The Fundamental Flaw

There is a fundamental flaw in the way we think about and address poverty in the U.S. and beyond. The systemic, complex nature of poverty requires systemic thinking, planning, and action. Yet, over the last 40+ years since the “War on Poverty,” we have approached it with individual strategies initiated and carried out by individual sectors of society. No one person, organization, political party, program, or sector of society has the answer, nor can any of these individual parts understand “the whole,” be responsible for it, or act to solve it alone. This means the answer is not IN any one place; it is AMONG us. It means we need an approach that brings diverse people together to discover they live in the same world, worry about the same things, understand their differences, take responsibility, find shared meaning and aspirations for the future, and make commitments and act to create that future. It means we need to fundamentally change the way we interact and solve problems as a society.

Several years ago, I managed a large project to develop a model to change the way we think about and address poverty. During the project, I learned about the structural and systemic nature of the problem. I also recognized that we have never approached poverty systemically. As the project ended, I began feeling a deep calling to be of service toward a solution beyond “giving fish, teaching how to fish, and studying the pond.” I wanted to CHANGE THE WATER. Luckily, I knew of a way to do that.

I am just getting started in my blogging, but trust me, you will be seeing alot more on the national, community-based action strategy to change the way the U.S. thinks about and addresses poverty I am leading. This action strategy, in which anyone reading could concretely participate in and/or help get fully launched, is called Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation. It is a special program of the Future Search Network, 350 members on every continent and home of Future Search, a proven, whole-system action planning method. FSN members are united by a motivation to serve society while cooperating and learning together. Our mission is making the world a better place—more open, whole, and sustainable for everyone. We have been offering Future Searches worldwide in any language or culture for whatever people can afford.

My hope is that by bringing information about this program (my calling) into the blog-space, people everywhere will become involved and together get this "movement machine" rolling.