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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen is a society great?
From http://www.ianwelsh.net/the-keys-to-prosperity/
It is no accident that after the Great Depression and WWII, when the majority of people in the West understood, deep in their bones, that life is unfair and that group effort is what makes nations great that the great general prosperity occured. It occured because the GI generation and the Lost Generation insisted on it, voted for it, worked for it. It happened because they believed in general welfare, in looking after the least amongst them, and in the future, not the past.
Prosperity is ethical. The ancient Greeks had a saying which ran as follows: "a society is great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never rest."
Prosperity is ethical. The ancient Greeks had a saying which ran as follows: "a society is great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never rest."
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When is a society great? (Original Post)
PETRUS
Mar 2013
OP
when it craps on the p0or, the unemployed, and the elderly in the name of austerity? nt
msongs
Mar 2013
#2
limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)1. basically yep.
Greatness is in how we treat each other. Especially how we treat the weakest and least powerful.
msongs
(67,361 posts)2. when it craps on the p0or, the unemployed, and the elderly in the name of austerity? nt
upi402
(16,854 posts)3. Trees I've planted have beed chainsawed to the nub
We will never recover our Republic without a real media.
end of story
pampango
(24,692 posts)4. "a society is great when old men (and women) plant trees in whose shade they will never rest."
While that sentiment is age-related, I think it applies to all people who act in ways that don't benefit themselves (at least, directly) but benefit society at large. You don't see much of that sentiment in today's GOP which is all about benefiting 'me' at the expense of all those 'others'.
Nice OP, PETRUS. Thanks for finding and posting it. Bookmarked.
First, you have to produce enough. Goods and services. Everything from food and shelter, to music and philosophy.
Second, because prosperity means widespread affluence, you have to take what you produce and get it to everyone or as many people as possible.
Third, you have to be sure youre producing the right stuff food that makes people healthy, philosophy that doesnt turn people evil, housing that keeps people healthy and in good social contact with each other, and producing in a way which doesnt destroy the bases of prosperity, whether thats the soil, water and climate you need to grow food, or the ethics which make prosperity possible.
The principles behind this arent that difficult, really. Use the free market for what its good at (creating and distributing certain types of goods and services.) Discourage rent-seeking. Understand that how much money people get is largely unrelated to their contribution to society. Remove bottlenecks to growth. Dont destroy your sinks (like carbon in the atmosphere), dont overuse renewable resources, understand the obsolescence of non-renewable resources. Keep the rich poor, so they dont buy the political system, keep influentials independent as much as possible, keep the interests of the powerful aligned with the mass of society. Dont financialize.
Second, because prosperity means widespread affluence, you have to take what you produce and get it to everyone or as many people as possible.
Third, you have to be sure youre producing the right stuff food that makes people healthy, philosophy that doesnt turn people evil, housing that keeps people healthy and in good social contact with each other, and producing in a way which doesnt destroy the bases of prosperity, whether thats the soil, water and climate you need to grow food, or the ethics which make prosperity possible.
The principles behind this arent that difficult, really. Use the free market for what its good at (creating and distributing certain types of goods and services.) Discourage rent-seeking. Understand that how much money people get is largely unrelated to their contribution to society. Remove bottlenecks to growth. Dont destroy your sinks (like carbon in the atmosphere), dont overuse renewable resources, understand the obsolescence of non-renewable resources. Keep the rich poor, so they dont buy the political system, keep influentials independent as much as possible, keep the interests of the powerful aligned with the mass of society. Dont financialize.
Nice OP, PETRUS. Thanks for finding and posting it. Bookmarked.