Category — Global Change

If you want to catch a glimpse of the Bahá’í vision of the future, you could do worse that look at the Global Mindshift website, whose aim is:

Our purpose is to “contribute to the emerging global community,” and our mission is to “help make the emergence of global community unstoppable.”

(And perhaps you could join the Global Mindshift community - as I have just done).

Mindshifting memes

I want to recommend two mindshifting memes from Global Mindshift.

Adolescence of human race

Growing Up. In this video, futurist Duane Elgin has some very interesting things to say about the maturation of the human race. It seems that 75% of the people he asks about which stage of collective development (infancy, adolescence, adulthood, senior years) they think the human race has reached say “adolescence”

The human journey

The Human Journey uses the three stages of the mythological Hero’s Journey as a lens through which to trace the path of human development and the challenges we humans have to face right now if we and the planet are to survive.

Bahá’í teachings on world future

If you watch these videos you will get a sense of why Bahá’ís are so desperate to share the teachings of Bahá’u'lláh with all and sundry. The videos resonate very closely with the Bahá’í belief that it is time to build a new global civilization and that Bahá’u'lláh’s teachings are exactly the basis for this new civilization, based on unity and justice.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Global Mindshift, Hero’s Journey, global civilization, collective maturity

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One of the most exciting moments during the recent International Bahá’í Convention was the reading of the Ridván message that the Universal House of Justice addresses every year to the Bahá’ís of the World. This year’s message is a particularly clear explanation of what the Bahá’í community all round the world is doing to respond to the deepest spiritual and moral needs of the world’s peoples.

This message is both inspiring and chastening. Inspiring because it describes exactly what Bahá’ís in every continent are doing - this was born out by the experiences shared by delegates during the consultation periods - and shows how much more we can do. Chastening because it warns us that the capacity that the Bahá’í community is building now will be tested to the very limits by a world in disarray.

And then the Universal House of Justice reminds us, in the penultimate paragraph, of the vital need for individual and institutional rectitude of conduct.

Only if you demonstrate the rectitude of conduct to which the writings of the Faith call every soul will you be able to struggle against the myriad forms of corruption, overt and subtle, eating at the vitals of society. Only if you perceive honour and nobility in every human being–this independent of wealth or poverty–will you be able to champion the cause of justice. And to the extent that administrative processes of your institutions are governed by the principles of Baha’i consultation will the great masses of humanity be able to take refuge in the Baha’i community.

So, here it is. It is well worth reading this majestic and insightful message very carefully. I make no apologies for the length of this post.

Ridvan 2008

To the Baha’is of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

Thousands upon thousands, embracing the diversity of the entire human family, are engaged in systematic study of the Creative Word in an environment that is at once serious and uplifting. As they strive to apply through a process of action, reflection and consultation the insights thus gained, they see their capacity to serve the Cause rise to new levels. Responding to the inmost longing of every heart to commune with its Maker, they carry out acts of collective worship in diverse settings, uniting with others in prayer, awakening spiritual susceptibilities, and shaping a pattern of life distinguished for its devotional character. As they call on one another in their homes and pay visits to families, friends and acquaintances, they enter into purposeful discussion on themes of spiritual import, deepen their knowledge of the Faith, share Baha’u'llah’s message, and welcome increasing numbers to join them in a mighty spiritual enterprise. Aware of the aspirations of the children of the world and their need for spiritual education, they extend their efforts widely to involve ever-growing contingents of participants in classes that become centres of attraction for the young and strengthen the roots of the Faith in society. They assist junior youth to navigate through a crucial stage of their lives and to become empowered to direct their energies toward the advancement of civilization. And with the advantage of a greater abundance of human resources, an increasing number of them are able to express their faith through a rising tide of endeavours that address the needs of humanity in both their spiritual and material dimensions. Such is the panorama before us as we pause this Ridvan to observe the progress of the worldwide Baha’i community.

On several occasions we have indicated that the aim of the series of global Plans that will carry the Baha’i world to the celebration of the centenary of the Faith’s Formative Age in 2021 will be achieved through marked progress in the activity and development of the individual believer, of the

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Reviving the world - regenerating its peoples

Bahá’u'lláh says this:

The Day Star of Truth that shineth in its meridian splendor beareth Us witness! They who are the people of God have no ambition except to revive the world, to ennoble its life, and regenerate its peoples. Truthfulness and good-will have, at all times, marked their relations with all men. Their outward conduct is but a reflection of their inward life, and their inward life a mirror of their outward conduct. No veil hideth or obscureth the verities on which their Faith is established. Before the eyes of all men these verities have been laid bare, and can be unmistakably recognized. Their very acts attest the truth of these words. [Gleanings CXXVI]

The energy of Convention

To sit in a large hall with over a thousand delegates and others from all sorts of backgrounds from all over the world, to hear these people express their love for God, their experiences in sharing Bahá’u'lláh’s healing message with all and sundry, to take part in a global election - conducted in an atmosphere of prayer - was to feel an extraordinary energy.

I was sitting on the edge of my bed reading this quotation from Gleanings the other morning when it struck me that this was exactly what International Convention was about. What I heard and what I experienced and what I felt at Convention showed clearly the truth of the quotation.

And it showed just how alive the Bahá’í community is right now. At International Convention ten years ago, we all wanted to lecture each other about how things should be done. Some Bahá’í communities, some National Spiritual Assemblies (naming no names) clearly felt they had it cracked. This time, though, pretty much every contribution at the microphone made it clear that we are all learning together. We are learning from each other.

In a word, the mood was collegial.

Institutions

The newly elected Universal House of Justice

And the Bahá’í institutions are alive and learning all sorts of lessons. Administration for its own sake or for the sake of control (as if!) is long dead. This is what the Universal House of Justice has written in this year’s most powerful Ridván message to the Bahá’ís of the world:

Institutions, from the national to the local level, see with ever greater clarity how to create conditions conducive to the expression of the spiritual energies of a growing number of believers in pursuit of a common goal. The community is serving more and more as that environment in which individual effort and collective action, mediated by the institute, can complement each other in order to achieve progress. The vibrancy it manifests and the unity of purpose that animates its endeavours are drawing into its swelling ranks those from every walk of life eager to dedicate their time and energies to the welfare of humanity.

The Bahá’í community - in all its endeavours - has moved a long way from where it was ten years ago. We are all clearly treading the same path. We speak a shared language about the processes of growth. We are part of a single narrative of development and systematic learning - despite the huge diversity of circumstances we live and work in. Some struggle with war, others with poverty, many of us with “forces of oppression, whether generated from the depths of religious prejudice or the pinnacles of rampant materialism”.

Whoever we are and wherever we live, we are in the business of removing oppression, particularly the grievous oppression that prevents souls from knowing where to turn in their search for truth and from whom to seek the knowledge of God.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’u'llah, Bahaullah, International Convention, regeneration, oppression, God

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This is what the Free Rice site says about itself:

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

I just played and got to vocabulary level 50. OK, I used a dictionary for some of the words. But it didn’t always help. I couldn’t find “laina” in my Chambers 20th Century Dictionary, for instance. So I took a flying guess on … Nope, I’m not going to tell you. You’ll need to try it for yourself. It’s good for you and it’s good for the world.

I managed to contribute 600 grains of rice!

Technorati Tags: poverty, rice, vocabulary, game

OK, I’ll own up. I didn’t go to the Making Rights Real conference in Birmingham yesterday. I’ve all sorts of excuses I won’t burden you with, but it did give me a clear day at my desk to try and sink some of the jobs that have been awaiting my attention. Sadly my to-do list has the kind of growth rate that would put China’s economy amongst the also-rans. But never mind. I’m sneaking a few moments to write here.

Growth

And talking about growth (stay with me, you’ll see the link in a moment), I’ve now finished Thomas Homer-Dixon’s The Upside of Down (as reviewed in this previous post).

Homer-Dixon produces evidence to show that the world’s ecological, environmental, energy and social systems are facing synchronous collapse. Why? Because of our addiction to economic growth. We are stressing the environment and all our other systems to breaking point in the name of growth. But never mind. Growth is the god we worship.

We’ve created a complex and closely coupled high energy world. But it isn’t sustainable:

The growth phase we’re in may seem like a natural and permanent state of affairs - and our world’s rising complexity, connectedness, efficiency, and regulation may seem relentless and unstoppable - but ultimately it isn’t sustainable. (p. 253)

Energy costs will rise inexorably. We’ll be forced to reduce our use of energy, so our society will inevitably become less complex (it takes energy to create complexity). We’ll travel less, says Homer-Dixon, and we won’t travel and trade over such long distances. The world won’t go on becoming “flatter”, with fewer barriers to economic integration. Economic and political power will go to parts of the world with good access to energy.

Eventually those of us in rich countries will have to change many things in our societies and daily lives - not just the machines we use to produce and consume energy but also the work we do, our entertainment and leisure activities, how much we travel in cars and airplanes, our financial systems, the design of our cities, and the ways we produce our food (because our current agricultural practices consume a huge amount of energy).(p. 253)

Resilience

So what takes the place of growth?

A prudent way to cope with invisible but inevitable dangers is to … build resilience into all systems critical to our well-being. A resilient system can absorb large disturbances without changing its fundamental nature. (p. 283)

Roman and Victorian engineers, not knowing how their materials would take the forces operating on them, often “over-engineered” their bridges rather than try to make them more efficient by using less rock, brick, iron and so on. For those engineers there were too many unknown unknowns, things they didn’t know they didn’t know. Structures that were built too efficiently might be liable to sudden and unpredictable collapse.

The same is true, argues Thomas Homer-Dixon, in our complex world.

We should give up some of our obsession with efficiency in favour of more resilience. In this way, we will be better able to prevent foreshocks (like the credit crunch resulting from the subprime mortgage crisis in the US) from triggering synchronous failure of all our systems.

In other words, we can, if we let go of our prejudices and presuppositions about how the world “is supposed to be”, learn to think prospectively, openly, about other futures for our world. What Homer-Dixon refers to as “the prospective mind”…

…knows that scientific knowledge is the best tool to determine the boundary between plausible and implausible futures. But precise prediction is impossible…

Values

We also have to talk about values. Homer-Dixon distinguishes three kinds of values:

1. Utilitarian values - Homer-Dixon thinks of these as simple likes and dislikes.
2. Moral values - those concerning fairness and justice.
3. Existential values - those values that give our lives meaning - we might even call themspiritual values

We don’t really like talking about moral and existential values, so we try to satisfy our need for meaning by acquiring more and more stuff.

Reduced to walking appetites, we lose resilience. We risk becoming hollow people with no character, substance, or core - like eggshells that can be shattered or crushed with one sharp shock. (p. 301)

So whose interests do our current values serve?

Our current values serve the interests of today’s political and economic elites, and so are aggressively defended by these elites. Growth, even in already obscenely rich societies, is sacrosanct. This central value won’t really change until it’s discredited by some kind of major shock, which probably means some kind of system breakdown. Then alternative values that are centered on the idea of resilience might flower, not just at the fringes of our societies but also at their core.

What might values of resilience promote? Homer-Dixon suggests:

• Smaller populations that tread lightly on nature.
• Decentralized communities
• Less complex and fast-paced lifestyles.
• Broader, fairer and more vigorous democracy.

And only through much broader and deeper democratic practice will humankind likely develop the expansive “moral commonwealth” essential to our collective survival.

We’re one we

Here we come to the very core transformation that we all need to undergo. And this is absolutely the Baha’i solution:

Only when we all grasp that we’re in one boat together - that together we’re one we with an indivisible fate - will we be serious about making the concessions to each other that are essential if we’re to address global challenges like climate change and energy scarcity. (p. 306)

I realize that this post has gone on much longer than I had intended and that the only person left reading it is me, but I do want to conclude by quoting at some length from an admirable document published in 2005 by the Baha’i World Centre, One Common Faith, pages 42-43:

The power through which these goals will be progressively realized is that of unity. Although to Bahá’ís the most obvious of truths, its implications for the current crisis of civilization appear to escape most contemporary discourse. Few will disagree that the universal disease sapping the health of the body of humankind is that of disunity. Its manifestations everywhere cripple political will, debilitate the collective urge to change, and poison national and religious relationships….

Unity is a condition of the human spirit. Education can support and enhance it, as can legislation, but they can do so only once it emerges and has established itself as a compelling force in social life. A global intelligentsia, its prescriptions largely shaped by materialistic misconceptions of reality, clings tenaciously to the hope that imaginative social engineering, supported by political compromise, may indefinitely postpone the potential disasters that few deny loom over humanity’s future…. As unity is the remedy for the world’s ills, its one certain source lies in the restoration of religion’s influence in human affairs. The laws and principles revealed by God, in this day, Baha’u'llah declares, “are the most potent instruments and the surest of all means for the dawning of the light of unity amongst men.” (Tablets of Baha’u'llah, page 129.) “Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.” (Baha’u'llah, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u'llah, pages 202-203.)

Central to Baha’u'llah’s mission, therefore, has been the creation of a global community that would reflect the oneness of humankind. The ultimate testimony that the Baha’i community can summon in vindication of His mission is the example of unity that His teachings have produced.

The Baha’i solution goes far further than Homer-Dixon’s. We’re not just in the business of “making concessions” to others. We’re in the business of working together with others to build a radically new kind of civilization based on explicit existential and moral values and bringing with it explicit means to enable everyone to engage fully and equally in the shaping of all our futures. There will be breakdown. Breakdown is part of the way the world works and allows new growth to take place. Humankind has a future, a future based on unity in diversity, moderation and justice. It will be a future of reasonable prosperity for all. Our descendants will look back at the growth mania of the capitalist era and shake their heads, just as we shake our heads over the European wars of religion of the 16th century.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Baha’u'llah, Bahaullah, Homer-Dixon, Upside of Down, catastrophe, religion, growth, future, civilization, unity, diversity

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Do you want to read a challenging book about things that are ineluctably going to cause you, your children, your grandchildren unbelievable pain - that may even threaten the survival of all of us - in the coming decade? Think collapse of the Roman Empire and multiply it up to global level - famine, energy shortage, collapse of government, barbarian attacks, and then some.

No? OK, I don’t blame you. But nonetheless I strongly recommend you read Thomas Homer Dixon’s The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization.

Homer Dixon, Director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in Canada, argues that the present global order is under unprecedented stress and that it could suddenly collapse catastrophically in the near future.

The thesis presented in the book is not the rant of a global-catastrophist nutcase, but a well researched and carefully argued exposition of certain realities facing the human race, realities that most of us would prefer to deny right now.

“When, next, will be see people walking out of our cities - in the darkness of a mid-afternoon?” asks Homer Dixon (he’s thinking of 9/11 and of the 14 August 2003 power failure across eastern North America from New York to Detroit and Toronto).

Maybe not long from now, because the possibility of abrupt breakdown in our vital social and technological systems is rising, and perhaps rising fast. Breakdown is often like an earthquake: it’s caused by the slow accumulation of deep and largely unseen pressures beneath the surface of our day-to-day affairs. At some point these pressures release their accumulated energy with catastrophic effect, creating shock waves that pulverize our habitual and often rigid ways of doing things.

Tectonic stresses

Homer Dixon believes that there are five tectonic stresses that are accumulating underneath the surface of our societies:

• population stress arising from differences in the population growth rates between rich and poor societies, and from the growth of megacities in poor countries;
• energy stress - above all from the increasing scarcity of conventional oil;
• environmental stress from worsening damage to our land, water, forests, and fisheries;
• climate stress from changes in the makeup of our atmosphere;
• and, finally, economic stress resulting from instabilities in the global economic system and ever-widening income gaps between rich and poor people.

Multipliers

Dixon also draws our attention to two multipliers that will give these stresses extra force:

• the rising speed and global connectivity of our activities, technologies and societies;
• the escalating power of small groups to destroy things and people.

Destructive catastrophe? Or creative catagenesis?

If all these stresses and multipliers peak together, we may have what Dixon calls synchronous failure, a destructive collapse of all natural, social, economic and political systems around the globe. Recovery from such a collapse would be slow, perhaps impossible.

Some kinds of complex systems, on the other hand,

adapt to their changing environment by going through a four-stage cycle of growth, breakdown, reorganization, and renewal.

If the predicted collapse of global order is constrained in some way, catagenesis (Homer Dixon’s term for the birth of something new and unexpected and potentially good from a disaster) can occur. That’s not to say that it will be easy. Far from it. But humankind and the planet may not be utterly doomed.

Rolling up the old world order, unrolling the new

Baha’is will recognize immediately the truth of what Thomas Homer Dixon is saying. Baha’u'llah warns that an “unforeseen calamity” is following humankind. Some of us have spent too many years speculating what such a calamity might be. Baha’u'llah also says that “the old world” order is being “rolled up” (like an old carpet) and a new order is being unrolled in its place. Well, I don’t think the possible collapse of all the world’s major systems has been foreseen - in fact, many would still deny that any such thing is happening. But it certainly would ensure that all the accumulated crud and rigidities of our economic, social, political and other systems are cleared away and that space is made for something new.

Why don’t we face the stark reality? We’re addicted to our oil-based, consumerist life style. Like all addicts, we don’t want to change. So we either deny that there’s any crisis, or we deny that the crisis will affect us. And then we wonder what we can do about it. It all seems too much. No individual or family, we think, can actually make any difference.

In fact, we can, each and every one of us, do things that will make catagenesis more likely. Thomas Homer Dixon’s thesis provides us with a compelling reason to study the teachings of Baha’u'llah and the life of the Baha’i community, which is striving to build the foundations of a new global civilization, based on a deep understanding of the oneness that underlies human diversity and on social, economic and environmental justice. Actually, it provides a compelling reason to do more than just study the teachings of Baha’u'llah, but to step onto the path of service with the Baha’is and to join this global community in its work.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, global catastrophe, Thomas Homer Dixon, Upside of Down, global order, catagenesis

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I was very pleased to receive an email today from my friend Ronnie Yousefzadeh about his newly launched blog, Seven Candles.

Why Seven Candles? Go read…

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, blogging, Seven Candles of Unity, Abdul-Baha, Ronnie Yousefzadeh