Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The healthy social life is found
When in the mirror of each human being
The whole community finds its reflection
And when in the community
The virtue of each one is living.
Rudolf Steiner understood that human social, ethical, and moral development lagged far behind what had been achieved in knowledge, science, and technology; and that what human beings had achieved in these fields rested on what caused social and moral life to be untenable for so many, namely, the universal rule of egoism and self-interest.
In 1905, a historic year of political and economic crises, Rudolf Steiner formulated what he called the basic "social axiom" or "the cosmic law of work": The well-being of an entire group of individuals who work together is the greater, the less individuals claim the income resulting from their own accomplishments for themselves, that is, the more they contribute this income to their fellow workers and the more their own needs are met not through their own efforts but through the efforts of others.
Underlying this "fundamental social law" is the seminal realization that human social reality pivots on the question of work and compensation. Does one work for oneself, for one's salary? Or does one work for others, the community or larger society? For Rudolf Steiner, it was critical to understand that work should be a free deed. In other words, work and income should be completely separated.
In this profound work, Peter Selg traces how, at the end of the Great War, with Steiner's tireless efforts for the threefold movement, this fundamental social-spiritual insight moved into the center of his activities as an overriding practical and spiritual concern, rephrased as the "motto of social ethics," and deepened and filled with the full reality of Christ's teachings and life.
Anyone interested in a just, equitable, healthy, and spirit-based social future should read The Fundamental Social Law.
Synopsis
Rudolf Steiner understood that human social, ethical, and moral development lagged far behind what had been achieved in knowledge, science, and technology; and that what human beings had achieved in these fields rested on what caused social and moral life to be untenable for so many, namely, the universal rule of egoism and self-interest.
In 1905, a historic year of political and economic crises, Rudolf Steiner formulated what he called the basic "social axiom" or "the cosmic law of work": The well-being of an entire group of individuals who work together is the greater, the less individuals claim the income resulting from their own accomplishments for themselves, that is, the more they contribute this income to their fellow workers and the more their own needs are met not through their own efforts but through the efforts of others.
Underlying this "fundamental social law" is the seminal realization that human social reality pivots on the question of work and compensation. Does one work for oneself, for one's salary? Or does one work for others, the community or larger society? For Rudolf Steiner, it was critical to understand that work should be a free deed. In other words, work and income should be completely separated.
The healthy social life is found
When in the mirror of each human being
The whole community finds its reflection
And when in the community
The virtue of each one is living.
In this profound work, Peter Selg traces how, at the end of the Great War, with Steiner's tireless efforts for the threefold movement, this fundamental social-spiritual insight moved into the center of his activities as an overriding practical and spiritual concern, rephrased as the "motto of social ethics," and deepened and filled with the full reality of Christ's teachings and life.
Anyone interested in a just, equitable, healthy, and spirit-based social future should read The Fundamental Social Law.
Synopsis
The healthy social life is found When in the mirror of each human being The whole community finds its reflection And when in the community The virtue of each one is living. From the beginning of his public work, Rudolf Steiner saw his spiritual mission as civilizational. He understood that individual spiritual development means little unless, spreading through a community of practitioners, it leads to larger societal and cultural transformation. As always, his views were radical. He realized that a healthy social life would depend, above all, on the transformation of work from a commodity into a gift. As he said in 1905: Evolution is moving towards totally uncompensated work. No one rejects the idea and no one can change it. Whereas Greek workers performed their work in bondage to their master and modern workers are compelled to work for pay, in the future all work will be performed freely. Work and income will be completely separated. That is the healthy state of social conditions in the future. That same year, he formulated what he called "the fundamental social law" The wellbeing of an entire group of individuals who work together becomes greater the less individuals claim the income resulting from their own accomplishments for themselves-that is, the more they contribute this income to their fellow workers, and the more their own needs are met not through their own efforts but through the efforts of others. In this important book, Peter Selg shows us a different Rudolf Steiner. Here, the emphasis of his teaching is mostly on the need to cultivate selflessness and readiness to sacrifice. Selg first describes the context in which Steiner expressed these ideas, how much they meant to him, and how, when they fell on barren ground, he selflessly laid them aside while holding them in his heart in the hope of a more opportune moment. He goes on to show how this moment came after World War I, when Rudolf Steiner dedicated himself tirelessly to the Threefold Social Organism, lecturing extensively on economics and social policy. Finally, in a last, extraordinarily moving chapter, Selg shows the essential Christ- and Gospel-inspired nature of these ideas: As long as you feel pain That passes me by, The Christ works unrecognized... Weak is the spirit That can feel suffering Only in its own body. Anyone interested in a just, equitable, healthy, and spirit-based social future should read this important book