Today’s post is by regular contributor, Richard Jurin. Before his retirement, Richard led the Environmental Studies programme at the University of Northern Colorado, where he launched a degree in Sustainability Studies. His academic interests are environmental worldviews and understanding barriers to sustainability. As ever, with our blogs, the views expressed are not necessarily shared by NAEE.
“Personal empowerment means deconditioning yourself from the values and the programs of the [corporate] society and putting your own values and programs in place” Terence McKenna.
A friend of mine recently lamented that only a massive kick up the rear end from some form of massive social collapse would promulgate needed changes. I disagree. I believe that many of us working locally, can work within the existing systems to build better societies locally that are so resilient and adaptable, the old systems will naturally and quickly fade away.
I have submitted many posts to this blog using many arguments about the need to become sustainable. I know that too many people want a bulleted list of things to do to get a sustainable future, but there is no ‘one size fits all’ list. That is why I titled my 2012 book ‘Principles of Sustainable Living.’ Yet, if an abbreviated list of some kind is necessary then let me begin the first of five basic essential items that foster a self-sufficiency that describes community resiliency and adaptability.
item number one: Mindfulness. We must start being mindful and conscious of every thought and action. A question to ask yourself every day, “What will the world look like when we are all enlightened, and practice mindfulness.” (Enlightenment – Showing understanding and wisdom in dealing with others. Being open to new ideas and facts based on reason and science. Tolerant of alternative opinions. Guided by rational thought. Having an understanding of people’s needs that is not based on old-fashioned attitudes and prejudice. Free from ignorance, prejudice, or superstition. Receiving spiritual or religious revelation for mindfulness. Cambridge online dictionary.) This is the ‘Spiritual Path’ I have often stated as an absolute for a truly sustainable society. Mindfulness is perhaps the simplest one that will transform our world, yet, it is possibly the hardest in that it isn’t technological – it’s changing the human mind. If we don’t change, then all the other items will be unlikely to change – it’s why we are in the state we are now.
Tim Kasser (The High Price of Materialism) and Tibor Scitovsky (The Joyless Economy) both argue that materialist consumerism is really a barrier to our desire for Health, happiness and overall well-being in a sustainable world. Materialistic values never have, and never can, solve our global problems because they force us to focus on the wrong things. What Kasser, Scitovsky and many others have shown repeatedly is that the accumulation of ‘stuff’ is self-defeating for a better world. Simpler living and minimalism are the only cures that will allow a global population to thrive. As Norwegian YouTube Vlogger Seve (Sunny Kind Journey) teaches, ‘minimalism,’ “It’s the only thing that really matters when you think about it. What else is there, except how we connect. How we listen. How we love. How we forgive. How we treat each other.“
We must train ourselves to be empathic to be able to adapt and be willing to help others. This is when we mirror ourselves into each-others experiences. Currently, antipathy and apathy are the most common emotions that cause us to ‘fear others’ and feel powerlessness to promote change. Empathy is seen when we mirror others; learn about them, becoming familiar with them and who they are; share experiences that are salient and relevant; enhance a group’s ability to thrive; and; that motivate group action and build alliances.
“There is a purpose behind distorting history to make it seem like only great men achieve significant things. It teaches people to believe they are powerless and must wait for a great man to act” Noam Chomsky.
Public Work and Civic Engagement philosopher, Harry Boyte, emphasizes that communities develop, not in political halls of power, but on the ‘Main Streets’ of every community. This is where the cultural commons exist that bind people within a uniquely local learning environment. Functional communities have ‘meeting places’ where local citizens gather. These may be the local post office, pharmacy, church meeting hall, the public house, even a garden center cafeteria. What sets these places apart is that they are locations where people dialogue and understand each other more clearly than any external technocrat merely providing services can understand. Problems continue to occur when local citizens are seen only as ‘clients’ and not as co-creators of the ‘public good.’
In fostering positive change for true community, it is critical that civic engagement be established that promotes community building and not just ‘place enhancement.’ Community building develops around building ‘Capacity’ around community ‘Plurality.’ The aim is to encourage all local citizens as agents working together for a shared regenerative community purpose with ethical perspectives of all represented. When I travelled through the North West highlands of Scotland with the late Geoff Fagan (CADISPA) I saw first-hand how isolated communities felt themselves increasingly drifting apart. Post offices/Grocery stores everywhere were closing as centralized consolidation from Edinburgh, because of political and financial considerations only, were diminishing what were once tight communities. Whether an isolated Scottish community or a large development in a large town, civic agency is a process of helping neighbourhoods become communities by getting the community to empower itself.
Geoff never went in as a technocrat. He was only the guide and not as a central community educator leader. Once a group decided they wanted to do something to help their community, they contacted Geoff. He would interview the active community agents to determine the connections in order to analyze the assumptions and desires inherent within the community. Next was the mapping of power and interests within a community to understand the key players and that all relationships within that community were represented. Next the local leaders would hold meetings to consider proposals and plans for community development to map shared goals and expectations. Rob Hopkins of Totnes’s ‘Transition Movement’ offers a similar kind of community building structure.
What we all desire is more harmony, with purpose and anticipation for what can be when we choose to create it. It won’t happen all at once, but if we begin the process, it will grow organically. Too many people are fearful of making these choices because they fear leaving the dystopian system they know, for an unknown but probable and better future. Yet, if done with a mindful approach, the possibilities are immense. No more waiting for ‘Superman’ or a great leader to save us, just a faith in ourselves and our cadre of people around us. Letting go of expectations of some perfect Utopia, yet knowing that this kind of anticipated change can only be a better path than the promised dystopian corporate-technocratic path. While future communities might have serious disagreements, they are unlikely to have armed militaristic confrontations to resolve their differences. Mindful awareness of interconnectivity dispels that kind of aggressive thinking.
True sustainable change begins at the grassroots; and in small conclaves around the world; it is happening already. Once we reach critical mass it will spill over to occur within towns and cities. Cities will be seen no more as metropolises but rather as conglomerates of smaller autonomous enclaves interacting and cooperating with neighboring enclaves. We have to foster personal sovereignty and well-being and also embrace collective cooperation for community well-being. Dumas’s cry of the Musketeers back in 1844 has captured this idea nicely.
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Richard can be contacted at: richardjurin@gmail.com