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Notes
from the Sixth Meeting: Reconsidering the Universalist
Message of the Enlightenment - 4 April 1998
Section
1 | Section
2 | Section 3
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4
IV.
On Enlarging the Moral and Spiritual Dimensions of Contemporary
Political and Economic Thinking.
While many of the Western Enlightenment thinkers were
deeply spiritual, and/or highly moral persons, those
dimensions of their thinking have not been a significant
part of the legacy of the Enlightenment, notably as
it is expressed in the globally prevailing ideology
of western liberalism.
Noting
the seriousness of this observation and its implications
for contemporary social problems, Vaclav Havel has written:
...I am persuaded that this crisis and the increasingly
hypertrophic impersonal power itself is directly related
to the spiritual condition of modern civilization. This
condition is characterized by loss: the loss of metaphysical
certainties, of the experience of the transcendental,
of any super-personal moral authority, and of any kind
of higher horizon. It is strange but ultimately quite
logical that when man began considering himself the
source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure
of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension
and man began to lose control of it.
Obsessions
with the processes that advance increased production,
personal profit and consumerism as the only hallmarks
of development that has ensued since the industrial
revolution has largely obscured an essential link between
human life and the ethereal essence of the universe,
lending meaning to human life. It is the loss of a sense
of life's fuller meaning that constitutes a major obstacle
to sustainability. Though an atheist, Marx observed
that obsessive materialism would destabilize human existence.
Through an ironic interplay of ideas, he envisaged materialism
and anthropocentrism operating at cross purposes and
thereby limiting the horizons of human experience. All
our invention and progress are seen to result in endowing
material forces with intellectual life, and in stultifying
human life into a material force. In short, the ultimate
logic of such progress is that Pinocchio becomes the
master of Geppetto. It is problematic when people esteem
themselves capable of satisfying all their aspirations
to find a credible way for humanity to counter the increasingly
monopolistic material vision of life.
It
is a common view among contemporary critiques of modern
politics that there is much need for some kind of "dimension
of the human spirit" to public and private life
in the dominant culture to counter excessive concern
for material wealth and temporal power. This recognition
was explicitly stated in the Declaration issuing from
the UN Social Summit held in Copenhagen, March 1995.
The Declaration called on governments to respond effectively
to material and spiritual needs at all levels of society.
Governments also committed themselves to inter alia,
a Aspiritual@ vision for social development based on
human dignity, rights, equality, respect, and democracy.
The
concept spirituality has multiple meanings including
the following contained in the Random House Dictionary:
• of or pertaining to the spirit or soul as distinguished
from physical nature.
• of or pertaining to the supernatural.
• of or pertaining to the spirit as the seat of
the moral and religious nature
• of or pertaining to sacred things or matters;
religious, devotional, sacred
• of or belonging to the church, ecclesiastical
• of or relating to the conscious thoughts and
emotions.
All
of these definitions in one way or another find and
echo in contemporary discourse on enriching the concept
of social development and progress.
To
facilitate communication there is need to distinguish
the concepts of religious and spiritual, meaning of
and pertaining to the human spirit. For Christians and
especially perhaps for Catholics spiritual is closely
aligned with a search for moral values whereas religious
is often associated with faith in a supreme being. For
a scholar of Islam that distinction is very hard to
make unless reference is being made to a set of laws
or ritualistic practices. Islam means surrender to God
and a true Moslem is living in the spirit and the secular
at all times. Given the vast number of dictionary definitions
of spiritual it may be ventured that the words spirit
and spiritual have become umbrella concepts connoting
a multitude of aspects of the non-material, the intangible
substance of life. Religious is a more clearly defined
concept with strong institutional overtones.
The
spiritual dimension of things must come to mind through
muse, revelation, and intuition. It is the spirit that
generates a sense of beauty in the beholder, imparts
courage in a materially desperate situation, and feelings
of affection between individuals. The spirit is reflected
in serenity and nobility. Its opposite is the appreciating
of all forms of human activity and relations in terms
of material or economic efficiency. Spirit is something
that speaks in silence only to those who take the time
to listen. When focused on efficiency and expediency
there is no time to entertain things spiritual. In this
context these concepts refer only to the Good. Both
concepts on the other hand are subject to darker uses
in the every day world, as for example, a religious
cult preaching human sacrifice or evil spirits at work
in the mind. B.B.
The
reinsertion of "spirit" into the public political
discourse has largely been the work of the environmental
movement, and in particular, its more radical advocates.
The deep ecologists and the Gaiists have brought to
the public conscience images of a living and feeling
earth, which could only be fully grasped or experienced
through spirit as conscience thought and emotion or
by attributing to nature qualities of sacredness and
religiousness. Religious institutions and philosophers
have subsequently been tapped to lend support to this
vision and to find justification in their holy writings
for reverence for nature. Religious thinkers and writings
have many rich ideas and resources that can be used
to inspire a deeper reverence for life and a greater
sense of responsibility. They also can play a major
role in protecting the environment in non litigious
societies. Religious proscriptions and exhortations
can substitute for law.
Now,
the issue of the human spirit has broadened as increasing
numbers of thinkers perceive a form of moral entropy
gaining ground in market societies. Those seeking a
moral or spiritual dimension are united, it would seem,
in a quest to bring back a combined sense of goodness,
grace, wisdom and dignity into what would be a humane
society, interrelated in a sustainable way with nature.
But the debate on this subject is not without serious
pitfalls. There is always the danger of excessive fervor,
militancy, self-righteousness, and pride that accompanies
the conceit of believing that one holds the key to truth
and has a mission to save the world. Fundamentalism
is another problem that would warn many to avoid the
topic all together. The largest pitfall is the fear
that by introducing such a concept one will again introduce
the evils intendant in religious sectarianism; the evils
that prompted some "Liberal fathers" to advise
that church and state must be separated and led to the
virtual irrelevance of spirit in contemporary western
societies.
The
multifarious views on the human spirit discerned in
contemporary discourses can be classified into three
broad perspectives.
1.
The first is positivist and materialist and is lodged
in a scientific mindset. The earth and the universe
form a composite of organic and inorganic matter. Humankind
is the most advanced product, so far known, of a continuous
and progressive process of evolution starting perhaps
from the fortuitous stringing together of protein molecules
in a warm, primeval mud. The nature of the universe
and humankind will ultimately be discernable in matter
and explainable through natural science. The locus of
the spirit is somewhere in the ether of the brain. All
human knowledge is acquired through the physical senses
and honed by the human environment, interpreted or not
by abstract deduction and the exercise of logic. Materialist
Enlightenment philosophy and secular humanism are most
consistent with this perspective. Ethics and morality
may be transmitted socially through maternal type love
and social education processes and may be conditioned
by certain neurons in the brain. The spirit that exists
in the brain may be the source of humankind's neurologically
stimulated instinct for seeking the good and the ideal.
Building the human capacity to express this part of
human corporeality is the way to wholeness in the person
and in society. There is no dualism in this perspective.
2.
The antithesis of this perspective is the wholly transcendental
and incorporeal conception of life and the universe.
The apparent materiality of man and the physical universe
is but a temporal objectification of the human senses.
Life is, in and of itself, wholly spiritual, infinite,
and eternal. Being is in the bosom of the Infinite Mind
cum Consciousness and Intelligence. To find one's spiritual
dimension one must have recourse to one's Higher and
Real self, of which the ego is but a channel for the
reflection of Infinite Light. According to this perception,
the spiritual dimension on the human plane is the reflection
of the Infinite consciousness. Each human has recourse
to its Real being through prayer, meditation, intuition,
inspiration, and revelation and remains instinctively
intuned with Life as he/she lives unselfishly expressing
humility and dignity and seeks the beautiful and the
good in their human life experience. Ethics and morality
are inherent in this mindset. Certain expressions of
Stoicism, Gnosticism, non-western religions, and natural
religion are consistent with this outlook.
3.
The third perspective divides humankind between the
poles of materiality and metaphysical transcendence
and explains the abyss as the ultimate mystery of human
life. Both are real. The life experience swings back
and forth between the two poles. Through faith, fear,
and/or love, the human seeks understanding and through
ritual attempts to approach the superior Consciousness
which should guide and protect the conscience of the
mortal creature. Each creature has a soul which may
or may not be embodied in the body. It is the soul that
longs to find its ties to nature and the cosmos and
instinctively cares for the other. It expresses itself
in human relationships. This is the most common understanding
among those concerned with the spiritual dimension of
life. Spiritual humanism and most mainstream religions
share this perspective.
These
three perspectives share common ends that transcend
the mental rigor of skepticism and scientific certitude
and reach to the heart. Despite their differences proponents
of each view share enough common ground to build ethical
and moral systems aimed at sustaining the human society
in balance with the natural environment. They are all
holistic in their appreciation of the world and other
forms of life. B.B. [Thoughts on Enriching the Enlightenment]
The
following sections offer specific ideas for enriching
the contemporary discourse on progress and development
from more spirit oriented Enlightenment traditions.
Reflections on Benedictine spirituality and modernity
In
Boethius' consolation of philosophy, having discussed
with him for a while the situation he was in, Lady philosophy
clearly says to him, "You know where you have come
from, but you do not know where you are going."
This is one issue for today. It is a question that demonstrates
discussion of destiny and aspirations and where the
world is headed. It was in the enlightened period that
humankind decided to take charge of its destiny in a
way that it had never done before — to define it
and to set out on its path on its own in a certain sense,
without regard for previous things which might have
been considered as superstition, dangerous, or simply
wrong. This separation of where humanity had come from
and where humanity was going may be part of today's
problem. J.F
If Saint Benedict were to be asked for his view on today's
obsession with material comforts, he would speak about
stewardship. Human beings are stewards of this world
with the responsibility to protect the whole spectrum
of nature. No creation of God belongs to any generation.
What human beings consume today is what they have inherited
from those who have passed before them. The notion of
stewardship incorporates a strict sense of caring for
what exists and passing it along in a condition better
than it was received.
The
notion of stewardship means, in fact, that there is
liable not to be a blade of grass unless humans take
responsibility for protecting the earth. In counter
distinction to the Benedictine notion of stewardship,
again, is the concept of deep ecology and a variety
of indigenous perspectives which must be seen in another
setting. These perspectives argue more for the integrity
of creation in itself. That is not simply a matter of
the human shepherding creation in the Benedictine sense,
but it is a matter of realizing the mutuality of creation.
Considering
technological progress, Benedict would point to the
artisans of the monastery. One of the characteristic
features of the Benedictine monastery is its architecture
and the use of arches. The arch represents technological
advance — an advance that is an opening up, a lifting
of the mind and a bidding that all eyes be caste upward.
If a criticism were to be given of modern technological
progress it is that its thrust is not related to the
notion of beauty. According to Benedictine spirituality,
progress in the use of tools and skills is meant to
uplift the mind, not simply to make things easier or
more comfortable. Though the later is not wrong, it
should not be the goal in itself.
With
St. Benedict, the artisan's work was part of what he
did within the context of an entire life, which was
in Benedict's scheme, a balance between work and prayer.
Thus, the notion of work for Benedict was an incorporated
notion; it was part of an entire life seen in regard
to the community, and not just the individual. What
the artisan did as work was to create something that
was fulfilling for himself and also for everyone else.
There
is strong concern for individuals in the rule of St.
Benedict. The enhancement of individual rights according
to Benedictine spirituality derives from the recognition
of the sacred in every person. It is the sacredness
which merits individual rights and it is in honoring
the sacred that these rights are to be exercised. The
rule, written in the sixth century, provides that all
people, but especially monks, are responsible to recognize
the presence of Christ in the poor, in the guest, in
the sick, and in the elderly.
While
in many of today's societies there is concern for a
number of groups of people, those who seem to fall most
by the wayside are the children. The idea of the child
was preeminent in the mind of St. Benedict. Passages
in his Rule were written specifically for the protection
of children. The rule provided that they be cared for
tenderly by appointed officials. According to Benedictine
spirituality each individual is a child of God.
In
Benedictine tradition, intellectual discourse is for
the discovery of ideas, but that is only half of the
work. There is need to distinguish between intellectual
conversations and moral conversations as Benedict and
Augustine agreed. While a person may know what is the
right thing to do, it does not mean the person will
do the correct thing, because the moral virtues that
are required to do so are more than simply knowing,
they involve courage, fortitude and discipline. These
may be stimulated by theater, art, and music, which
are potent media for projecting such ideas of values,
ethics, and spirituality. According to Shakespeare,
the play is the thing. The morality plays of the medieval
period gave expression to this use of the stage. But
if theater, art, and music are to continue to uplift
the human race, as Benedict intimated, their power and
influence must be recognized, because their impact can
also be very destructive. The present negative influence
of television on children's behaviors is clear, reflecting
untamed technological progress.
Eco Ethica inspired by Japanese philosophy
To
foster sensitivity towards the needs and circumstances
of other persons, the development in childhood of the
power of imagination is essential. In this connection,
creativity is also vital to enhance. Creativity is the
most important factor for the next generation, if technological
progress is to be guided in paths that avoid its demerits.
This creativity must be fueled with something from transcendental
consciousness and nature requiring imagination to be
perceived. N.H.
A
group of present day philosophers led by Professor Tomonobu
Imamichi is conducting an international search for a
new philosophy appropriate for modern times. Developed
by Imamichi in 1975, Eco Ethica is a contribution of
Japanese contemporary thought to the search for new
principles of morality to meet the conditions created
by modern technology. Eco means oikos in Greek (house),
its outside and inside. Translating this idea to eco
ethica, eco refers not only to the inter-sidereal cosmic
environment of existence, but also nano, the micro cosmic
space in immanent-corporeality, simply stated as the
space in the cell between the cell wall and the nucleus.
Modern technology has affected human surroundings, from
the global and even inter-planetary environment, to
the most minute micro biotic space.
Three
areas of focus in this philosophy are the phenomena
of time, shadows, and creative imagination. A major
preoccupation of technological advance is the reduction
of time needed to perform functions by streamlining
processes and increasing efficiency. However, as Pascal
earlier noted, man is a thinking animal and thinking
requires time. Time is the essence of cautiousness and
caution is critical for human survival. While machines
change and operate at increasing speeds, the human brain
remains as nature made it, and thus operates at the
same speed required to think thoroughly. When time is
reduced and lost with more efficient technological advancements
important thinking time is at risk of being lost. Without
adequate time devoted to thinking, human beings gradually
deteriorate into more primitive beings.
A
characteristic feature of the present technological
conjuncture is the uniformization of forms through the
process of mass production. For example, the camera,
the telephone, and tape player are all encased in what
would appear to be the same black box even though they
have different functions and in the past appeared in
different shapes. As things are losing their individual
forms for the sake of efficiency, the same may be said
of the human being. The rich diversity of individualities
is melted into uniform literary and arithmetical information
projected in films, on television shows, and for the
computer screen. Computerized human information data
is the shadow of the person and it would seem that the
human shadow is more important than the living being
in the information society. Society believes they can
understand and know persons without ever meeting any
of the human beings in question. This is the demonic
face of the contemporary information society, which
is encouraged by human genome projects and other research
that finds massive similarities in human DNA, as if
these were the only determinants of human personality.
At
the same time, the merits of shadow phenomena are found
in the domain of art. There are many positive expressions
in the computer arts on the conditions of humanity.
Such information on levels of literacy, net income per
capita and income distribution is necessary to improve
the economic situation of humankind.
Islam
and the rejection of secularism
Enlightenment should not be called Enlightenment if
it is only rational. Enlightenment of human beings does
not just come with their reasons being broadened or
their visions being expanded; Enlightenment has to be
moral, spiritual, rational and completely humanistic.
Only then would it deserve to be called Enlightenment.
N.V.
The
decoupling of church and state that accompanied the
European Enlightenment has generally not occurred in
the Islamic world. The Prophet Mohammed was a secular
ruler while being at the same time the Prophet of Islam.
As the ruler, he fought battles and established a state.
From the beginning, the Prophet of Islam insisted that
people not only live in this world, but live in the
best way in this world. He did not allow the sacred
to be apart from the world nor the people of the world
to say Awe cannot be rooted in the sacred because we
have to move on.@ Therefore, this dichotomy present
in the West between the secular and spiritual realms
technically does not exist in the Middle East.
A
positive thing that has come out of the anti-western
rhetoric and dialogue in the Middle East is that the
unquestioning acceptance of everything that has come
out of progressive societies is now being challenged.
Such questions are being entertained: Must progress
be in western terms? Does it have to be in particular
scientific terms? Does it have to be in accordance with
the economic gauge of western consumerism? What is the
measure of progress for the Muslim world?
The
major criticism of the European Enlightenment from the
Islamic perspective is the dichotomy or compartmentalization
of knowledge. In the Muslim world, all knowledge is
supposed to be regarded from a holistic perspective.
Islamic ideals are humanist ideals, built on the belief
that there is no dichotomy between the secular and the
sacred. For example, with the accumulation of wealth
comes the responsibility of using it for the poor, the
unfortunate, the orphans, and the widow. The people
pray five times a day, but those acts alone are insufficient
if the people do not participate in the community and
somehow carry out their social responsibilities. Thus,
responsibility to God is inseparable from responsibility
to other humans and the environment. Individual self
interest must be pursued with the best of whatever God
offers. Reason that makes the latest scientific discovery
must see that discovery also as one window of God's
greatness. Individual well-being may be pursued for
one's own good, but not without exercising self-control
for the larger good of the community. The most important
principles that guide society are social responsibility,
honesty, and generosity.
The
individual is seen to flourish only in the context of
a community. The community takes precedence over individual
self interest and if these are in conflict, resolution
must come about through a personal sense of responsibility.
Thus, referring to the work of the lens grinder mentioned
as an example of the progress which European Enlightenment
has brought, a Muslim would say that the lens grinder
must move beyond genetics and go to the soul which is
inherent in each human being. All truth is not revealed
through the lens of the microscope. While science can
inform humankind by what mechanisms they think, this
information does not explain everyday experience and
the practical knowledge gained in human society. Moreover,
the question remains whether the brain generates the
thought or the thought stimulates and builds the capacity
of the brain. If the soul and the genetic person are
not balanced, then even if the lens grinder tells us
that all beings share 100% of their DNA, individual
thoughts remain unpredictable.
So,
if there is something to come out in terms of a different
attitude, hopefully it won't be romanticized, hopefully
it will not just be romantic, but will be a new blend
of things that might come.
Towards a possible synthesis?
The
great civilizing force of China 200B.C. - 200A.D. ,
the Han synthesis, set in motion a continuing civilization,
the longest continuing on the globe. In a self-conscious
way the Han intellectuals went to study the text, the
tradition, and the culture that preceded them to select
from earlier Confucian texts, Taoist texts, Ying Yang
texts and others what type of political synthesis would
hold as well as keep this civilization going. And what
they came to was a synthesis that was deeply embedded
in concepts of cosmology — an orientation to a
universe of human, earth, and societal, and political
relations in multilayered sense rooted in a conception
of the universe from which stemmed all directionality
even the seasons of life and climate. All of these ideas
and phenomena were highly integrated and self-consciously
chosen. Today society may also be in a similar type
of selection process making a new synthesis and a new
reconstruction. M.E.T.
A
cosmological perspective in early Islam continuing to
this day is that all of us are Muslims and we're all
doing Islam. For a plant to grow upwards is its natural
inclination and that is Islam. J.F.
A major issue is the absorption of the concept of modernization
into the concept of homogenization (in terms of human
rights, global market and even road signs) and the challenge
thereto by the question of cultural diversity. Society
may appeal to a transcending vision of the globe as
a way of uniting intellectual thought, or spiritual
resources for the development of the common humanity.
It may go back to neolithic periods to imagine the possibilities
of a more unified human community in terms of cosmological,
linguistic and cultural orientations. The world of today,
however, is shaped by a form of homogenization rooted
in the Western industrialized states.
We
the peoples of the United Nations are all, by virtue
of modernization, children of the Western Enlightenment
- benefitting from it in all empirical spheres of education,
science, transportation, communication and health. However,
it would appear impossible for every society on the
planet to attain the life style epitomized as the American
Dream. Thus, there is tension between the dream and
the absence of the possibilities of attaining it. To
deal with this tension, it is necessary to explore cultural
institutions that will enable societies to develop a
different and fuller understanding of both the negative
implications of the dream, and a broader vision of Enlightenment,
progress, and purpose. T.W.
In
this effort, such Enlightenments must be considered:
• the Enlightenment of the Christian spread of
liberation,
• the Enlightenment of the Buddhist idea of self-knowledge
• the Enlightenment of the Islamic notion of the
glorification of God, and
• the enlightened understanding of one's relevance
to the world as exemplified by many indigenous peoples,
i.e. the Enlightenment of human knowledge.
The
question is how do you bring about reduction in the
power of the prevailing message of Western Enlightenment
and usher in these other forms of enlightening vision
whose impact would be to render less aggressive, less
dominating, and less exclusionary the practice of the
dominant culture.
The question is not necessarily one of forced homogenization
under the weight of the economic power of the West,
but can be seen as the result of accepting Enlightenment
ideas as part of the common heritage of humankind. No
country has a monopoly on ideas. Countries are free
to adopt or not ideas they consider to be in their own
best interest. If China adopts capitalism, it is not
because it is forced to, but because it is attractive,
and the idea is free for the taking.
V.
Institutions to Govern a Global Culture
Before one considers institutions it is necessary to
characterize the nature of the future global society.
Will it be a universal village or a global society?
The institutional implications of this distinction are
significant.
Globalism
versus universalism
For some the term universal has a positive and normative
content. Things that are simply found everywhere such
as Coca Cola or MacDonald=s restaurants do not belong
to this conception of universal even if these commercial
undertakings are found all around the globe. Placement
of things or businesses do not create a universal phenomenon
anymore than colonialism created a universal society.
Moreover, what is often claimed to be a global village
is in fact a common culture based on economics, technology
and perhaps, aspirations for the good life. As a real
village, it is but an illusion because there is at this
point no worldwide sense of community. Moreover this
"village" lacks the necessary other components
to render it a universal phenomenon according to a normative
definition. Perhaps this "village" is beginning,
however, to prepare the ground for universality. J.B.
The
concept of universal would refer to something globally
understood, aspired to or accepted as, for example,
general principles of law common to all countries. Universal
implies a notion of sharing, of knowing that there is
something in common or even of trying to have something
more in common. An example of a universal idea is the
golden rule stated positively or negatively: thou shall
not do to others what you do not want other to do to
you as is often stated by Professor Tu Weiming. It has
been a fundamental aspect of all kind of philosophies,
as is the concept of human rights, or of civil and political
rights.
Another
aspect of universal is the notion of working together
to take care of common problems. Obviously, what the
world has started to do with environment problems is
a wonderful example of responsibility and concern which
is shared by most governments. Universal implies sharing
ideas on what should be done in a variety of domains.
This notion of the universal as a community held together
by reciprocal obligations and duties is something that
has to be developed progressively with great care and
humility. It is based on the ideas that power is service,
that power is responsibility and that the more power
one has, the more responsibility one has or the more
wealth one has, referring back to Islam or to Christianity,
the more obligations to the 'other' one has.
What political institutions are appropriate in a universal
society?
Globalization
is the concept also commonly used to capture the image
of the "borderless world." If one looks at
the globe today, one does not see emerging a universal
culture based on norms and shared responsibilities but
a borderless world. This phenomenon is giving rise to
a world history of humankind as compared to comparative
histories of peoples of the world. Whether one likes
it or not, globalization is a fact of life, brought
about by technology, the economy and ideological preferences
for capitalism and democracy. As George Bush has said,
"now we are heading to a new world order, market
plus democracy, all around the globe." R.L.
A
condition for the evolution of a universal culture is
that a lot of thought be given to the notion of democracy,
and to political processes and institutions starting
with the very traditional state to the emerging type
of political process called the civil society. Considerable
intellectual effort has to be given to understanding
what will be the meaning of a democracy at the world
level.
The
formula market plus democracy means democracy in all
nation states around the globe. But everywhere nation
states, democratic or otherwise, are failing to fulfill
their functions. This is not a problem of political
leadership, weak or strong, but of circumstances created
by technological advances in all fields. Globalization
means permeated national borders. Today traditional
national frontiers protect but weakly all states despite
their enormous differences in stages of development,
in political priorities, and in cultural backgrounds.
No state can singularly control or contain information
flows, commercial flows, migrations, international crime,
or destruction of the environment.
The
nature of one of the present dilemmas for world governance
is the following. Democracies are established within
the confines of states. All governments are based on
the territorial notion of states and are elected by
citizens of their territorial confines. Elected officials
are accountable only to their constituents in the nation
state. But precisely in a 'borderless world' where national
frontiers are so permeated by overflowing problems,
for example, air and water pollution, global markets,
free movements of labor, and free electronic communications;
territorial governments are increasingly ineffective
and consequently less credible when they make campaign
promises. As a result, they enjoy less confidence.
This
dilemma is rendered more complicated and acute when
governments attempt to take joint or cooperative measures
to resolve their shared problems and the citizens of
each participating state have only minimal if any impact
on the outcomes which will ultimately affect their lives.
When, for example, ministers from different nation states
go around the world, meet somewhere and then agree on
a common approach to certain problems; they come home
from these international parliaments only to be accused
of accomplishing their work in a non-democratic fashion.
Ministers are told they should not make commitments
in international fora, but instead should only bind
their people to commitments in their own parliaments
because that is democracy. But, to repeat, the permeation
of borders creates transcendent problems that only can
be resolved in international fora. Thus, a global weakening
of political effectiveness is generated.
To
preserve democracy there is an absolute need for a great
diversity of institutions. Obviously, the United Nations
is an essential component of such a system of political
institutions. A grand diversity of other institutions
at the local level, at the national level, and at the
global level is also necessary; nevermind the complexity
such a number of different and even of overlapping institutions
such a system would imply. Such a system alone could
fill the need not only to preserve freedom and diversity,
but also to deal in the best way possible with the great
multiplicity of problems facing the world. This multiplicity
of institutions, however, can only function properly
if there is a minimum of shared values and norms among
those governing those institutions and those supposed
to benefit from them. J.B.
The
rise of the civil society is partly a reaction to globalization
and an expression of democracy at the global level.
Many people, especially in the West, believing that
governance in the world is deteriorating, seek institutions
outside the traditional political system to deal with
global problems. Non traditional institutions are formed
at local and global levels. One example is the non-governmental
organization, Green Peace. Institutional manifestations
of civil society are in both religious and cultural
movements. These groups often articulate their opinions
and communicate with each other in the same way businesses,
the markets, and other sectors of society do through
modern information and communication technology. These
manifestations of civil society express opinions about
values and work in many practical ways to bring their
voice to public attention. "Manifestations of the
civil society" serve to put pressure on governments
and businesses. They are increasingly effective. With
good intellectual leadership, they can make a difference
because they are concerned, they are acting jointly
through organizations and other institutional forms
generated by social movements with the intent to bring
about change in the interest of the common good.
A
major stumbling block
What makes the development of institutions and channels
very difficult is the assumption since the fall of the
Berlin Wall that the political disintegration of eastern
European countries represented the triumph of the free
market. There is nothing more wrong or disruptive to
the idea of a global village with moral values than
the view that the abandonment of Marxist-Leninist ideology
by various eastern European republics somehow was brought
about by free market forces. This explanation is too
simplistic and dangerous. It is attractive to Americans
and so much within its self- interest to perpetuate,
that it is going to take some time before this myth
is set aside. S.S.
One
can take the view that unless and until there is a retrenchment
or a collapse of free markets, unless the Dow Jones
Index comes down to something less then 3,000 or the
Asian crisis is in fact a real crisis and the Japanese
economy bottoms out, there will be no rectifying of
the moral basis for the global village. The allure of
material comforts, the fascination with the automobile,
the satisfaction and smugness in the knowledge that
markets work for material enrichment is simply too great.
Continue
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| "It
is strange but ultimately quite logical that when
man began considering himself the source of the
highest meaning in the world and the measure of
everything, the world began to lose its human dimension
and man began to lose control of it." |
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