Steiner started each of these lectures, given during the war years, with a verse for those who had died. He begins this volume with a consideration of the destinies of nations from a spiritual point of view. He goes on to consider the Christ-Impulse and the Michaelic Spirits that serve him. Also included are lectures on the three stages of imaginative knowledge, the rhythm of sleeping and waking, the relation between our physical and etheric bodies, and the prophetic nature of dreams. The last lecture takes up the question of the cosmic meaning of our sense impressions and of our thinking, feeling, and willing.
A nation is an evolving spiritual entity, subject, as a human being is, to the impact of energies. These energies influence the national consciousness, encouraging recognition of soul destiny and co-operation with that evolving process. The spiritual destiny of many nations and their predisposing soul and personality influences are discussed in this book.
Steiner started each of these lectures, given during the war years, with a verse for those who had died. He begins this volume with a consideration of the destinies of nations from a spiritual point of view. He goes on to consider the Christ-Impulse and the Michaelic Spirits that serve him. Also included are lectures on the three stages of imaginative knowledge, the rhythm of sleeping and waking, the relation between our physical and etheric bodies, and the prophetic nature of dreams. The last lecture takes up the question of the cosmic meaning of our sense impressions and of our thinking, feeling, and willing.
On the Destiny of Nations: Resolving Our Economic Crisis gives policy makers and other leaders the premises and solutions they can use to substantively address a worldwide, crucial situation. This global economic crisis is not a mere recession. It is a restructuring of the financial systems of the world. The crisis will have three phases, and likely last over the next decade as the size of the debt and the escalating demographic claims on current social systems further reveal the brokenness of governmental social systems. As God uses this crisis to press His church to take appropriate responsibility and re-centers us on Christ's passion for seeking first the Kingdom of God, Destiny of Nations becomes an invaluable tool. Excerpts from On the Destiny of Nations "We need to bring principles, not politics, to the process. Criticizing the political parties and their shortcomings puts us on the wrong foot. Principles are far more important than personalities or political parties. Take the high ground in any fight, if possible. There are already too many critics and not enough problem solvers." "Therefore, let it be clear to friends and foes alike, that when we are talking about discipling nations and teaching them to obey the teachings of Christ in a biblical manner, that process cannot be forced in the political context. It can only be modeled by our own communities and powerfully argued by reason of the common good of both society and the souls of men and women" "We have many officials on all levels of government who do not have an adequate grasp of economic principles to be in positions where they are making budget and expenditure decisions. Many of them also lack the expertise to understand the consequences of those decisions."
Discusses the failure of America's political elites to recognize how group identities drive politics both at home and abroad, and outlines recommendations for reversing the country's foreign policy failures and overcoming destructive political tribalism at home.
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence? Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories. Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including: - China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West? - Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority? - What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions? Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.
Can Europe survive after abandoning the national loyalties--and religious traditions--that provided meaning? And what will happen to the United States as it goes down a similar path? The eminent French political philosopher Pierre Manent addresses these questions in his brilliant meditation on Europe's experiment in maximizing individual and social rights. By seeking to escape from the "national form," he shows, the European Union has weakened the very institutions that made possible liberty and self-government in the first place. Worse still, the "spiritual vacuity" that characterizes today's secular Europe--and, increasingly, the United States--is ultimately untenable.
How can such a gentle people as we are be so murderous? a prominent Indonesian asks. That question--and the mysteries of the archipelago's vast contradictions--haunt Theodore Friend's remarkable work, a narrative of Indonesia during the last half century, from the postwar revolution against Dutch imperialism to the unrest of today. Part history, part meditation on a place and a past observed firsthand, Indonesian Destinies penetrates events that gave birth to the world's fourth largest nation and assesses the continuing dangers that threaten to tear it apart. Friend reveals Sukarno's character through wartime collaboration with Japan, and Suharto's through the mass murder of communists that brought him to power for thirty-two years. He guides our understanding of the tolerant forms of Islam prevailing among the largest Muslim population in the world, and shows growing tensions generated by international terrorism. Drawing on a deep knowledge of the country's cultures, its leaders, and its ordinary people, Friend gives a human face and a sense of immediacy to the self-inflicted failures and immeasurable tragedies that cast a shadow over Indonesia's past and future. A clear and compelling passion shines through this richly illustrated work. Rarely have narrative history and personal historical witness been so seamlessly joined.
New interpretations of historic episodes in international relations result from a fresh analysis of national security policies and the demands and constraints imposed upon their development by the international system.
