New World Solutions to Problems
© 2018 Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson
To get more practical and grounded, what are some real solutions to problems we face? Solutions are beginning to emerge everywhere from the creative hearts and minds of those who recognize there is an alternative to planetary crises. These are the builders of a New World. Can you feel the tide of history turning?
These “best practices” are being pioneered by various groups worldwide—non-profit organizations (the “social profit sector”) or new businesses (the for-profit sector). A best practice can be defined as a project, product, service or organization that presents an innovative approach that has proven effectiveness, with visible, measurable results, is accessible to the public, and can be replicated by others. To solve these problems on a larger scale requires only the expansion and spread of initiatives like these:
War, violence and terrorism is being addressed by mediated dialogues and win/win approaches to bring all parties to the negotiating table, where everyone’s grievances can be heard and mutually beneficial solutions discovered. Groups like Search for Common Ground and Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy mediate between adversaries with deep-seated ethnic conflict in places like Palestine, Burundi and Somalia.
Poverty is being reduced by microcredit systems, such as The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and FINCA, ACCION and Kiva.org worldwide. Rather than giving handouts, they “teach a man to fish” as the Bible recommends, by giving small groups of the poorest of poor very small loans to start businesses and then relying on peer relations to pay them back, with 99% payback rates.
High unemployment and lack of cash is being overcome by computerized labor trading systems (also called service credits or time banking) that help people trade what they have for what they need. Systems such as LETS and The Time Dollar Institute keep resources in the community and renew cash flows in the local economy. Participants sign up with a computerized data bank, listing their skills and services. All services have an equal worth in terms of time/dollars, regardless of their market value. Craigslist, Freecycle and other electronic trading systems also informally match needs and resources and help local markets starved of credit. Local complementary currencies, such as Ithaca Dollars in Ithaca, New York and BerkShares in Massachusetts, enables people to buy from local businesses when they’re low on regular cash.
Crime is being reduced by over 1,000 victim/offender reconciliation programs world-wide, such as Restorative Justice in Virginia, which bring together victims and offenders for a professionally mediated dialogue. Based on a process of restorative rather than retributive justice, it helps foster empathy in offenders when they see the consequences of their actions in the suffering of the victims, and it helps victims address their emotional needs to confront the offender. Penitence on the part of the offender and forgiveness on the part of the victim are encouraged, and the offender has the responsibility for restitution—financial or otherwise. Offenders are seldom repeat offenders and often make major changes in their lives as a result. The process is a very effective way to reduce skyrocketing costs for courts and incarceration.
Environmental pollution is being reduced by environmental education, new green business methods, and bio-remediation. Using natural organisms such as mycelial networks (especially oyster mushrooms) can totally consume toxic lead and oil in the soil and decontaminate radioactivity. Green business approaches such as those pioneered by McDonough Baungart Design Chemistry in Virginia create what’s called a “cradle to cradle (C2C)” approach for the life of a product, rather than “cradle to grave.” Instead of waste that pollutes, discards are food for future products. They feature products such as fabrics that are totally recycled (what they call “upcycled”) into food, and manufacturing processes that yield water safe for drinking instead of toxic waste water. McDonough is currently designing six cities for China based on sustainable principles. GreenFuel Technologies Corporation has invented a process for removing most of the CO2 from power-plant exhaust by using greenhouses and algae in a process of photosynthesis, with ethanol or biodiesel as lucrative by-products. An inexpensive LifeStraw, developed by Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen in conjunction with the Carter Center in Atlanta, GA, filters up to 185 gallons of water (enough for one person for a year) to block bacteria, viruses and parasites. It is currently saving thousands of lives all across the developing world.
Declining farm prices and food quality are being remedied by over 1200 community supported agriculture farms (CSAs), such as Brookfield Farm in Hatfield, Massachusetts, which are partnerships of mutual commitment between farmers and a community of supporters. Members of the CSA cover the farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest in advance, assuming the risks along with the farmer and sharing in a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season at below retail prices. In return, farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.
Global warming, oil and resource depletion are being addressed by the new green culture which features ways to reduce our carbon footprint and use energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives, such as that by PowerLight in Muhlhausen, Germany that provides electricity for 9,000 homes and by giant wind farms such as those in Palm Springs, California. Verdant is harnessing the tides flowing in and out through the East River for power in New York. Stirling Energy Systems is building giant solar thermal plants in the California desert that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight for energy.
Profit at the expense of human values and nature is being brought into balance by social entrepreneurship and natural capitalism. Social entrepreneurs—the so-called “Fourth Sector” beyond the three sectors of business, government and non-profits--are “common good companies” or “social benefit companies” whose main mission is to help solve socio-economic or environmental problems, such as the new one billion dollar Google.org, and the social entrepreneur consulting firm Ashoka. The Natural Capitalism Institute, The Investors Circle and the Slow Money Institute promote sustainable business practices to protect the earth for future generations. “Social banks” and “green banks”, such as Triodos in the Netherlands, RSF Social Finance in the U.S., and the New Resource Bank in the U.S., invest in organic farms, sustainable energy, and micro-financing worldwide.
Separative, fanatical fundamentalism is being addressed by respect, human unity, and interfaith programs such as those offered by United Religions Initiative, Parliament of the World’s Religions and The Interfaith Conference.
School drop-outs and gang violence is being reduced by programs in character education, self-help and mindfulness such as Character Counts, Challenge Day, Soul Shoppe, InnerKids, Impact Foundation, and Teach for America.
Drug and alcohol addiction and psychological problems are being helped by various twelve step programs, family systems therapy and psychological counseling such as that offered by Delancy Street, Psychosynthesis, HeartMath, Process Oriented Psychology and Voice Dialogue.
Political manipulation and voting fraud is being addressed by transparency, multi-stakeholder dialogues, text-messaging activism, and voter self-verification in projects such as Community Visioning, AmericaSpeaks, Instant Run-off Voting, and Clean Money, Clean Campaigns, The Velvet Revolution.
Increasing media control and centralization is being offset by the new webocracy: internet activism, blogging, open source technology, social networking, hyper-linked networking, as well as interactive television and viewer-created content and video pods found at sites such as Wiserearth.org, worldchanging.com, global-mindshift.org, MoveOn.org, DailyKos.com, Digg.com, Wikipedia.org, YouTube.com, Flickr.com,; Zadaaz.com, Twitter.com, as well as radio and television projects such as Current TV, Mainstream Media Project, and Reclaim the Media.
Pesticides and chemicals in foods are being avoided by organic and bio-dynamic farming, permaculture design, community supported agriculture, and health food stores, such as The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, Spring Valley Farm, Organic Valley Co-op, Whole Foods Market, The Edible Schoolyard, and many others.
Rising health costs and declining healthcare quality is being addressed by holistic, preventive healthcare and integrative medicine, energy medicine, chiropractic, homeopathy, and acupuncture at places such as The Center for Mind/Body Medicine,The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, The Chopra Center for Well-Being, Beth-Israel Department of Integrated Medicine, The Center for Integrated Medicine and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
Excerpted from The Practical Visionary by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson © 2010
Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson are co-founders of The Center for Visionary Leadership in California and co-authors of The Practical Visionary and Spiritual Politics; www.visionarylead.org; www.thepracticalvisionary.org
© 2018 Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson
To get more practical and grounded, what are some real solutions to problems we face? Solutions are beginning to emerge everywhere from the creative hearts and minds of those who recognize there is an alternative to planetary crises. These are the builders of a New World. Can you feel the tide of history turning?
These “best practices” are being pioneered by various groups worldwide—non-profit organizations (the “social profit sector”) or new businesses (the for-profit sector). A best practice can be defined as a project, product, service or organization that presents an innovative approach that has proven effectiveness, with visible, measurable results, is accessible to the public, and can be replicated by others. To solve these problems on a larger scale requires only the expansion and spread of initiatives like these:
War, violence and terrorism is being addressed by mediated dialogues and win/win approaches to bring all parties to the negotiating table, where everyone’s grievances can be heard and mutually beneficial solutions discovered. Groups like Search for Common Ground and Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy mediate between adversaries with deep-seated ethnic conflict in places like Palestine, Burundi and Somalia.
Poverty is being reduced by microcredit systems, such as The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and FINCA, ACCION and Kiva.org worldwide. Rather than giving handouts, they “teach a man to fish” as the Bible recommends, by giving small groups of the poorest of poor very small loans to start businesses and then relying on peer relations to pay them back, with 99% payback rates.
High unemployment and lack of cash is being overcome by computerized labor trading systems (also called service credits or time banking) that help people trade what they have for what they need. Systems such as LETS and The Time Dollar Institute keep resources in the community and renew cash flows in the local economy. Participants sign up with a computerized data bank, listing their skills and services. All services have an equal worth in terms of time/dollars, regardless of their market value. Craigslist, Freecycle and other electronic trading systems also informally match needs and resources and help local markets starved of credit. Local complementary currencies, such as Ithaca Dollars in Ithaca, New York and BerkShares in Massachusetts, enables people to buy from local businesses when they’re low on regular cash.
Crime is being reduced by over 1,000 victim/offender reconciliation programs world-wide, such as Restorative Justice in Virginia, which bring together victims and offenders for a professionally mediated dialogue. Based on a process of restorative rather than retributive justice, it helps foster empathy in offenders when they see the consequences of their actions in the suffering of the victims, and it helps victims address their emotional needs to confront the offender. Penitence on the part of the offender and forgiveness on the part of the victim are encouraged, and the offender has the responsibility for restitution—financial or otherwise. Offenders are seldom repeat offenders and often make major changes in their lives as a result. The process is a very effective way to reduce skyrocketing costs for courts and incarceration.
Environmental pollution is being reduced by environmental education, new green business methods, and bio-remediation. Using natural organisms such as mycelial networks (especially oyster mushrooms) can totally consume toxic lead and oil in the soil and decontaminate radioactivity. Green business approaches such as those pioneered by McDonough Baungart Design Chemistry in Virginia create what’s called a “cradle to cradle (C2C)” approach for the life of a product, rather than “cradle to grave.” Instead of waste that pollutes, discards are food for future products. They feature products such as fabrics that are totally recycled (what they call “upcycled”) into food, and manufacturing processes that yield water safe for drinking instead of toxic waste water. McDonough is currently designing six cities for China based on sustainable principles. GreenFuel Technologies Corporation has invented a process for removing most of the CO2 from power-plant exhaust by using greenhouses and algae in a process of photosynthesis, with ethanol or biodiesel as lucrative by-products. An inexpensive LifeStraw, developed by Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen in conjunction with the Carter Center in Atlanta, GA, filters up to 185 gallons of water (enough for one person for a year) to block bacteria, viruses and parasites. It is currently saving thousands of lives all across the developing world.
Declining farm prices and food quality are being remedied by over 1200 community supported agriculture farms (CSAs), such as Brookfield Farm in Hatfield, Massachusetts, which are partnerships of mutual commitment between farmers and a community of supporters. Members of the CSA cover the farm's yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season's harvest in advance, assuming the risks along with the farmer and sharing in a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season at below retail prices. In return, farmers and growers are guaranteed a reliable market for a diverse selection of crops.
Global warming, oil and resource depletion are being addressed by the new green culture which features ways to reduce our carbon footprint and use energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives, such as that by PowerLight in Muhlhausen, Germany that provides electricity for 9,000 homes and by giant wind farms such as those in Palm Springs, California. Verdant is harnessing the tides flowing in and out through the East River for power in New York. Stirling Energy Systems is building giant solar thermal plants in the California desert that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight for energy.
Profit at the expense of human values and nature is being brought into balance by social entrepreneurship and natural capitalism. Social entrepreneurs—the so-called “Fourth Sector” beyond the three sectors of business, government and non-profits--are “common good companies” or “social benefit companies” whose main mission is to help solve socio-economic or environmental problems, such as the new one billion dollar Google.org, and the social entrepreneur consulting firm Ashoka. The Natural Capitalism Institute, The Investors Circle and the Slow Money Institute promote sustainable business practices to protect the earth for future generations. “Social banks” and “green banks”, such as Triodos in the Netherlands, RSF Social Finance in the U.S., and the New Resource Bank in the U.S., invest in organic farms, sustainable energy, and micro-financing worldwide.
Separative, fanatical fundamentalism is being addressed by respect, human unity, and interfaith programs such as those offered by United Religions Initiative, Parliament of the World’s Religions and The Interfaith Conference.
School drop-outs and gang violence is being reduced by programs in character education, self-help and mindfulness such as Character Counts, Challenge Day, Soul Shoppe, InnerKids, Impact Foundation, and Teach for America.
Drug and alcohol addiction and psychological problems are being helped by various twelve step programs, family systems therapy and psychological counseling such as that offered by Delancy Street, Psychosynthesis, HeartMath, Process Oriented Psychology and Voice Dialogue.
Political manipulation and voting fraud is being addressed by transparency, multi-stakeholder dialogues, text-messaging activism, and voter self-verification in projects such as Community Visioning, AmericaSpeaks, Instant Run-off Voting, and Clean Money, Clean Campaigns, The Velvet Revolution.
Increasing media control and centralization is being offset by the new webocracy: internet activism, blogging, open source technology, social networking, hyper-linked networking, as well as interactive television and viewer-created content and video pods found at sites such as Wiserearth.org, worldchanging.com, global-mindshift.org, MoveOn.org, DailyKos.com, Digg.com, Wikipedia.org, YouTube.com, Flickr.com,; Zadaaz.com, Twitter.com, as well as radio and television projects such as Current TV, Mainstream Media Project, and Reclaim the Media.
Pesticides and chemicals in foods are being avoided by organic and bio-dynamic farming, permaculture design, community supported agriculture, and health food stores, such as The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, Spring Valley Farm, Organic Valley Co-op, Whole Foods Market, The Edible Schoolyard, and many others.
Rising health costs and declining healthcare quality is being addressed by holistic, preventive healthcare and integrative medicine, energy medicine, chiropractic, homeopathy, and acupuncture at places such as The Center for Mind/Body Medicine,The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, The Chopra Center for Well-Being, Beth-Israel Department of Integrated Medicine, The Center for Integrated Medicine and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
Excerpted from The Practical Visionary by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson © 2010
Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson are co-founders of The Center for Visionary Leadership in California and co-authors of The Practical Visionary and Spiritual Politics; www.visionarylead.org; www.thepracticalvisionary.org