Steiner also said that these spheres should be largely autonomous, with the implication that corporate money in government corrupts, but so does x,y, and z… Religious influence in the arts, in abortion rights, economic influence in science, arts and culture, in government, government influence in education, arts. Government influence in Science takes it into another category – expenditures which are in part a transfer from one generation to the next or to the future. Govt. subsidies of science and technology, as through the NSF, can be justified as transfers to the future.
In syncretistic fashion, I see free market, socialist and utopian models of ideal governance as all capturing essential aspects of a more inclusive and overarching governance ideal along material, bureaucratic and spiritual dimensions respectively, with best practice involving elements of each and a balance among them. The perfect capitalism of economic textbooks would bring optimal efficiency in resource use, capital accumulation and aggregate economic growth. Perfect state socialism maximizes a centralized bureaucracy’s extension and control throughout society. Utopianism, essentially but without precise definition, focuses on human wellbeing, especially its non-material dimension. Just as an individual strives toward an ideal of must balance among physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions in their individual lives, so too ideal governance would involve an ever changing balance among component material, bureaucratic and spiritual ideals. It is in this direction I believe society is headed, trusting we collectively take it there.
If a societal metamorphosis into and through adolescence is truly occurring, it would have significant implications for how and where we may find individual meaning in the context of society’s evolution in our times.
Governance reform will require a groundswell of citizen activism to dislodge the influences of money and authoritarians. Many are discouraged and apathetic because they view government reform as hopeless. To inspire the world’s citizenry they will need a positive vision of the future. Environmental responsibility will be a part of this vision, as reforms to address income inequality. And so will be an acceptance of the metamorphosis hypothesis, to which environmental and governmental responsibility are corrolaries.