id:iss52

WPP is being directed by the Sustainability Research Institute located in Byron Bay, NSW Australia.

The following script is being designed for use in a simple “beginner’s” video on world peace. The purpose of this video is to help as many people as possible quickly identify with the need for world peace, how to organize for world peace and become familiar with the individuals who are currently directly involved in realistically initiating that process: exactly what they are doing, and how they are collaborating together. It needs to be short and informative - yet uplifting and motivating. “Acceleration” is the key word as we move closer to 2012.

The need for this video was realized after observing that people who have been working on various projects relating to this issue were not really honoring each other by “walking a mile in the other’s shoes” so-to-speak. Each has been so excited and so passionate about their own separate project, that there was not a clear understanding of what other people with similar interests were doing; thus, sort of losing focus of the reality that we’re all in this together. Even though some were fully aware of the other’s existence for many years, no one was taking the time to “fully” investigate and “fully” understand what that other was doing.

It’s quickly becoming clear that, in order to make any progress at all towards world peace, we must honor the efforts of each contributor - first by understanding each other’s individual journey and then committing to work together in harmony to find a way to merge all of these efforts together.

There is no doubt that once the front runners of this effort can demonstrate that they can organize and work together, this will be a great example for many more people to quickly follow.

This short, informative and entertaining video can be posted on YouTube, linked to other sites on the internet, and shown at markets, fairs, conventions, etc. around the globe.

created 23 Aug 2010 by Ricardo

id:iss51

Any discussion about new economic systems requires a context within which it sits for it to be meaningful, at least to me. In following the discussion between Ricardo, Othomas and others, two questions are invoked in my mind. What is a political system and what is an economy? Of course there are standard definitions but those do not cut it – they do not allow for a paradigm shift which is, I think, what is required, or at least desired. Let us then go back to the basic principles and begin from there. Any system should be designed to meet the needs of its members – that is humans. So, we must ask, what are those needs? Paul Tillich suggested humans had two needs – a desire to realize oneself and a desire for unity. Other ways of looking at this would be a desire for freedom and a desire for security. We could see this in terms of the individual and collective. The way I like to view this, from a personal perspective is like this: I have two basic requirements: first I want to live in an environment in which I can give full expression to my talents and creativity in a way that enhances my community. Second, in doing so, I desire to have my needs met. In the context of this, what is a political system and what is an economy? My desire then, is to give full expression to my natural talents in a way that enhances my community. This is not at odds with Tillich’s suggestion that we are driven by the dual needs for self realization and a return to wholeness. The desire to express my talents and creativity is my way of achieving self-realization and by doing so in a way that enhances my community I am seeking to belong, and to assist my community return to wholeness. But these two drives have an inherent conflict built into them. That conflict exists within each one of us but it is magnified in groups, where one’s drive for self realization often acts to impose that person’s vision or will upon others. I suggest that the purpose of a political system is, or at least should be, to create a collective environment within which the tension that exists between these two drives is managed. The most effective political system is, therefore, one that allows the maximum self expression of each individual’s creativity while, at the same time, enhancing the sense of unity and oneness within the community What then is an economy? The political system is designed to manage the interaction of the competing needs for self expression and community. Within that system is a secondary drive, and that is my desire to have my needs met. As a member of the human race living at this time of material abundance, I have an expectation: that expectation is that, provided I am willing to give full expression to the natural talents I was provided with by my creator, and give of these (let’s call them productive) talents freely to my community, that all my basic needs for living a full life will be met in return by the other members of my community. The economy is nothing other than the collective system that enables an effective exchange between the out-flowing energy of my productive expression and the incoming energy that I need to live a full life. At its most basic, this is what money was designed to do – to manage the exchange of productive efforts among people when barter became too complex, but money and the economy, while still retaining this fundamental dynamic, has becomes something quite different. If we are to be successful in designing an effective alternative economic system, I believe we must first create an understanding of the fundamental context within which such a system should and could operate and address the issues that arise from within that context. This thread is, therefore, aimed at discussing this fundamental context. I have put forth a basis for starting that discussion, which contains three parts: the foundational needs that drive an individual and a society; the purpose of a political system; and the purpose of an economy. Agreeing on those three issues would be a very good place to commence.

created 31 May 2010 by Alistair

id:iss44

Up until now, most of the People have been left out of the banking loop - except for taking out loans or creating checking or savings accounts. However, the current economic system, regardless of what anyone thinks about it, or what anyone knows or doesn't know about it, is a product of all of us. It's had its good times, and it's had its bad times. It's easy to look at the obvious abuses in the system and feel injustice. It's easy to look at the glaring inequality in the financial wealth of the elite and blame the financial/economic system. Yet, if we explore the history of the system, why it was created in the first place, and consider the immense benefit that society has gained form the advance driven, at least in part, by the freedom and innovation engendered by capitalism and free trade, it is wise to act with caution before condemning the system on the basis of what are becoming obvious shortcomings. One of the questions we have to deal with now is whether these current difficulties are simply the manifestation of another cycle, or whether they are a sign of some deeper problem within the financial system. Is what is required at this time a review of, and tightening of government oversight and regulations, or a fundamental restructuring of the system from the ground up? If it is decided that the very foundations of the system require reconstruction, then one must inquire deeply into what alternatives exist. It is important to note that the evaluation of financial system alternatives cannot be done in isolation from other considerations, namely what type of society we want to create. One of the best known economists of our time is Jeffrey Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and advisor to the United Nations Secretary General. Sachs has studied the state of the developing world in an attempt to understand why some nations appear to be caught in a cycle of poverty. As a result of his investigation, he has developed the concept of a ladder of economic development. This ladder contains four steps as follows Subsistence economy Commercial economy Emerging nation economy High technology economy Sachs suggests that each nation must progress through these four stages, in order to learn the lessons a society needs to learn in order to deal with increased economic prosperity and develop an understanding of the functioning of the necessary institutions and changes such progress has on life. What Sachs does not address is: 'What comes after stage four?' What happens when a society has reached stage four and has exhausted the possibilities contained in that stage? As yet, we have not seen an example of such a nation, but it is worth asking whether we now, in the Western World, stand at the edge of the chasm of a new step in the evolutionary ladder. It is possible that the stress fractures appearing in the economy of the Western nations at this time are a signal that the next evolutionary step is calling us. Perhaps the existing system has run up against its own limitations and is beginning to show the signs of implosion. What would the next stage of the development ladder look like? We do not know. This is something that requires widespread dialogue and the sharing of ideas in an open, constructive forum. It's also very important to fully understand that the money systems of the past, including Jeffrey Sachs' descriptive ladder of same, have been a product of a Sovereign entity other than the People collectively. A new money system created by the Collective Sovereignty (the People) has the potential of re-defining money in a transparent, fair and honest way and obliterating Sachs' ladder model as well. The People simply have to start thinking as Sovereigns rather than subjects. In any case, this new Stage V may or may not include the re-development of new governments either in their continued form as corporations via a constitution or in a new Republican Form via a Declaration from the People. However, regardless of the metamorphosis of the current economic, or government systems during Stage V, the People who are ready may wish to embrace this opportunity to evolve via their own metamorphosis within this New Stage V. The corrections that must now be made by the current economic system may have to be dramatic enough that the entire global financial complexion may be almost unrecognizable from what it used to be. The new financial centre of the world may be in Hong Kong or in Japan, or even Dubai. There may even be a new world currency introduced. During these changing times, a question may occur to many people regardless of what the banks, businesses or existing governments do: 'Would it be advantageous, even for a few, to exercise a little personal responsibility so that their entire lives are not dependent on this financial system - so that they may be able to comfortably ride out most of the squalls or storms within the financial market?' Knowing the size and complexity of the current economic system, as well as its strong determination to protect itself from competitors, there may be a more intelligent and safer approach to combining one's personal economic safety and one's personal responsibility without offending or threatening anyone. Therefore, the People may wish to create an alternate economic system and not use 'money with intrinsic value of its own' in their new economic system. In other words, leave the current economic system for the governments, banks, businesses, and the general public to sort out - as we know they will. This issue welcomes proposed remedies that will work within an ethos centered upon the common good of Mankind. This issue is submitted as a planetary issue so that everyone around the world may help create a solution - even if it may initially be implemented at a local level.

created 7 Jan 2009 by Ricardo