{"id":28324,"date":"2022-03-03T22:52:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T06:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28324"},"modified":"2022-03-03T22:52:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T06:52:50","slug":"a-transformation-that-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-transformation-that-works\/","title":{"rendered":"A Transformation that Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps more than anything else, The Great Transformation<\/em> highlights the incredible power of human ideas, the need for these ideas to benefit all, and what could result when these ideas miss the mark. Polanyi argues that market liberalism, regardless of how good the intentions of Friedrich Hayek and other proponents may have been, is significantly responsible for disrupting 100 years of global peace, creating World War I[1]<\/a>, as well as precipitating the Great Depression[2]<\/a>, widespread poverty and unemployment in developing nations[3]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These far-reaching effects suggest the need for a serious critique of the thinking behind leadership decisions and its potential ramifications for present and future generations within and beyond our immediate contexts. Subsequently, Jim Collins urges marketplace and social-sector leaders to lay aside sentiments and \u201cconfront the brutal facts\u201d about their current realities and where today\u2019s decisions might lead to[4]<\/a>. In other words, there is no room for political correctness. Instead, we must stand firm, albeit diplomatically and respectfully, on decisions born out of rigorous research. Following the discovery of our unique and wholesome ideas, Collins calls us to pursue these with humility and fierce resolve[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Therefore, if pursuing either market liberalism or socialism is not the way forward, judging from the observations of Polanyi and the collapse of the Soviet Union, perhaps the answer lies in a combination of the two ideologies in a way that synthesizes the best of both and<\/em> is contextualized to meet the unique<\/em> needs of each country by indigenous, God-fearing, enlightened, and globally-minded leaders in the public and private sectors. Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean academic and former president of the UN Security Council, encourages developing nations to adopt this type of unconventional wisdom. According to him the conventional development theory passed on to Third World societies has \u201ctruly not worked[6]<\/a>.\u201d Therefore, in addition to free markets, Mahbubani advocates for self-examination, integrity, hope, and other important values in the journey to development.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Collins insists that free markets may result in prosperous societies but not great ones. To have great societies, Collins suggests a combination of great companies and great social-sector organizations. In other words, a combination of market liberalism and socialism. Perhaps, as The Protestant Ethic<\/em> teaches, this is a time to revive the connection between Biblical values and economic progress[7]<\/a>. Indeed, in Biblical times, Israel and the early church were invited to work hard[8]<\/a>. But beyond hard work, they were also instructed to be compassionate towards[9]<\/a> and remember the poor[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

In contemporary times, Israel has pursued market liberalism so well that she \u201crepresents the greatest concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world today[11]<\/a>\u201d and has been described as the Startup Nation<\/em>. Consequently, the nation has attracted investments from some of the greatest companies on earth, although there is an ongoing threat from less-than-friendly neighbors[12]<\/a>. \u00a0Yet, from the early days of the re-birth of the nation, modern-day Israel also recognized the need to care for the less-privileged through a socialist practice described as \u201cthe world\u2019s most successful commune movement[13]<\/a>.\u201d Israel established and continues to run a significant number of Kibbutzim<\/em>. These are a \u201cgathering\u201d or \u201ccollective\u201d created as \u201cagricultural settlements dedicated to abolishing private property and to complete equality[14]<\/a>.\u201d So, taking a cue from The Great Transformation<\/em>, may we all move forward with an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of market liberalism, and craft an economic model that will work for the common good.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em>. (Boston: Beacon Press, 2001), 99.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Polanyi, The Great Transformation, 20.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 15.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Collins, Jim. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don\u2019t<\/em>. (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 65.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Collins, Good to Great, 39<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Mahbubani, Kishore. Can Asians Think?<\/em> (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2009), 68.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Weber, Max and Talcott Parsons. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em>. (Kettering, OH: Angelico Press, 2014), 15.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Proverbs 22:29<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Proverbs 19:17<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Galatians 2:10<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Senor, Dan and Saul Singer. Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel\u2019s Economic Miracle<\/em>. (New York: Twelve, 2011), XVI.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Senor and Singer, Start-Up Nation, 145.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid, 108.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid, 108.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps more than anything else, The Great Transformation highlights the incredible power of human ideas, the need for these ideas to benefit all, and what could result when these ideas miss the mark. Polanyi argues that market liberalism, regardless of how good the intentions of Friedrich Hayek and other proponents may have been, is significantly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,383],"class_list":["post-28324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-polanyi","tag-the-great-transformation","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28325,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28324\/revisions\/28325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}