The world cries out for political action to correct policies that cause
enormous harm. But activist organizations fail to consistently mobilize
enough people to be truly effective. Most concerned individuals remain
on the sidelines.
If one of every two hundred adults united once a month for two hours to
communicate the same message to their national legislature, joined in a
global boycott to demand that a particular corporation modify its
behavior in a specific manner, or engaged in some other coordinated
activity, the impact would be enormous.
Despite the need, most people remain passive, partly because activist
organizations fail to meet personal needs that are neglected by the
larger society. As indicated by their written policies, few activist
organizations commit to cultivating compassionate community among their
members. They demonstrate little or no concern about inter-personal
dynamics, maximizing internal democracy, fostering joy and the love of
life, and open-ended support of self-development.
Many compassion-rooted individuals who are currently inactive want to be
more active but haven’t found a way to become involved, partly due to
the way activist organizations operate. Most activist organizations are
fundamentally motivated by compassion, but many lose track of their
origins, rely on tapping anger and fear to motivate people, and end up
reflecting the lack of compassion in our larger global society.
Though modern society provides many benefits, modernization
systematically concentrates wealth and power, socializes most people
into wanting more wealth and power, and defines leadership as the
ability to influence others to do what one wants them to do.
The result is a society that is top-down, individualistic, fragmented,
task-oriented,
future-oriented, obsessed with thinking, treats human beings as mere
instruments, and reduces morality to a reciprocal exchange of favors.
One symptom of this syndrome is that most people usually fail to really
listen to one another.
These characteristics are also often seen in activists and their
organizations, which is hardly surprising, for all of us have
internalized the values and attitudes of the dominant society to one
degree or another.
A major problem is ego, both individual and organizational. One’s status
and the status of one’s organization become crucial. The goal becomes
power, whether personal or collective – the power to get what you want
by defeating the enemy, rather than negotiating win-win solutions.
Elitist leaders assume they know the answers and their main task is to
educate and mobilize others, rather than collaborate with equals in
creative problem solving. Success in achieving goals becomes more
important than the methods employed. Conversations become filled with
intellectual discourse, especially concerning fine points of policy
alternatives. Organizations become machines with disposable members.
“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” and “you owe me” become the
essence of one’s morality, rather than unconditional kindness.
By growing communities that consciously nurture caring friendships and
help members find deeper meaning and joy in their lives, activist
organizations could appeal to individuals who are turned off by politics
as usual but could be inspired by a richer experience. Through
contagious enthusiasm and person-to-person outreach, activists could
recruit their friends, relatives, and neighbors to participate in
fun-filled activities as well as serious work.
Unfortunately, however, many actively compassionate individuals believe
all they can do is be a good example, work on becoming a better person,
assist individuals one-by-one, or develop alternative communities that
point the way to a new future. They trust that these efforts will
trigger a ripple effect throughout society that will eventually manifest
itself in political transformation.
Those actions are valuable, but insufficient. More than 40,000
individuals die needlessly every day. Social and economic inequality is
increasing, leaving many individuals without adequate opportunities to
live decently. The planet’s ability to sustain human life is threatened.
Warfare and terrorism regularly claim life. Human and civil rights are
widely deprived. The mass media constantly glamorizes rich and powerful
individuals and their material possessions, thereby spreading widespread
selfishness, which is perhaps the greatest barrier to social progress.
Governmental policies create and/or reinforce these realities. Radio and
television stations are allowed to use the public airwaves to saturate
people with mindless advertising and attention-grabbing expressions of
anger. Taxation policies increasingly are not based on the ability to
pay. Most governments refuse to actively foster full employment. Global
economic policies enable the wealthiest financial firms to generate
guaranteed profits in the “paper economy,” diverting funds away from
productive investments.
Absent popular pressure, policies such as these will continue to benefit
the rich and powerful, to the detriment of most people. So long as
policies such as these remain in place, the avalanche of selfishness and
misery that our global society that results will overwhelm individual
acts of compassion and small alternative communities.
We don’t have time to wait for some future miracle. We need to start
changing public policies now, to alleviate as much suffering as we can,
while working toward more fundamental, major reform in the future.
One way to move in this direction and deepen our experience with one
another is to grow small, face-to-face communities of like-minded
individuals who:
· dedicate themselves to overcoming society’s socialization by engaging
in steady self-improvement;
· devote at least two hours each month to community service to aid
severely disadvantaged individuals;
· engage in political activity at least two hours each month to improve
governmental policies;
· concentrate on changing what we can change now rather than wasting
excessive time dreaming about unrealistic visions, and;
· support one another in these efforts.
We need to nurture a new way of life that is joyous, caring, democratic,
pragmatic, rooted in a strong sense of community, committed to the
common good of all humanity, and grounded in communities that offer
sanctuary from the daily grind, foster renewal, and help members stay in
touch with their true self.
No one method is appropriate for everyone. No one political strategy is
a panacea. Various individuals and organizations have various,
legitimate roles to play. But if more organizations adopted a more
compassionate approach, more concerned individuals might become more
active politically and humanity’s prospects would be greatly improved.
Even those who aren’t inclined to adopt these principles themselves
could benefit from providing support to efforts to develop a more
compassionate politics.
Right action to relieve suffering, protect the planet, and advance human
rights is inherently rewarding, because human beings are innately
compassionate. We instinctively want to understand others and work
together with like-minded colleagues to help prevent misery.
All we need is greater unity: unified, focused, and coordinated action.
In recent decades, occasional examples of unified, global action have
occurred. But we lack mechanisms to facilitate such joint action on a
regular basis, rather than sporadic emergencies.
Given the urgency of our situation, compassion-rooted individuals and
organizations must unite as never before to serve the common good of the
entire human family. To do so, we must transform our institutions,
including our governments, our culture, our communities, and ourselves
all at the same time in a self-reinforcing upward spiral. Change is not
merely inside out. It is also outside in.
When we have achieved these goals, we will have fundamentally
transformed our social system and created a qualitatively new global
society.
—
Wade Lee Hudson
Charter for Compassion Network
http://charternetwork.org/
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Posted by bp at 04:28 PM. Filed under: NGOs und Vereine •