Promoting World Peace ⊣ "Capitalism 2.0" | I’m No Expert Isn't it time we all got along? Promoting World Peace, Capitalism 2.0, Social Enterprise, co-operation, optimism, forgiveness and an eye to our collective future
Recently, The Next System Project, http://thenextsystem.org, held an international essay writing contest, asking individuals to suggest what we believe “The Next System” should be. Our ideas to help create the kind of society—and world—we’d like now and for future generations.
Here at I’m No Expert, defining our future is exactly what we are attempting to do. One where profits are no longer the first priority, but where Peace and individual “Social Missions” are (with profit coming in third).
Here are some highlights of what I submitted, with the full pdf version attached below:
The Next System – A Road To Peace
Roger Ley, ImNoExpert.com
In 1962, John F. Kennedy made a statement that gave America a mission: To go to the moon within a decade. When America was challenged to go to the moon, Americans aligned themselves. Industry leaders, politicians, the public and the bankers rallied together behind a goal, and in 1969 the world saw that anything is possible when we focus and work together. The Next System is our next mission, but this mission is a global one.
As we enter 2017, climate change, deforestation, dying oceans, accumulating waste, decaying infrastructures, massive wealth accumulation, poverty and illiteracy provide challenges like we have never faced. Yet, we are finally equipped with the knowledge, the communications technology, the wealth, and the frameworks to not only deal with the issues of our world, but to truly evolve to a new epoch; one where all humans and our environment are treated with respect; an economy which accounts for more than just profits; and a planet that can be a safe and protected habitat for generations to come.
“The Next System” isn’t an essay, a product or a policy, an idea, a sales pitch and a mission for where we need to go next. It is a clearly defined challenge to make us rally together to do what is possible if we all work together.
Culturally, nationally, personally, we all have our separate goals. As a planet–as a species–we share a common goal of survival. We know we can not continue on the path we are on. We know change is needed. But we are a flock without a shepherd, we are disorganized, distracted, and dissatisfied. We are in disarray.
As we approach 2017, we have all the things we need to create a world that works for everyone. Now all we need is the incentive. The faith. The mission.
The Next System will be a social evolution towards a global world that truly treats all humans and life on our finite planet with respect. It will foretell a future that is accessible to all people, based on existing ideas and existing technologies, developed over decades, which are ready to go now.
Kevin Bacon is not 6 degrees away; he is a Tweet away.
At thenextsystem.org, the Next System Project is described as “… an ambitious multi-year initiative aimed at thinking boldly about what is required to deal with the systemic challenges the United States faces now and in coming decades.” This, with respect, isn’t good enough. The United States is not the world, and its problems are not unique. Solutions aimed at helping primarily America are, in fact, just a new version of Today’s System.
When discussing the Next System, we can not help one nation without helping the others.
Unless the Next System works for everyone, we aren’t there yet.
The 10 Guiding Principals of the Next System must be as follows:
- The Next System must be global.
It must help everyone, everywhere. To help a certain class, religion, ethnicity, or nationality above others is Today’s System. The Next System mustn’t pollute one river to keep another clean, end poverty in one location only by creating it in another, or see the environment as Yours, Mine or Theirs. We are all in this together. We share this finite planet, and we must equally share the responsibility, and the opportunities, that will move us forward. - The Next System must deal with global poverty.
It must set a goal of providing sustainable shelter, medicine, clothing, food, clean water, and dignity to everyone on earth. The Next System must begin at the bottom, and recognize that those at the Top are doing just fine, as they always have been. - The Next System must create maximum impact with minimal change.
The Next System must be an evolution of today, not a revolution, and must expect to evolve further as the years go by. Our minds and our Market are designed to resist change, so changes must be minimal, while effecting as much as needed. - The Next System must be accessible by anyone.
It is not just for the middle class, or the educated, or the technically connected. Anyone wishing to get involved must be given a place at the table and an area to influence, in order to become viral. - The Next System must not dictate solutions, but facilitate them.
It can never preach, or declare to know what is “good” for everyone. Nor should it discount the effort of systems that came before it. The Next System could not be, if it was not for what has been. - The Next System must not punish non-believers, but must protect itself from subjugation.
There are those for whom Today’s System works perfectly well, and may resist, perhaps actively, any changes the Next System may require. The Next System may identify these people, but should not punish them, as per Principal #5, but nor should it allow these people to derail its efforts. - The Next System must not take from those who have, or punish those who have not.
It must accept, rightfully or not, that those who have everything and those who have nothing both played a part in previous systems. It must learn from the past, but must concentrate on looking forward. - The Next System must accept that everything has happened for a reason.
Everything that has happened brought us to today, and it is now time to focus on building tomorrow together. Dualism, or “Us vs. Them”, is Today’s System. - The Next System must use what we have today, not what we wish we had.
It must examine our existing structures, knowledge and frameworks without prejudice. It must “upcycle” our systems, in new, creative ways rather than attempt to replace what simply needs to be reorganized, as per Principal #3. - The Next System must recognize we have what we need to create a better world.
It must recognize that finally we can create a world where humans aren’t killed in wars, or from a lack of food, or exposure, or extortion. We now know enough to live in balance with nature, consuming less while producing more. It decrees that we no longer need to pillage the planet for resources to create plenty for some, and poverty for others.
In a word, the Next System is a vision of World Peace.
In the 60’s, there was a growing movement for Peace, which we now know was deliberately derailed by moneyed interests who believed there was more profit in the status quo than in change. World Peace became an inaccessible utopia; a lofty ideal relegated to hippies and pacifists. Today, in modern culture, one can hardly mention World Peace without seeing eyes roll.
As we approach 2017, I believe it is time to re-introduce this dream. This is not the 60’s, this is an advanced age of global communication and awareness, and a time where peace can encapsulate the solutions to all the problems we currently face.
This is where the marketing experts can help. If the term “World Peace” causes eye-rolling and disbelief it must be re-worked, re-imagined and re-branded, just as Bell-Bottom pants were in the 90’s.
Like America’s pledge to land on the moon within a decade, “World Peace 2.0”, or however it is branded is our new goal – a grand, audacious goal which addresses all our modern day struggles: Climate change, global inequity, weapons of mass destruction, war, poverty, racism, and terrorism. True world peace – a world where no human dies for the advantage of another – is not a dream, but a mission that anyone who recognizes the connectedness of our finite planet can get behind.
Read the full essay here:
