Think about that. We destroy in the pursuit of abundance.
When this behavior is seen in an individual, we call them crazy. And yet, we're doing it as a human family and calling it "normal," even as we get perilously close to participating in our own extinction.
I don't get it. It just doesn't make sense.
I'll speak more about this in a second. First, I want to address a question I get when I'm out there speaking about a way I know for engaging humanity in the creation of a world that is prosperous for all. People ask:
I can only speak for myself.
Our destructive capacity starts out innocently enough. Most of us do it unconsciously. We choose to grow by making someone else small. In our natural desire to feel BIGGER, we judge others as bad or wrong or this or that, which helps us feel bigger. This comes from the belief that in order to grow ourselves, we have to destroy something in another. Of course, this is not true because we can absolutely grow while the other is also growing. In fact, we can grow MORE when more of us are growing because when more of us are growing, we are creating more opportunities for each other.
The individual unconscious version of growth-through-destruction builds into a more conscious community version, when we band together and do the next most destructive thing. We see it in run-of-the-mill infighting in organizations all the way to our use of war.
To think everything would be okay if only “those other people” would just get their act together is to forget that we are all “other people” to someone. When we’re all destroying each other in small and big ways in our attempts to grow, it isn’t surprising that we feel angry and helpless. And, it isn't surprising that we find ourselves taking part in our own potential demise as a species, despite our ignored capacity to create.
I can’t imagine directly experiencing the destructive side of humanity’s quest for prosperity for all, like so many soldiers and innocents have. I have written about the link between poverty and national security, but none of what I’ve written tells the story like the direct experiences from war do.
Why Should I Care?
I care because I see that prosperity for all is not only important, but is actually central to all of the global issues we face. I'll even go beyond that and say that prosperity is central to our very existence as human beings.
Before I go further, I want to be clear that I'm not talking just about money. I'm talking about prosperity's larger meaning. It's about abundance. It's about having everyone discover and act upon their hopes, dreams, and desires. It's about having our societal systems, structures, and institutions serve THAT end. Perhaps that's what the forefathers of the U.S. were trying for when they created the first structures for democracy and spoke eloquently about our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. From what I can tell, we're not there yet. If nothing else, I care because I'd like us to be living in integrity with what we say we're about.
I care because our quest for prosperity is at the heart of everything we are and everything we do as human beings. At the most fundamental level, this quest comes from our natural urge to GROW. We are wired this way; to try to stop it is like asking the grass to stop growing. We can't NOT grow.
I care because our quest for prosperity is at the heart of everything we are and everything we do as human beings. At the most fundamental level, this quest comes from our natural urge to GROW. We are wired this way; to try to stop it is like asking the grass to stop growing. We can't NOT grow.
Now, back to our two ways of pursuing growth/prosperity...
In our urge to grow, we've developed and demonstrated two ways of pursuing that growth.
One is by destroying. Our capacity for this is illustrated in most of the news we see these days.
The other is by creating. Our capacity for this is illustrated in a great number of mostly unreported ways in the work of many "unknowns" out there doing phenomenal work, like the decades of work by the Future Search Network around the world, and my national program there called Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation. (btw: Ode magazine is a wonderful source of this news).
Our destructive capacity starts out innocently enough. Most of us do it unconsciously. We choose to grow by making someone else small. In our natural desire to feel BIGGER, we judge others as bad or wrong or this or that, which helps us feel bigger. This comes from the belief that in order to grow ourselves, we have to destroy something in another. Of course, this is not true because we can absolutely grow while the other is also growing. In fact, we can grow MORE when more of us are growing because when more of us are growing, we are creating more opportunities for each other.
The individual unconscious version of growth-through-destruction builds into a more conscious community version, when we band together and do the next most destructive thing. We see it in run-of-the-mill infighting in organizations all the way to our use of war.
To think everything would be okay if only “those other people” would just get their act together is to forget that we are all “other people” to someone. When we’re all destroying each other in small and big ways in our attempts to grow, it isn’t surprising that we feel angry and helpless. And, it isn't surprising that we find ourselves taking part in our own potential demise as a species, despite our ignored capacity to create.
I can’t imagine directly experiencing the destructive side of humanity’s quest for prosperity for all, like so many soldiers and innocents have. I have written about the link between poverty and national security, but none of what I’ve written tells the story like the direct experiences from war do.
Just because we see more these days about our destructive capacity toward growth (is it just me, or does that sound mutually exclusive?) than we do about our equally developed, and perhaps more authentic, compassionate creative capacity doesn't mean that's all we're capable of. We have both capacities, and we can CHOOSE which one to use. We have been CHOOSING to focus on and use our destructive capacity. I am here to say that I'M NOT CHOOSING THAT.
Anyone else out there feel the same way? If so, I'd like to hear from you. Please leave a comment.
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