research & reviews IN THIS SECTION: Four notable books are reviewed or introduced in this issue. Christopher Schaefer explores our present social-political moment, looking for the challenges but also causes for hope. Mario Betti has taken Rudolf Steiner’s map of the world of intellect and helped us appreciate the multiplicity of perspectives.
Thomas Berry enriched the late 20th century imagination with his care for the Earth and his spiritual breadth; his friend Robert McDermott appreciates a new biography. John Urban’s brief verses shed light on great ideas.
40 • being human
Re-Imagining America: Finding Hope in Difficult Times, by Christopher Schaefer; (Hawthorne Press, 2019), 200 pages; Foreword by Eric Utne.
review by Douglas Sloan Re-Imagining America: Finding Hope in Difficult Times by Christopher Schaefer is a gift to America, and the world. The phrase, “difficult times” almost rings as a euphemism for the horrific evil and suffering that now engulf so much of our country and peoples world-wide. Hope is essential if we are to rise to the challenge of these times. Central to the strength of Christopher Schaefer’s book is that, first, he addresses the challenges to hope in our times, without flinching and without softening their extent and seriousness. At the same time, he calls attention to the truly positive forces, individuals and organizations, actually working today to establish hope and bring it to fruition. He calls our attention also to the fact that many of these hopeful impulses come from outside the official and formal structures of power. The author writes with clear thinking and insight, grounded in solid evidence. He provides us, moreover, with a host of practical ideas, proposals, and analyses to illuminate both understanding and positive action. Christopher Schaefer is clear: we must confront without drawing back or denying the actuality of the hope-destroying forces at work in our present situation. He also stresses, however, that genuine progress has been made in the modern world in the areas of disease, infant mortality, health and illness, illiteracy, women’s rights, and others. These positive advances ought not to be forgotten. Christopher Schaefer, however, is also clear that we must Finding Hope in Difficult Times confront the actuality of the many hope-destroying forces and events in our times. The idea of hope rings hollow if it cannot take into account the serious challenges to it. The list is long: climate change and collapse, pollution, the loss of forests, the extinction of species, the horrors of war, poverty, hunger, racism, and so forth. Christopher Schaefer Ph.D These days many of us, or members of our family and friends, ‘An acorn of hope … may it take root and grow into a mighty oak.’ have been tempted to say, “I can’t watch or listen to the news anyEric Utne, Foreword more—it’s just too awful, and, besides, I can’t do anything about it.” It’s just this wanting to withdraw from the ugliness with its two contrasting consequences—despondency or frenetic anxiety—that the author shows is not necessary. What is necessary, to start with, however, is awareness and understanding. Christopher Schaefer provides a basic guide to understanding and action in three important areas: 1) the American Empire Project; 2) the global economic crisis and the failure of capitalism; and 3) the overarching ideological patterns of oppression and anti-democracy. Planning for the projection of American power and military dominance on “land, sea, air, and space” began in earnest in the 1990s. This project had the support of conservative Republicans, Christian Evangelicals, key foreign policy personnel, and even some Democrats. It was recognized that this project would have critical domestic consequences, which fit into Republican conservative economic theory, for it would require huge increases in military spending, supported by massive tax cuts for the wealthy and the dissolution of entitlement programs, such as Social Security. All that was lacking to put these plans into action was a major event—a crisis—that would impel Congress and the American people to act—an event hoped for and even described in the early 1990s as a “New Pearl Harbor.” 9/11 was the event and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars followed immediately. Especially important is the author’s Chapter Three in which Profound insights and an inspiring call to action for saving the US from its own shadow. Confirms Chris Schaefer’s place as a thought leader in the still-emerging discipline of social ecology. Steve Briault, Director of Development, Emerson College, UK We face alarming world events while needing to navigate our lives. Re-Imagining America connects these challenges in a deeply personal and illuminating way. Learning to witness events with understanding and empathy, allowing them into our soul, provides the opportunity for discernment, moral discrimination and hope. Here is a timely analysis of the ‘Long Emergency’ of American society. These essays unmask the Ideology of Oppression underlying the ruinous economic, social and foreign policy adventures of successive U.S. governments leading to the Trump Presidency. They also point to the emerging alternative of a new tri-sectoral re-imagining of the American social future. This book: •
Nurtures the seeds of practical hope for navigating chaos and countering fear
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Tells the author’s immigrant story from landing on Manhatten Island? aged seven
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Asks what it means to be a conscious witness of events
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Raises disturbing questions about the War on Terror, 9/11, the corruption of democracy and the American Empire Project
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Analyses the toxic excess of inequality and proposes radical solutions
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Shows how we can build a more equal, free, mutual and sustainable society beyond failing free market capitalism
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Re-Imagines America through spiritual activism and practical social change
Christopher Schaefer writes brilliantly with two hands, one for exposing the suffering caused by American militarism, racism, and the neo-conservative Republican economic agenda, and one for exhibiting the compassion, joy, and hope necessary in these difficult times. Professor Robert McDermott, California Institute for Integral Studies
Christopher Schaefer Ph.D. taught international politics and economics at Tufts University and M.I.T. before becoming an organizational development consultant. He co-founded the Waldorf School in Lexington, Mass. and the Centre for Social Development at Emerson College in England as well as Social Ecology Associates, an international consultancy group. He is the author of Partnerships of Hope: Building Waldorf School Communities. A grandfather and activist, he calls for a new Covenant between the American people and its government that engages both conservatives and progressives.
£15.00
Political economy and Social Ecology Change Making Series
ISBN: 978-1-907359-96-5
9 781907 359965
Hawthorn Press www.hawthornpress.com
Christopher Schaefer Ph.D
Ted Roszell gives an enthusiastic welcome to an anthroposophic doctor’s musical perspectives on physiology and health.
Re-Imagining America