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HOW DO WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TIMES OF GROWING CRISES?
From Tom Atlee to his Co-Intelligence Mailing List
December 30, 2005
Dear friends,
How do we invest our time, attention, money and energy in times
of crisis?
This is not an easy question now -- and it isn't becoming any
easier.
I want to thank -- deeply thank -- the 12 people who have sent
donations to
support my work and the Co-Intelligence Institute this month.
The fact that
one sent in $10,000 has, obviously, made all the difference in
the world.
It is significant, I believe, that only 11 other people have
joined him --
out of 1500 people on this list. There are undoubtedly many
causes --
including my own vanishing from the radar screen for over two
months of
retreat, and my not sending out a list of accomplishments and
plans due to
the transitional nature of the last several months. My decision
to focus on
the conscious evolution of social systems also may not appeal to
enough
people here.
Whatever the truth of the matter in our particular case, there's
a bigger
factor at work. It seems that funding for many nonprofits is way
down this
season, particularly due to people having already given so much
to help
tsunami and hurricane (and some earthquake) victims.
As much as I would like to kick-start this fundraiser and have a
flood of
donations come in, this letter isn't about finding an appealing
message,
making anyone feel guilty or inspired, or even about how much
money comes in
to me and the Co-Intelligence Institute.
This letter is about the very real likelihood that less money
will be
available as our times become increasingly challenging and
conditions in the
world (and our lives) worsen. What does that mean for how we use
our money
-- and the other forms of life energy we have to invest?
This is not a new question for me: I've been working on this for
years,
writing and networking behind the scenes (out of view of this
list). In the
last six months I have been working with others to organize an
Evolutionary
Salon on philanthropy, to be held next June. This salon is not a
ploy to
generate money for my work. It is a real effort to understand
the best role
of our collective, accumulated wealth in the increasingly
challenging times
we are entering.
These times -- which we might call the Era of Consequences --
will be
especially challenging because we are now encountering the
consequences of
decades of very unwise collective decisions. Examples are
abundant.
Well-known highlights include:
* climate change, which will trigger increasingly destructive
"natural
disasters," including droughts, storms, flooding, and the
disruption of
normal agricultural and disease patterns and
* economic crises due to monumentally unstable debts and
deficits, rising
environmental costs, increased wealth disparities, and
challenges from the
rise of China and India (among many other factors).
These two factors alone will produce
* more wars and terrorism; refugee, migration, and immigration
problems;
demagoguery; and a general flourishing of hardship and visible
suffering, to
say nothing of species extinctions.
To top it off, there are vicious feedback dynamics in which
different parts
of the crisis feed other parts of it. Increased temperatures
generate
increased air conditioning using more energy which generates
more carbon
dioxide which further increases temperatures. Natural disasters
and wars
generate private and public debts and environmental costs.
Terrorism
generates fears which support wars and demagoguery which
increase debts,
repression and human suffering which, in turn, increase
terrorism. Such
feedback loops promise to provide an ever-increasing spiral of
difficulty
and disruption.
The more suffering and disruption there is, the more demands
there will be
on philanthropy -- not just on foundations but on individual
donors like us
-- and the less personal money most of us will have to relieve
the suffering
and to address the increasing problems.
So it is no small question what to do with our money. This
situation
challenges our very notions of what help and compassion really
mean in such
circumstances.
In times of tremendous suffering and destruction, it is hard to
turn our
attention from the immediate images of suffering and destruction
to attend
to their causes, and to the opportunities for positive
transformation that
these difficulties open up. But I want to suggest to you that
that's exactly
what is required if we are to break this deadly cycle.
The poignant irony of all this came home to me several years ago
when I
heard about a serious post-9-11 drop in donations to the Rocky
Mountain
Institute (RMI), an organization which may have done more than
any other to
reduce US energy consumption. Millions of dollars were flowing
to support
the victims of 9-11 (and billions of tax dollars were being
channeled to
wars in the Middle East) instead of supporting organizations
like RMI to
reduce our dependence on Middle East oil, the geopolitics of
which is the
primary driver of radical Muslim terrorism.
It is easier and more compelling to attend to the suffering of
people
immediately on our television and computer screens than to the
suffering of
those yet to come. In our fast-paced times it is hard to orient
our caring,
as the Iroquois do, to the welfare of the seventh generation
after us.
I strongly suggest that this question -- What would best serve
the seventh
generation after us? -- is the first and most vital question
before us. I
say this in the face of our instant response: What about all the
starving
children today?!! I now believe that if we don't ask and answer
the first
question -- What would best serve the seventh generation after
us? -- then
whatever we do will become part of the unfolding disaster -- the
rising
spiral of crises combined with the dwindling spiral of
resources. The result
is predictable: There will soon be no resources to address the
crescendo of
suffering.
In any given situation, this decision is a very difficult one.
Everything in
us is wired to respond to immediate situations and suffering,
and to take
care of our own needs. To turn away from the suffering of others
feels
inhuman. To sacrifice our own welfare or the wellbeing of those
we love to
theoretically serve abstract future generations or to transform
abstract
social systems seems improvident if not alienated or downright
dangerous.
So what SHOULD we address when we face a crisis? Where should we
put our
money and energy? We want change, but what kind of change? Do we
put our
time, attention, money, and energy into changing
1. the problems -- the suffering, destruction, degradation,
injustice and
dysfunction we see?
2. the systems that cause these problems?
3. the technologies, tools and methods available to do things
differently?
5. the capacity of society to clearly see what's happening and
respond with
collective intelligence and wisdom, including redesigning its
systems as it
goes?
6. the consciousness -- the beliefs, values, awareness, stories,
etc. --
which shape everything that society does?
This is a question of leverage: How shall we invest our dollars,
days and
caring to generate the most good? My own view is that efforts to
create
change in (5) and (6) will have far more ultimate impact than
efforts to
directly address the problems and suffering in (1).
There's much more to say on this, but I wanted to invite you
into this
inquiry. Whether or not you decide to contribute to my work and
the
Co-Intelligence Institute, I want you to know that the changes I
am making
in my own worldwork reflect my efforts to operate as high on the
spectrum of
system interventions as I can. I believe that investing my
gifts, time, and
energy to envision and catalyze a movement to help social
systems
consciously evolve will do more for the seventh generation than
anything
else I can do.
If you agree, I invite your support. If you feel something else
would better
serve the seventh generation, I urge you -- yes, urge you -- to
support
that, with all your heart and substantial resources. With each
passing day,
conscious choice on this matter becomes more important. If we
are each
guided by our best understanding of what will benefit the
seventh generation
after us, we have a chance to make it.
And as hard as these times might be, there are blessings hidden
in them. As
crises mount, mass consciousness and established institutions
begin to shake
and shift at deeper and deeper levels -- we are witnessing this
now -- and
tremendous creativity and commitment begin to surface. I see the
conditions
for evolutionary leaps ripening rapidly.
There may be no better time for us to step in and make the
difference we are
here to make.
Coheartedly,
Tom
PS: The late great ecological systems thinker Donella Meadows
once described
"Twelve Leverage Points to Intervene in a System." This paper,
which I
highly recommend, is summarized and linked at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donella_Meadows'_twelve_leverage_points_to_int
ervene_in_a_system>. It informed my six leverage points, given
above. I also
recommend James Fournier's "The Shift Scenario"
<http://www.metanature.org/PDFs/ShiftScenario9-23-05.pdf> which
describes
the incredible predicament we've gotten ourselves into and the
possibility
that we could make a sudden evolutionary shift in the direction
of
sustainability -- and the implications of that for philanthropy.
...........
HOW TO SUPPORT THE CO-INTELLIGENCE INSTITUTE:
You can send a donation of any amount -- $25, $50, $100, $500 or
more -- to:
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Do let me know when you've mailed a donation, so I can add it to
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right away. Including your email address on your check will help
me keep
track of your gift. Your donations to the Co-Intelligence
Institute are
fully tax-deductible.
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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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