Sacks (5 of 5): On the 3rd Sector

"For several centuries, western political thought has been dominated by two entities: the state and the market. The state is us in our collective capacity as a nation. The market is us in our individual capacity as choosers and consumers. It omits ‘third sector’ institutions like the family, the community, voluntary organizations, neighbourhood groups, and religious congregations which have in common that they are larger than the individual but smaller than the state. Their significance, and it is immense, is that they are where we learn the habits of co-operation, whether we describe it as reciprocal altruism or social capital or trust. Families and communities are not arenas of competition… they are based not on transactions of power or exchange, but on love, loyalty, faithfulness, mutuality, and a sense of shared belonging."

(from Jonathan Sacks 'A Jewish Perspective' contribution to "Making Globalisation Good", Oxford, Dunning, 2003)

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Sacks (4 of 5): On Dignity And Independence

“Moral equality is the postulate that all persons have the same intrinsic worth. They are unequal in talents, in contributions to social life and in valid claims to rewards and resources. But everyone who is a person is presumptively entitled to recognition of that personhood” (Philip Selznick)

“The highest degree, exceeded by none, is that of the person who assists a poor person by providing him with a gift or a loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him find employment-in a word by putting him where he can dispense with other people’s aid. With reference to such aid it is said, ‘You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you’ (Lev 25:35), which means strengthen him in such a manner that his falling into want is prevented. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Gifts to the Poor 10:7)

(from Jonathan Sacks 'A Jewish Perspective' contribution to "Making Globalisation Good", Oxford, Dunning, 2003)

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Sacks (3 of 5) : On Market Power

“In ancient times, wealth and power lay in the ownership of persons, in the form of slaves, armies, and a workforce. In the feudal era they lay in the ownership of land. In the industrial age they were the ownership of capital and the means of production. In the information age they lie in access to and deployment of intellectual capital, the ability to master information and turn it to innovative ends. The labour content of manufactured goods continues to fall. To an ever-increasing degree, multinational enterprises are outsourcing production and peripheral services and becoming, instead, owners of concepts, brands, logos, images and designs. In such an age, immense advantage accrues to those with intellectual and creative skills."

(from Jonathan Sacks 'A Jewish Perspective' contribution to "Making Globalisation Good", Oxford, Dunning, 2003)

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