Customer Reviews

The Spiritual Imperative: Sex, Age, and the Last Caste

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Books dealing with history and the future usually rely on a Western vantagepoint, but Taub's "The Spiritual Imperative: Sex, Age, and the Last Caste" is unique. His models create an amazing synthesis of European, Indian and Chinese thought. He presents a picture that is truly "transcultural" and beyond the distorting Western-scientific lens.

I am especially impressed by Taub's interpretation of the Indian concept of caste, which he calls the Caste Model. He shows (1) that the caste system is a corruption of a very profound insight into human psychology and (2) that the Indian caste philosophy applies not just to Indian society but to humanity in general. This was a real eye-opener for me.

The ancient Indians identified four basic psychological "types" -- spiritual seekers, warriors, merchants, and workers. They are broad categories (a career soldier may also have a merchant streak, and a worker may also have a spiritual bent), but one of the four archetypes usually predominate in an individual. Taub clearly defines these four types. You can easily discern which of the four matches your own character, which improves self-knowledge.

But here's perhaps the most important feature of Taub's Caste Model. The Indians believe that the four castes take turns in "ruling the world" in endless cycles. They concluded that each of the four castes has specific attributes that make it suitable for world rule (predominance) in a given period of humanity's development. Taub gives the cyclical Indian idea a linear twist, and links the rule of the four castes to ACTUAL HISTORICAL PERIODS. The significance of this can hardly be overstated.

Consider the current shift of the political-economic-technological center of gravity in the world from West to East. Taub's Caste Model provided the only framework I know of that can explain this shift in a coherent manner. He shows that the Merchant type predominates in the Western individual, hence the West "ruled" in the now declining Merchant Caste Age; the Worker type predominates in the East Asian individual, hence an East Asian bloc, consisting of China, Taiwan, Japan, and a reunified Korea, will dominate the now ascending Worker Caste Age. This interpretation of the theory of caste is not only stunning, it is also undeniable.

By itself, the Caste Model offers a revolutionary view of history and the future, but Taub reinforces it with the Sex Model and the Age Model. While the Caste Model does away with a Eurocentric view of the world, the Age Model corrects the recently popular dystopian Orwellian view of the future, and the Sex Model gets rid of the male-centric view of history. By combining these three models, Taub provides three "coordinates" to orient us in (historical) time and (geographic) space.

An example from my personal experience. I was living in Japan in the 1980s and had difficulty "placing" Japan in the larger scheme of things. Taub's models solved the problem. Japan is ahead in the Caste Model (it matches the psychological profile of the now ascending Worker Caste Age), but it is behind in the Age and Sex Models (compared to the West, the Japanese are less "mature" when it comes to developing their individuality, and in achieving equality of the sexes).

This book should be required reading for policy makers all over the world. The future will happen regardless, but if Taub's models would be common knowledge, we'd get there with fewer upheavals.

We'd understand the deeper reasons of the conflict in the Middle East (including rising fundamentalism throughout the world); we'd understand why Japan will become allied with China and will rewrite the rules for global intercourse; and we'd understand why "voluntary simplicity" will be one of the most important future movements ensuring our survival. Taub also shows why women are about to take charge of things and create some order on our chaotic planet.

In short, grasping Taub's "spiritual imperative" puts the world in the palm of your hand.

J. Krikke/Bangkok

I am very much impressed with Lawrence Taub's logical clear thinking and his insight into the future. I am especially impressed with the author's ability to grasp complex historical events, consider how the world will be divided into fifteen blocks, see the three with the most power (Confucio, Europa and Polario), and discuss a "spiritulaziation" of the global economy. Although this is not an academic book, nor is it meant to be, the clarity of thinking and writing provides a book that academics and their students should read. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading and thinking about the future.

I have written the foreword to Taub's The Spiritual Imperative, and I have known about the author's ideas on world history and future trends since around 1980. This is important, since Taub's predictions of future directions and events are a major contribution to our understanding.
Concerning the predictions, I heard the author say over 20 years ago that East and West Europe would form a cultural/economic bloc, China, Japan, and a reunified Korea would form another, and North America and Russia a third. In 1980, such predictions led people to think Taub was crazy, and I agreed with them. Communism was showing no signs of decline, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were enemies, and Japan was clearly under the U.S. wing with China a large but representative third world country. By the early 1990s, however, I stopped laughing when not only had Communism disappeared from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, but China was an emerging economic power, the Japan-U.S. partnership was troubled, and a new Asianism had become influential in Japan.
Taub believes that reliable predictions can make a difference for people. A Bahai who could anticipate the Iranian Revolution would know that emigration was advisable at the time. For our future, he foresees a religious belt comprising Magreb, the Pan-Semitic Middle East area, South Asia, and the Islamic nations of Central Asia that will become the center of a new spiritual age. Women will play a central role in these developments as the fundamentalist tendencies of revolutionary religion give way to a more humane spirituality that locates the divine within. Anti-Semitism in the U.S. will lead many American Jews to immigrate to Israel while Palestinian refugees will likewise return. Both trends will promote Pan-Semitism and less fundamentalist and more personal growth-oriented religions.
The overall approach taken in this book could not be more intellectually unfashionable in the United States today. The level of analysis is highly abstract, coherence of pattern is emphasized over empirical data, the big picture presented is incredibly vast, predictions are made on the basis of intuition as well as theory, and it is claimed that the determining structural forces of history can be known and that three models (age, sex, and caste) can account for major historical trends, including future ones. His achievement shouldn't be possible, but my own understanding of history, my experience in many parts of the world, and my intuition mostly support his theory and predictions.
Taub's theoretical account of larger historical patterns and his ability to predict future trends makes this book one of a kind. His writing is accessible and humorous, and his knowledge and experience of the main regions of the world makes him a highly dependable guide. I look forward to readers who can apply his ideas to concrete dilemmas faced by contemporary societies. An individual can foresee events and go to a more hospitable part of the world, but we need people who can mitigate the severity of the negative aspects of future trends. Taub's work will attain its maximum value when wise leaders choose their directions in light of his theories and predictions.

The model of history Mr. Taub presents here gave me new perspective into the nature of time and history. Those who have never thought of time/history from a macroscopic perspective will appreciate the picture that is presented, having never seen anything like it. Those who are acquainted with studies of history (past, present, and future) also will appreciate the author's new insights into the active currents of time in our day (and "out" of our day).

I found it to be rich in historical and calculated content. The natural and frank writing style makes this book a pleasure to read. I enjoyed this attempt at a more full understanding of history very much.

The enticing title of this book is attractive in these troubling times. The author seems to have an uncanny ability to appeal in this age of global discord, corporate greed and questing for a more rewarding scenario for the future not bound exclusively to obsesive wealth and power accumlation.

I liked the author's macro history approach and his ability to weave it seductively into a convincing discussion about possible scenarios for human potential beyond the present age of self interest. His explanation and use of the Hindu caste model and ages is very clever, clearly argued and hard to refute. This was especially noticeable as some recent developments in the global agenda neatly supported the theories presented. The scenario for the future of work and labor is sage like in its prescience.

This is a very thought provoking book and I would highly recommend it to any one who has an interest in future studies.