2004 Proutist Universal 1 Proutist Economic Development Economy, Community & Ecosystem Dr. Michael...

2004 Proutist Universal 1

Proutist Economic Development

Economy, Community & Ecosystem

Dr. Michael Towsey

Dr. Michael Towsey Proutist Universal 2

The integration of economics with community and

ecosystem

economyeconomy

ecosystemecosystem communitycommunity


ecosystem

community

economy

The 'hierarchy' of economy, community and

ecosystem


Ecological balance

• Ecological order for the earth is something to be maintained both within and without.

• Balance must be maintained between the internal and external spheres.

• The internal sphere has to do with the mind, as a healthy (or unhealthy) mind affects the community in which it is placed.

• The external sphere is the animate and inanimate environment in which a person lives and in which they express their mind.


Ecological equipoise

• Movement towards ecological equipoise is one of synthesis.

• Peace in the inner world & harmony in the external world.

• In all aspects of human life this subtle balance must be maintained for ecological balance.

• For ecology of mind see:

http://www.oikos.org/psicen.htm

http://www.oikos.org/psicen.htm


A hierarchy of communities

• Global community – the Planet

• Continental, subcontinental community – South America

• Nation or State - Venezuela

• District - Miranda

• Local community - Guarenas


What is a community?

• Community – (Latin) to give among each other.

• Sergio Luio: A group of people who do favours for one another.

• Bernard Lietaer: A group of people who exchange gifts.

• P.R.Sarkar: Samaj (Sanskrit) or socio-economic unit - A group of people moving together.


Community in Modern Capitalism – Mental Imbalance

• British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher: “There is no such thing as society – there are only individual men and women.“

• Neoliberal Economist, Milton Friedman: The idea that business has a social responsibility is “fundamentally subversive“.

• Honorable Mr McKinnen, Australian Minister for Defence: “Anyone who does anything for anything other than profit is either a madman or a bankrupt.“


What creates a community?

• Environmental factors– climate, soil, topography, river catchment

– agriculture

• Social, cultural factors– common sentimental legacy (history), language, ethnic identity

• Economic factors– sufficient resources, administrative feasibility (small states not

efficient)

– existing level of development, capital accumulation

– common economic struggle


Prout’s samaj strategy

• Goal: To build economically healthy communities.

• Observation 1: ecology, community and economy must be in harmony.

• Observation 2: Poverty is caused by the bleeding of wealth from a community.

• Strategy: identify samajas or socio-economic units - natural communities that have the potential to become self-sufficient in their needs.


The samaj concept- socio-economic unit

• Samaj:- A natural community that has the potential to be economically self-sufficient. Sarkar also calls the samaj a socio-economic unit.

• Many existing nation states are effective socio-economic units, but some are not:– Venezuela, Australia, Germany can be effective socio-economic

units;– Some African nations have colonial boundaries that do not make

ethno-linguistic sense;– Sarkar identified 44 socio-economic units in India.

• Each socio-economic unit must plan for its self-sufficiency.


The block or local community

• Self-sufficiency comes from block level planning (bottum up).

• Each socio-economic unit is divided into blocks (local communities) based on environmental factors and population.– A block is the smallest unit of economic planning in Prout.– A block consists of approximately 100,000 people.

• In Australia, a block is equivalent to a shire – the lowest tier of government. Population: 75,000-250,000 people.


Venezuela and Australia

Venezuela• Venezuela is one socio-

economic unit

• Population: 25,000,000 (approx)

• Assuming 125,000 persons per block, Venezuela would contain 200 blocks

• Av 4410 sq km per block

Australia• Australia is one socio-economic

unit

• Population 20,000,000 (approx)

• Assuming 100,000 persons per block, Australia would contain 200 blocks

• Av 75,000 sq km per block


An economy is a living system

homeostasis waste

Skin, semi-permeable membrane

1. Structurally closed, energetically open

2. Internal stability despite fluctuating environment

food


An ecomomy is a living system

LIVING CELL• Internal homeostasis

• Semi-permeable membrane

• Regulated flow of inputs and outputs

ECONOMY• Manage economy to achieve

constant supply of essential goods and services at stable prices

• Economy has a border, ie foreign exchange rules and trade rules

• Regulated flow of imports and exports


A dynamic economy

• A developed economy should consist of 4 parts:

– people's economy;

– psycho-economy;

– commercial economy; &

– general economy.

• This quadri-dimension of the economy is a vast expansion on the contemporary conceptions of economic activity.


Expand our understanding

• Most economists today understand only a little of the principles of general economy and something of commercial economy, but both of these parts are still in an undeveloped stage.

• People's economy and psycho-economy are totally overlooked by modern economists, and as such do not find a place in the present mode of economic thinking.

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