The time for the Third Secularism is here. First there was the separation of Church and State. This ended the powerful influence of the Church on governments and people at the end of the Middle Ages. We all know, of course that this struggle took centuries and by some measures is far from over. The Twentieth century brought the Second Secularism, the separation of Military and State, successful in many countries, though not in all. In the USA, the division of power prevents a military take over, – we hope! However, in many countries the military is still firmly in power. The ongoing struggle of the Twenty First century will become known as the Third Secularism, the separation of state and corporations. Today corporate influence on governments around the world is as powerful and controlling as the Church was by the end of the Middle Ages.  The Third Secularism needs you! If we want true democracy, of the people and for the people, we must build a firewall between corporate money and elected representatives.

This is an extremely important question. It involves values and value preservation. In a society that moves rapidly toward consumerism it is the country folk who loose, but that is only the surface. In the end we all loose if city culture swallows country life. Consumerism lures peasants and the rural poor into the cities with the promise of jobs, higher wages and an increased consumption of goods.  The reality of this rural flight to the cities in search of a better life is often discouraging. It can be observed in many mega-cities all over this world, from Buenos Aires, to Casablanca and Calcutta. The rural migrants often live in primitive Shanty towns under miserable conditions. Work is scarce, especially for those who have nothing left to sell except their bodies and their labor. They have lost the little piece of land that “back home” they were able to work, grow vegetables and perhaps keep a goat or some chickens. Lost is their supportive community and often lost is their happiness.

Collective Orchestration, as I have described it, is not in itself necessarily positive. It is a technology nature uses that sometimes can turn against itself and become destructive. A good example is perhaps the growth of cancer cells in a body. Cancer cells follow the same principle a healthy cell tissue follows. They cooperate with the goal to grow bigger. But cancer cells do not live within a larger system of cells and cooperate with it. They are out to destroy it. The previously healthy human body, incapable of fighting back, becomes ill. The human immune system resists the invader, but all to often the invader wins and the larger system is destroyed. This is an example for the process of Collective Orchestration to turn against its own hosting system. Consumerism is like a cancer within the system of society, and our world community. If people, infected and obsessed with mindless consumption, win the upper hand it will destroy our human community and eco system.

I am not saying we should not consume at all. But we must consume wisely and with moderation. These are values that can easily be found among peasants and country folk. A farmer cannot and will not over-plant and over-use the land, but will handle his resources wisely in order for the land to continue giving. Consumerism purposefully creates false hopes and paints a utopian mirage consisting of shiny automobiles that are built in a way that they fall apart fast, so the consumer has to go and spend his hard earned money on another throw- away item. From my own experience I have learned the values of caring for the land. I was an organic farmer for 13 years. From Native Americans I have learn that in our decision-making process we must keep an eye on the effect we will have on the next seven generation, not just on the immediate gratification and the pocket book.

Consumption and city life in itself is not absolutely bad. It’s just that in the integration process the country to city relationship is lopsided. The country folk are often silent partners and voiceless witnesses of their own destruction. We, who live in the city must take great care not to wipe out completely the values and achievements of our country culture, which at one time all our ancestors shared.

After a long flight we are back home in the USA. We are greeted with the headlines of a terrible shooting in Tucson. Six innocent bystanders dead. Target of the rampage: Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Welcome home. During a lecture I attend the next day at my former college, I am asking myself the question: What is home? During the European Enlightenment people like Schiller and Goethe had the lofty idea to become “citizens of the world.” Today this is more achievable than in any other time in history. I have always made it my goal to feel at home in many different countries. Born in Czechoslovakia, raised in Germany, and living for most of my adult life in the USA, I feel at home in Morocco, Poland, the Ukraine, China and a few other places. Well, not really at home. The truth is, I don’t really know what home means. The lecture I attended by Ibu Patel, a former student of mine who is now Presidential advisor for interfaith dialogue, circled around the question of home. Ibu said he likes to come home to Chicago, the city his parents had emigrated to coming from India. I like Chicago, but is it really my home? My son Daniel has a different take. He and his wife were with us on the tip through Morocco. During the last days my wife mentioned that it will be good to go home. Daniel pointed at his wife Andrea and said: Whereever she is, that’s my home. That is mostly the case for me, too. It’s people that are close to you, people you love, that make a home.