S2 Ep37. The Crisis of our Times. Part 11. Capitalism and the Soul

Why do I juxtapose economic and financial theory, policy and practice on the one hand, and spiritual matters on the other. The answer is that it is only in theory and specialisms that such things are separated. In practice the human psyche consists of many parts, but it is a fundamental drive within us to unify them, to make ourselves whole instead of being conflicting parts. At first glance economic and monetary policy along with poetry and mysticism seem strange bedfellows. But I am suggesting more than this – that the evolving emergencies have at least ten dimensions – and undoubtedly many more. I am suggesting a multi-dimenional crisis. Never with more urgency do we need a spiritual vision of the planet, which unites economics politics, climate, our treatment of all life and so on. On a purely practical note, we need to put spirit and ethical values into the economy and our political system and our relationship to nature. Our philosophies, theories, specialism and knowledge systems have been tremendously creative but unless there is a radical paradigm shift our species will be profoundly self-traumatised and possibly extinguished. Since we bear responsibility for all life on earth and now, we realise, for the planet itself, this is the moment of our truth.