Drugs in Sport – how to understand these trends in terms of the Threefold Social Order
11 February, 2018 
Our anti-social tendencies have come from the failure of the autonomous development of people. A commitment to an autonomous development of our spiritual, cultural life, means that it would be independent of economic and political influence. The linking of political and economic agendas to the development of people through a healthy childhood and an education system dedicated to the emerging humanity in each of us is the cause of our anti-social tendencies. Today we need our societies to desire and allow an autonomous development of the humanity in each of us in order to correct our anti-social tendencies going forward.
In our daily lives today, also as sports people, there is this ongoing battle in us that says ‘they do it so why should I not?’ ‘They are materially wealthy, so why can’t I be?’ The fact that we even ask these questions indicates a disorientation within us. We are aligned to the economic sphere inwardly and a belief that material wealth is what counts in our earthly existence. We have little certainty in our spiritual existence that runs along with our material/physical existence. We see the opportunities to gain material wealth by enhancing our personal brands, selling ourselves as a product better than the next. We are better footballers, cyclists, tennis players and so on. We get marketing people to enhance our brands and negotiate deals on the basis of ‘me as a brand’. ‘I do the training and I am good, so pay for it.’ We have only a vague connection or acknowledgement for our humanity that is being exercised while I train and participate. We think that we are programmed by trainers to know what to do. The reality is that we have clarity, objectivity, skill, experience, openness, courage, diligence, orientation, selflessness when training and so on. All of these are very special human qualities. They come out when I participate in sport. Others love them and are willing to pay to see them exercised. Organisations form to manage and control the display of these ‘talents’, but more so, capacities.
The desire to get more material reward leads individual sports people to cheat. The desire to keep making money from the expression of humanity through excellence in sport tries to keep sport clean, but possibly only after they have kept too much of the proceeds for themselves and the sports people. These sports bodies are not promoting the development of the humanity by investing in churches and schools and the arts. They are under the illusion that money alone will result in people wanting to earn big money in sport to know that their skills come from their humanity. Sports people today know that they have to commit to training and skills and so on. They know that they have to present a certain image to the Press and public at large. They are not, in the large majority, aware of their progress in relation to Buddha’s eight fold path for example, never mind more modern spiritual paths.
Then, law makers develop and apply anti-doping laws virtually exclusively directed at saving the industry or sport rather than the individual. Where is an anti-doping law that highlights the need for people to be sensitive to their life after death?
The Threefold social order gives us the idea that the autonomous functioning of the Liberty (spiritual cultural life), Fraternity (economic life) and Equality (political regulatory life) spheres is essential for healthy societies to exist. Dr Steiner suggests that Associations will form that will help to keep this concept in mind and then to assist in their becoming more and more identifiable and distinct, but also that they will work with each other and desire this. So, in this example of drugs in sport, within the sporting bodies, or around them in the form of associations, there would be interest groups highlighting the humanity required for a person to be a top sports star. An example would be that in most sports, an inner uprightness is required and an ability to place oneself consciously, using all our sense organs as aids, within a game. This would enable the sportsman to use his physical skills better for the team. Such humanity can be developed through Alexander Technique, the Rückshau exercise (Reflection exercise) and so on. The sporting bodies would, at some point realise that some of the monies generated need to go back to schools, churches, and the medical arts at least. Sports and drug regulators would be pressed by associations to protect people from the huge temptations of monetary and material wealth. They too would want the fortifying of the beautiful human soul from a young age in an autonomous Liberty sphere. It would be impossible for the regulators to be anti-social towards the sports stars as they themselves would have come from this autonomous Liberty sphere and would be very conscious of their humanity.
Perhaps this gives an idea how real the Threefold Social Order concept would apply in yet another practical case. The bumbling sporting administrators, or at least their unclear conceptual framework of today, largely as a consequence of the incomplete image of a human being, seems to be quite unnecessary in light of the offering of the Threefold Social Order.
Their sporting empires are, in my view, likely to slowly crumble as the dwindling commitment of societies to the humanity in us, our divinity, leaves only trainable bodies as the future sports stars. This will simply not be of interest and not draw sponsorships from an economic life suffering from the same curse.