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Chapter 7 - Philanthropy or Truth.
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"This means that people must be protected and well cared for by a highly developed civilization so that they won't die away at the age of fifty," said Fred. "Society must protect its investment in itself. In order for people to contribute to the common development of society, they will need to remain productive till the age of seventy, with a life expectancy of a hundred years or more. This means that health care, and health development, must receive the kind of attention it disserves, and must not be seen as a drain on resources, but as an important element of the economic structure. This necessary shift in focus towards universal development, that supports the entire scientific and technological pyramid, including especially the human dimension, will create the needed turn around," suggested Fred. "Without this type of new cultural platform, nothing can be done, but when you begin to focus on this platform the cultural optimism that unfolds with it will become a self-feeding impetuous that elevates everything. This will take us beyond mere optimism."
Everyone agreed with that. Here, Tony suggested that something else must happen. He suggested that in order for society to achieve its economic goals, the pay scale must be raised right across the board.
"It must become possible again for a family of four to six people to be supported with a single salary, and this on a shorter work day. This goal can only be achieved with the proper utilization of machines and automated processes. We create them so that the work gets done more efficiently, in order that people have more time for the necessary human development," said Tony.
Fred agreed. "The required scale of human development isn't achievable when every family member must work twelve hours a day just to make ends meet," said Fred, "This means that human development must be considered as one of the chief cornerstones, if not the primary cornerstone, of the principle of economics."
Anton pointed out that Tony's requirement for a shorter work day brings out still another element of the principle of economics. Humanity requires efficient transportation, especially personal transportation. It must be considered unacceptable to society that its workers spend three hours each day commuting to work and back, which is often the case.
"These transportation delays add up to a tremendous waste of the human potential," Anton concluded.
Anton came to light during these days like a sleeping giant waking up. It seemed that she just started to realize her potential as a caring, intelligent, scientific, sentient, spiritual, human being.
Anton's remark gave Sylvia an idea that she wanted to explore.
"What is truly of value to a society, then?" Sylvia asked. She pointed out that Anton had made the statement that society should not waste its human potential.
"It simply means that we have to be sensitive and selective about what we choose to be of value," I interjected. "We have to create a whole new value system, one that accords with the principle of economics, and the spiritual principles that are imbedded in our humanity without which there is no economy and no civilization, such as the principle of universal love."
Here Erica began to smile. "You won't believe that," she said to. "My scientific research of love that I told you about in Leipzig, once brought me into a Christian Science church, and there it was, painted in golden letters on one of the walls, the most profound phrase about love that I ever came across. It said something to the effect that divine Love always has met and ever will meet, every human need. I asked some of the people what they thought this means, but they had no idea. Mostly, they said just pray dear and God will fulfill your needs. They simply had no idea what this phrase really meant."
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