Do you want to help spark deep change in society? ... Most people consider only normal ways this might happen: top-down, where we influence the "decision-makers," bottom-up where we "fight" for change in a movement, through modeling how one is supposed to live, etc. A strategy with higher leverage is "to facilitate". We can facilitate a System of people to transform itself. This is a HOLISTIC process, where each element of the system awakens to a new level of understanding. And where where together we act with higher collective intelligence—i.e. governance, economics and culture. Of course, as facilitators, we have no role in determining which direction the transformation goes. We just help people co-create what they want so they want to fulfill the unified conclusions. Society's Breakthrough is how we, just us, can facilitate in this way.
Are you one of "just us"? ...
1. Are you concerned that our civilization is threatened by Monster Issues?
We are facing existential, impossible-seeming issues. Monsters include:
2. Are you concerned that Normal Solutions can't solve the Monsters?
Electing new leaders and enacting new policies is not going to solve the Monsters. In fact, even all the "solution" options our System provides can't work. This is because our System is the ultimate cause of the Monsters. (See “To solve climate change We need to … WAIT! … Who is 'We'?") ... "Normal solutions" include:
3. Do you recognize that most all these Monsters are caused by our System?
4. Do you recognize that the 8 steps of Society’s Breakthrough can facilitate the missing collective thinking process into being?
5. Can you see that we (just us) can do this(!)?
We are facing existential, impossible-seeming issues. Monsters include:
- global examples: climate change, species extinction, ocean acidification, L-distribution of wealth …
- national examples: authoritarian threats to democracy, partisan gridlock, money dominating politics, L-shaped distribution of wealth ...
2. Are you concerned that Normal Solutions can't solve the Monsters?
Electing new leaders and enacting new policies is not going to solve the Monsters. In fact, even all the "solution" options our System provides can't work. This is because our System is the ultimate cause of the Monsters. (See “To solve climate change We need to … WAIT! … Who is 'We'?") ... "Normal solutions" include:
- individualistic answers … This set of "solutions" seeks to educate or raise the consciousness of everyone, often assuming the potential of reaching "a critical mass" of people who adopt the new culture or the new consciousness. (e.g. "We need to ..."teach critical thinking, learn non-violent communication, make choice-full purchasing decisions, adopt a particular religious belief, demonstrate in the streets, meditate to shift to "We-consciousness, etc.) ... These don't go to the heart of the matter since a System is NOT the sum of the parts. Raising the level of individual awareness may make things worse if everyone feels trapped in a system that generates partisan paralysis.
- organizational answers… We can gather into groups, corporations, networks, etc. and act together. e.g. "We need to ..." develop new energy storage technologies; model the next System through land trusts, co-ops, and eco-villages; change the rules of corporate governance, etc. ... But these strategies again do not get to the heart of the matter because our System is still fundamentally a competition among special interests, not a collaboration among all to serve the whole.
- official answers … To affect the problems: Influencing elected leaders, changing policies, and new budget priorities are all good. Ideas to improve the System: rank-order voting, term limits for the Supreme Court, etc. ... Even these improve-the-system ideas do not go to the heart of the matter our System still has a basis in competition.
3. Do you recognize that most all these Monsters are caused by our System?
- Our current System (i.e. capitalism and what we call "democracy") is designed for the North American continent of the 18th century, where we can all be in-dependent actors in a competition of merit. But when we are increasingly inter-dependent this breaks down. Our win/lose competition, which once was win/win, is now increasingly lose/lose. For instance, there are no winners in any System that operates like a game of Monopoly, generating both ultra-wealthy and ultra-poor people. And, which is not sustainable.
- A basic problem of our System is that it is missing a collective thinking process. Instead we rely on adding up individual judgments, or votes, to determine collective decisions. In the old days this was possible because people could live their lives independently as farmers, craftspeople, fishers, etc. But today we are increasingly inter-dependent. We are encountering collective problems that cannot be adequately addressed through individual or local actions, or changes in policy.
4. Do you recognize that the 8 steps of Society’s Breakthrough can facilitate the missing collective thinking process into being?
- Here's a way to facilitate all the people to face the Monsters together; to impact each Monster intelligently; to restructure the underlying System; to elevate the level of understanding among people; to reshape the story of who we are and what we are doing; etc.
- This process evolves a legitimate "We the People" into being, the new ultimate authority for society. This is a structural change to our System that makes it far more democratic and capable.
- This is a strategy to achieve the Third Attractor .... beyond 1) Catastrophe, where civilization collapses; or 2) Dystopia, where we retreat back into an authoritarian structure.
5. Can you see that we (just us) can do this(!)?
- We can start the process by identifying a first issue and gathering a first group of randomly selected people, DF'ing them to reach unity, and by organizing a presentation ceremony. ... And then to repeat the process, making this process ongoing. ...
- Notice, the process doesn't need to be widely known or accepted beforehand. We can just begin and let people get involved at their own pace. Plus, with each new crisis —like the Covid 19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, or the next climate disaster—people will embrace this new meaningful conversation.
- All the steps of Society's Breakthrough are proven to work at large scale!!
- Each step is a benefit to society. e.g. educating people about issues, bringing them together in a new sense of global community, achieving breakthrough insights, bridging political divides, facilitating new clarity, breaking down media silos, etc.
- Where is the risk? ... It's hard to find. We are just adding a new conversation to what we already have.