A transcendant Zoom conference:

https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-the-20th-century?

The Meaning of the 20th Century

A conversation across time.

BARUCH SPINOZA1 (1677) stands at a window, looking out. ‘Everything is one substance’, he says quietly. ‘Ethics isn’t about obeying God’s commands — it’s about understanding the nature of reality itself. If we can grasp the underlying unity of things, we can derive how we ought to live’.

DAVID RICARDO2 (1817) looks up from his ledger. ‘Fascinating. You know what else can be understood as one substance? Money. If we think of all economic value as flowing through a single unit of account — a monetary monism, if you will — we can measure everything in the same terms. We can make economics scientific’.

MOSES HESS3 (1837-44) leans forward eagerly. ‘Gentlemen, do you see what this means? If ethics can be scientific, and economics can be measured scientifically through a single unit of account, then we can deliver social justice through economic administration! The unit of account becomes the tool for ethical distribution’.

KARL MARX4 (1867) nods vigorously. ‘Yes, but Hess — this can’t work in just one country. Capital doesn’t respect borders. If this is truly about economics, it must be internationalist. The system has to operate at the global scale or it won’t work at all’.

PAUL CARUS5 (1893) adjusts his spectacles. ‘I want to push back on something Spinoza said. He’s right that ethics should be rational, not based on religious commandments — but we need to be explicit about this. The ethic must come from science, not religion. Only science is universal. Only science can give us the authority to speak across all cultures’.

T.H. HUXLEY6 (1893), pacing energetically: ‘And if our ethic comes from science, then we must apply it scientifically! Darwin showed us evolution, but evolution is blind. In the name of ethics — of reducing suffering — humans must take control of evolution itself. We must guide it consciously’.

JULIUS WOLF78 (1892) clears his throat. ‘Gentlemen, you’re thinking too abstractly. I work with actual financial systems. The Bank of England has this clearinghouse structure — it’s remarkably efficient at settling accounts between parties. What if we scaled that up? Used it to administer international economics and social justice simultaneously? A public-private partnership at the global level — we could create something like a Bank for International Settlements’.

LYNN FORRESTER DE ROTHSCHILD33 (2020) stands with confidence. ‘And we can deliver the capital. Through the Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican,we’ve brought together the world’s largest investment funds and corporations in partnership with moral authority. We’re calling them ‘Guardians for Inclusive Capitalism.’ Private capital, guided by ethical imperatives, delivering social and environmental outcomes. Bernstein’s public-private partnerships for social justice, now operating at the scale of global finance’.