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L. Ladouce: Towards Global Development
Written by Laurent Ladouce, UPF-France
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Paper presented at the Focus Group on Peace and Development Network
Global Peace Festival-UK, November 22, 2008
The United Nations, having the goal of world peace, made development a priority and created the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1965. The UNDP conducted development programs and research worldwide for several decades; its expertise commands respect and humility. Yet, the UNDP itself often revised drastically its own approach to development; its own literature contains much self-criticism. It will surely continue to do so. The Universal Peace Federation offers constructive insights in this ongoing debate.
The driving force behind development
Why should there be development? And what for? Development requires a motivation or driving force behind it and purpose and values ahead of it. For decades, a purely economic approach prevailed. But development should make our life more fully human. It should offer us new freedoms, not just more needs. The case of Lytou Bouapao, the Director of Finance in the Ministry of Education of Laos, is worth citing in this context. He writes: "My background is Hmong. The Hmong minority of Laos is poorly integrated and thus can do little to develop the country. We were 11 children at home, my parents were illiterate. Yet, my father said that all his children would go to university. Being himself a hard-working leader he gave us a strict education. Each year, he would sell an ox to pay for our studies. We managed, all boys and girls, went at least to college. I studied in France, one brother got a Ph.D. in Germany, another one studied in Australia. A good living abroad was tempting. We are all in the homeland, working in the public sector: our father educated his children to be smarter than him - but not more selfish, materialist, and greedy."
Such patterns exist in other developing nations, where the driving force behind development is the responsible heart of parents, who want their children to live a meaningful and valuable life, which will benefit the nation. As long as this heart remains, the challenges of development worldwide can be overcome. Is this view simplistic? Let us recall Dag Hammarskjöld, the former Secretary-General of the UN. His motivation when approaching public office was similar. Being head of the UN was not a job or a position, but a universal mission of service to the human family given by the ultimate parent:
"From generations of soldiers and government officials on my father’s side I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country - or humanity. This service required a sacrifice (...) From scholars and clergymen on my mother’s side, I inherited a belief that, in the radical sense of the Gospels, all men were equals as children of God, and should be met and treated by us as our masters in God."1
Likewise, among the guiding principles of UPF’s approach to development, there is the strong belief that:
- We are one human family created by God.
- Living for the sake of others is the way to reconcile the divided human family.
The UPF also stresses that the family is the school of love; and that spiritual and moral values have priority over material values. These are crucial components of true human development.
What should be developed?
What is “development”? What should be developed? The universe developed from the big bang until today. Living organisms develop. The gradual maturation of a self toward its completion, from potential to actuality, from “would be” to “be” is development. What grows, then, is simply the self.
Nations also develop, or grow toward national maturity. A nation is born, develops and becomes an embodiment of its founding ideals. Part of this development concerns what Adam Smith coined the "wealth of nations." While “prosperity” is rather static, “the wealth of nations” is a dynamic concept. As a snowball gets bigger, it may create an avalanche; likewise the “wealth of nations” is an accumulation of capital, which is reinvested to generate more wealth. National development is self-replicating national abundance.
Smith became the theoretician of a phenomenon called progress, modernization, or industrialization. The signs of a developed society are rationalization, organization, mechanization, automation. The nation-state is the framework for development to take place. Why is it so? Only the nation offers the decisive tools required for economic development or take-off: besides the need for national security, a banking system and a national currency, a fiscal administration, and many infrastructures are needed. Development therefore is not just a notion of economy but of political economy; its most powerful symbol is the GNP. Of course, the leading nations of our world are not only wealthy. Their power and influence are also a reflection of their rich cultural heritage, strong national ego and sense of historical mission, making them “models” which are either envied or despised. Yet, development is mostly seen as “economic growth” and this viewpoint has long contaminated the whole notion of human development. In the 1840s, “Get richer ...” was the motto of the French government, but the poet Charles Baudelaire noted that "The only true progress (i.e., moral progress) takes place in the individual and by the individual himself (…) My theory of civilization: it is not in gas, steam, or Ouija boards. It is in the reduction of the traces or original sin."
Development in nature means the completion of being, but political economy often equates it with an increase of having. However, if people can have more, then what for? What do they gain, besides money? In the issue of development, the improvement of what people do or what they are was neglected as irrelevant and secondary for many decades. Economic growth was seen as the key to all development. It relied on statism, a view which neglects the dynamics of the civil society. Economics and statism strongly influenced UN policies.
However, the Copernican revolution modified our view of development. In order to understand the fruit (“what should be developed”), one needs to study the root, i.e., the human factor: “who should be developed and by whom?” “Human development” originally means the growth of the human potential toward maturity and the ability to bequeath this legacy to one’s descendants. This area of “private” development was deemed to be secondary while the real and “noble” development mostly took place in the public realm of the State. Yet, examples show that behind the taking-off of the economy of a nation, we often find remarkable individuals, with a sense of mission. Having built industrial empires in their lifetime, they bequeathed a legacy of good governance to their descendants, based on family ethics. In the Western world, many dynasties pioneered capitalism, and family businesses still count for much of the national prosperity. In modern Asia too, the basic development came from remarkable founders who are seen as patriots, and who generally had strong family ethics, the so-called Asian values.
Development of the people, by the people, for the people
Political economy studies the role and responsibility of the modern State to provide development for the people. This, however, is only a part of human development. Global human development which will bring lasting peace is not just for the people but of the people and by the people. Here, non-economic factors are at stake, namely psychological and ethical factors.
Ideal individuals, ideal families, ideal nations
Western philosophy has hitherto focused on creating the ideal society, or ideal nation, as illustrated by The Republic of Plato, The City of God of Augustine, The Utopia of Thomas More or Das Capital of Karl Marx. The quest for the ideal nation is a noble concern, and this passion has accelerated history, causing major reformations or revolutions.
These trends may have been the inevitable course of human history, but the main part of human development is yet to come, on the foundation of external change. Significantly, Dr. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of UPF, starts most of his speeches by talking about the perfected individual and the ideal family. Whereas the Western world tends to believe that an ideal society is possible but is rather cynical or skeptical about human perfection and family ethics, these two notions are the cornerstones of Dr. Moon’s philosophy of development. He thus advocates a revolution of the conscience and a revolution of heart.
According to the British historian, Arnold Toynbee, civilizations arise through the response of creative individuals to challenges. Progress in civilization consists in meeting difficulties by responding in creative ways that are internal and spiritual rather than external and material. The breakdown of society occurs when creative individuals fail to lead through the exercise of creative power, resulting in the withdrawal of the allegiance of the majority and the subsequent loss of social unity.
Dr. Moon’s main contribution to human development was to focus first and foremost on the creation of the ideal individual and ideal family. There can be no complete national development before we have perfect individuals and perfect families. For decades, such statements sounded irrelevant to “human development.” Yet, many of the recent innovations in economic science have shown the decisive role played by:
- “Human capital” (Gary Becker), corresponding to the accomplishment of individuals
- Family investment in their children’s potential
“Basic needs” and “chosen values”
The UNDP changed its approach to development from merely “economic growth” to “human development.” This meant that the main wealth of a nation is its people, not its natural resources. Humans have a potential that grows toward maturity. Human beings thus became the center of development; development was no longer an end in itself, but became human development. In 1993, the UNDP accepted the index of human development (IHD), a term coined by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq. The IHD is a comparative measure of poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, childbirth, and other factors for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being.
Another paradigm shift concerned the “basic needs.” Human development cannot be only about caring for the needy and endlessly trying to satisfy basic human needs. Why? because human nature cannot be defined merely by man’s basic needs. Human nature lies in the capacity to be liberated from needs and free to focus on values, which are deliberately chosen. The economist Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998, redefined development essentially in terms of human freedom or “capability”:
"Development can be seen ... as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy. Focusing on human freedoms [or capabilities] contrasts with the narrower views of development, such as identifying development with the growth of gross national product, the rise in personal incomes, industrialization, technological advances, or social modernization.'
The three dimensions of human development
Human development can be understood to mean three different things:
The development of human beings: anthropology, embryology, genetic psychology
The development of human beings is a branch of anthropology, the science which studies the species called homo sapiens. Human development is the growth of human nature toward maturity through a gradual process. All living beings develop and grow, but humans develop differently. Why? Because their nature is different. Concerning the physical dimension of human development, embryology focuses on the life of the fetus from conception to birth. Developmental biology focuses on issues such as health, longevity and aging.
In the development of human beings, conscience is the main actor of the growth, and also the main judge to evaluate whether the individual’s life is blossoming. The central purpose of education is to make the self conscious and conscientious. The truly developed person will not only inherit the knowledge and morals of his or her ancestors through rote learning and imitation, but will arrive at a complete spiritual, intellectual and moral autonomy.
Human accomplishment can be referred to by many different names. Its effect on economic development was highlighted by Gary Becker, the Nobel Prize laureate for Economics in 1992. He introduced the concept of “human capital”:
Human capital refers to the skills, education, health, and training of individuals. It is capital because these skills or education are an integral part of us that is long-lasting. Human capital – education, on-the-job and other training, and health – comprises about 80 percent of the wealth in advanced countries. The importance of human capital is illustrated by the outstanding records of Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and other fast-growing Asian economies. They have managed to grow rapidly in significant part because they have had a well-trained, well-educated, and hard-working labor force, and dedicated parents. If you look at Korea, prior to the Korean War, the north was the richer part of Korea. Today North Korea is an economic disaster while South Korea is a prosperous, democratic nation. All the Asian Tigers are highly educated. You cannot grow without a strong human capital base. Success depends on how well a nation utilizes its people.
Development by human beings
Development of human beings is self-development or individualism. How can it also become development for human beings or altruism? In politics, a social contract (Hobbes, Rousseau) connects the individual and the State. The individual becomes a citizen. Likewise, economists have tried to evidence the economic contract which connects the individual wealth and collective wealth. For Adam Smith, an invisible hand was working in free-market economies to adjust and harmonize competing self-interests.
This invisible hand gave birth to much speculation. Here again, Gary Becker offers insights, by stressing the role of the family. The family is where development by human beings facilitates the development of human beings:
"Where does human capital come from? What constitutes a successful investment in human capital, either at the individual or national level? The family is the foundation of a good society and of economic success. To understand human capital, you have to go back to the family, because it is families that are concerned about their children and try, with whatever resources they have, to promote their children’s education and values. Families are the major promoters of values in any free society and even in not-so-free societies."
In the development of human beings, individuals cultivate their human capital, the conscience being the main agent of their personal growth. But much of human development takes place emotionally and relationally, within the family dynamics. Development by human beings mostly consists of the family’s investment in their children’s potential. In 2002, the Joint Centre for Poverty Research (JCPR) and the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy of Chicago conducted a conference on this topic . One paper suggested that parents work for the betterment of their children and the well-being of the community when they invest in the following five “Ss”
• safety/sustenance
• stimulation
• socio-emotional support
• structure
• surveillance
Several American universities now teach a new discipline called “Human development and family studies.” This discipline deals with human emotional development through the various ages of life, from childhood to death; human beings are primarily emotional beings who seek happiness through giving and receiving love in their milieu, first in the family, then in the community.
A highly developed person is mature in the art of loving and being loved, and has gone successfully through the stages of filial love, fraternal love, conjugal love and parental love. In the notion of development by human beings, parents are the main agents to shape their children’s destiny. A family that establishes these four realms of love can bequeath a legacy to its descendants and initiate a successful dynasty.
“Human development and family studies”, particularly focus on the stages of life, offering a life-span view. Yet, the life-span view may not offer the complete picture of human development. We should also take embryology into consideration (the life of the foetus), and even before that, the heredity of human beings (what Rev. Moon often calls lineage). The Jacobs Foundation Series on Adolescence studies human development not only over one’s life course, but across generations.
Development for human beings (political economy)
Development for human beings is a branch of political economy. This science started with Adam Smith. The author of the Wealth of Nations studied how societies take off economically and how the wealth produced improves the human condition; here, human beings are mostly seen as the citizens of organized states, as well as producers and consumers. A highly developed person is therefore a full-blown citizen, who receives benefits from an affluent society and in return takes part in its political life. The state plays the main role in this development. Should it fail to procure development for human beings, sharp conflicts will arise.
We have already stated that development for the past decades mostly concerned political economy, or development for human beings. After the creation of the UNDP in 1965, a partnership between international agencies, international banks and newly independent States seemed to be the necessary and sufficient condition to promote economic growth. But after several decades of this, much disenchantment surfaced, as expressed in the following statement:
"Although there has been much debate as to the best way to transform less industrialized countries into modern, developed states, economists agree on only one thing: development is difficult. Economists and politicians alike have struggled over the last four decades to find the exact recipe to reform underdeveloped nations."
The UN and international agencies, who held rigid ideas on development for many years, started to revise their attitude upon seeing the achievements of NGOs working at the micro-economic level, directly with the local people, making them actors of the change. Moreover, NGOs have been more inclined than the UN to conduct projects which involved the resources of indigenous anthropologists or ethnologists. This brought a change of focus from development to human development.
Human development is more than the rise of national incomes, and much more than economic growth, which is only a means of enlarging people’s choices. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead creative lives. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. As Aristotle said in ancient Greece, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful for the sake of something else.”
Global Development, human nature, and lasting peace
The UN started with the noble dream of lasting peace for all mankind, based on the charter of the declaration of human rights. But its mission started in the context of the Cold War. Moreover, it had to rely on the structure of the Nation-States and privilege the economic and political view of development. But if we continue to work along these lines, real peace will remain a distant dream. It will only lead to fragile security under threat from all quarters and uneven development with many side effects.
UPF promotes global development, both as a conceptual framework and as a base for its practical “peace initiatives”. Let us explain the meaning of “global”.
First, we envision the full development of human beings. A fully developed human being fulfils his or her purpose of life and thus experiences joy. UPF identifies three life goals, corresponding to the development of human beings, by human beings and for human beings:
Our first life goal is the maturity of character.
“Character is destiny”, said Heraclitus, meaning that our fate is shaped by who we are. UPF sees character education as crucial for the development of human beings toward maturity. Traditionally, virtues such as justice, courage, wisdom, and moderation are included in good character. For UPF, the core of such good character is heart, the emotional impulse to seek joy through love. Only when the human heart grows in giving and receiving love properly will the person embody these virtues. Young people should be joyfully stimulated to become good. UPF is conducting research worldwide to promote a truly universal moral education, which can harmonize traditional and modern values, Eastern and Western values, spiritual and material values. Moreover, UPF relies on experiential learning: character education is more effective when you do certain things in real life situations and then reflect on yourself with peers and coaches. UPF has devised a comprehensive curriculum for various age groups and is conducting much research on character education.
Our second life goal is to experience lasting love and joy in relations with others.
Development by human beings primarily takes place in the family; there we learn to love as children, as siblings, as spouses and as parents. Here again, UPF has a lot of expertise; it offers a comprehensive picture of family dynamics and family ethics and has a unique record in its pioneering work of international, interreligious marriage. Moreover, UPF shows clearly how the family works as a school of love, how love in the family extends to patriotic love and love for the world. In the 1960s, the Western world started to undergo the sexual revolution, which was flaunted as the ultimate liberation. Significantly, during this period, Dr. Moon and his wife introduced the slogan of world peace through ideal families. It is a revolutionary view of marriage and parenting. Their more than 40 years of theoretical and practical work in the field of marriage and family counseling conducted around the world with millions of people made them a leading authority in this field. Today, UPF is a respected consultant on family values for religious leaders, scholars, governments and international organizations.
Our third life goal is to benefit the community with our creativity.
This is development for human beings. It has much to do with our professional occupation, though not exclusively. People study for many years and then advance their career in their specialty. All people have the desire to use their skills to do something valuable which will serve the community and give them recognition. Creativity means man’s dominion over all things; it includes the capacity to invent and the ability to skilfully implement inventions in the real world. Modernization has made the third life goal a priority: most people equate the meaning of their life with their career. In developed societies, all professions are highly organized, involving much technology and financial power. The incentive to constantly learn and improve professionally is strong but stressful. Here, the main focus of UPF is good governance. Good governance has a technical or external aspect; the management of any activity can always become more rational, more organized and more efficient. It also has an internal component, the ability to be an exemplary leader. UPF asserts that people of mature character and with strong family ethics are the most qualified for leadership positions.
The notion of life goals offers a road map for the lifetime of human development from the fetus until death. Each person should be able to measure his or her achievement against a universal standard. In other words, we should ask ourselves: did I achieve the goals for which I was born, the goals which make a human being fully human? What is the model of excellence, then? In the past, this model was the French gentilhomme or English gentleman, or Spanish hidalgo, a person of good birth achieving a noble life. China had the Confucian ideal of junzi. Such moral standards only concerned men of a certain social class however. But the ultimate purpose of global human development is to guide all human beings toward excellence.
UPF talks about three major titles or capacities:
We should be a teacher.
The ability held by a teacher is authority, given by wisdom. Whether or not we are professional teachers, we must all cultivate wisdom. Wisdom is non-partisan thought for practical action. Common sense and experience may advise wisdom but its origin is the conscience. Wisdom is to always consult the voice of the conscience for practical and responsible behavior. Moreover, wisdom is such that we teach others only what we ourselves have successfully assimilated, and true mastery requires us to dominate ourselves before trying to dominate external situations. In many cases, a figure of authority often emerges, whose attitude, thoughts and behavior are the wisest. Any community is eager to consult such figures who teach by example and by giving guidance. For instance, Nelson Mandela achieved the stature of a teacher in South-Africa and for the African continent.
We should be a parent.
Parents hold the power to bequeath love, life and lineage to children, with the hope that they will be better than themselves. Parenthood is the culminating experience of love. All the love accumulated as a child, as a brother or sister, and as a spouse, bears fruit when one becomes a parent. Parental love is sacrificial, in the sense that parents give everything to their children, even their lives, but this sacrificial love cannot be possessive. Good parents want the love invested in their children to benefit others. Parental power is the archetype of all other institutional forms of power, such as being the mayor of a city, the president of a country and so forth. It is because these figures, even if they are democratically elected, hold executive power accompanied by the force of authority.
We should be a master.
The ability held by a master is dominion, given by creativity. We may not all be geniuses, but we all feel compelled to develop our skills throughout our lives. Creativity should be explicitly value-oriented, since creation should aim at the values of truth, beauty and goodness.
The fully developed or ideal human being is a teacher, parent and master. Likewise, the fully developed society or ideal society keeps the three abilities of authority, power and dominion in balance. It is a society where teachers, parents and creators unite around a harmonious vision of the collective dream. A developed society will find the proper balance between respect for past traditions, concern for the present situation and vision for the future. UPF calls this highly developed society the ideal society of universally shared values, interdependence and mutual prosperity.
Working for the global family of humankind
Becoming a teacher, parent and master is the vertical axis of human development. It is what we should live for. But whom should we live for? This is the horizontal axis of human development. Some human beings may become teachers, parents and creators for a limited circle, say their family and relatives. But desire and ambition prompt us to live for something bigger than our family. Our hometown is a wider scope of love and public recognition. An even wider one is the nation. But a nation is too small for the human heart. If possible, we would like to live for the world. Does the world represent the widest scope of love? Humanism would say yes. But UPF sees a larger scope than humanity. The ultimate goal of human development is to show our loyalty toward God, and the ultimate recognition of merit does not come from our fellowmen but from Heaven.
If the vertical ascension means to be a teacher, parent and master, the horizontal expansion entails that we must become filial sons and daughters for our family, patriots for our nation, saints for the world and sons or daughters of God for heaven. Viewed horizontally, global development encompasses these four areas.
This raises the issue of globalization. With a proper view of human development, globalization is a meaningful and inevitable trend in human history, which will bring all mankind towards peaceful harmony. Globalization started externally, in economy and politics, resulting in increasing interdependence. But globalization mostly offers a spiritual and moral opportunity for a broader love. In other words, what is at stake is not just the free circulation of commodities, but the horizontal roadmap: the opportunity offered to all people to live for their family, for their nation, for the world and for heaven, without restrictions.
A life for the sake of others or “living for” attitude should guide our horizontal expansion. First, each human being should be born well, in a loving and stable nuclear family, which welcomes us into the larger human family. Living for the sake of others means that first we have to graduate in the art of loving our parents, our siblings, later our spouse and our children and grandchildren. The family is not an end in itself however. A protective nest of love on the one hand, it is also a school of citizenship on the other hand. A good family will make its children good citizens for their community and good patriots for their nation. Living for the sake of others also concerns the state. Once elected, President Kennedy said, “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.”
Human development and the absolute being
Finally, human development raises the issue of the absolute being. Why is there human development at all? For what ultimate purpose? Such a question might seem pointless to someone working in development projects to alleviate the various problems affecting people. Yet, any fundamental reflection on development should include this issue. Dr. Moon’s teaching on human development says that the ultimate reason for human development is that God, the Absolute Being cannot be happy by Himself. He needs a partner through whom all His ideals will become incarnate and manifested visibly. The motivation for God to create human beings however is not the fulfilment of intellectual or rational knowledge, but rather the joyful realization of love. In other words, human beings are the partners of God, the co-creators and are responsible, through their free will to fulfil the love of God at all levels. The reason why we want to be teachers, parents, masters and desire to live for our family, for our nation, for the world and for Heaven is ultimately to fulfil the desire of God and give joy to the Creator.
The global human development perspective thus includes the eternal lifespan view. Above all human powers such as teachers, parents and masters, our life finds its ultimate value and fulfilment in front of the Absolute Being. Human beings are born in this world for which they have duties, but their responsibility is not limited to this world. Anybody sincerely working for human development should consider the issue of spirituality and our eternal destiny.