{"id":3776,"date":"2015-01-28T23:10:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T23:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=3776"},"modified":"2015-01-28T23:10:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T23:10:22","slug":"questions-abound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/questions-abound\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions Abound"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baldo<\/strong>\u00a0by Hector D. Cantu and Carlos Castellanos<\/p>\n

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As I read Polayni\u2019s The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em> and a number of reviews, I find myself asking more questions than finding answers. Perhaps that\u2019s what happens when a new paradigm is introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cnew\u201d paradigm, ironically not so new with a copyright date of 1944, focuses on western society\u2019s economic system that is interdependent with all arenas of social life: political, community, physical, environmental. This new way of thinking challenges the accepted understanding and embedded endorsement of free markets and self-regulation. Not only after the Great Depression but for the globalized world of 2015, Polayni offers a key description of society that reflects \u201cthe market is not an end in itself, but as a means to more fundamental means.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0For the wellbeing of individuals, social classes, communities and nations, the transformation of a society needs an elevated viewpoint beyond the culturally\u00a0prescribed answer of capitalism in the case of western economics that influence developing countries.<\/p>\n

While there is some truth that rings clear in Polayni’s thesis, he does appears to only offer a description, not a prescription. Now my questions begin. \u201cHow can we distinguish what brings true wellness to a society?\u201d In western culture, the value placed on economic answers certainly supersedes other creative options to living in an environment with a desire for wholeness (for whatever definition that means; ie success, good relationships, vocational satisfaction, etc).\u00a0\u00a0 The most recent recession revealed how many relied on what their economic fortunes and goals could bring. In fact, when that economic downturn reality hit, the option for some was suicide (as occurred with my brother-in-law). We want answers that will bring us freedom, and while money can provide one way through if used appropriately, society needs more than financial solutions. What happens when that assumed solution no longer works?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit to an emotional reaction to not only the content but also my unanswered questions. This \u201cnew\u201d paradigm strikes to my core values, penetratingly so. I\u2019ve been spoon-fed since a child that laissez-faire economics provide the greatest freedom for all social classes involved. Raised in a middle class family with parents who humbly yet earnestly sought after the American Dream by trying to create more financial capital, I lived off the same economic philosophy until my husband and I came to a point of bankruptcy about six years ago. In an ongoing and growing discernment, I see how much I rely on the security of financial freedom. While it is difficult for me to admit how much I trust in \u201cIn Money I Trust\u201d versus \u201cIn God I Trust\u201d imprinted on my money, I do find a new freedom in social and spiritual capital versus financial capital. \u00a0I see my own wellness as well as others grow\u00a0stronger and more sustainable when there is a foundation that builds on\u00a0social and spiritual capital, while being honest about the value of financial capital.<\/p>\n

This book, out of all of them so far, creates a great longing in me to sit in person with my fellow cohort peers. I want a safe environment to verbalize and listen to these cultural challenges to my way of thinking and living. I need to see the eyes, the body language (especially after last week\u2019s book), and know that we\u2019re in this together. I realize we\u2019ll post and respond, then type-chat on Monday, but I feel exposed and fragile after recognizing how much I rely on a system I can\u2019t even recognize because it\u2019s so much a part of my blood line. Can a community in which I live actually function differently when it comes to such an embedded system such as relying on free markets and self-regulation as the answer? My questions continue: What does this text say about God\u2019s abundance versus scarcity? What are the social consequences of trusting a system, any system (economic or not), that permeates society because that\u2019s the way it has always been done? How can people be on such opposite ends of the spectrum, and still follow the same God? \u00a0Can we? \u00a0Can we put aside our own agenda to talk about such a \u201chot topic?\u201d \u00a0As Jesus illustrates with a comparison between camel and an eye of a needle with a rich man and heaven, I can’t help but wonder about the complexity of financial need and resources. \u00a0Money helps in so many ways. \u00a0Yet, we can’t just put more rules in force to control the selfishness; after a while, revolution will arise. \u00a0What do we do?<\/p>\n

Please understand, I still believe that there is great hope with many of the Fair Trade options, micro-loans, and sharing of economic resources across the world. In fact, I continue to promote those opportunities over some of our former ways of supporting overseas work. But after reading Polayni\u2019s text, I pause a bit more, asking the bigger 30,000 foot question, \u201cHow does this impact an entire social system, not just the economic system?\u201d See, my questions still abound!<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: the Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em>, 2nd ed. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001), xv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baldo\u00a0by Hector D. Cantu and Carlos Castellanos As I read Polayni\u2019s The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time and a number of reviews, I find myself asking more questions than finding answers. Perhaps that\u2019s what happens when a new paradigm is introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cnew\u201d paradigm, ironically not so new with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"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":[592,4],"class_list":["post-3776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-greattransformation","tag-polanyi","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776","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\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3791,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776\/revisions\/3791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}