A "Holution" to the climate crisis
What if all humans could come together as a wise and responsible "We the People," where We own this problem and work together creatively to solve it? ... where We reach shared clarity on what is the TRUTH about this issue? And what We are going to do about it? ... and where We provide thoughtful leadership to national governments, to the economy and the culture? ... And where, because this new We the People conversation is ongoing, it represents a structural change to the global system, bringing a new level of collective wisdom in general? ...We call this overall approach "Society's Breakthrough." And we call the 8 steps required to implement "The ToBe Project."
Good news! .. .This is possible to achieve and it only requires a few of us to convene it. The Wisdom Council Process is a proven entity. Here we are just applying it to the global population. At first it may seem like an improvement to the existing System, a new way to involve people in addressing big issues and providing input to "decision-makers". But no! ... This is a far bigger deal, where a legitimate, wise, inclusive We the People comes into being, capable of meaningfully stewarding the biosphere ... This is not only about achieving breakthrough progress on many of society's biggest problems. More importantly, it's also about transforming our System, which is the underlying cause of the climate crisis and other Monster Problems problems!
More good news: This strategy is accessible, something a few of us with adequate resources can set in motion-- 8 accessible steps.. ... More good news: Each step is a benefit to society. More good news: There are no identifiable risks! ... More good news: This breakthrough strategy is already proven to work at large scale! .... More good news: We don't need to sell this strategy to a massive number of people before we begin. Of course, we'd love for lots of people to understand ahead of time what this is, how it works, its benefits and why it must happen. But this is not primarily a social movement. Nor is are we aimed at influencing the "decision-makers" to transform the system. Instead, this is a holistic strategy aimed at facilitating a legitimate "We the People" into existence, where "We" are the ultimate authority.
We call this new living-system strategy a "Holution" rather than a "Solution" because it takes a living system perspective, like building a cocoon by which the caterpiller can transform itself. This level of System transformation stops the mechanism which is causing the climate crisis in the first place. See the articles published by MAHB (Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere of Stanford University) ...
Good news! .. .This is possible to achieve and it only requires a few of us to convene it. The Wisdom Council Process is a proven entity. Here we are just applying it to the global population. At first it may seem like an improvement to the existing System, a new way to involve people in addressing big issues and providing input to "decision-makers". But no! ... This is a far bigger deal, where a legitimate, wise, inclusive We the People comes into being, capable of meaningfully stewarding the biosphere ... This is not only about achieving breakthrough progress on many of society's biggest problems. More importantly, it's also about transforming our System, which is the underlying cause of the climate crisis and other Monster Problems problems!
More good news: This strategy is accessible, something a few of us with adequate resources can set in motion-- 8 accessible steps.. ... More good news: Each step is a benefit to society. More good news: There are no identifiable risks! ... More good news: This breakthrough strategy is already proven to work at large scale! .... More good news: We don't need to sell this strategy to a massive number of people before we begin. Of course, we'd love for lots of people to understand ahead of time what this is, how it works, its benefits and why it must happen. But this is not primarily a social movement. Nor is are we aimed at influencing the "decision-makers" to transform the system. Instead, this is a holistic strategy aimed at facilitating a legitimate "We the People" into existence, where "We" are the ultimate authority.
We call this new living-system strategy a "Holution" rather than a "Solution" because it takes a living system perspective, like building a cocoon by which the caterpiller can transform itself. This level of System transformation stops the mechanism which is causing the climate crisis in the first place. See the articles published by MAHB (Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere of Stanford University) ...
Three min video trailers
#1: How to solve the Climate Crisis ...
See the whole 45 min informal talk... "How to really solve climate change" .
#2: Climate scientist discovers Society's Breakthrough
"I believe this is the solution that will save us."
-- Robert Holden, former climate scientist
-- Robert Holden, former climate scientist
You can see the 1 hour 18 min video, "Climate Scientist finds the solution".
#3: "Society's Breakthrough" in the light of "Post Doom"
In this short trailer Michael Dowd, a best-selling religious naturalist who currently focuses on helping people to understand and adapt to the coming collapse of our civilization (See his extensive website www.PostDoom.com), talks with Jim Rough about the potential impact of "Society's Breakthrough" on the climate crisis. (Sad news ... We have since learned that Michael has died.)
The full video is available at https://youtu.be/nUKmtugRkRM
To help solve climate change ... What Can I Do?
See this link (i.e. What can I do?) ... The suggested actions address each and all of the Monster Problems, not just climate change..
How would "The ToBe Project" impact climate change?
See this link (I.e. Projected impacts of The ToBe Project). Basically, this project sets up a "We the People" conversation by which 1) "We" address and achieve breakthrough progress on particular PROBLEMS like climate change. 2) where this conversation is ongoing so that the very existence of "We the People" is a transformation of the SYSTEM; and 3) where the PROCESS of stepping back periodically in the spirit of choice-creating involves and empowers all.
1) Re-solving the PROBLEM
- Getting humanity to Act—with collective intelligence... Society's Breakthrough facilitates "all the people" to get involved, face Monster Issues like climate change and co-create shared understandings —i.e. what is the Truth; what we want (i.e. Vision); what we need to do (i.e. Strategy) and to coordinate progress toward those goals.
- Removing the blocks to existing solutions ... Many solution strategies to climate change are blocked by the limitations of our System. For example, entrenched interests block new technologies and the absence of some form of global governance blocks our ability to do something about this. Our current System is set up as a competition among special interests with no emphasis on the public interest or collective thinking. Society's Breakthrough generates a clear sense of the public interest so that existing solution strategies can gain a foothold and be put together into a strategy to serve human values more importantly than profits.
- Sparking breakthroughs ... Many scientists are saying that it's too late for us to avoid horrible impacts of climate change. But We haven't started thinking yet. Especially, we haven't started thinking in a heartfelt creative way by which breakthrough progress is normal. What's missing is for us (just us) to facilitate one ongoing global conversation in the spirit of choice-creating. Choice-creating is the quality of thinking by which to create a legitimate "We the People" and by which breakthrough progress starts happening. It's also the quality of thinking by which breakthroughs can easily gain a thorough hearing and the chance to be widely accepted.
- Changing policy ... The Wisdom Council Process is not focused directly on gaining policy changes like other citizen involvement approaches. A number of Citizens Assemblies on climate change have been conducted, for instance, where the Assembly seeks to influence decision-makers about selected policy options. The Wisdom Council Process acts differently, seeking to spark all the people to come together, including decision-makers, as a global "We the People," the OWNER of this problem. And where we all co-create the strategies going forward, including policy choices when appropriate.
2) Transforming the the SYSTEM
- Establishing "We the People" as the problem "owner" ... Using the Wisdom Council Process it's possible to facilitate all the people to come together as "We the People." By itself, this new conversation is a form of global self-governance. Since it is an ongoing conversation it is a structural addition to the current System.. In addition it's a way of establishing a more conventional form of global governance, like what happened in the U.S, where "We the People ... ordain and establish" ... a Constitution.
- Transforming the System to stop creating the problem .. Our System is the ultimate cause for the climate crisis. It structures the dynamic of special interests competing for profits, where this game mindset naturally undermines the commons. Plus in this structure, there is little provision for achieving the common good. Or even addressing it. "The ToBe Project—Global" promises this level of change. There are three possible "Dynamical Systems" 1) Triangle (i.e. autocracy) or 2) Box (i.e. what is called "democracy" but which is really a "constitutional republic") or 3/ Circle (i.e. a Wise Democracy where we all participate as the new "We the People" conversation, which is the ultimate authority). See the article: The Circle System.
- Transforming global economics ... Our civilization is designed for a situation in which a competition of merit generates collective benefit. We are no longer in that situation. Today we are in overshoot, consuming the commons faster than it can replenish itself. We must transition to a new kind of economics where we face these collective problems collaboratively, serving the public interest. In this new environment capitalism will drive us to self-destruction. But with the global Wisdom Council Process in place we preserve the independence and freedoms of capitalism. There is no coercion to this. We just add the missing conversation where people think together about what's going on and co-create collective choices. Periodically we just step back and ask ourselves: "How are we doing? What are the Big Problems to address? What do we want? How do we best go forward?". And in time we will notice that the results of this thinking has a deeper priority than the simplistic motivations of the marketplace.
- Overhauling sub-systems ... Society's Breakthrough provides a way to reestablish and renew existing global organizations like the UN. or international treaties. Here's a way "We the People" can re-orient these organizations to address and managing issues like climate change and address its unfair impacts.. Here's how we can collectively assess or choose global ideas like geo-engineering, fusion research, green energy technologies, weapons of mass destruction, etc.
3) Supporting our PEOPLE to a new level of empowerment
- Educating al the people and establishing shared values ... Here's a way that people can begin to understand the nature of Monster Problems and the human capabilities of addressing them. It's also a way to co-create a shared mythology about what is happening and a new hierarchy of values from which to redesign society.
- Facilitating a new quality of thinking . Our current System imposes a subject-object, individualistic, reductionist style of thinking best labeled "decision-making." Think of voting. It's where maybe we think deliberatively about possible options, but ultimately we use judgment to decide on which option is best. This is valuable of course, what we need to do most of the time. But also important but largely ignored is choice-creating, where we face big "HOT" impossible-seeming issues like the climate crisis with heartfelt creatively, seeking breakthrough progress. It's this kind of thinking that yields breakthrough progress and where experiential wisdom arises. The global Wisdom Council Process can spark this needed new capability in our collective and individual thinking processes, where we start thinking more holistically—including all people, other species, the planet, and future generations.
- Overcoming the impact of the competitive mindset ... In our System Special Interests dominate and corrupt collective decision-making. There is little shared sense of the "public interest". Once we all start thinking together in the spirit of choice-creating the Public Interest can be identified and become a priority for governments, corporations and the culture.
- Elevating collective consciousness ... Many people think that increased consciousness is the answer to climate change and other Monster Problems. But educating and transforming individuals, even a critical mass of people, is not enough to generate collective consciousness. There must be one ongoing whole-system choice-creating conversation if that is to happen. The "magic sauce" for achieving this is our ability to reliably evoke choice-creating (i.e. Dynamic Facilitation). And the Wisdom Council Process can be used to facilitate it at large scale.
"What can I do to help solve the climate crisis?"
Many people are already acting with an intention of addressing climate change. But ultimately the underlying structure of our society must be addressed. So how can one person help all of us to break free?
1) Stop listening to the messages of the experts, which deny our creative thinking capability. In fact, you can correct them if they say "There are no easy answers." "There are no silver bullets", or basically "there will never be a creative breakthrough". Even the Serenity Prayer starts out "God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change ..." What? Did they teach us to immediately assess what we can and can't change? ... OK maybe 95% of the time this is a good attitude. But don't give up your creative capabilities completely. Be sure and take that last 5% of time and put your effort into solving the most important impossible problem. Breakthroughs are normal. Everything around you was once a breakthrough to some impossible problem.
2) Acknowledge that the climate crisis (like many others) is caused by "the System". For example, our children graduate from school as young people who care deeply about saving planet earth. But they must earn a living in the System. And the System is on auto-pilot structured to value self-interest and profits foremost. So even if everyone in the corporation valued the biosphere as most important, collectively they follow corporate values.
3) Recognize that our System will resist change. The System is in charge of us. Recently we discovered this is true even of climate scientists: When we received our second biggest donation ever, $10,000, we took five people to the AGU conference in Chicago, the biggest gathering of climate scientists in the world. We rented a booth at the conference, used video cameras to interview the climate scientists, and a big sign in the back of our booth that said, "How to get humanity to act." ... We were shocked that the climate scientists were not looking at the actual problem we face. They were gathering data for their research. So then we asked scientists from NOAA, NASA, the EPA, the Union of Concerned Scientists etc. "If someone were to invent a systemic breakthrough to solving climate change, where should they take it? Who could pick this up and make it happen?" ... No one had an answer!! Although each person we talked with was deeply worried, the only kind of solutions that could be considered were within the existing system like new technologies, greater awareness, education, influencing legislators, etc. No! That's not going to do it. Our System must be transformed.... Help us find philanthropists who can think this big and consider supporting our system-transforming strategy ... i.e. The ToBe Project—Global.
4) Step back periodically from "World #1," our normal state of denial where we live just to get by, and step into World #2 periodically, where we acknowledge that our System is terminal ... and that Society's Breakthrough MUST happen. We can't save the world from within capitalism. It's designed as a competitive process, aimed at exponential growth of consumption. Society's Breakthrough structures all of us to step back out of the existing system together. It's as though all of us are on the deck of the Titanic trying to address pressing problems like homelessness, prejudice, inequities, etc. ... valuable work ... but we also can see the iceberg lies ahead. It's the stepping back that allows us to see the big picture. We can't just rely on all the good work on the deck that's happening to turn the ship. So, When someone seems depressed or hopeless about the direction of society, please tell them that you know people that think there is an "easy answer" and they should look at www.
WiseDemocracy.org (i.e. easy given a few million dollars). Hopefully you will be asked to describe Society's Breakthrough. And this will be good practice for you.
5) If you are excited by this approach ... maybe you are one of "Just Us". Let us know ... Please Support the Work in any way you can.
1) Stop listening to the messages of the experts, which deny our creative thinking capability. In fact, you can correct them if they say "There are no easy answers." "There are no silver bullets", or basically "there will never be a creative breakthrough". Even the Serenity Prayer starts out "God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change ..." What? Did they teach us to immediately assess what we can and can't change? ... OK maybe 95% of the time this is a good attitude. But don't give up your creative capabilities completely. Be sure and take that last 5% of time and put your effort into solving the most important impossible problem. Breakthroughs are normal. Everything around you was once a breakthrough to some impossible problem.
2) Acknowledge that the climate crisis (like many others) is caused by "the System". For example, our children graduate from school as young people who care deeply about saving planet earth. But they must earn a living in the System. And the System is on auto-pilot structured to value self-interest and profits foremost. So even if everyone in the corporation valued the biosphere as most important, collectively they follow corporate values.
3) Recognize that our System will resist change. The System is in charge of us. Recently we discovered this is true even of climate scientists: When we received our second biggest donation ever, $10,000, we took five people to the AGU conference in Chicago, the biggest gathering of climate scientists in the world. We rented a booth at the conference, used video cameras to interview the climate scientists, and a big sign in the back of our booth that said, "How to get humanity to act." ... We were shocked that the climate scientists were not looking at the actual problem we face. They were gathering data for their research. So then we asked scientists from NOAA, NASA, the EPA, the Union of Concerned Scientists etc. "If someone were to invent a systemic breakthrough to solving climate change, where should they take it? Who could pick this up and make it happen?" ... No one had an answer!! Although each person we talked with was deeply worried, the only kind of solutions that could be considered were within the existing system like new technologies, greater awareness, education, influencing legislators, etc. No! That's not going to do it. Our System must be transformed.... Help us find philanthropists who can think this big and consider supporting our system-transforming strategy ... i.e. The ToBe Project—Global.
4) Step back periodically from "World #1," our normal state of denial where we live just to get by, and step into World #2 periodically, where we acknowledge that our System is terminal ... and that Society's Breakthrough MUST happen. We can't save the world from within capitalism. It's designed as a competitive process, aimed at exponential growth of consumption. Society's Breakthrough structures all of us to step back out of the existing system together. It's as though all of us are on the deck of the Titanic trying to address pressing problems like homelessness, prejudice, inequities, etc. ... valuable work ... but we also can see the iceberg lies ahead. It's the stepping back that allows us to see the big picture. We can't just rely on all the good work on the deck that's happening to turn the ship. So, When someone seems depressed or hopeless about the direction of society, please tell them that you know people that think there is an "easy answer" and they should look at www.
WiseDemocracy.org (i.e. easy given a few million dollars). Hopefully you will be asked to describe Society's Breakthrough. And this will be good practice for you.
5) If you are excited by this approach ... maybe you are one of "Just Us". Let us know ... Please Support the Work in any way you can.
More resources
To understand more deeply how this new-paradigm process works see:
- The free 5-part video Seminar on "Essential Wisdom for Solving Society's Biggest Issues"
- The recent fun and funny "Dr Future Show" conversation ... https://www.drfutureshow.com/drfutureblog/58-future-now-interviewdiscussion-making-democracy-wise-with.html
- Video of the national Citizens Assembly in Austria on Climate Change (Really good stuff but what's needed is a global Wisdom Council Process). See the contrast between the Citizens Assembly and the Wisdom Council Process.
- Proposal to Together1st.org This describes our proposed strategy for establishing global governance to the Global Challenges Project. More and more we are thinking "we should just start this project" and stop waiting for some established organization to take it on.
- Society's Breakthrough to Climate Change ...Handout (with audio notes) about solving climate change ...
- Chart of Solutions to Climate Change ... There are many SOLUTION strategies for climate change. The global Wisdom Council Process is a "HOLUTION", which releases many blocks to these solutions