{"id":16206,"date":"2018-02-01T00:08:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T08:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=16206"},"modified":"2018-02-01T00:13:01","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T08:13:01","slug":"16206-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/16206-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Perseverence Sows Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Karl Polanyi\u2019s The Great Transformation<\/em>, first published in 1944, was an evolutionary roadmap for economic sociology.\u00a0 Polanyi\u2019s predictive inquiry asks how society responds to phenomenon\u2019s such as globalization and market failure.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Known today as the originator of substantivism, a cultural approach to economics, Polanyi\u2019s visionary narrative leaves behind a legacy that continues to influence economists and philosophers 73 years after the book\u2019s first publication.[2]<\/a> \u00a0I connected right off with Polanyi as he introduced his work by casting a literary net that caught the reader\u2019s attention by describing a Satanic Mill that \u201cground men into masses.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Polanyi, born in Hungary, became appalled by the Western market system and said that it was turning \u201cman and nature into fodder for the satanic mill of the self-regulating market-system.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 This post will explore the influence of spiritual warfare during the Polanyi era and see what connections can be made with his exposure to Christian socialism.<\/p>\n

Described as the prophet of \u201cmanaged capitalism,\u201d Polanyi was a Hitler era philosopher-intellectual who survived the Jewish genocide and synthesized the emerging relationships between markets, society, and politics.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 I found Kuttner\u2019s article a good source to get below the surface of the renowned Dr. Polanyi and explore what life events grew his passion, ideas, and character.\u00a0 His marketplace savvy and social economic drive originated from his Hungarian-Jewish heritage, cavalry officer service on the Russian Front during WWI, survivor of typhus, husband to Communist revolutionary Ilona, father of Canadian Economics Professor Kari, and romantic idealist who migrated to the United Sates and taught at Columbia University.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

This man called Karl Polanyi has grit I thought, he knows what it means to persevere.\u00a0 Even though he had many challenges in attaining his Doctor of Law degree, Polanyi persevered and portrayed the rigorous academic quality that Rountree calls \u201cgrit and self-control.\u201d [7]<\/a> Polanyi lived the idea of perseverance because he did not give up, quit, or give in to his personal warfare experiences with the Russian Front, the hospital, the Holocaust, and the observed atrocities from the English \u201cworkhouses\u201d (Satanic Mills).[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

Perseverance, according to the Apostle Paul, follows the practice of metaphorically putting on Christ as an individual Armor of God suit.\u00a0 The armor suit represents six unique Christ-like attributes.\u00a0 Paul directs Christians to put on truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and Spirit to defend against the schemes of the devil.\u00a0 Paul says in addition to putting on the Christ suit of armor, the wearer must also pray and persevere for the Biblical checklist against spiritual warfare to work as advertised.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 Persevering infers that the wearer of the Christ suit will be tested.\u00a0 I believe that perseverance is both an intentional spiritual practice and a practical situational warning to watch for, defend against, and overcome the evil destructive schemes of the devil.\u00a0 Sin, death, destruction, violence, evil, are but a few of the schemes that come from Satan and his host of demons.\u00a0 Their number one goal is the destruction of humanity by any means possible.\u00a0 Satan and his demons participated in creating marketplace destruction.\u00a0 For example, Polanyi says, \u201cThe trading classes had no organ to sense the dangers involved in the exploitation of the physical strength of the worker, the destruction of family life, the devastation of neighborhoods, the denudation of forests, the pollution of rivers, the deterioration of craft standards, the disruption of folkways, and the general degradation of existence.\u201d[10]<\/a>\u00a0 Therefore, according to Scripture, the only chance to survive the spiritual warfare generated by the idea of a self-regulated market described by Polanyi involves the generous practice of putting on the Armor of God.<\/p>\n

Polanyi experienced first-hand how to persevere from the threat of death and destruction from the Russian Front, in the hospital recovering from typhus, and through his Jewishness during the Holocaust.\u00a0 I was happy to see that Polanyi, influenced by England\u2019s \u201cChristian Left,\u201d critically reviewed the socialistic ideas of Karl Marx while building his preeminent bibliographic research and data-base for his Great Transformation<\/em> book on the evolution of social economics.[11]<\/a>\u00a0 McRobbie supports the author\u2019s \u201cChristian outlook\u201d during his time spent in England as a co-editor in 1935 on Christianity and the Social Revolution<\/em>.[12]<\/a>\u00a0 I discern that Polanyi\u2019s work was influenced by his personal spiritualism, Christian associations, and passion to serve and save humankind. Was he a Christian?\u00a0 I like to think so, but only God knows the heart of his creation.<\/p>\n

Martin gives Polanyi some bad critique in his review saying Polanyi\u2019s work was conceptually sloppy, inconsistent, and casual with the treatment of historical sources.[13]<\/a>\u00a0 He goes on to say that without Block\u2019s forward for this book and Block and Sommers The Power of Market Fundamentalism <\/em>\u201csalvage efforts\u201d on Polanyi\u2019s work that much of his efforts would have been dismissed and set aside as an historic anomaly whose shelf-life has expired.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

In summary, The Great Transformation for me has two story-lines.\u00a0 One story-line shows the evolution of the social marketplace while the other story-line captures the motivations of the author.\u00a0 Polanyi was not a John Wayne, but he did have true grit.\u00a0 His Good-Samaritan philosophy contributed to his theological shift from Jewish economist to the Christian socialist who fought against capitalism.\u00a0 I liked the book and was able to successfully connect Polanyi to the spiritual warfare principle of perseverance.\u00a0 While non-spiritual in scope, Polanyi\u2019s actions and thesis support his underlying goal to save humanity from evil while seeking to improve and create a social-economic Christianic Mill that supports, saves, and ministers to the \u201cleast of these.\u201d[15]<\/a><\/p>\n

Stand firm,<\/p>\n

M. Webb<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Isaac W. Martin. “Reading The Great Transformation.” Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 44, no. 2 (2015): 163.<\/h6>\n
[2]<\/a> \u201cKarl Polanyi,\u201d Wikipedia, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karl_Polanyi (accessed January 30, 2018).<\/h6>\n
[3]<\/a> Karl Polanyi. The Great Transformation the Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em>. 2nd Beacon Paperback ed. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001) 35.<\/h6>\n
[4]<\/a> Morris Silver. “Karl Polanyi and markets in the ancient near east: reply.” The Journal of Economic History<\/em> 45, no. 1 (1985): 137.<\/h6>\n
[5]<\/a> Robert Kuttner. “Karl Polanyi Explains It All.” The American Prospect 25, no. 3 (2014): 70.<\/h6>\n
[6]<\/a> Ibid., 72.<\/h6>\n
[7]<\/a> Derek Rowntree. Learn How to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university: A virtual tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree<\/em>. Kindle ed. (Wappingers Falls, NY: Beekman Books, 1989). Location 336.<\/h6>\n
[8]<\/a> Polanyi, The Great Transformation, <\/em>106.<\/h6>\n
[9]<\/a> Eph. 6:18.<\/h6>\n
[10]<\/a> Polanyi, The Great Transformation, <\/em>139.<\/h6>\n
[11]<\/a> Kenneth McRobbie. Karl Polanyi in Vienna: The Contemporary Significance of The Great Transformation<\/em>. (Montreal, Canada: Black Rose Books Ltd., 2000) 381.<\/h6>\n
[12]<\/a> Ibid., 311.<\/h6>\n
[13]<\/a> Martin, Review of The Great Transformation<\/em>, 163.<\/h6>\n
[14]<\/a> Ibid., 164.<\/h6>\n
[15]<\/a> Mat. 25:40.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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