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I interrupted him. "You know as well as I do that none of that changes the principle involved. It only changes the life of the people who become trapped in the dream-world outside the realm of universal principles."
Steve nodded and smiled, and kept on smiling. He leaned back and made himself comfortable on the park bench. He seemed more relaxed now and less hasty in speaking as if he had finished off-loading months of build up discoveries and theories. He said that he was going to tell me an important story now that pulls all of these trends together and puts them into their proper context. He explained that the principle of economics is best illustrated in Christ Jesus' parable of a traveler that fell among thieves, who was robbed, injured, and left at the roadside to die. Steve pointed out that the parable reflects on society's response.
The first person who saw the injured man was a priest, one of the royalty of the time. The royal priest understood the situation, and in response made a detour around the injured man and left him there in his agony of dying.
Steve explained that any person, such as the priest who is focused on status and power, invariably walks by on the other side of the human dimension instead of responding to a critical situation. Such a person acts as if the critical human situation doesn't exist. This sort of thing happens universally when there is no humanity left in a people, as in the case when the goal is to protect empires at all cost. In the parable the priest represents those people. No love is forthcoming from a person when status and power rule the mind. The priest must walk by on the other side. He has no choice but to react in that manner, because if he were to acknowledge the human dimension, everything that he stands for would then become invalidated. The invalidation would happen, because what he represents in his self-isolation by status and power is the opposite of love and of universal brotherhood, which are the foundation of civilization.
Next in the story came a Levite, one of the greedy rich, the self-centered, the sensual slave whose vision doesn't extend beyond his nose that he buries all too often into other people's business when there is money to be made. The Levite responds in the same manner as the priest does and for the same reason.
Steve explained that greed excludes love, honor, even intelligence. He said that it makes people blind to their humanity. The Levite pretends not to see the human dimension of the unfolding tragedy, because to acknowledge it would likewise invalidate what he stands for. It would destroy the imagined glory of his greed and his sensual slavery to it, and so forth, which can only exist without love.
Next comes a Samaritan, a very human person. He is a person without status, or power, or greed, or any self-centered slavery. He comes without anything that denies and hinders a person's humanity. Such a person lives by the Principle of Universal Love. Naturally, the Samaritan, being such a human person, responds in a human way. He cleanses the injured man's wounds and takes him to an inn, and there provides whatever is required for the man's full recovery. He acts like a human being. That's the Treaty of Westphalia, which is built on the Principle of the Advantage of the Other, which is just another form of the Principle of Universal Love. He responds to his humanity, the humanity that we all share, which he evidently values and loves.
Steve explained that by the Samaritan's actions the world becomes a richer place. It becomes a world in which the human being is recognized to be of great value. By his response the injured man's potential contribution to society is not lost, but is honored and restored. Actually, far more than this, the Samaritan uplifts the entire scene and creates a world that anyone would be proud to live in. The Samaritan responds to what is valued in the human heart and Soul, which everyone likewise responds to. This makes the world a rich place," said Steve. Steve also pointed out that the key element, which sets this light apart from the darkness in the world that corresponds to status, power, and greed, is our humanity and its key principle, the Principle of Universal Love.
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