Deeds That Matter The Innovative Work of Elise Casper, Dietrich Asten, and Bill Bottum
by Christopher Schaefer “Seek the real practical life but seek it in a way that does not blind you to the spirit working in it; seek the spirit, but do not seek it out of spiritual egoism, from spiritual greed, but look for it because you want to apply it unselfishly in practical life, in the material world. Make use of the ancient principle, spirit is never without matter, matter never without spirit.” — Rudolf Steiner
It is a blessing of aging that you naturally reflect on the people whom you have met in your life and their contributions to your own becoming as well as to how their lives and deeds have affected the world. I wish to remember and briefly describe the life and work of three individuals who were committed students of Rudolf Steiner, and who, I believe, had a significant impact on American life, in particular in the realm of money and business. That they are not well known in public life is not surprising as they focused their efforts on how to bring spirit into matter, how to transform the egotism and self-seeking so prevalent in a market-oriented capitalistic system into a true service orientation. They are also not often remembered in the circle of people connected to Waldorf education and anthroposophy as they were innovators in business life, initiators in the realm of the will and not directly in the area of cultural renewal. Elise Casper (1919-97) overcame the egotism often associated with wealth by fostering community responsibility in the allocation of gift funds through the creation of the Mid-States Shared Gifting Group. Dietrich Asten (1922-84), a successful businessman and part owner of the Asten-Hill Company, used his personal wealth selflessly and often anonymously to support the work of anthroposophy in its many practical applications: Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, adult education, the Christian Community, eurythmy and the healing arts, as well as supporting the Anthroposophical Society itself. In addition he transformed his company into a model employer committed to high levels of integrity, and initiated a conscious development process for all of its work groups and employees. The third person, Bill Bottum (1927-2005), president and CEO of Townsend and Bottum, was engaged in a life-long search for how best to apply the teachings of
the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) to business life. This he did through finding a way to neutralize private ownership of his company through a capital trust form, by introducing a non-sectarian form of mission and value orientation embodying the universal lessons of the Beatitudes into his company, and by a program of individual and group development that helped the company to work successfully in a variety of foreign cultures as well as integrating a multi-lingual and multi-cultural workforce.
Elise Casper: 1919-1997 Elise Casper was born into an old Milwaukee family, a child of privilege, with family ties to the Milwaukee brewing industry and to the Steinmeyer Grocery chain. She was a strong and intelligent woman who received an excellent education and with her family supported the growing cultural life of the city on the lake, with its symphony and two large museums. As a young child she used to say, “Elise do,” manifesting her strong and independent will, which she used to establish Elise’s Personalized Social Services, a very successful wedding planning and catering business in the 1950s. Elise found her way to anthroposophy through her long-time friend Paul Riesen. She noted that much of Rudolf Steiner’s work agreed with her thinking, which from my experience was practical, deep, and probing. In 1943 she had a son, Tim, who had artistic talent and as he grew she would take him to Europe on artistic and cultural tours. While on a trip to France in 1964 he was tragically killed in an automobile crash and she was severely injured, leading her to a deep inner and outer crisis. She found some consolation and support from Gerhard Klockenberg, a Christian Community priest, in France. After recuperating from the accident she sold her business and returned to Europe where she developed a keen interest in questions of money and how to renew society, being strongly drawn to the threefold social order movement. She even moved to Achberg, an experimental social community on the Lake of Constance, promoting the “Third Way” between capitalism and socialism. spring issue 2015
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