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Undergraduates at Manchester University are seeking to tear up the free-market syllabus and proposing an overhaul of orthodox teachings to embrace alternative theories.
The Post-Crash Economics Society at Manchester University
Photo: theguardian.com
What wonderfully good news! Once again, another group of brave students of economics at a university have risen against the “dismal science” and the madness of the neo-clasical economics, its ways and its teachings.
I am delighted to hear that the Manchester students have seen the light, like their fellow students at other universities, such as the class of 2000 at the Sorbonne.
Before coming to the story of the Manchester students, let me recall what I wrote about the Sorbonne students a while back: “In Praise of the Economic Students at the Sorbonne: The Class of 2000”. This is how I began the piece:
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Not long ago, a dear friend of mine and the GCGI, Dr. Nina Meyerhof, Founder and President of Children of the Earth, presented me with a copy of a book she had co-authored with Dr. Diane de Terra: “Pioneering Spiritual Activism”.
I have now read the book with great interest, full of wisdom, inspiration, ideas and paths to build a better world, for the young and the old alike. I very much wish to recommend this book.
However, first, I wish to share the following statement that I have recently spoken and written about with you:
“And now, surely, the pertinent question should be: How we- the people- might rise to the global challenges of inhumanity, injustice, exploitation, environmental vandalism and degradation, hunger, poverty and the “utopia” of neo-liberal capitalism that has enslaved the 99%, whist showering “Pennies from Heaven” for the 1%.
The answer in my mind lies in Our Spiritual Awakening. We must answer the “Call to recover our Moral and Spiritual Imagination.” We must discover “The Value of Spiritual Wisdom in our Everyday Life.” We should aim for “Spiritual Education for the Common Good: Education for a Just and Sustainable World.” We should pioneer “Spiritual Activism”, and foster spirituality through “Conscious Leadership”.
In short, applying our common spiritual values as sources for renewal is, in large part, how I see we should respond to the economic, social, and ecological mandate now placed before us by the converging crises of our time. This is our moral assignment. As a matter of personal and societal responsibility, we can enter fully into reshaping economic policy and economic behaviour on behalf of the common good.”
Given my observation above, this is why I am so happy to recommend the “Pioneering Spiritual Activism” to you.- Details
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Utopia is a vast region in northern Australia and home to the oldest human presence on earth.
"This film is a journey into that secret country," says Pilger in Utopia. "It will describe not only the uniqueness of the first Australians, but their trail of tears and betrayal and resistance - from one utopia to another".
Pilger begins his journey in Sydney, where he grew up, and in Canberra, the nation's capital, where the national parliament rises in an affluent suburb called Barton, recently awarded the title of Australia's most advantaged community.
Barton is named after Edmund Barton, the first prime minister of Australia, who in 1901 introduced the White Australia Policy. "The doctrine of the equality of man," said Barton, "was never intended to apply to those who weren't British and white-skinned." He made no mention of the original inhabitants who were deemed barely human, unworthy of recognition in the first suburban utopia.
One of the world's best kept secrets is revealed against a background of the greatest boom in mineral wealth. Has the 'lucky country' inherited South African apartheid? And how could this happen in the 21st century? What role has the media played? Utopia is both a personal journey and universal story of power and resistance and how modern societies can be divided between those who conform and a dystopian world of those who do not conform.”
Watch the trailer for Emmy and Bafta winning Utopia:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/oct/22/john-pilger-utopia-watch-trailer-video
And now, surely, the pertinent question should be: How we- the people- might rise to the global challenges of inhumanity, injustice, exploitation, environmental vandalism and degradation, hunger, poverty and the “utopia” of neo-liberal capitalism that has enslaved the 99%, whist showering “Pennies from Heaven” for the 1%?
The answer in my mind lies in Our Spiritual Awakening. We must answer the “Call to recover our Moral and Spiritual Imagination.” We must discover “The Value of Spiritual Wisdom in our Everyday Life.” We should aim for “Spiritual Education for the Common Good: Education for a Just and Sustainable World.”
Please join us at our GCGI Oxford Waterperry House Conference in late August 2014, so that together we can try to discuss, address and suggest possible paths to build a better and fairer world for the common good.
Conference details:
http://www.gcgi.info/news/476-gcgi-2014-oxford-conference-call-for-presentation-and-participation
- GCGI 2014 Oxford Conference: Call for Presentation and Participation
- 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics: An Opportunity Missed
- “Education to Globalize the Human Mind”
- David Cameron: 'Profit Is Not A Dirty Word'- Is he right?
- A Path to a Spiritual Education for the Common Good: Education for a Just and Sustainable World