedom to get a well-rounded education is removed in lieu of specializing to make sure a job is waiting after graduation. Even at the high school level we are pressured into the competition to enter a prestigious college. The educational paradigm is entrenched and is faltering as operating costs are rising dramatically straining budgets, as students increasing need for borrowing large sums of money to attend, and then in a realization that after graduation wages do not cover living expenses which include repaying those loans, and there is always the advice to further ones education as a means of increasing wages which includes more debt.
In each case the paradigm follows the Law of Diminishing Returns where at first the results were positive and when advancements were made there were many added benefits and few deficits. In the case of the debt paradigm the added money allowed opportunities for a solid foundation for a bright future, the food paradigm allowed more time for leisure and we could explore a variety of different foods, the electrical grid paradigm increased our comfort level and the ability to accomplish more in life, and the educational paradigm opened us up to new and diversified ideas while preparing us for employment. Of course, there are many other paradigm categories we could explore such as technology and they all demonstrate the same tendency of following the Law of Diminishing Returns. At first, when the paradigm is new and developing the benefits are quite evident and as the time clock ticks the deficits begins to grow until it smothers the benefits, however, the participants in the latter stages are dependent on the existing habits and can see no alternatives but to try to fix what already exists and is failing. It is at this point that the existing complex paradigm must transition into a much simpler reliable paradigm.
This diagram illustrates the birth and death of a paradigm. Awareness of how paradigms evolve due to changing conditions we can plan earlier for transition. At point A we start to transition to E and minimize the deficits of C and D changing the shape of the curve.
There have always been limited resources but only recently has the reality begun to set in. To develop new paradigms to address this new reality basic environmental concepts have to be considered. The basic principles seem to overlap and blend into each other almost resembling a flowing river. In understanding the paradigm itself we can become aware of its influences and utilize its strengths and avoid the weaknesses by planning a transition before the established way of thinking becomes hopelessly entrenched and diminishes in benefits. Exponential growth is simple to understand in mathematical terms and again with awareness we can recognize the detrimental tendencies of unlimited growth. Throughput, the efficiency of the flow of resources through the system, has to be recognized and understood by all. Jevons Paradox demonstrates the effect that increasing efficiency can lead to a rise in demand and depletes limited resource reserves. These principles would help us determine if we are using the Earth’s resources to meet the needs of future generations instead of just meeting our short term desires and also used in healing the natural world that all living things depend on. An added component is probably the most important and is education, one that is based on environmental concepts. Out of fundamental environmental concepts, solutions solving our energy needs, food needs, environmental needs and even future educational needs can be found. Our actions would stem from another new paradigm, one that has its foundation on basic environmental principles and one that results in a path that leads towards true human freedom