Monday 19 July 2010

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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