how would you write an invitation to a global practice of peace

[Chris Kloth]

Funda Oral wrote:

>Should economics manage human needs or human needs manage economics ?
>


Please tolerate a bit of uncharacteristic literalism with me as I 
respond to the question.   While I suspect I know what you are really 
intending to ask and support the impulse to ask the question, I feel a 
need to clarify the terminology so that it places more of the 
responsibility on us instead of the ubiquitous "them" implicitly 
referred to in the way I read the question.


My understanding is that, at its most basic level, economics refers to 
the study and practices related to how human needs and wants are (or are 
not) met.  My understanding is that it emerged as a named focus 
discipline from philosophy.  In addition to financial/monetary resource 
allocation, it refers to how all goods and services are allocated and 
the terms of exchange...including purchase by controlled or uncontrolled 
price setting, mandatory or voluntary government spending, use of funds 
donated to institutions representing faith communities, advocacy groups 
or other philanthropic voluntarily or be obligation, bartering, gifting, 
etc.  On a deeper level it includes organizing our economic policies and 
practices around visions, values and principles.



In that context, each of us makes personal economic decisions daily that 
influence the larger world incrementally as individuals but 
significantly in the aggregate.  We choose to invest in financial 
markets, or have others manage our investment, (anyone have a retirement 
plan of some kind?), or not.  We can choose to direct our finances 
toward socially responsible businesses, or initiate or vote on 
shareholder issues in other companies to try to influence their 
behavior, etc.   If we have the resources to do so we can also choose 
the extent to which we will allocate our personal time, money or other 
resources to influencing what is going on in our world locally or 
globally.  These are economic decisions we have 100% control of. 


We also choose to (or not to) make our voices heard in ways that make a 
difference (different than simply making our voices heard) with respect 
to local, regional, national and international issues. We can become 
active in influencing public policy on many levels.  We can work hard to 
make sure the voices of those with whom we believe we disagree are 
authentically invited to participate in Open Space meetings we are a 
part of sponsoring or facilitating.   We can work on our own abilities 
to discover any values that we may share with people who advocate 
strategies that we oppose and learn from their perspectives before we 
demonize them.  If we work together we can increase the power of out 
individual voices....a choice that is ours to make.



So, for me the question is what vision, values and principles out to 
drive our individual and collective economic behavior...locally and 
globally?


Shalom


Chris Kloth


Think globally, act locally

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