[P2P-F] The Economics of Monasticism by Nathan Smith

Wed Jan 30 08:05:01 CET 2013

Hello,

I've been reading 'The Economics of Monasticism by Nathan Smith' over
the past week. He makes some interesting points in comparing the
sustainability of intentional communities with that of Christian
monasteries. Citing a study by Rost et al (2008) that
"An average longevity of 463 years makes monasteries more durable not
only than firms, but even than most states." and further suggesting
possibilities as to what makes them so successful.

I will add it to the wiki when I get a chance over the coming days.

The Economics of Monasticism - Nathan Smith

"Since their emergence in ancient times, Christian monasteries have
proven to be among the most durable of all human institutions, and in
the medieval centuries made enormous contributions to the emergence of
Western civilization. They are organized internally on socialist
lines: monks own no property and owe total obedience to the abbot,
making the monastery a miniature ‘centrally planned economy.’ A
puzzling contrast exists between the longevity of monasteries and the
transience of secular socialist communes. This paper presents a
theoretical model which shows why voluntary socialist communes might
be viable despite ‘shirking’ problems, yet fail due to turnover, and
how worship, which induces people with high ‘spiritual capital’ to
self-select into the monastery and then grows that spiritual capital
through ‘learning-by-doing,’ can solve the turnover problem and make a
worship-based socialist commune—a monastery—stable. Monasticism, like
the market, is a form of ‘spontaneous order,’ but unlike the market,
it does not depend on third-party enforcement (e.g., by a state) to
function: this explains why monasticism (unlike capitalism) was able
to thrive in the anarchic Dark Ages. Monasteries, in principle and
largely in practice, are a form of society based on consent of the
governed, unlike liberal states which preach but do not practice
consensual governance, and it is interesting to juxtapose the real,
live ‘social contracts’ of the monasteries with the notional social
contracts of liberal political theory."

http://www.thearda.com/workingpapers/monasticism.asp

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