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Doing the right thing to change the world?

Sara Wolcott | Tuesday 3rd March 2009

Sometimes, the multiplicity of global crises and the enormous, un-imaginable numbers in the news (20 million jobs in china disappeared in 2 weeks; world bank increases it's funding three-fold; the most recent reports at how fast th ice is disappearing) make me wonder if 'we' are doing the right thing. Or if we really do know what is the 'right thing' to do. There's been a wonderful discussion in JustMeans blogosphere recently about how we change the world. I spent last week at or listening to three different gatherings trying to change the world - one at a somewhat elite, liberal gathering around Human Rights and the Crises; one at the more populist '6 Billion Ways' gathering; and listening into the UN Sustainable Development gathering in New York. All of them agreed: major international bodies (such as the G20) don't 'really' know what they are doing. There is no grand plan out there. and while there have been some notable attempts at grand plans from the liberal, sustainable crowd (Plan B, Frances' Moore Lappe's work, and many others), it's still, well, fuzzy and it is hard to tell how much influence 'the people' have with 'the leaders'. In the global south, I hear a number of angry mutterings as thousands of people beginning to feel the impact of yet another crisis that they did not create but are experiencing the painful affects of it. Somedays (and, for whatever reason, today seems to be one of them), it seems we are not doing the right thing. even if we don't know everything, even if we are not experts, surely that does not give us an excuse to not do the right thing - if we have an incling as to what the right thing is.

What are we not doing right? What's missing, the presence of which would make a difference?

Maybe we (or at least I) am making 'it' all too complicated. Maybe it really is simple.

In the conference on Human Rights and Humanity (the outcome of that conference, which will go towards the G20, will be posted in another week or so), it became clear that, complicated though it might seem at first, we can not separate finance from climate change from poverty/inequality from personal transformation and societal transformation. The flip side of 'rights' are 'responsibilities'. We live with all of these big topics every day. We have been working in a dirty-fuel based economy that exploits people (esp in developing countries) and the planet alike. Sustainable does not necessarily mean 'steady growth'. The system works as a whole; it also falls apart as a whole. The more it sees itself as a whole, (which can never be done by any one individual), the greater the chance for right-action.

Without loosing our diversity, we need to create unity. We need to actively, creatively, continuously bring the different pieces together, working towards a common vision.
This is possible.

At all the conferences I listened to, I met and was moved by inspiring individuals who were themselves inspired by what they heard. Looking back, I wondered, what was going on that so many were inspired? It wasn't the nature of the problem. It was, instead, the nature of the opportunity; the potential for a real paradigm shift. The tangible sense of the paradigm shift was experienced - not just talked about - as people, collectively, found themselves on the road towards Unity. It is often a long and steep road, but it can make your heart sing.

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Sara Wolcott 8 March 2009

Yup, paradigm shift - I've been talking about it for years. Maybe we should do more explicit noting - when something is a paradigm shift and when it is not and what would make it a paradigm shift. There seems to be so many fuzzy actions that aren't really getting to the heart of the problem.