Stoicism & care:
Stoicism embraced cosmopolitanism: all people are manifestations of one universal spirit & should live in brotherly love and readily help one another.  Epictetus (in the Discourses) says: "Each human being is primarily a citizen of his own commonwealth; but he is also a member of the great city of gods and men, whereof the city political is only a copy."  This sentiment echoes Diogenes of Sinope, who said "I am not an Athenian or a Corinthian, but a citizen of the world."  They held external differences (rank & wealth) were of no importance in social relationships & advocated the brotherhood of humanity & the natural equality of all human beings.  They were noted for their clemency toward slaves.  Seneca said: "Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies."

 

Buddhism & care: * see Endnote 24

Buddhism (though primarily contemplative) from inception held strong social justice ethics, born from the fundamental principle of compassionate action.  The Buddha says we make choices (karma) that have consequences.  If informed by wisdom & compassion, the outcome will be happiness; if informed by greed, hatred & delusion, the outcome will be suffering.  In social justice the Buddha said it is normal for people to want pleasures in life but when greed becomes excessive it creates conflict.  This conflict occurs because the earth can only supply so much.  If some take beyond what is reasonable, others go without.  Inequality is born, from which comes jealousy, distrust, lies, crime & violence.  To manage this, humans invent social constructs such as laws, customs, classes, private property, and government

 

carpe diem:

Latin aphorism, translated "seize the day", from Odes (book 1) by Roman poet Horace (23 BC)

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Orders (religious) model agriculture of: * see Endnote 25

The Cistercian religious order was most famous for its work on the land.  They chose isolated rural locations to build their monasteries.  They were not as scholarly as the Benedictines, but focussed on agriculture and hard manual labour. 

 

national economy:

the economy of a nation as an economic unit; perceived as greater than the sum of the individual units within it. It includes both manufacturing & service sectors.  A capitalist national economy emerges in the formation of nation states from the development of productive forces, division of labour, specialization of production sectors, national markets & large-scale mechanized production.  It is based on private ownership of the means of production and on the profitable use of hired labour.  Often cyclical in nature (boom-bust).  A socialist national economy is based on public ownership of the means of production, on labour without exploitation; it is a planned economy.  The aggregate social product created belongs to the working people.  An important characteristic is the combination of centralized administration with active participation by production collectives, local bodies & workers.

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Frederick Williams I: 

(1688-1740)  King in Prussia & Elector of Brandenburg from 1713-40; father of Frederick the Great.  On becoming king he disposed of his fathers' horses, jewels & furniture & refused to treat the treasury as his personal source of revenue.  He was characterized by his frugal, austere, militaristic lifestyle & devout Calvinist faith.  He centralized & improved Prussia, economically & militarily; replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, established schools & hospitals; he resettled East Prussia (devastated by the plague in 1709).  He encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times & sold it in bad. He dictated the manual of Regulations for State Officials, in which every public servant in Prussia could find his duties.  He was an autocrat & practiced rigid management of the treasury, never started a war, led a simple, austere lifestyle (in contrast to the lavish court his father).  In 1740, Prussia (unlike the rest of Germany) had a sound exchequer & a full treasury.