September began with a week-long Boot Camp (an intensive immersion into the basic ideas of threefolding) followed by two weeks of Advanced Courses (more specialized workshops, presentations, and collaborative conversations open to the wider community). 

For Boot Camp we had seventeen participants, of all ages, from as far away as California, Chicago, and Ontario. We were graciously hosted by the new Camphill Ghent community in Ghent, NY. We began the week with the practice of perceiving the necessary balance between the social force of the community, and the "anti-social" force of individualism. We perceived how all the structural illnesses in society are fallen ideals. We progressed to group dynamics, such as achieving a balance between meritocracy and democracy within an organization. We ended the week with big pictures of an entrepreneurial economy founded on associations of businesses and consumers, a political-rights governance purified of all economic and cultural entanglements, and a free sector for human development, including a choir of national cultures... (Click here to read the rest of this write-up by Travis Henry, or here to read Caleb Buchbinder's short article on the event called "Mad (Social) Scientists.")

After Boot Camp was all wrapped up, we continued on fearlessly with the Advanced Courses. A sampling of some workshop and presentation titles: "Steiner's Views: A Guide for a New Economy", "Our technological and political future...", "Approaching Economics and Money Phenomenologically", "Cultural Plurinationalism...", "The Threefold Nature of the Embryo" ...and many more.

PARALLEL POLITICAL ACTIONS (by individuals)

A couple of these presentations also touched on "Parallel Political Actions" (PPAs) that individual Think OutWorders had initiated (Think OutWord itself doesn't endorse any political party, though these folks weren't either, I'm just obliged by law to say that Think OutWord definitely doesn't). The first PPAs consisted of 2 petitions that people could sign to express a vote of no confidence in the current political and electoral process. Boy, that got a bit heated. Some people hooted in excitement that they finally had a chance to express their frustration with having to vote for the "lesser of two evils," and others hollered that if "you don't like it then you can leave the country!" (and everything in between...)

The next PPA was a little less divisive. On election day, a number of Think OutWorders and friends engaged local voters with free pie and coffee and gave people the opportunity to discuss a quote by Thoreau: "Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect and that will be one step toward obtaining it." It was great - a public forum where people could share their thoughts on what an improved government could look like... Do you have such a picture? If so, we'd love to hear it. 

This new activity was a result of our inwardly wrestling with the November election. How can we participate in the current political system with integrity? A number of Think OutWorders have been involved in Occupy, and our local study group has recently taken up some of the great champions of social justice and civil disobedience - Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and one of our contemporaries, Tim DeChristopher (you can find a number of our study materials on our website). Everyone has their own mind in relation to these ideas, but some individuals definitely agree with Gandhi's saying: "Rejection is as much an ideal as the acceptance of a thing. It is as necessary to reject untruth as it is to accept truth." And all these individuals have very developed pictures of positive alternatives, so they're not just adolescents trying to stick it to the man.

One such Think OutWorder is Travis Henry who recently spent 18 days in jail for a non-violent action he took this past July (you can read about it here) and for refusing to pay the subsequent fine (a refusal that he made public here). Anyway, he's back now and he's doing fine and we're very glad to have him.

Another way that some Think OutWorders are taking action is by experimenting with an Income Pooling community. It's something Steiner mentioned - if we want to cultivate brotherhood than we have to separate work and income. Our work needs to be for the other (the person we're producing for) and not for ourselves (because we need a paycheck in order to survive). Here's a short summery of the idea by Nathaniel Williams and Sarah Hearn.

'The well-being of a community of people working together will be the greater, the less the individual claims for himself the proceeds of his work, i.e. the more of these proceeds he makes over to his fellow-workers, and the more his own needs are satisfied, not out of his own work but out of the work done by others'.

(Rudolf Steiner, 1919)

So reads Steiner's Fundamental Social Law. And we can hear its truths echoed in the works of Thoreau, MLK Jr., and others. So, we've been asking ourselves, Can we take action to experiment with this law? to understand it more deeply? to consciously embody its wisdom? A subset of the Think OutWord Action Group, around 10 households, has drawn up a list of agreements to experiment with this law. Beginning in January, individuals in each household will deposit their income into a common account immediately upon earning it. Each household will draw, on a regular basis, a stipend from that account for their expenses. Agreements have been made for budgeting, group meetings, finance reporting, joining and exiting. The plan is to try it as an experiment for 6 months. The households have been depositing 10% of their monthly income into a common account for the past 6 months, warming their feet. Will they feel differently when they cut the cord that connects the money they use for their expenses from the money they earned? Is it possible to think of everyone when considering finances? Look out for a blog in 2013 that will document the group's process and experiences. 

Related to the spirit of this project, an interesting documentary on Basic Income (GrundEinkommen) has been created by Daniel Häni und Enno Schmidt (and iIf the film doesn't automatically have subtitles, just click the "cc" button on the bar below the screen).  

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