Atlanta Unitarian

Found this in my draft posts from 2006, so I am posting it now: Recently I came across an excellent reprint of an essay by the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in the Atlantic Monthly regarding the dangers of the free market economic system (or rather the dangers of idolizing that system). Galbraith observes the danger in mistaking the tool of the economy and economic growth as a moral end in its own right. This is a mistaken moral view that has gained wide currency in our contemporary society, particularly among business-minded Republicans. To those who subscribe to this view, the purpose of education is to promote economic growth - education has no inherent humanistic value apart from its affect on productivity. In fact, from this point of view, all values that interfere with economic growth are seen as unnecessary frills. Liberals must correct this error, and understand the basis of our support for the free market. The free market system has historically proven to be the...

We can only pursue sustainability if we feel connected to something larger than ourselves .   Contemporary values are completely disordered - they treat the Earth as something disposable, and the individual as the ultimate end, whose desires are to be fulfilled regardless of the cost.  In reality we are mortal beings small parts of a much larger system of life.  Our lives are only meaningful when they are in order with the larger system.  The Earth is the source of all life, and we owe all of our whole lives, every bit of joy and suffering we can squeeze out of our finite span, to the benevolence and generosity of creation.  Our ultimate goal in life must be oriented towards the preservation of all the diversity of life on Earth.  This is a spiritual but also a practical and moral task to which we all owe our allegiance. How is it possible for the individual to be saved?  Only by being connection to something larger than himself.  If the ...