As the noted historian Carroll Quigley observed, people trying to help our social system evolve are too often ignorant of economics. We're grateful to Paul O'Leary for sharing a paper, "The Federal Reserve System, Fiat Money, and Fractional Reserve Banking," which is not too long or too short, and includes at the end a glossary of some key terms. Paul begins with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“I sincerely believe . . . that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”
 Thomas Jefferson1 Third President of the United States (1801 - 1809)

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In May Rudolf Steiner College will present a conference, "Psychosophy and a New Mythological Consciousness," with presenters Robert Sardello, William Bento, Dennis Klocek, Orland Bishop, Cheryl Sanders-Sardello, David Tresemer, Brian Gray, and Gillian Schoemaker. "The fear of not knowing our future creates a haze that prevents an apprehension of 'what-is-coming-to-be.' New dimensions of consciousness—intelligence of the heart, a new form of empathy, and the capacity to be within creative imagination—are already present for everyone. These new aspects of our being are forming a mythological consciousness." William Bento has shared some musings on the theme.

Arthur Zajonc, professor of Physics at Amherst College and a former general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America, has been appointed president of the Mind and Life Institute, a Boulder, CO-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building a scientific understanding of the mind through the investigation of contemplative practices in order to reduce suffering and promote well being.

Prof. Zajonc has been visiting professor and research scientist at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, and a Fulbright professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. His research has included studies in electron-atom physics, parity violation in atoms, quantum optics, the experimental foundations of quantum physics, and the relationship between science, the humanities, and the contemplative traditions. He is author or editor of eight books including: Catching the Light, The Quantum Challenge, Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love, and with Parker Palmer, The Heart of Higher Education: A Call to Renewal.

Prof. Zajonc commented, "For over 20 years the work of the Mind & Life Institute has enriched our understanding of the mind by bringing together the remarkable achievements of modern research in neuroscience with the equally profound traditions of contemplative inquiry. Together they have the possibility not only of illuminating the nature of mind, but also of addressing many of the sources of suffering that are rooted there. "
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Mary Lee Plumb-Mentjes of Anchorage, Alaska, reports on a 2011 visit to Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg, and Kirov, Russia, meeting with Waldorf teachers."I was impressed most by our times around the Waldorf kindergarten tables with the teachers, helpers and parents all tightly squeezed around, sharing tea and cookies, intent on discussion of challenges, singing and laughing. I’ve been in Waldorf circles for many years and only in the early pioneer days of initiatives do I remember the same ability of a group to have a single focus shared together. Those we visited in Russia were not in what we would consider their 'pioneer days'; they had been at it generally since 1989 and the days of glasnost and perestroika. Part of their warm, social strength comes from the challenges they face. " Read more...