Bagaimana jika kita mengukur kekayaan dari segi kehidupan, dan seberapa baik kita melayaninya?
David Korten memulakan kehidupan profesionalnya sebagai profesor di Harvard Business School dalam misi untuk mengeluarkan orang yang bergelut di negara Dunia Ketiga daripada kemiskinan dengan berkongsi rahsia kejayaan perniagaan AS. Namun, selepas beberapa dekad di mana dia menggunakan strategi pembangunan organisasinya di tempat-tempat yang jauh seperti Ethiopia, Nicaragua, dan Filipina, Korten mengalami perubahan hati. Pada tahun 1995, beliau menulis buku terlaris When Corporations Rule the World , diikuti dengan satu siri buku yang membantu melahirkan gerakan yang dikenali sebagai Ekonomi Baru, seruan untuk menggantikan dominasi korporat transnasional dengan ekonomi tempatan, kawalan, pemilikan dan berdikari.
Bulan ini, Korten, yang juga pengasas bersama dan pengerusi lembaga YES!, menerbitkan buku baharu yang mencabar pembaca untuk memikirkan semula hubungan mereka dengan Bumi—sesungguhnya, dengan semua ciptaan, daripada zarah kuantum terkecil hingga ke seluruh alam semesta. Dunia memerlukan "cerita baru," katanya. "Jika kebanyakan spesies, termasuk Homo sapiens, ingin terus hidup, kita mesti mengiktiraf Bumi sebagai makhluk hidup." Korten bercakap tentang metamorfosisnya yang berterusan dengan YES! Editor Eksekutif Dean Paton.
Dean Paton : Beritahu saya bagaimana seseorang yang merupakan pakar pengurusan organisasi, dan kemudian seorang pemimpin pemikiran ekonomi baharu, membuat lonjakan ini ke dalam apa yang dianggap sebagai cadangan rohani dan juga politik—bahawa Bumi ialah organisma hidup, bahawa kita semua pada dasarnya adalah sebahagian daripada satu bentuk kehidupan yang besar ini.
"Ia kembali kepada ini: Adakah kita sebahagian daripada alam semula jadi? Atau selain daripada alam semula jadi?"
David Korten : Sebenarnya tidaklah sukar—sebaik sahaja anda masuk ke dalam kerangka Bumi yang hidup—untuk melihat bahawa Bumi pada dasarnya adalah organisasi organisma hidup yang mencipta dan mengekalkan keadaan yang penting untuk kehidupan. Jika anda pakar organisasi, atau ahli teori, itu menimbulkan persoalan yang sangat menarik: Bagaimanakah berjuta-juta organisma ini bekerja secara bersama untuk mengekalkan kehidupan?
Paton : Seolah-olah segala-galanya mempunyai kecerdasan dan segala-galanya mempunyai tujuan? Bagaimanakah ia berkaitan dengan buku baharu anda, Ubah Cerita, Ubah Masa Depan?
Korten : Buku baharu ini menetapkan penjajaran antara kisah “Sacred Money and Markets” lama dan cerita “Sacred Life and Living Earth” yang baru muncul. Ia adalah dua bingkai yang sama sekali berbeza yang membawa kepada dua cara pemikiran yang sama sekali berbeza tentang mengatur masyarakat. Anda sama ada melihat kehidupan sebagai cara untuk menjana wang, atau anda melihat wang hanya sebagai nombor yang berguna untuk mengekalkan akaun dalam perkhidmatan untuk kehidupan, tetapi tidak mempunyai nilai sendiri. Membeli ke dalam cerita "Wang Suci dan Pasaran" bahawa wang adalah kekayaan dan kunci kebahagiaan mengunci kita ke dalam perhambaan indentur kepada peraturan korporat.
Paton : Anda mengatakan bahawa model pembangunan tradisional, atau kapitalisme transnasional, yang merosakkan Bumi sebagai komuniti yang hidup, termasuk bukan sahaja manusia tetapi semua bentuk kehidupan. Namun kita semua bergantung kepada wang, pada ekonomi pasaran. Adakah anda benar-benar fikir kita boleh menghentikan pergantungan itu?
Korten : Kami masih akan menggunakan wang dan pasaran, tetapi menanggalkan kawalan Wall Street terhadap penciptaan dan peruntukan wang. Ada masa di Amerika Syarikat apabila kebanyakan institusi kewangan kita adalah tempatan. Yang pada asasnya bermakna bahawa komuniti tempatan dapat mencipta kredit mereka sendiri, atau wang mereka sendiri, sebagai tindak balas kepada keperluan mereka sendiri. Kami masih bergantung kepada bank, tetapi ia adalah proses yang lebih demokratik.
Paton : Seperti bangunan George Bailey dan pinjaman dalam It's a Wonderful Life .
"Kita manusia hidup dengan cerita."
Korten : Betul. Jika lebih banyak wang kita diedarkan dalam komuniti kita dan bukannya kasino Wall Street, ia akan memudahkan orang ramai mengatur secara tempatan untuk memenuhi lebih banyak keperluan ekonomi mereka dengan sumber tempatan. Kawalan wang adalah mekanisme utama kawalan sosial dalam masyarakat di mana kebanyakan setiap orang bergantung kepada wang untuk keperluan asas kehidupan—makanan, air, tempat tinggal, haba, pengangkutan, hiburan. Ini membawa kita ke dalam gerakan kesederhanaan sukarela: Semakin kurang saya bergantung kepada wang, semakin bebas saya. Sedar bahawa satu-satunya tujuan ekonomi yang sah adalah untuk berkhidmat kepada kehidupan, adalah untuk melayani kita sebagai makhluk hidup yang membuat kehidupan kita dalam perkongsian produktif bersama dengan Bumi yang hidup.
Paton : Bagaimanakah ia diterjemahkan ke dalam tindakan? Jika kita mendapat seribu orang untuk berkata, "Saya adalah makhluk hidup yang dilahirkan dan dipelihara oleh Bumi yang hidup," bagaimanakah itu menghentikan fracking? Bagaimanakah ia menghalang Rusia daripada mengepam semua minyak keluar dari Kazakhstan dan menjualnya ke seluruh dunia?
Korten : Ia menjelaskan dengan sangat jelas bahawa memusnahkan sistem kehidupan semula jadi yang bergantung kepada kewujudan kita, untuk mendapatkan pembetulan tenaga yang cepat atau keuntungan yang cepat, adalah benar-benar gila.
Paton : Jadi jika kita semua makhluk hidup "dilahirkan daripada Bumi yang hidup," seperti yang anda katakan, di manakah ia mula muncul dalam kehidupan kita?
Korten : Sebilangan besarnya ada kaitan dengan mengiktiraf implikasi pergantungan kita kepada wang. Ini kembali kepada pembangunan sebagai proses memisahkan orang daripada cara pengeluaran sara diri mereka. Semakin ramai orang menjadi terasing daripada pengeluaran diri mereka, semakin mereka bergantung kepada wang—dan semakin mereka bergantung kepada orang yang mengawal penciptaan dan pengagihan wang.
Paton : Maksud anda apabila saya bergantung, saya menerima fracking.
Korten : Ya, anda berkata, "Saya perlukan wang itu. Mereka akan membayar saya untuk menipu harta saya."
Paton : Adakah anda benar-benar fikir rakyat Amerika akan dapat menolak kepercayaan bahawa wang adalah raja?
Korten : Saya rasa ramai yang menolaknya.
Paton : Kebanyakan daripada kita membalas bil 10 dolar. Atau bonus di tempat kerja. Atau kereta baru.
Korten : Tetapi kami menjawabnya kerana kami menerima cerita "Wang Suci dan Pasaran" bahawa wang adalah kekayaan, satu rekaan yang benar-benar membunuh kami.
Paton : Jadi anda mengatakan bahawa pilihan kami adalah antara bekerja dengan Bumi dan bekerja menentangnya?
Korten : Ia kembali kepada ini: Adakah kita sebahagian daripada alam semula jadi? Atau selain dari alam semula jadi?
Paton : Mengapa anda bertegas kami menerima pakai cerita "Bumi Hidup" ini?
Korten : Kerana kita manusia hidup dengan cerita.
Paton : Dan itu bermakna…?
Korten : Ini bermakna untuk mengatur sebagai masyarakat tertib, kita memerlukan rangka kerja yang dikongsi—nilai dan andaian asas—supaya apabila saya berhubung dengan anda, saya mendapat sedikit idea tentang cara anda akan bertindak balas, kerana kami berkongsi cerita asas kami.
Paton : Adakah kita mempunyai pilihan?
Korten : Ya, berubah atau mati. Secara harfiah. Anda benar-benar tidak dapat memahami kisah baharu itu—sebagai masyarakat—dan terus menjalani cara hidup kita. Mula-mula anda mula bergerak ke arah kesederhanaan yang lebih sukarela, iaitu, secara literal, mengurangkan pergantungan anda kepada wang. Anda mula melakukan lebih banyak perkara sendiri. Anda memberi lebih perhatian kepada hubungan anda, kepada ekonomi hadiah. Anda mungkin mendapat rasa yang lebih mendalam untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada dan penyumbang kepada alam semesta hidup yang berkembang ke arah kerumitan, keindahan, kesedaran dan kemungkinan yang lebih besar. Apakah maknanya bagi masyarakat, dan kemudian apakah maksudnya bagi cara saya hidup? Apakah sumbangan saya kepada perubahan yang diperlukan oleh masyarakat? Saya mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada perubahan ini—yang bermula dengan mengubah cerita.
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"Are we a part of nature? Or apart from nature?"
This good question mirrors larger ones, such as, Are we a part of the divine? Or apart from the divine? Is our planet earth a part of the divine? Or is planet earth apart from the divine? What actually happens to us, to our humanity, and to all of life on our planet home when we believe and act as if the divine presence of God is never really present in our midst, that we cannot ever see, hear, touch, and know God right here, in this moment on this earth? Are we reserving all our seeing, hearing, touching, and knowing God for some next life, for some heaven beyond this present life?
What if God is here? What if God is under our noses, present within our own being, distinctly and separately contained in the loving wisdoms of two unique genders, alive in all the various races, colors, and cultures of people, within sexual orientation and identity, walking by, and also flying past, swimming in rivers and oceans, present in plants and insects - all facets and different aspects of the Universal One?
We seem so convinced that the divine is "out there", distant and foreign, looking down upon us. What if heaven has been waiting for us to bring it to life, right here on earth?
What would heaven be like? Would heaven have a hierarchy of superior and inferior people, or people superior to creatures, birds, fish, insects, plants, forests, oceans, and waters; human beings dominating over life, enslaving, re-engineering, genetically-altering, chemically-poisoning, and monetarily profiting from commodifying, exploiting, abusing, destroying, and killing human life and all of creation, and our own human hearts and souls in the bargain?
When Albert Eisstein was asked, What is the most important question in life, his answer was, "Is the universe a friendly place or not?"
[Hide Full Comment]Chasing and competing (even unto death) for fleeting, dissolving, and false monetary wealth blinds and pits all human beings (wittingly or unwittingly) against one another, and against all of life, and also crushes respect, love, genuine and true affection along the way, in regard to others and all of creation but also for one's self. Are we "making a living", but just existing, and not truly living? Can we compete our way into heaven, disrespecting and commodifying human work populations and all of life? Can we save our planet earth home, and the best in our humanity by disregarding and disrespecting both, in favor of non-lasting monetary rewards that are disappearing as quickly as we claim them, while they take away and destroy our true and lasting common wealth in the natural world of earth, lead us to suppress ground-breaking knowledge in natural processes and life-sustaining innovation, and stand in the way and block our ability to form healthy, respectful, cooperative relationships with one another and with all of creation? Is our existence on this earth nothing more than just a place to compete and win while trampling over others, dominating everyone and all of life, destroying the best of our own humanity and all of creation?
Perhaps the first, and truly most important, question is,
"Is the earth a friendly place or not?"
And, what have we formed it to be?
It has been said by George Simmel, German Sociologist, that money is the purest form of a tool. Since the tool is man made I suggest accounting for inherent worth wherein all possess natural worth.
Another contribution to changing the story.
"We are surrounded by a sea of free energy. Nikola Tesla and Dr. Thomas Henry Moray tried to educate the public to this good and free electromagnetic energy (EM energy) over 80 years ago that can be harnessed with a simple, even homemade, omnidirectional antenna. EM energy is infinitely supplied by our good universe, and it creates zero emissions. All the Egyptian pyramids are antennas, and more modern pyramids within our midst. Solar panels can be redesigned to harness this electromagnetic energy and supply free, unlimited, and carbon-free electrical energy." Get on it. Investigate. The info is out there. We need to reclaim our planetary earth home, if humanity and all of creation deserve a chance at continuing into a future full of abundance, joy, peace, free and good, priceless love and life.
from frenergy
[Tapping into 200 volts positive of free, unlimited and unmetered pure electrical energy]
Thank you for this good and necessary interview with David Korten.
A contribution to changing the story -
The goal is self-sufficiency. We need life skills asap.
Our real needs are actually simple - food, clothing, shelter, and local community connections.
We can all contribute to a new earth by literally beginning to be more and more self-sufficient, learning how to grow, harvest, and preserve our own food at the individual and local community level, planting organic gmo-free gardens, encouraging and supporting the creation of small local organic farms, and farmdens ["a farmden is more than a garden and less than a farm", horticulturist, Lee Reich], local fruit and nut trees and orchards etc, and learning best practices for organic growing and preserving of non-gmo vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Schools and universities could be growing and teaching their students necessary life skills, how to grow and harvest organic, vegetables, herbs, and orchards on their own campuses. We are wasting, actually also polluting chemically, enormous swatches of dead zone land in maintaining pristine-looking lawns, but often poisoned with "cides" that are dangerous to esp. children but also adults, animals, bird, bat, insect life, fish, and local water sources (from the runoff into groundwater or local streams and creeks etc), rather than front, back, and side yards, and common community lands that are contributing to organic food self-sufficiency and engaged with the growing-of-life-itself process. We could also be composting all vegetal and organic plant waste and restoring depleted soils, rather than putting it into garbage disposals and sewers. We could be planting native plants and trees to encourage and contribute to the health and well being of all plant, animal, insect, bird, and fish populations at the individual and local level. And rooftop farms and gardens are one dynamic solution [eg. Brooklyn Grange] enabling city dwellers to also begin the process of becoming food self-sufficient local towns and cities.
We could also be de-constructing archaic and wasteful, unsustainable housing construction, reclaiming the materials, but also restoring the soils and lands, and building our own houses esp. with natural earth and cob-building processes [eg. First Earth movie], passive solar, thermal mass, sustainable energies, revolutionary biotecture techniques [Earthship Biotecture] for heating and cooling, trapping and using rainwater, and treating sewage on site w natural earth knowledge and processes, etc. Very little or no furniture and unspoiled home goods should be going into land fills. All of it, the vast majority could be recycled, redesigned, repainted, reupholstered and re-imagined into new life by local peoples with the know-how and vision to reclaim it. Raw materials could also find new and glorious uses [eg. Wallace Detroit Guitars - Upcycled Guitars Made From Abandoned Homes]. Old doors and windows could be made into garden greenhouses and conservatories "to extend the growing season, and as a shelter for chickens and/ or quail" [from Off Grid World].
I am one generation away from grandparents who did know how to grow and preserve their own food, who had cold cellars on their properties, who knew how to design and sew their own clothes, and build their own houses, and they did it all at the local level. By building and supporting local community and local businesses, local banking or public local banks, we are creating real wealth in self-sufficient and self-sustainable lives, enjoying life and real living, sharing in the joy and abundance of growing and harvesting, and engaged with our neighbors, neighborhoods, and local community. We could become local towns and communities of handbikers, bike trails and bike lanes like Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We could ensure our community has, at least, one dynamic and exciting, welcoming and beautiful public square with native plants and trees etc. where people can gather to talk, engage, sit, stroll, enjoy an ice cream cone, watch and support local street performers entertain, maybe have local-truck businesses that visit, come and go, etc. on Friday night and Saturday like they do in Tuscan Italian towns.
A few decades ago while working together at a community bank, I worked with a co-worker and friend whose mother lived in Greece, and her Greek mother would come every summer to visit her daughter. The two of them would roam the stores looking at clothes they admired. Then, the Greek mother (actually a grandmother) would make the dress, skirt etc patterns herself, and sew the clothes that her daughter, my friend, had admired. Watching the two of them every summer, was ... almost miraculous. That elderly and sophisticated Greek grandmother had true life skills; she was self-sufficient, and it was marvelous. The clothes she sewed for herself and her daughter were absolutely fabulous; they both had THE most gorgeous and unique wardrobes, and it was all created with loving hands and overflowing generosity of heart.
Imagine if we were all so engaged in living, having a wealth of life skills at our fingertips,
[Hide Full Comment]what kind of loving and life-enhancing new earth we could be living, and bring forth?
This "Living Earth' story need to be heard by more people around the world. We are living in a world controlled by greedy big banks and big businesses whose only aim is the big profit! And the rest of the world is mindlessly succumbing to their mantra of materialism - consume, consume AND consume! Lets rethink at individual levels about our way of life and make a concerted effort to resist materialism and go back to a simplistic way of living, caring for the living earth, caring for your families and future generations, caring for the communities we live in.