Riane Eisler–The Real Wealth of Nations

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It should be no surprise to anyone that America is entering a signficant recession. The financial markets have had their values stripped away, oil prices are at four year lows, unemployment is rising, financial firms have failed, foreclosures are growing, and the automakers are in Washington looking for a $25 billion dollar bail out. Doug believes that this recession and adjustment is not a crisis. Instead, it is an opportunity to rethink the way we do business. And the choice the Obama administration will have ahead is whether to continue doing business the same way and face the same economic boom, shifting of wealth to the few, and the inevitable collapse from the bubble of greed, or think about other ways making money.

Doug’s guest on the December 4, 2008 edition of The Doug Noll Show is Riane Eisler. Riane Eisler is president of the Center for Partnership Studies and author of the international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade, as well as of the award-winning Tomorrow’s Children, The Power of Partnership, and Sacred Pleasure. Dr. Eisler is a pioneer in the study of complex systems and the recipient of many honors. She is a consultant to business and government on applications of the partnership model introduced in her work and keynotes conferences worldwide.

Doug asks Dr. Eisler about her fundamental work. She tells us that the fundamental question she has studied in her career is, how as a society, do we support our capacity for compassion? Dr. Eisler tells us that she was born in Vienna as the Nazi’s exerted domination power in Austria. Her parents immigrated her family to the slums of Havana Cuba and she was plunged into poverty. As a result of her childhood experiences, she became deeply concerned about the future of the people of planet.

Dr. Eisler tells us that the current political, economic, and cultural categories are useless for creating conditions that support compassion and sustainability area. Thus, she began to recognize two systems of culture: the partnership system and the domination system. In the domination system, caring is devalued. In the partnership system, caring and compassion are two of the highest values. The real wealth of the nation is the contributions of people and nature. Consequently, we must be looking at a full spectrum of economic theory, not just a theory based on exchange.

Doug asks Dr. Eisler about her seminal work, The Chalice and the Blade. Dr. Eissler tells us that the Blade is the metaphor for domination power. Domination power is hierarchical, top-down, and supported by power and force. The chalice is a metaphor for partnership power based on nurturing, and hierarchies of actualization. In a partnership, power, leadership inspires, motivates, and most people to their highest potential. Dr. Eissler’s latest book, the real wealth of Nations, provides a toolkit to orient thought leaders and political leaders to partnership concepts, especially as it relates to economic policy.

Doug asks Dr. Eissler went by she would give to the Obama administration area. Dr. Iser says that family and education must be at the center of economic policy. Good childhood terror is the best long-term investment, that this country can make for its long-term economic wealth. Up until now, political administrations have devalued, child care taking as soft, feminine, and women’s work. However, many studies have demonstrated that the status of women is a better indicator of wealth than gross domestic product. Thus, the nonmarket economy must be attended to, and measured with the current tools available to policymakers. The issue is not one of ability to measure non-market economies, but whether there is political will.

In The Peacemakers Bookshelf, Doug reviews The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, by Philip Zimbardo.

Doug asks Dr. Eisler how people can become involved in helping the Obama administration move from a domination economy to a partnership economy. Dr. Eisler suggests that people go to changegov and ask for the Obama administration to understand our postindustrial economy based on nontraditional values. She also asks that we read The Real Wealth of Nations and use it to start changing the conversation about economic values.