Does that apply to mathematics, physics, chemistry etc as well, or is economic thinking in a special diabolical category of its own? Do 'deeply spiritual' people show compassion for individuals whose rights to engage in free consensual economic relations with each other are routinely violated by every society on earth? When someone wants to send men to assault me, kidnap me, and then imprison me, just because I conduct a free exchange with a willing counterparty on mutually agreed terms, I don't see how they could be described as deeply spiritual - more like deeply tyrannical, callous, and immoral.
The baby boomers must die. I almost made that into a new thread, but realized I was saying sort of the same thing. I am becoming more convinced that a real healing of America will happen only once the baby boomers have died. They wield too much power, and have a stranglehold on keeping themselves relevant. I am hoping that generational eugenics through Capitalism will lose momentum as the BBers die - you know, they raised their children to think like them, and have trust funds and the education to continue the plan. Rereading the first chapter "The Turning of the Tide" of The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture [Paperback] http://www.amazon.com/Turning-Point-Science-Society-Culture/dp/0553345729/ref=pd_sim_b2 I remember reading that book, believing that we were entering a new era of holistic thinking, that once understood, would bring new emergent knowledge that would snap us out of this bad dream that seems to be the last forty years. Not only are we less holistic, we can't even see past our own nose! What the hell happened? P.S. Don't get caught up in the "New Age" definition of Holistic. I mean it from the scientific definition of, from synthesis, comes emergence - or non-reductionist thinking.
I don't even understand why you would even suggest this. The study of physics and chemistry is the study of lifeless inanimate objects and has nothing to do with the affairs of human beings as they relate to each other. I have no idea what this means either. You are confusing laws with morals and rights. Granted, laws can be immoral, like taxation without representation, and are eventually overturned. Also, there is usually a hierarchy, or system of organizing these principles. Usually laws follow hundreds of years of moral reflection and study of societies and human nature. Governments make this sort of mistake all the time, but they tend to do so to err on the side of caution. Take for example Alan Turing being traumatized by his own government for being homosexual. Things like this are often fought on philosophical and moral grounds and eventually overturned. Take as another example, prohibition. There, people also wanted "to engage in free consensual economic relations with each other", and was outlawed only to be eventually made legal to drink alcohol, and mostly removing the mob from middleman. Today we think nothing of someone enjoying a beer at a ballgame. On the other hand, society has paid a price in the form of people that cannot control themselves and end up in "Twelve step programs." All in the name of freedom. Or take prostitution, where it is legal in some states or countries around the world. But is it moral? I think that people are constantly reevaluating their belief systems as a society, with debates going back and forth, eventually accommodating more people while protecting the rights of others. Sometimes. Other times it gets it terribly wrong, like our policies on burning of fossil fuels is terribly wrong. Not surprising, since the effects are only seen on scales for which we do not have experience. I suspect that Ayn Rand is big with people that feel oppressed by governments. It has always been amused by people's lack of generality when they don't see why someone who is poor, would make religious leaders like Christ their icon. Same desire, different circumstances. IN ORDER FOR YOU TO GET YOUR OWN FREEDOM, YOU MUST FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF YOUR BROTHER. Seek to understand first, then to be understood.
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Never forget human nature and that the brain of so called lesser animals resides within the human brain. Find out how to eliminate the lesser animal brain and maybe you got a shot. Until then never forget what lurks within.
The man who can understand the world is the man who must have three things: spiritual, rich, and not afraid of death --- rich so that his spirituality is not a way to explain his lack of material wealth to satisfy his worldly desires, and not afraid of death so that his sprituality may not be due to fear of death. Name some people who have the above three attributes.