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5 fundamental principles
11 social and socio-economic principles
Existence Leadership
Economic democracy Democracy
"State vs. private" Neo-humanism
Beyond collectivism and individualism
Prout compared with capitalism
and communism
To distinguish Prout clearly from communism and
capitalism, the significant differences between these respective systems
are reviewed below.
1) Human development. Human development under communism
is primarily concerned with the political and economic spheres of life.
Under capitalism there is a pluralistic expression of personal freedom,
with no clear conception of human potentiality. Prout promotes the
integrated development of the full human personality.
2) Freedom. Human liberty under communism is limited by
the primacy of the interests of the state Under capitalism, a licentious
freedom of expression is permitted, but not a freedom from want and
material insecurity. In practice, capitalist societies will restrict
freedom of expression when this expression challenges the interests of
capital. Prout grants full freedom of psychic and spiritual expression,
but recognizes the need for society to place limits on individual
hoarding of wealth. Without this limitation, collective interests will
be violated and universal freedom from want cannot be guaranteed.
3) Privileged interests. Communism privileges the
interests of the party and state. Capitalism gives primacy to property
rights, and thus privileges the class controlling capital Prout gives
central importance to promoting the common welfare while protecting
ecological integrity.
4) Progress. Both communism and capitalism regard
material development as the basis of progress. Prout defines progress as
the increase in inner fulfillment of individuals. While this is
primarily a spiritual conception of progress, Prout recognizes that
material development is necessary as a foundation for seeking spiritual
fulfillment.
5) Culture. Communism compels culture to be consistent
with state ideology. Under capitalism, mass culture primarily serves
commercial interests. As a result, it is creative but not authentic,
energetic but often destructive of higher values. Prout sees need for
culture to emerge out of regional and ethnic experience, and for these
diverse cultures to instill values which give empower the human psyche.
6) Motivation. Communism emphasizes income equality at
the expense of individual productivity. Capitalism’s system of
incentives motivates high productivity, but the excess of its monetary
rewards wastes collective wealth, encourages greed, and disrupts social
unity. Prout strives for balance: maximizing the efficacy of incentive
while minimizing social inequality.
7) Environment. Both communism and capitalism lack a
clear value context for environmental protection. Prout has adopted the
value framework of neo-humanism, which affirms the inherent, existential
value of all life. Both communism and capitalism are unsuited to
sustaining environmental integrity because they emphasize short term
gain of profit or productivity and ignore long term costs of
environmental degradation. Prout’s planning system aims to create ever
higher orders of balance, and therefore inherently protects biodiversity
and promotes ecosystem vitality.
8) Planning. Under communism, economic planning is
highly centralized and controlled by the state. Capitalism centralizes
the major part of economic planning in the hands of huge, transnational
corporations. Prout decentralizes planning authority to the level at
which people are most aware of economic problems and potentialities, and
therefore best able to plan for their common welfare.
9) Labor. Workers in both communist and capitalist
economies are alienated due to lack of ownership or control of their
workplace. Prout’s enterprise system is based on worker participation
in decision making and cooperative ownership of assets—conditions
which increase motivation and enhance possibilities for personal
fulfillment.
10) Economy. Communism’s command economy is responsive
to production quotas. Capitalism’s free market economy is profit
motivated. Prout’s economy is consumption oriented. It seeks to
increase in consumer purchasing power and availability of consumer goods
as the means for maintaining economic vitality and meeting people’s
amenity needs.
From A Comprehensive
Guide To The Study of Prout,
The Proutist Writers Group Of New York Sector
www.prout.org
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