The revolutionary context of these thoughts is the phase of human evolution that we are immersed in right now, which in relation to our current and ensuing generations will be as significant as the agrarian and industrial revolutions viz., the sustainability revolution.
It began over a century ago envisioned then and subsequently by people like Teilhard de Chardin, Rudolph Steiner, Martin Buber, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, Maria Montessori, E. F. Schumacher, A.D. Gordon, the Dalai Lama, Joanna Macy, the Findhorn leadership and community and on and on.
It is the phase in which human beings come full circle to the place existentially and, this time, consciously to where we began; at one with nature, ourselves and others.
It is the framework through which we discover that the organizing principle of right relations with all begins with a right relationship with myself i.e., who I am. This encompasses a clear and ever deepening understanding that who I am is the meaning of my life and the life I live is at once my identity now and my identity in aggregate, that is over time. Just a note – so we can drill even deeper in due course, many people and cultures have proposed that being human is a relational concept (Ubuntu, for example – a Southern African adage, mostly attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “u’muntu ngu muntu nga bantu” means a person is a person through other people) and thus who I am is also how I am reflected by those around me with whom I transact, interact and relate. More and more neuroscientific research, too much for this post to get into, is validating these cultural assertions and the notion of the social brain i.e., the fact that the brain has social chracteristics 'hardwired' into it, is becoming increasingly accepted.
The Internet is the 6th mass media (citing: Mobile as the 7th of the Mass Media – Tomi Ahonen www.futuretext.com) after print, recordings, cinema, radio and television. And it, and its successor, mobile the 7th mass media, are clearly the scaffolding we have discovered that permit us to accelerate ourselves into a state of sustainability before our semi- or unconscious, fear-driven selves (identities) render the species extinct.
Digital or virtual identity, hereafter Identity, is at one and the same time the organizing principle of the Internet and Mobile mass media. It starts as the basis for transactions with facets like ID numbers, passwords, credit card numbers and other identification information that enable transactions to occur simple and seamlessly. Identity then evolves into the basis for interactions with facets like profiles, preferences and other more personal information. We notice too that as we become more facile with the media (Internet and Mobile) so transactions become more interactive and the identity richness that we share with vendors increases. Finally, Identity evolves into the basis of relationships with facets like actions and behaviors, thoughts and emotions, skills, talents and competencies, values and beliefs and even fears, loves, vulnerabilities and spiritual experiences and orientations. When that happens, digital or virtual identity becomes the mirror and reflector of our physical or physical selves. We see this emerging even now for some of us. Imagine when in a decade from now a critical mass of humans have become digitally amphibious (Digital Amphibians (digitally amphibious) is a term coined by me and Dr. Choton Basu. It refers to people who are equally facile in the virtual and visceral i.e., digital and physical worlds); in other words are as fluent and dexterous in the virtual world as we are in the visceral world?
Virtual Identity will then be the reflector that enables us to become sustainable viscerally in our own lives and our relationships with ourselves, others and our environment. The more proficient we become in our virtual and visceral practice of being aware of our actions, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and so on and how they support or detract from our being sustainable, the closer we get to being consciously human.
Let me be clear. By sustainable or green I mean sustainable in every aspect of being alive not just lowering our carbon footprint or using less energy from fossil fuels. By being sustainable I mean being peaceful and conserving, eliminating poverty, hunger, exploitation and abuse, raising health and education standards everywhere and learning to celebrate our rich, diverse life on this magical planet. By being sustainable I mean recognizing that there will always be evil, violence and conflict but they can be contained much as we contain disease and disaster rather than accepting them as the predominant norm.
Identity on the Internet therefore must be designed and architected to produce value for each and every one of us now and over our lifetimes in the 3 separate, yet simultaneous domains I spoke of earlier – transactions, interactions and relationships.
A simple law that I have developed pertains in each of these domains that allows us to manage towards and assess or rate the value we derive and/or aspire to. The law is simply that value (V) is the product of usefulness (U) and trust (T) or V= U x T.
To fully understand the relevance of this law and apply its meaning and consequential impact on every single human being, we need to design an evolutionary stack that attaches to the Internet that protects us from accidental and deliberate harm while enabling our personal and interpersonal development and growth towards sustainability i.e., in and of this world as full participants. As this stack evolves so the granularity of usefulness and trust evolve too until we have value given and derived from and to each according to their identity as it evolves ad infinitum.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Middle East is the global crucible – one positive step at a time!
After many years of pondering (often out very loud to friends and family) my right brain concludes that in 2009, the best move to shift the momentum between Israel and her neighbors is to start with Syria.
A peaceful arrangement with Syria could not only be good for both Syria and Israel, it could also have a powerful impact, for the better, on Lebanon and Palestine. Please notice that to my right brain, Palestine is a separate state from Israel and should be thought about and treated that way immediately; more on that in the future.
What could the situation between Israel and Syria look like; my right brain asks out loud?
How about if the two countries, Israel and Syria, agreed that the Golan Heights would be returned to Syrian administration while permitting all who currently reside there to remain as either Israeli citizens or dual citizens? In addition, my right brain elaborates, if the border between Israel and Syria were to be like that between the United States and Canada, with some document control but very little bureaucracy, the two historical enemies could lay the ground work for an MEU (Middle East Union).
My right brain postulates that if Syria and Israel could demonstrate that they really do intend to address mutual problems together like water availability, soil depletion, arms and drugs peddling, healthcare, education and small business nurturing, other Arab states, like Jordan, would soon join their parade.
Once this direction is established my right brain, now soaring, goes on, the Palestine-Israel relationship would have a context for resolution that it has always lacked. A context, my right brain urges, that could free up the fertile minds in the region to think way outside the box of the past 42, 61, or 108 years depending on who is doing the counting!
Albert Einstein is attributed to have said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” My right brain maintains that the enduring crisis in the Middle East is more a lack of imagination than anything else. Fearful minds, my right brain avers, are hard pressed to be imaginative. So, if Syria and Israel can model an imaginative approach to restoring the Golan Heights to Syria while not restoring the relationship between Syria and Israel to its old, mind-locked stalemate, perhaps a new platform for creative thinking and meta-national design could emerge.
Wishful thinking my right brain admits; and why not?
If the key one has tried to open the lock with just does not do the job, surely the better move is to look for another key that might open it rather than to keep forcing the one that won’t until it breaks?!
A peaceful arrangement with Syria could not only be good for both Syria and Israel, it could also have a powerful impact, for the better, on Lebanon and Palestine. Please notice that to my right brain, Palestine is a separate state from Israel and should be thought about and treated that way immediately; more on that in the future.
What could the situation between Israel and Syria look like; my right brain asks out loud?
How about if the two countries, Israel and Syria, agreed that the Golan Heights would be returned to Syrian administration while permitting all who currently reside there to remain as either Israeli citizens or dual citizens? In addition, my right brain elaborates, if the border between Israel and Syria were to be like that between the United States and Canada, with some document control but very little bureaucracy, the two historical enemies could lay the ground work for an MEU (Middle East Union).
My right brain postulates that if Syria and Israel could demonstrate that they really do intend to address mutual problems together like water availability, soil depletion, arms and drugs peddling, healthcare, education and small business nurturing, other Arab states, like Jordan, would soon join their parade.
Once this direction is established my right brain, now soaring, goes on, the Palestine-Israel relationship would have a context for resolution that it has always lacked. A context, my right brain urges, that could free up the fertile minds in the region to think way outside the box of the past 42, 61, or 108 years depending on who is doing the counting!
Albert Einstein is attributed to have said that “imagination is more important than knowledge.” My right brain maintains that the enduring crisis in the Middle East is more a lack of imagination than anything else. Fearful minds, my right brain avers, are hard pressed to be imaginative. So, if Syria and Israel can model an imaginative approach to restoring the Golan Heights to Syria while not restoring the relationship between Syria and Israel to its old, mind-locked stalemate, perhaps a new platform for creative thinking and meta-national design could emerge.
Wishful thinking my right brain admits; and why not?
If the key one has tried to open the lock with just does not do the job, surely the better move is to look for another key that might open it rather than to keep forcing the one that won’t until it breaks?!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The economic context shift is to both-and not neither-nor and the quadruple bottom line!
In my last blog my right brain asserted that what will replace “individualistic capitalism would be “social or community capitalism,” and that paradigm will prevail by 2015 – 2020. My right brain also claimed that over the next 10 years we will see the emergence of local and community-based micro-economies, of companies and corporations that we will assess by 3 if not 4 bottom lines and so on.
My right brain has had second, third, fourth, and many more thoughts since then – in its inimitable right-brainy way.
Now my right brain attributes that what is replacing our hitherto form of capitalism and others’ hitherto forms of socialism is neither capitalism nor socialism, but both capitalism and socialism together dialectically, synergistically.
The form that companies will take my right brains foresees is one of 4 bottom lines equally measured on the re-invented stock markets that will play at all levels: locally (owned by local investors in a county say), nationally (owned much like today’s investors in the NYSE etc) and globally (owned by investors anywhere but traded in a neutral venue like a United Nations Sustainability or Green Zone.
“The 4 bottom lines, or integrated bottom line,” says my right brain, “will consist of the following 4 Ps.”
Profit (WHAT) – sustainable financial returns that provide for re-investment and some reasonable reward for all contributors to the organization’s success.
People (WHO) – social capital that is derived from the connections (true connections) made by the 3 Cs i.e., the Company (employees), the Customers and the Community. This is measured by the social benefit metric, to be discussed in another blog and which is emerging as we speak.
Planet (WHERE) – environmental awareness and stewardship derived from the understanding that Nature is our meta-parent and the only one we all share. It, so my right brain insists, has heaps of ideas, suggestions, actions and behaviors that, if we mimic them much like we mimic our own parents, elders or older siblings or role models now, can quickly help us back onto a sustainability course versus the extinction track we have chosen thus far. This is measured by environmental neutrality or enhancement, also to be delved into at a later date.
Notice that when my right brain uses the word sustainability, it means at least what the definition of sustainability is per the “Sustainability Dictionary” (www.sustainabilitydictionary.com) i.e., development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Peace (HOW) - the strategy or way for living, working, playing, transacting, interacting and relating with one another and Nature going forward. This way, my right brain thinks, is the conscious alternative to what humanity has, by and large, employed as its predominant strategy since time immemorial, namely War. Ironically, my right brain urges us to notice, whether in politics, business, sports, or whatever, we have all too often made the claim that the current war – be it against another nation, against disease, against illegal substances will achieve peace. The new paradigm, my right brain asserts, has integrated as reality the fact, so succinctly stated by Mahatma Gandhi: there is no way to peace, peace is the way.
Wow! Imagine a world in which businesses, their customers, their shareholders, their suppliers and partners hold themselves to those 4 bottom lines?
Exciting isn’t it?
My right brain has had second, third, fourth, and many more thoughts since then – in its inimitable right-brainy way.
Now my right brain attributes that what is replacing our hitherto form of capitalism and others’ hitherto forms of socialism is neither capitalism nor socialism, but both capitalism and socialism together dialectically, synergistically.
The form that companies will take my right brains foresees is one of 4 bottom lines equally measured on the re-invented stock markets that will play at all levels: locally (owned by local investors in a county say), nationally (owned much like today’s investors in the NYSE etc) and globally (owned by investors anywhere but traded in a neutral venue like a United Nations Sustainability or Green Zone.
“The 4 bottom lines, or integrated bottom line,” says my right brain, “will consist of the following 4 Ps.”
Profit (WHAT) – sustainable financial returns that provide for re-investment and some reasonable reward for all contributors to the organization’s success.
People (WHO) – social capital that is derived from the connections (true connections) made by the 3 Cs i.e., the Company (employees), the Customers and the Community. This is measured by the social benefit metric, to be discussed in another blog and which is emerging as we speak.
Planet (WHERE) – environmental awareness and stewardship derived from the understanding that Nature is our meta-parent and the only one we all share. It, so my right brain insists, has heaps of ideas, suggestions, actions and behaviors that, if we mimic them much like we mimic our own parents, elders or older siblings or role models now, can quickly help us back onto a sustainability course versus the extinction track we have chosen thus far. This is measured by environmental neutrality or enhancement, also to be delved into at a later date.
Notice that when my right brain uses the word sustainability, it means at least what the definition of sustainability is per the “Sustainability Dictionary” (www.sustainabilitydictionary.com) i.e., development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Peace (HOW) - the strategy or way for living, working, playing, transacting, interacting and relating with one another and Nature going forward. This way, my right brain thinks, is the conscious alternative to what humanity has, by and large, employed as its predominant strategy since time immemorial, namely War. Ironically, my right brain urges us to notice, whether in politics, business, sports, or whatever, we have all too often made the claim that the current war – be it against another nation, against disease, against illegal substances will achieve peace. The new paradigm, my right brain asserts, has integrated as reality the fact, so succinctly stated by Mahatma Gandhi: there is no way to peace, peace is the way.
Wow! Imagine a world in which businesses, their customers, their shareholders, their suppliers and partners hold themselves to those 4 bottom lines?
Exciting isn’t it?
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Economic Context Shift - Picking Up Speed …
We are in the midst of what we call the “economic downturn,” or “the recession,” or “the economic crisis.” The reality is much deeper than any of those terms imply. In fact, my right brain avers, we are experiencing the demise of individualistic capitalism, the system we thought of as synonymous with democracy; as the way the world should function!
Wait, wait! Before you jump to conclusions, get defensive, argumentative or dismissive and at least hear my right brain out.
It began in 1980 with Ronald Reagan becoming president of the United States, the leading example of “the capitalist system.” During those years, Reagan et al focused on cutting taxes and reducing reliance on government while increasing U.S. national defense (calling it “defense” is actually a misnomer – a topic my right brain will explore down the road) It was when capitalism as individualistic economic ideology culminated and began its decline, which is now accelerating and it feels like a crisis.
If my right brain remembers correctly the 1980s was the “ME” era when Leona Helmsley, Ivan Boesky and Donald Trump emerged as icons of “the haves,” and the United States triumphed at the LA Olympic Games while the Soviets sat out “citing security concerns and chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States.” (Wikipedia/NY Times).
With Apple, Microsoft and Silicon Valley growing prodigiously, Michael Jackson, and Madonna wowing the world; Americans that had it flaunted it and turned a blind eye while Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North traded drugs and guns with Iran and the Contras in the basement of the White House.
Simultaneously, the antithesis of individualistic capitalism, communism or state capitalism, was nearing the end of its disgusting run. Led by a person of intellect, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) was actually aimed at opening up the choking Soviet economy, the Soviet system collapsed in part in the period 1987 – 1991. My right brain says “in part” because it is resurging again temporarily under Putin like individualistic capitalism did under Bush-Cheney for a few years. Ironically, while Reagan took, and America gave him, credit for the collapse of communism, it was really the first phase of individualistic capitalism’s demise that he, and we, had achieved!
Individualistic capitalism (“capitalism”), the thesis, had to have state capitalism (“communism”), the antithesis, to survive. Once communism fell, it was just a matter of time before capitalism went too. And now it is on its way, inexorably, unequivocally.
“Why is individualistic capitalism over?” my right brain asks, “and what is replacing it?”
It is over because it is unsustainable, simple as that. It is unsustainable because its two keystone principles “individualism” and “maximal growth” attempt to defy the laws of Nature.
Human beings are not individualistic evolutionarily or by design. We are relational creatures who need one another to survive. In fact, we not only need other humans to survive, we need a healthy ecosystem of water, air, soil, plant, insect and animal life – there is no doubt about it.
In Nature, growth is optimal not maximal and where that precept is denied the organism dies out like the brontosaurus did. Trees, animals, humans and all other organisms grow and then they reach a level of sustainability where aspects of them are shed for new growth (innovation) to appear.
With the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president, the world has entered a new economic context, “social or community capitalism,” which will become our paradigm by 2015 – 2020. The economy will never return to what it was.
Over the next decade we will see the emergence of local and community-based micro-economies, of companies and corporations that we will assess by 3 if not 4 bottom lines; financial, social benefit, environmental and even spiritual. We will address climate change and thus we will learn to become green (read: sustainable) in everything we do; how we think, converse, lead, govern, manage, tend, attend, work, play and relate. We will significantly alleviate poverty, hunger and violence on the large scale i.e., government, cartel and gang related.
This is an exhilarating time to be alive!
Wait, wait! Before you jump to conclusions, get defensive, argumentative or dismissive and at least hear my right brain out.
It began in 1980 with Ronald Reagan becoming president of the United States, the leading example of “the capitalist system.” During those years, Reagan et al focused on cutting taxes and reducing reliance on government while increasing U.S. national defense (calling it “defense” is actually a misnomer – a topic my right brain will explore down the road) It was when capitalism as individualistic economic ideology culminated and began its decline, which is now accelerating and it feels like a crisis.
If my right brain remembers correctly the 1980s was the “ME” era when Leona Helmsley, Ivan Boesky and Donald Trump emerged as icons of “the haves,” and the United States triumphed at the LA Olympic Games while the Soviets sat out “citing security concerns and chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States.” (Wikipedia/NY Times).
With Apple, Microsoft and Silicon Valley growing prodigiously, Michael Jackson, and Madonna wowing the world; Americans that had it flaunted it and turned a blind eye while Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North traded drugs and guns with Iran and the Contras in the basement of the White House.
Simultaneously, the antithesis of individualistic capitalism, communism or state capitalism, was nearing the end of its disgusting run. Led by a person of intellect, Mikhail Gorbachev, whose ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) was actually aimed at opening up the choking Soviet economy, the Soviet system collapsed in part in the period 1987 – 1991. My right brain says “in part” because it is resurging again temporarily under Putin like individualistic capitalism did under Bush-Cheney for a few years. Ironically, while Reagan took, and America gave him, credit for the collapse of communism, it was really the first phase of individualistic capitalism’s demise that he, and we, had achieved!
Individualistic capitalism (“capitalism”), the thesis, had to have state capitalism (“communism”), the antithesis, to survive. Once communism fell, it was just a matter of time before capitalism went too. And now it is on its way, inexorably, unequivocally.
“Why is individualistic capitalism over?” my right brain asks, “and what is replacing it?”
It is over because it is unsustainable, simple as that. It is unsustainable because its two keystone principles “individualism” and “maximal growth” attempt to defy the laws of Nature.
Human beings are not individualistic evolutionarily or by design. We are relational creatures who need one another to survive. In fact, we not only need other humans to survive, we need a healthy ecosystem of water, air, soil, plant, insect and animal life – there is no doubt about it.
In Nature, growth is optimal not maximal and where that precept is denied the organism dies out like the brontosaurus did. Trees, animals, humans and all other organisms grow and then they reach a level of sustainability where aspects of them are shed for new growth (innovation) to appear.
With the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president, the world has entered a new economic context, “social or community capitalism,” which will become our paradigm by 2015 – 2020. The economy will never return to what it was.
Over the next decade we will see the emergence of local and community-based micro-economies, of companies and corporations that we will assess by 3 if not 4 bottom lines; financial, social benefit, environmental and even spiritual. We will address climate change and thus we will learn to become green (read: sustainable) in everything we do; how we think, converse, lead, govern, manage, tend, attend, work, play and relate. We will significantly alleviate poverty, hunger and violence on the large scale i.e., government, cartel and gang related.
This is an exhilarating time to be alive!
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Beginning ....
My right brain way of thinking has been a blessing (to me) most of the time as it offers me the opportunity to surprise myself with connections and patterns I have not heard, seen, or experienced before.
My right brain way of thinking has been a challenge (to some others and to me) some of the time because the surprising connections, patterns and ideas can collide with conventional or traditional thinking.
All that said, I have decided to share my right brain's perspectives on what is happening in the world generally and specifically.
The meta-story or overarching backdrop to what is happening in the world, that my right brain perceives, is the most meaningful contextual shift for humanity since the Industrial revolution about 250 years ago i.e., the Sustainability revolution.
My right brain is not alone in this perception by the way and that is both good and comforting news!
Good news because since the Sustainability revolution shift is contextual, much of what we think, feel and do is changing fundamentally everywhere.
Comforting news because after many years of being dismissed (at worst) or not taken too seriously (mostly) my right brain detects company!!
Over time my right brain will unpack the meaning (to it) of the Sustainability revolution. For this introductory blog suffice it to say that sustainability means appropriate or "as it would be if it were deigned by Nature."
And the implication is that human beings are learning fast that only by being that way i.e., sustainable, are we assured, if not guaranteed, a future on this magnificent planet.
Being sustainable then in every aspect of our lives from how we steward Nature (air, water, soil) and how we converse with one another; to how we manage, lead, follow and create human culture to how we relate to and with animals, birds and insects.
My right brain encourages you to enjoy the ride!
My right brain way of thinking has been a challenge (to some others and to me) some of the time because the surprising connections, patterns and ideas can collide with conventional or traditional thinking.
All that said, I have decided to share my right brain's perspectives on what is happening in the world generally and specifically.
The meta-story or overarching backdrop to what is happening in the world, that my right brain perceives, is the most meaningful contextual shift for humanity since the Industrial revolution about 250 years ago i.e., the Sustainability revolution.
My right brain is not alone in this perception by the way and that is both good and comforting news!
Good news because since the Sustainability revolution shift is contextual, much of what we think, feel and do is changing fundamentally everywhere.
Comforting news because after many years of being dismissed (at worst) or not taken too seriously (mostly) my right brain detects company!!
Over time my right brain will unpack the meaning (to it) of the Sustainability revolution. For this introductory blog suffice it to say that sustainability means appropriate or "as it would be if it were deigned by Nature."
And the implication is that human beings are learning fast that only by being that way i.e., sustainable, are we assured, if not guaranteed, a future on this magnificent planet.
Being sustainable then in every aspect of our lives from how we steward Nature (air, water, soil) and how we converse with one another; to how we manage, lead, follow and create human culture to how we relate to and with animals, birds and insects.
My right brain encourages you to enjoy the ride!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
