1
Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos
Professor N.T.U.A
REBIRTH
OF ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY
AND ECONOMY
PHILOCOSMIC DEMOCRACY
AND PHILOCOSMISM
FIRST EDITION – ATHENS 2014
PUBLISHER: PHILOCOSMIC ASSOCIATION OF GREECE
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REBIRTH
OF ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY
AND ECONOMY
PHILOCOSMIC
DEMOCRACY AND
PHILOCOSMISM
Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos
Professor, National Technical University
of Athens (N.T.U.A)
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©Author: Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος:
Title of prototype: Αναγέννηση της Αθηναϊκής Δημοκρατίας
και της Οικονομίας, Φιλοκοσμική Δημοκρατία and Philocosmism,
αριθμός σελίδων 148.
First Edition: 2014
©Publisher:
PHILOCOSMIC ASSOCIATION OF GREECE
122 - 124 Kykladon Street
P.C. 15562 Holargos, Athens, GREECE
Tel. & Fax: 211-010-9432
E-mail address: [email protected]
(also [email protected])
Web page: www.philocosmy.com
(former www.bookofhumanity.org)
ISBN:
Cover: Pericles speaks to the Assembly of the Demos of
ancient Athens on Pnyx hill. The Pnyx is a small hill west of the
Acropolis of Athens, where the Αssembly of the Demos was held. The
Acropolis is in the center near the top of the picture, while the
Parthenon (the temple of the goddess Athena) is at the top of the
Acropolis. The Pnyx was to the ancient Athenians what, for example,
the British Parliament in London and the U.S. Congress in Washington
DC are today.
The reproduction of the contents of this book, either
partially or in total by mechanical, electronic means or
photocopying without the written permission of the author is
strictly forbidden. Law 2121/1993 and rules of International law
applies also in Greece.
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Dedicated, with admiration and love, to the
ancient Greeks,
for their contribution to the elevation of man.
This contribution was like a Big Bang (so to
speak) which erupted in Greece 2,500
thousand years ago and has suffused mankind
with
philosophy,
democracy,
science,
education, art, universal values, civilization,
humaneness and an endless list to the present
day.
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The author forfeits all profits from his book “Rebirth of
Athenian Democracy and Economy, Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism” to the non-profit Philocosmy Association of
Greece. The Association was established in 2010. Background
information on the Association is available below.
The reason that the author forfeits all profits to the
Philocosmy Association of Greece is that, on the subject of the
course of Mankind, he does not want profit to come between
himself and his fellow men, but only the care and love for a
better world.
PHILOCOSMIC ASSOCIATION OF GREECE
Contact, Address and Location:
Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos
President of the non-profit Philocosmy Association of Greece
122 - 124 Kykladon Street
P.C. 15562 Holargos, Athens, GREECE
Tel. & Fax: 211-010-9432
E-mail address: [email protected]
(also [email protected])
Web page: www.philocosmy.com
(former www.bookofhumanity.org)
Facebook: facebook. com/ParaskevasNParaskevopoulos
Youtube: youtube.com/user/P.N.Paraskevopoulos
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
THE FOUR BOOKS OF PHILOCOSMY .................................. 9
PROLOGUE .................................................................................... 13
PART Α
POLITICS
CHAPTER 1: ATHENIAN AND PARLIAMENTARY
DEMOCRACY
1.1 Introduction .............................................................................
1.2 Athenian Democracy ..............................................................
1.3 Parliamentary Democracy .......................................................
1.4 Prevention and catastoly .........................................................
1.5 The Athenian preventive political system: the obstacle
course ......................................................................................
1.6 Comparison of Athenian and Parliamentary
Democracy ..............................................................................
1.7 Comparison between Athenian Democracy and
Parliamentary Democracy according to outcome ...................
1.8 The most important personalities of ancient Greece that
had the greatest influence on mankind ....................................
1.9 Final comments .......................................................................
CHAPTER 2: PHILOCOSMIC DEMOCRACY
2.1 The definition of Philocosmic Democracy .............................
2.2 The basic structure of Philocosmic Democracy ......................
2.3 The first phase = the election phase =
the phase of meritocracy .........................................................
2.4 The second phase = the phase
of sortition = the phase of equality .........................................
2.5 The Philocosmic Administration of the State .........................
2.6 Double elections for the formation
of the Administration of the State: the level of the experts.....
2.7 Flexibility in the implementation of Philocosmic
Democracy ..............................................................................
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Page
2.8
The role of political parties in Philocosmic
Democracy ..............................................................................
2.9 The golden rule of Philocosmic Democracy ...........................
2.10 Final comments .......................................................................
PART B
ECONOMY
CHAPTER 3: ATHENIAN ECONOMY AND TODAY’S
ECONOMIES
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
Introduction ................................................................................
The Athenian economy ..............................................................
Today’s economic systems: the three existing «isms» ..............
Capitalism ..................................................................................
Socialism....................................................................................
Communism ...............................................................................
Today’s economic picture of mankind: globalization ...............
The old and new condition of man’s survival ............................
Final comments ..........................................................................
CHAPTER 4: PHILOCOSMISM
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
What Philocosmism is.............................................................
Expansion of Philocosmism to unions of states and to
the entire planet .......................................................................
Philocosmic Democracy and Philocosmic Economy ..............
Philocosmization will banish globalization ............................
The golden rule of Philocosmism ...........................................
The transition from Parliamentary Democracy and
Capitalism to Athenian Democracy and Philocosmism ..........
Partial implementation of Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism ..........................................................................
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Page
Science and technology at the service of Philocosmic
Democracy and Philocosmism: the Philocosmic
State Interdisciplinary Body .....................................................
4.9 Difficulties in the implementation of Philocosmic
Democracy and Philocosmism and how these can be
overcome .................................................................................
4.10 The world history of mankind and philocosmism ..................
4.11 Final comments .......................................................................
4.8
CHAPTER 5: COUPLING OF PHILOCOSMIC DEMOCRACY
AND PHILOCOSMISM
5.1
5.2
5.3
Introduction .............................................................................
Coupling of Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism ..........................................................................
The golden rule of coupling of Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism ..........................................................................
EPILOGUE......................................................................................
INDEX OF NAMES ........................................................................
LIST OF PICTURES AND FIGURES..........................................
GLOSSARY .....................................................................................
ABBREVIATIONS .........................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................
BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON THE
AUTHOR .........................................................................................
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THE FOUR BOOKS OF PHILOCOSMY
The term “Philocosmy” (in ancient Greek, φιλώ (philo) = to
love) refers to the knowledge, the respect, the care, the protection and
the love for the entire “cosmos”, where the term “cosmos” is allinclusive, from the leaves of a tree and through to the ends of the
universe. You should also note that the terms Philocosmy and
Philocosmic Democracy are, to a great extent, essentially equivalent in
meaning and are used alternatively and as one chooses in the text.
Since 2002 up to the present, I have written a series of books
on Philocosmy in Greek. Four of them have been translated into
English. These books, both in Greek and in English, are presented
below in terms of the ascending number of pages:
BOOK 1
FIRST EDITION
[1a] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Αναγέννηση της
Αθηναϊκής Δημοκρατίας, η Φιλοκοσμική Δημοκρατία, Πρώτη
Έκδοση, Seaburn Publishing Group, N.Y. 2013, σελ. 78, ISBN: 159232-412-6.
[1b] Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos, Rebirth of Athenian
Democracy, Philocosmic Democracy, First Edition, Seaburn
Publishing Group, N.Y., 2013, pp. 78, ISBN: 1-59232-413-4.
[1c]
Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Αναγέννηση της
Αθηναϊκής Δημοκρατίας, η Φιλοκοσμική Δημοκρατία, Πρώτη
Έκδοση, Σύλλογος Φιλοκοσμίας Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, 2013, σελ. 78,
ISBN: 978-618-80777-0-6.
BOOK 1
SECOND EDITION
[1d] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Αναγέννηση της
Αθηναϊκής Δημοκρατίας, η Φιλοκοσμική Δημοκρατία, Δεύτερη
Έκδοση, Σύλλογος Φιλοκοσμίας Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, 2014, σελ. 88,
ISBN: ….
[1e] Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos, Rebirth of Athenian
Democracy, Philocosmic Democracy, Second Edition, Philocosmic
Association of Greece, Athens, 2014, pp. 84, ISBN: …….
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BOOK 2
FIRST EDITION
[2a] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Αναγέννηση της
Αθηναϊκής Δημοκρατίας και Οικονομίας, Φιλοκοσμική Δημοκρατία
και Φιλοκοσμισμός, Πρώτη Έκδοση, Σύλλογος Φιλοκοσμίας Ελλάδος,
Αθήνα, 2014 (υπό ολοκλήρωση).
[2b] Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos, Rebirth of Athenian
Democracy and Economy, Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism, First Edition, Philocosmic Association of Greece,
Athens, 2014 (under completion).
BOOK 3
FIRST EDITION
[3a] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Φιλοκοσμικό
Μανιφέστο, Μία Πρόταση για το Παρόν και το Μέλλον της
Ανθρωπότητας, Πρώτη Έκδοση, Σύλλογος Φιλοκοσμίας Ελλάδος,
Αθήνα, 2015 (υπό ολοκλήρωση).
[3b] Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos, Philocosmic Manifesto,
A Proposal for the Present and Future of Mankind, First Edition,
Philocosmic Association of Greece, Athens, 2015 (under completion).
BOOK 4
FIRST EDITION
[4a] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Το Βιβλίο της
Ανθρωπότητας, Το «Ευφυές Σχέδιο» του Ανθρώπου, Πρώτη Έκδοση,
Seaburn Publishing Group, N.Y., 2011, σελ. 784, ISBN 159232293Χ.
[4b] Paraskevas N. Paraskevopoulos, The Book of Humanity,
Man’s “Intelligent Design”, First Edition, Seaburn Publishing Group,
N.Y., 2011, pp. 752, ISBN 1592322743.
[4c] Παρασκευάς Ν. Παρασκευόπουλος, Το Βιβλίο της
Ανθρωπότητας, Το «Ευφυές Σχέδιο» του Ανθρώπου, Πρώτη Έκδοση,
Σύλλογος Φιλοκοσμίας Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, 2011, σελ. 784, ISBN 978618-80777-2-0.
Book [1] presents the important issue of the rebirth of ancient
Athenian Democracy, analogous to the rebirth of the Olympic Games –
which has already happened.
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Book [2] presents the material of book [1] supplemented with
the rebirth of Athenian Economy.
Book [3] is an extended summary of the voluminous
proposition [4] or, in other words, it constitutes the Philocosmic
Manifesto.
Book [4] presents the outline of a complete proposition
regarding the issue of Philocosmy. As expected, a detailed proposition
on such an important and wide issue would need an extended paper. On
the other hand, were this paper to be accessible to the reader, it should
have a limited number of pages. I devoted time and effort to reduce the
number of pages as much as possible.
The material of book [1] is included in the material of [2], the
material of [2] in the material of [3] and the material of [3] in the
material of [4].
We note that the reason why we wrote the four abovementioned books on Philocosmy is to make it easier for the interested
reader to choose the book most accessible to him, in terms both of
money and time.
We point out that the material covered in each of the four
books is part of the overall work called Philocosmy. To facilitate
matters, the title of each of the four books and the title Philocosmy will
be used interchangeably in the text of each book.
The books published by the Philocosmic Association of Greece
can be obtained from the Association (for further information see pg.
4).
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PROLOGUE
The dominant issue of every society is its political – economic
system. It is that which determines the course of its basic activities, as
are justice, education, the economy, human rights, culture and
humaneness.
This book concentrates on politics and on the economy and is
divided into three Parts, where Part A refers to politics, Part B refers to
the economy and Part C refers to the coexistence of the two. Next we
present a summary of these three Parts.
Part Α: Politics
Part Α consists of chapters 1 and 2, the content of which is the
following:
Chapter 1 presents two political systems: the political system of
ancient Athens, known as Athenian Democracy, and that of
Parliamentary Democracy, which prevails today.
Athenian Democracy has been the best political system ever
invented by mankind. It was implemented only once, in ancient Athens.
Its structure is such that it posits man himself at the epicenter and it
cultivates the universal values, while at the same time effectively
combating both greed and corruption. As concerns our era, Athenian
Democracy has the disadvantage of being extremely difficult to
implement, the reason being that the number of inhabitants of a country
grows so high that it can reach up to millions, up to tens of millions, up
to hundreds of millions, even above that of one billion.
Parliamentary Democracy is the political system which most
countries of the world have adopted today. Parliamentary Democracy
has the advantage of being implementable and is being implemented in
many countries with many tens of millions of inhabitants, even with
that of one billion. The structure of Siamese siblings, the Parliamentary
System and Capitalism, is such that it sets at its epicenter money as
god, a fact which allows for the development of immorality, greed,
corruption, the absence of meritocracy, etc.
Chapter 2 sets forth a new form of political system, which we
name Philocosmic Democracy.
Philocosmic Democracy is the apt union of Parliamentary
Democracy with that of Athenian Democracy. This union is such that it
leads, in our age, to a promising new form of democracy:
13
Part Β: Economy
Part Β consists of chapters 3 and 4, the content of which is the
following:
Chapter 3 presents both the economic system of ancient Greece
and the three economic systems we have today, i.e. capitalism, το
socialism and communism. To facilitate matters, we will call these
three economic systems the three “isms.”
The economic system of ancient Greece was the best
economic system man ever invented. To be specific, its pivotal point
was the following: that there should be wealthy people and poor
people, but never very wealthy or very poor.
A comparison between the economic system of ancient Athens
and today’s three “isms” can be made, roughly, based on today’s usual
way of dividing society into three classes: the upper class, the middle
class and the lower class. Based on this division, we see that Capitalism
has all three classes, Socialism has all three classes, the economic
system of ancient Athens has just one class, specifically the middle
class and, finally, Communism has no classes because it is a classless
society.
The conclusion is what we said above, i.e. that the economic
system of ancient Athens is made up of just one class, the middle class,
so that, by definition, there are neither very wealthy nor very poor
people.
Chapter 4 presents a new form of economic system, which we
call philocosmism.
Philocosmism is the apt union of the economy of ancient
Athens with some of the characteristics of today’s three “isms.” This
union is such that it leads, in our age, to a very promising new form of
economy.
Part C: The Coupling of Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism
Part C consists of just one chapter, chapter 5, the content of
which is the following:
In chapters 2 and 4 we present Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism separately. In chapter 5 we present both together. We
call the coexistence of the two the coupling of Philocosmic Democracy
and Philocosmism.
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This coupling is a new political-economic system, which, if
implemented, will create an all-enveloping environment in which our
life will take on greater meaning and substance and we will live, at last,
the life we deserve.
In closing the presentation of the Prologue, I express the view
that if we are to have serious hopes of being able to significantly
improve our lives, we will have to make a GREAT POLITICAL –
ECONOMIC LEAP. Such a leap is the implementation of the
proposed coupling of Philocosmic Democracy and Philocosmism. If
we do not implement such a radical change, we are flogging a dead
horse.
Finally, we make it clear that Philocosmic Democracy and
philocosmism comprise a proposal meant for DISCUSSION AND
PROBLEMATIZATION as to how we may organize ourselves
politically and economically so as to upgrade our life. It is a proposal
which I believe befits its implementation in our emerging new world.
*
With this book I want little else but to be given the possibility
to extricate myself from the intensifying loneliness which is being
cultivated nowadays and to talk with you, about how we shall manage
the gift of life which we hold in our hands. To let you know how I feel
about the present and the future of mankind, but also to listen to you as
well talking and being concerned for the selfsame issues.
March 21, 2015
P.N. Paraskevopoulos
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1
PART Β
ECONOMY
REBIRTH
OF ATHENIAN
ECONOMY
PHILOCOSMISM
75
1
Achilles and Ajax Amphora. 550 to 530 B.C.
76
1
God created man
and man created
the poor man.
What makes me sadder,
is not the illegality,
the exploitation, the squalor
and the misery caused by bad
people, but the indifference and
silence of good people.
Popular wisdom
The Author
CHAPTER 3
THE ATHENIAN ECONOMY AND
TODAY’S ECONOMIES
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Man’s survival is the major issue of his life. To ensure his
survival, since the beginning of time, he has implemented a plethora of
different economic systems. In this chapter we will present both the
economic system of ancient Athens, which we will call the Athenian
Economy, as well as the three current economic systems, i.e.
capitalism, socialism and communism. In chapter 4, which comes
next, we will present a new economic system which we call
Philocosmic Economy or, in a word, Philocosmism.
3.2 THE ATHENIAN ECONOMY
The Athenian Economy, like Athenian Democracy, in very
general terms, came into effect during the age of Solon (he introduced
the “seisachtheia,” which was a set of laws that abolished public and
private debt) and continued to be improved by Cleisthenes and Pericles.
In this section we will present, briefly and approximately, the basic
characteristics of the Athenian economy, omitting where necessary a
few of its secondary characteristics.
1. Free market. The economic system of ancient Athens was
the free market, in which the forces of supply and demand applied, with
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Chapter 3: Athenian Economy and today’s economies
the following restriction: that there should be neither very wealthy nor
very poor people. Specifically, every person was free to grow
economically, but the wealthy had a reasonable but strict upper limit,
while for the poor there was a reasonable but strict lower limit.
2. Taxation. Taxation was mainly direct. The poorest people
did not pay direct taxes, but only the wealthiest paid. There was also
indirect taxation which was imposed only on luxury goods. Because the
buyers of luxury goods were, as a rule, the wealthiest, this meant that
the poorest people did not pay indirect taxes. In short, the poorest
people did not pay any taxes, except in cases in which they purchased
luxury goods.
3. Contribution to war expenses. Every wealthy person
was obliged to pay a special levy in case of war.
4. Trierarchy. The very wealthy were obliged to pay the
expenses for the construction of a warship, called a trireme, to maintain
and repair it and to train the sailors required so that, in time of war,
everything was ready for action.
5. Sponsorship. The city stipulated that the wealthy had to pay
the expenses for forming and training the members of the chorus of
every theatrical work. We recall that in the theatrical plays of Ancient
Athens, there was always a group of people (i.e. the chorus) that took
part in the play, representing society, i.e. expressing society’s view on
the matters of the play.
6. The exchange of property. When there was going to be
some costly work that was very useful for the city, the expenses of this
work were charged to some wealthy Athenian whom we call, to make it
simpler, wealthy man A. However, if this wealthy man A considered
that he was not the wealthiest man in the city and recommended some
other wealthy man, e.g. wealthy man B, claiming that wealthy man B
was wealthier than him, then the following procedure was followed: If
wealthy man B considered himself to be wealthier than A, he took on
the expenses for the work without protest. If wealthy man B considered
himself to be poorer than A, then B challenged A, telling him that if he
insisted that he (wealthy man B) was wealthier than him (wealthy man
A), then he would gladly take on the expenses for the work on
condition that they exchanged property. It is obvious that the final
decision would reveal which of the two was the wealthier. Obviously
the institution of exchanging property helped in revealing the assets of
the wealthy of the Demos.
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Chapter 3: Athenian Economy and today’s economies
7. The redistribution of wealth. The six examples above have
a common denominator: the wealthy paid every sort of expenses for
city works, while the rest of the citizens did not share in the expenses.
In this way, the wealthy became poorer, while the poor enjoyed the city
works funded by the wealthy. In addition, the wealthy financed the
poor so that they would have a better life. For example, they paid the
expenses of the tickets so that the poor could see theatrical plays. In
short, this kind of financial management of the wealth of the citizens of
Ancient Athens was nothing other than the redistribution of wealth
(from the wealthy to the poor).
8. The acquisition of a large fortune was obstructed. The
economic institutional framework of the Demos obstructed the
acquisition of large fortunes. Large, opulent houses, displays of wealth,
etc. were unheard of. If someone made the mistake of displaying his
wealth, very quickly the expenses of some city work would dampen his
desire to show off.
9. The example of the prostitute. It is worth mentioning the
following. In A.D., the activity of the free market was restricted.
Indicatively, we mention the following example: a very beautiful
prostitute was being “claimed” by four men. For her “services,” one of
them offered half a drachma, the other one drachma, the third one and a
half drachma and the fourth, two drachmas. A fee of over two
drachmas was incompatible with the spirit of Democracy and would
have caused a socio-political scandal, because no one could enjoy the
charms of a prostitute (as well as other similar pleasures) for the simple
reason that he was the wealthiest. In the end, all four men wanted the
beautiful prostitute so much that all four offered two drachmas. In this
case, selection by lot (!) among the four settled the question of who
would have the prostitute!
10. The distribution of wealth and political power. In
ancient Athens there were economic classes, the number of which was
not constant. For the purposes of this paragraph, we will assume that
the number of classes was four. In very general terms, the first and the
second class were wealthy, with the first being the wealthiest, while the
third and fourth were the poor classes, with the fourth being the
poorest. The sum total of citizens (voters) of the first along with the
second, i.e. the wealthy, was approximately 1/3 of the total number of
citizens of the Assembly of the Demos, whereas the third class along
with the fourth class, i.e. the poor, made up 2/3. This means that the
majority of the Assembly of the Demos was held by the poor. So,
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Chapter 3: Athenian Economy and today’s economies
comparing the power of wealth with political power, we see that it was
inversely proportional. This shows that the wealthy and the poor were
fused, compromised and together comprised the Demos. This picture of
ancient Athens is unshakeable proof that Athenian Democracy was
indeed a popular Democracy and its culture was a popular culture. This
picture of ancient Athens was nothing other than the appropriate
atmosphere in which its citizens could use their talents, not only
economic, but also mainly intellectual, to advantage. Today’s
Parliamentary Democracy is very nearly the opposite.
11. Aristotle. In addition to the above and with the aim of
providing a more complete picture of Athenian Democracy along with
the Athenian Economy, we cite the view of Aristotle, which, very
briefly, is the following:
What citizens should offer the state (citizens’ obligations):
 Participation in public matters.
 Protection of the Democracy from those that would harm
it.
What the state should off its citizens (citizens’ rights):
 Equality for all.
 Reasonable and sufficient ownership.
 Prosperity for all.
 The common good for all.
It is worth mentioning the following: the ancient Athenians
lived essentially simply and moderately. If someone wanted to live
richly, he was not welcome in Athens. If he insisted on wanting to live
richly, then he had to go to another city.
I hope that sometime in the future mankind will live within the
framework of the Athenian economy, simply and moderately. If
someone insists on wanting to live richly, then he will have to go to
another planet. He will no longer be welcome on our planet.
3.3 TODAY’S
EXISTING “ISMS”
ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS:
THE
THREE
Nowadays there are three economic systems, or briefly, three
‘isms,’ which are capitalism, socialism and communism. All three of
these “isms” have been tested and have failed (they have not made the
grade), because they have unfortunately proven in practice to be
insufficient to guarantee the continuation of a life that is just and
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Chapter 3: Athenian Economy and today’s economies
humane. If only just one of these systems had proven capable of
ensuring a good or even tolerable life for all of us. Unfortunately, none
of them was able to fulfill this requirement, which is the main goal of
any economic system.
In figure 3.1 shows, just approximately, the distribution of the
population of the planet in each of the three “isms,” demonstrating the
differences between the wealthy and the poor.
In sections 3.4, 3.5 και 3.6 which follow, we will present
capitalism, socialism and communism, respectively.
3.4 CAPITALISM
Capitalism is a three-class society in which the distribution of
the population resembles an upside-down long-stemmed wine glass
[figure 3.1(a)]. The three classes are the upper class, the middle class
and the lower class. Roughly speaking, 3% of the total population lives
in the upper class, 7% in the middle class, while 90% live in the lower
class in capitalistic countries. If we want to see, instead of the
distribution of the population, the distribution of wealth, we have to
turn the cone upside down, so that the figure will be, roughly speaking,
like a tall wine glass or, even better, like a champagne glass. The father
of capitalism was Adam Smith (picture 3.2).
The moral fabric of capitalism includes the following elements:
freedom, precise speech, personal interest, the pursuit of personal
property, individual success and personal happiness. In practice, it is a
success for only a few people and never for everyone. And these few
people will reach personal happiness by exploiting others, even
stepping on the bodies of their fellow humans.
Capitalism has brought about great material improvement. This
improvement is very significant because it has influenced man’s
standard of living in a positive way. However, in order to achieve this,
it has subjugated man to the logic of productivity, efficiency and
consumption. This is the all-embracing logic of modern industrial
society which, like a torrent, has swept us onto the path to total
alienation. On this path, modern man, estranged from his real self,
becomes prey to an indirectly imposed continual need to earn his
living. And to do this, he works as much and as “efficiently” as he can,
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Figure 3.1 The three “isms” Capitalism (three-class society), Socialism (three-class society) and Communism
(classless society). The figures show, approximately, for each “ism” the distribution of the population all over
the planet, showing the differences between the wealthy and the poor.
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Adam Smith (1723 – 1790).
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883).
Picture 3.2. The founder of capitalism, Adam Smith, and the founder of
communism, Karl Marx.
often at two, or even three, jobs. And in the end, he ESSENTIALLY
loses what he has tried so hard to earn: his life.
In nature, there is no profiteering. In capitalism, it rules.
Capitalism degrades and, in the end, destroys the two greatest factors of
our planet: man and nature.
Ideal capitalism is a wonderful utopia. Our great objection to
ideal capitalism is that it cannot be put into practice. That is because
what we called abilities and aptitudes end up being in inhumane mania
of man exploiting man, to the point that the “abilities” and “aptitudes”
turn into wiles and machinations for cheating, exploiting and
oppressing others, so that you can become richer and more powerful.
If only we could create a society of honest capitalists. In
practice, we see that, unfortunately, we cannot. That is why we
maintain that the ideal capitalist is not feasible. Besides, everyone that
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lives in a capitalist country knows that, in practice, capitalism emits an
increasingly suffocating odor of immorality and inhumanity.
I am sorry to say that, unfortunately, the free economy society
is reduced to a society-swamp of special interests, graft, speculation,
profiteering, usury, inhumanity and criminality. Thus, capitalism drives
us to what Thomas Hobbes said:
“Man is a wolf to other men.” (Homo homini, lupus).
To see the truth, look at the entire Earth, where 3/4 of mankind
lives in poverty, while half of them live in absolute poverty, and the
planet is being savagely murdered.
3.5 SOCIALISM
Socialism is a three-class society in which the distribution of
the population resembles an egg or, even better, an American football
[figure 3.1(b)]. Roughly speaking, 25% of the population lives in the
upper class, 50% live in the middle class, while 25% live in the lower
class. Socialism is an endangered species. This is because very rich
people are allowed to exist in the socialistic countries. The wealth is
gradually concentrated in the hands of a few, who obviously have a
“kinship” with capitalism and, therefore, seek the country’s
transformation from socialism to capitalism. This, among other things,
results in the socialist parties moving from the left toward the middle
(and some nearly to the right), which leads to the socialistic countries
being absorbed by the capitalistic ones, as has happened in nearly all of
the European countries with the exception of the Scandinavian
countries.
3.6 COMMUNISM
Communism is a classless society which resembles a flat disc
[σχήμα 3.1(γ)]. The classless society has no upper, middle or lower
class. Here, the whole of society lives in a regime where no one is
poorer, or wealthier, than anyone else. The disc moves upward or
downward, according to the economic conditions of each particular
communist country. A few examples of such countries are Vietnam,
North Korea, Cuba and China. The father of communism was Karl
Marx (picture 3.2).
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The “ideal” classless society is a wonderful utopia. Our major
objection to the classless society is that it cannot be put into practice. If
only it could. However, it has been proven in practice that, instead of
an ideal classless society, we are reduced to a society of oppressed,
regimented and miserable people, in which the few most fervent
communists (the so-called nomenklatura) hold the reins of society in
their hands and live very well, while the people live in a very bed state.
In practice, the classless society turned out to be nothing more than a
mass of idle employees sunk in an unethical bureaucracy, resulting in a
nation and its leadership forming a society of stagnancy in almost
everything, living in poverty and humiliation. Particularly on the
subject of poverty, the following “cute” thing was heard around the
former Soviet Union: that the people, for their part, said “We pretend to
work and they pretend to pay us.” The leadership, for their part, said:
“We pretend to pay them and they pretend to work.” Just this is
perhaps enough to draw our own conclusions about the low “speed” of
the economic and social development of the former Soviet Union.
It is also important to mention that the “locomotive” of
communism, i.e. the labor force, has also become a disappearing
breed, particularly following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
Today, the labor force has weakened, not only in the capitalistic
countries of the West, but also in the poor countries in the rest of the
world. In my opinion, this situation is extremely worrying because, if
this finding is true that, in fact, the labor force all around the world has
weakened, this means that the last bulwark in the battle against
injustice, poverty and illiteracy of people in every corner of the Earth
has fallen.
There are many among our fellow humans, firm supporters of
Marxism, for whom the only solution to today’s planetary dead ends is
to implement communism on Earth. Personally, I absolutely respect
this wish of theirs. However, it is my opinion that their proposal is
unfeasible, is impracticable, mainly for the very practical reason that
you cannot seriously hope to get mankind out of its great dead ends
through an approach (whatever that might be) that was tried for over a
century in many countries, large and small, wealthy as well as poor,
and which just recently collapsed. That is why I firmly believe that we
must seek a new approach which is practicable and which will be
more likely to succeed.
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3.7 TODAY’S ECONOMIC PICTURE OF MANKIND:
GLOBALIZATION
Mankind’s economic picture today can be summarized in just
one word: globalization. Globalization is the spreading of capitalism
from one side of the Earth to the other. We have to admit that
globalization has unfortunately created many serious problems for
mankind. We note the following.
 Financial profit from stocks every minute of the day is
around 100 million dollars. Production, which is the real driving force
of development, is shrinking so that the flimsy and dangerous economy
of the stock market expands, and among other things, we have the
laundering of dirty black market money, that is, fraud, dirty business,
graft and criminality and the arms and narcotics trade. In short, the only
substantial reason for capitalism to exist, the investment of capital in
production, has been done away with, since the daily production of
goods and services for the entire population of our planet is estimated
to be about 5% of the volume of financial transactions on the stock
market.
 Globalization is aimed at the domination of world
capitalism, that is, of multinational capital. In the face of that, the
power of the state is continuously being weakened and called into
question by the might and grasp of multinational corporations.
 The nations take no action and appear weak, so that they
cover up the spread and dominance of globalization, which is leading to
an explosion of untold proportion in unemployment (particularly
among young people), poverty, misery and social alienation. The
citizens’ special voice in the decision-making process has been
desperately reduced.
 In order to survive, man needs material goods. He has to
work in order to acquire them and survive. In a capitalistic society, the
need for material goods is transformed into servitude, into false needs.
This in turn leads to the worship of profit, property and money. This
transformation of need to worship pushes man into vanity, emptiness
and to cold, unadulterated individualism. However, we inform all those
that worship money that money, real money, is man.
 The great desire for material goods cannot coexist with
spiritual goods. It is like putting water (material goods) together with
fire (spiritual goods). It is certain that the water will “beat” the fire and
will extinguish it.
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 There is no vision of a better world. The goal of
globalization is to make the rich even richer and, as a result, the poor
even poorer.
 Globalization operates with increasing irresponsibility,
with impunity, with brutality, with corruption and high-handedness.
Democracy and the participation of all citizens are being suppressed,
often to an unendurable extent.
 The 3 wealthiest people in the world have fortunes which
surpass the sum of the Gross National Products (GNP) of the 28 least
developed countries on our planet.
 The 82 wealthiest people in the world have an annual
income that equals the annual income of all(!) of the Indian people,
who number around 1.1 billion!
 The 358 wealthiest people in the world have an annual
income that equals the annual income of half(!) of the population of the
Earth, which is 3.5 billion people! In other words, each one of those
wealthy people, on average, has an income that equals that of 10
million people. To put it more simply: Each one of those wealthy
people, on average, has an annual income that equals that of all the
inhabitants of a country such as Greece.
 One quarter of the population of the Earth has an income
of no more than one dollar a day. They live, as characterized by the
United Nations, in absolute poverty. It is uncertain whether they will
find food from one day to the next.
 1% of the wealthiest people on Earth enjoy 40% of the
world’s wealth. 40% of the poorest people on Earth enjoy 2.5% of the
world’s wealth.
 20% of the wealthiest people on Earth control 83.5% of
the world’s wealth. The next 20% control 12% of the world’s wealth.
The next 20% control 2%. The next 20% control 1.5% and, finally, the
20% of the poorest people control 1% of the world’s wealth.
 Globalization manipulates us and makes us its hostages
and slaves, not with our legs chained (as in the past), but with our
minds chained.
 The largest banks and credit ratings agencies play a key
role, nearly always with disastrous consequences for the nations of the
Earth.
 The power of the usury and profiteering of banks is so
great that it can lead countries into bankruptcy, and even to the
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dissolution of unions of nations, such as the European Union (Ε.U.),
but may also lead the whole of humanity into poverty and squalor, so
long as the banks increase their profits.
 The banks dominate to such a degree that they turn
democracy into ‘bankocracy.’
 Politicians cannot govern their countries because the banks
“govern” the politicians.
 The multinational corporations turn democracy into
‘corporatocracy.’
 The core of capitalism is corporatism; it is the mammoth
financial trade union which govern the world. They are not interested in
society, but only in increasing their profits. For this reason they must be
abolished. If they are not abolished, they will abolish us.
 We are living in the age of the dictatorship of the
markets. In the age of the dictatorship of money.
 In conclusion, we can say that capitalism and globalization
have totally failed to build a better life for all of us. On the contrary,
they have led humanity into an ocean of wretchedness, which is
growing more and more with every day that passes.
As we know, nowadays the center of capitalism and of
globalization is the U.S.A. (picture 3.3).
We close this section with Erich Fromm, who expresses the
view, with which we absolutely agree, that modern man, free of
medieval bonds, was not free to create a life full of meaning, a life
based on logic and love, and thus, sought to find some kind of security
in subjugating himself to a leader, a race or a nation. Life in twentieth
century democracy constitutes in many ways another escape from
freedom, escape to alienation. And this is because he focuses all of his
energy on being economically productive and not on developing a
humane personality. Thus, man has become alienated from the world
that he himself created, from his fellow humans, from the things he
uses and consumes, from his government, from himself. He is a hetero
(other)-determined personality. A society of people like that is a sick
society. A healthy society is one in which no person is used as a means
of achieving someone else’s goals, one in which man is at the center
and where all of his economic and political activities are subject to the
development of man.
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3.8 THE OLD AND NEW CONDITION OF MAN’S SURVIVAL
a. The old conditions of man’s survival
It is commonly accepted that nature has created an armory of
mechanisms for every life form, whose function is to achieve, first and
foremost, its survival and its perpetuation. The more difficult of the
two by far is survival.
Particularly for man, up to now, survival has been the most
important factor in human development. On the individual level, on the
family level and on the social level, man has developed mechanisms for
the protection of his most precious possession, which is his life.
The greatest effort for survival is made at the individual level.
Each one of us tries to attain as many “qualifications” as possible so
that he can ensure his survival. These “qualifications” can be grouped
in two categories: The personal and the economic. The personal ones
are the professional ones and the job, as well as physical and mental
health. Economic interests are movable property and real estate.
At the family level, we have the basic rule, which is that every
member of the family contributes in his own way to both his own
survival as well as that of the other members (of course there are wellknown variations, such as when the parents offer much more to their
children than the children offer them).
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REBIRTH OF ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMY PHILOCOSMIC
DEMOCRACY AND PHILOCOSMISM
Athenian Democracy was the political system of ancient Athens. It is based
on sortition (lottery) and prevention and its structure is such that it limits and even
nullifies the development of vices in politics (such as greed, immorality, the absence of
meritocracy, fraudulency and corruption).
Parliamentary Democracy is the present-day political system. It is based on
elections and on suppression (“catastoly”) and its structure is such that it allows for
the development of many and very serious vices in politics.
Athenian Economy was based on the following principle: People will live in
just one class, the middle class, which had a “lower” and “upper” economic limit,
where the “lower” limit decisively restricts the poverty of the poor and the “upper”
limit decisively restricts the wealth of the wealthy.
Capitalism has a “lower” limit which is zero, and an “upper” limit which is
infinity. Today there are hundreds of millions of people living at the zero limit because
they and their children are dying of hunger. At the same time, there are extremely
wealthy people. Of course, their wealth has not reached infinity, but sooner or later they
will achieve this.
Philocosmic Democracy has as its major characteristic the union of
Parliamentary Democracy with Athenian Democracy, or otherwise, the union of
elections with sortition. During the election phase, we select many more candidates
than we need for the manning of positions – as, for instance, those of Parliament – and
next, in the course of the sortition phase, we only select however as many we need for
the manning of the positions of Parliament.
Philocosmic Economy or Philocosmism follows in the footsteps of
Athenian Economy. Philocosmism is mainly an economic system in which the basic
needs of the poor are covered while for the wealthy there is the opportunity to
accumulate very limited wealth.
The Golden Rule of Philocosmic Democracy: elections are held on the
basis of merit while, political power is distributed as follows: a little power to many for
a short period of time and without the right to re-election to the same office. The
golden rule of Philocosmism: that there should be poor and wealthy people, but never
very poor or very wealthy.
The coupling of Philocosmic Democracy and Philocosmism will greatly
surpass the coupling of Parliamentary Democracy and Capitalism which we have today
because it is a preventive political-economic system, which frees politics and the
economy of their ills, since it will preempt them before they even manifest themselves.
If it is adopted, it will radically change our lives for the better. It is a proposal that
ought to be implemented in our emerging new world.
It is a fact that Athenian Democracy and Economy are reborn out of
Philocosmic Democracy and Philocosmism. However, their regeneration is not fully
achieved, though they are achieved in many of their main characteristics. The complete
regeneration of Athenian Democracy and Economy and their implementation could
possibly be examined in the distant future, but only after Philocosmic Democracy and
Philocosmism have been implemented with success.