The World We Want: From Athens and Jerusalem

H. Peter Karoff -- can you imagine him bald and barefoot in Athens, like Socrates or Diogenes, accosting the wealthiest citizens and asking crafty questions about "The World We Want?" I can. I believe his writings are essentially an attempt to come to terms with that role, the role of, as Socrates put it, being "the midwife" of the interlocutor's soul, or moral life. Paideia is the term for doing that, the elicitation of what is best in a person, within the traditions by which the person has been formed and must pass on, as any creature is formed by its genes and passes them on with variations. (Part of our genetic code as Americans is the charming delusion that we are each self-made, just coincidentally as alike as mass manufactured commodities.) In any case, at Gifthub, Giving as Moral Heroism is about these issues. Where the work of philanthropy goes wrong is when we honor big givers who give just a little of what they have over broken people who give all. Gifted givers are all equal in the eyes of God, if we take Jesus as any guide to that. That is my theme, and you can say, I impose it on Peter's work. But if you read his essays again you will see that the examples holding his attention are creative, artistic, or heroic, and that many instances are not about money at all. The book, The World We Want, may be mostly about the life-determining and culture-determning gifts of the wealthy, but Peter's surprising inclusion of me in that book was at least a back door open to people of limited financial means. I hope that through this blog we can include in the conversation gifted givers whose wallets may be empty, but whose head, heart, and dedication might put many wealthy people to shame. Where the World We Want may come to life is when we meet as citizens in common purpose and money is subordinate to shared ideals, joint action, and love (caritas). I believe these were among the founding principles of our country, and reflect our debt to Athens and Jerusalem.  We pay that gift forward, whether rich or poor by upholding those ideals and passing them on intact to our heirs, keeping our democracy alive, even as wealth, power, honors and prestige, flow upward to the few. To keep our traditions alive, to conserve The World We Want, we must wake up, as Peter suggests in Sleepwalkers. As vile a man as he might be, I will give my own Morals Tutor the last word.
 

Comments

[Jim Wellington]

I really like your comparisons to Socrates. I have recently discovered Peter Karoff and I have the greatest respect for him and his writings.

But bald and barefoot? Well, you might take away the rest of his hair, but he looks like a rather dapper gentleman to me: pinstriped suits, silk ties, suspenders and polished wingtips on his dapperly attired feet. I think he might put up a fight if required to give up his polished shoes and socks, even if it meant becoming Socrates!

[Phil]

Yes, but even in the run up to the French Revolution, the well clad and well shod of that era's elite held costume balls on the theme of "The World Turned Upside Down." So the question would be, if he had to come in masquerade, and could be any figure, high or low from history, or any "type," or any animal, as he moved among the masked revelers, from the highest circles, what disguise would Peter choose, to body forth his inner truth? A man in a business suit, polished wingtips, and a quiet smile?

[Jim Wellington]

Well, you make a fair point there. In that case I can see Karoff dropping his mirror-shined Italian shoes and designer socks in the trash and willingly sacrificing his dapper pinstripes, necktie, cufflinks and suspenders in favor of a robe! Anything that gets in the way of the truth coming forth could be an obstacle.

[Phil]

Robe, as with a boxer, as with Jesus about to crucified, or robe as in coronation, or as in bathrobe in his ordinary room?

[Jim]

Well, I was just thinking of the white robes that used to be worn in ancient Greece, in paintings of Socrates. Maybe it's the wrong word: maybe toga is better? Or is that Rome?

[Phil]

Got it, Socratic lounge wear.

[Dan Bassill]

Phil, I share your commitment. In the Bible there's a story about how difficult it is for a rich man to get into heaven. A penny from a poor man may be all he has.

Blogs like this are a connecting point, that hopefully draws big and small donors, and people who give time and talent, not just money.

However, these need to link to other forums, where maps, databases, blueprints and other forms of knowlege, are used to draw these donors into networks of common purpose. While my network focuses on getting people and industries to build pipelines to careers for inner city kids, others might focus on AIDS, hunger, einvorinment, or any other issue.

There needs to be many networks of purpose, consisting of many circles of understanding, networking, resource development, innovation and action. Those working in similar issue areas, in different parts of a city, or world, need to be connected to each other.

In my mind I can envision a discussion in ancient Greece where Socrates and Aristotle might be discussing this concept with their peers. Imagine if they had tools like we now have via the Internet and open source.

[Phil]

How we connect the disempowered many to those whose wealth and philanthropy draws upon a system built on hierarchy and status and access and chumminess among insiders is a difficult question. You see the difficulty at Omidyar, despite the best intentions. The funding arm and talking arm don't really talk to one another in public, just behind the screen. How we force the ones in power out of their safe spaces, out from behind the screens, out from behind the decorum of upbeat decency, out from behind the PR people and the adulation of those they hire, out from behind the corporate media and its fawning upon corporate wealth, into a public conversation is something that really interests me. I think it can be done, will be done, and that the net is how it will happen, as the conversation at the net nodes become more prominent and difficult to ignore.