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Introduction to Prout: Beyond Capitalism
I Context for Prout’s socio-economic paradigm
 
A. Concept of Progress:1. Progress in four fields of individual and collective movement:a)
Physical: physical innovation and sophistication 
b)
Psychic/intellectual/mental: intellectual development
c)
Psycho-spiritual: inspirational movement via spiritual practices
d)
Spiritual: internal, manifested in working for collective welfare
2.
 
Conventional concept of progress:a)
Movement toward greater physical and psychic convenience and innovation.
b)
Conventional ‘Progress’ double edged:i) increases in convenience and intellectual developmentii) creation of new problems offsetting positives
c)
Technological and scientific advancement ‘progressive’ depending on their contribution to collective welfare. 
3. Proutist Progress:a)
Progressive movement in all spheres—physical, psychic, spiritual
b)
Movement toward the collective development and welfare of all
B. Comparison of Prout with other Economic Theories:1. Capitalism, characterized by:a
) Political power accessible to all, economic power in the hands of few
b
) Property and wealth privately owned
c
) Individualistic, atomized society trivializing ‘common good’
d
) Worker insecurity and displacement in light of increasing profit margins.
e
) Zero-sum, competitive, dog-eat-dog system creating scarcity
f 
) Laws protect property rights, ease movement of capital
2.
 
Proutist view of Capitalism:a)
Capitalist system: production is a means of transferring wealth created by production into thehands of owners/capitalists.i) workers rent their labor for production, reaping few benefitsii) purchasing capacity of masses generally reduced, weakenediii) ‘costs’ of economic system socialized; negative effects made the burden of society, not responsibility of the business class
b)
Capitalism rooted in a psychology of greed, a sense of accumulation, acquiring/accumulatingfor oneself, group, or country, etc. without due consideration for others.
c)
Historically existed in many forms—as feudalism, laissez-faire capitalism,imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, mixed economy, multinational corporations, neo-liberalist global trade, etc.
d)
Production/industry is centralized in capitalist systems to maximize profit,
e)
Prout: production decentralized*, to meet the needs of the people, fullyutilize the development of natural resources for the benefit of all
f)
Prout view: wealth of the natural world the common inheritance of all; notto be given the sole dominion of a select few
3. Communism, characterized by:a)
State ownership of all property
b)
Centrally planned economy, centralized industry and production
c)
Workers’ utility value viewed without recognizing value of individual efficiency
d)
State takes almost all surplus wealth with only a tiny amount for producers
e)
Imposition of equality for all, though with special privileges for the ruling group
 
f)
Top –down hierarchy of society imposed on the general masses from theruling group/class via totalitarian political control 
4.
 
Proutist view of Communism
:
a)
Communism: a misnomer as the State reaps the benefits, not the workers
b)
Communism in practice: dictatorial regime of a ruling elite guiding State sponsored Capitalism
c)
Materialist ideology denying spiritual existence
d)
Utopian theory; goes against the innate passions and psychology in attempting to make all people ‘equal’
e)
Prout: scope given for the development and growth of all human beingswithout going against innate their psychology and urges while both Capitalism and Communismare detrimental to the all-around growth of human beings; and are obstacles to human progress.
C. Economic justice:
 
1. Economic rights, protecting of the (economic) interests of local people:
a) Purchasing power  b) Employmentc) Equity of economic opportunityd) Necessity of some collective forms of ownership resources (otherwise,unlimited hoarding of wealth)e) Decentralized economic system (wealth from production staying in localcommunities*)
 
II Relevant Issues and Discussion TopicsGlobal social, political, and economic crisis:
The world today has made myriad advances with muchscientific innovation, closer connections between the peoples of the world. Yet along with all scientific,education, and physical progress, human beings have shown the limitations of the freedom of will. Therole of economics, use of military, and the conflicts of social groupings have largely been predatoryendeavors throughout Human history with the strong preying on the weak. In the modern age the greatdevelopment of the world economy and the shrinking of the ‘global village’ has allowed for insatiablegreed and malignant aggression on a scale never possible previously in Humanity’s history. In the wars of the 20
th
century more numbers of people were killed than the total numbers of those who had been bornworld-wide up until the 1870s, and for the first time the manipulation over science and nature allowed for untold destruction of the natural world and the potential for Humanity to destroy itself. Indeed, therampant destruction of the environment carried out under the auspices of economic growth have led toencroaching dangers of dramatic global climate change and irreversible destruction to the world’secosystems and species.
What role does an economic system, a system of beliefs, or new movements havetoward resolving such crises? What basic responsibilities do human beings have toward each other and tothe natural world?
Declining living standards:
The global economic system has generated many ‘successes’ in the form of ‘entrepreneurs’ able to become winners of the system and attain to fabulous wealth. But vast amounts of ‘losers’ have also been generated. Throughout much of the world, the wages for average working peoplehave declined. Trends have shown that, in general, the rich have been getting richer and the poor even poorer. Under Capitalism poverty and declining living standards for most of the world’s population is anacceptable consequence and those who are poor are often seen as not utilizing their potential to applythemselves, unable to meet even their basic needs. There are no inherent rights to a dignified life, toemployment under Capitalism.
What responsibilities does society have for limiting declining standards for most of the people of the world, half of which lives on less than two dollars a day? What responsibilitiesdoes society have for lifting up the weakest people who are most hurt and face lives of desperation related directly to the global economic system?
Balance of spiritual and material:
A new paradigm views the global crisis as a crisis of values, of toomuch materialism and loss/neglect of universal values of the common sister/brotherhood of Humanity andclose relation to Nature. The myriad and complex obstacles facing collective human beings—everythingfrom the unreasonable allocation of scientific resources (70% of all scientists are in some way connectedwith weapons and military programs world-wide) and material resources, from combating disease, toeliminating hunger, poverty, ethnic, religious, and even national conflicts—are rooted not wholly (or necessarily primarily) in their material causes, but, rather, are rooted within the makeup of the human personality. Such a view sees many of the collective problems of Humanity rooted in the lack of balance of the spiritual and material worlds and reflect the crisis of the evolution of the ‘collective mind’, thecollective evolutionary state of the human species. Human beings have forgotten the plight of their  brothers and sisters and have not thought of their proper role in regard to the natural world and are sufferingthe potential cataclysm resulting from such an imbalance.
What are the connections of human beings toeach other and how has this been forgotten? In what ways are the spiritual aspects of human beings out of balance with the economic system, with human beings’ consumption of resources, etc.? In what ways doesthe lack of balance affect the collective progress of all 
?
 How may this lack of balance be dealt with in a practical way?
 
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