Dialogue as a Restraint on Wealth

Abstract

I long to live a life of integrity and wholeness. As I imagine this life, it is both a life of purpose and comfort. It is a life where I learn to accept, appreciate, and take responsibility for the environment in which I live and of which I am a part. It is a life where I demonstrate respect and love for others through everyday actions. It demands patience and humility. I must continually learn to listen more fully, and to respond and to give back more generously. This life includes a search for a plurality of good-enough meanings. Where I cannot already find meaning, I must be prepared to create it together with others through dialogue. I must keep growing and learning even in my darkest hours, even in the face of painful suffering. This is a life where real joy and happiness are goals to be embraced and shared.

Technical civilization is the product of labor, of man’s exertion of power for the sake of gain, for the sake of producing goods. It begins when man, dissatisfied with what is available in nature, becomes engaged in a struggle with the forces of nature in order to enhance his safety and increase his comfort. To use the language of the Bible, the task of civilization is to subdue the earth, to have dominion over the beast.

How proud we often are of our victories in the war with nature, proud of the multitude of instruments we have succeeded in inventing, of the abundance of commodities we have been able to produce. Yet our victories have come to resemble defeats. In spite of our triumphs, we have fallen victims to the work of our hands; it is as if the forces we had conquered have conquered us.

—Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath