Progress has long been seen as a linear road, but this metaphor fails to reflect the complexity of life. Drawing on insights from a u3a group, we propose the watershed as a richer symbol—a living system that gathers, integrates, and sustains, offering a new vision for humanity’s journey.
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This retelling of the nativity story reframes it as a call for humanity’s renewal. Drawing on themes of interconnectedness, it explores resetting relationships—with each other, the ultimate reality, and nature—through a non-dual lens. The Christmas story becomes an enduring invitation to embrace compassion, responsibility, and hope in the face of modern challenges.
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Resources used to support Shepway and District u3a’s Science, Philosophy, and Spirituality Group’s Session 2.09: Global Trade. A look at the non-Eurocentric history of the world between 1600 and 1750, which saw the birth of Capitalism and Globalism.
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We often overlook the potential synergy between science, philosophy, and spirituality in helping us understand our deepest questions—especially around free will and personal agency.
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During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the pursuit of wealth and power through global trade drove European empires to seek direct access to lucrative goods like spices, sugar, and tobacco, reshaping economies and societies across continents. In Ming China, the introduction of a silver tax intensified demand for silver with severe social consequences, while in the Americas, labour-intensive crops spurred the brutal reliance on enslaved Africans. As European powers like the Dutch and English East India Companies clashed over trade monopolies, joint stock companies emerged, allowing broader public investment and profit-sharing. This new economic structure, alongside the crown’s reliance on commercial success, laid the groundwork for modern capitalism and its enduring global influence.
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