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The Global Systems Review Issue 6 February 2009
The Global Systems Review is a periodic e-newsletter that explores critical world issues through the lens of whole systems thinking.
This edition of the Global Systems Review is dedicated to the stories that guide our lives, and how they can help us turn breakdown into breakthrough.
In this Issue:
- The Stories We Tell Ourselves – Examining our beliefs about the relationship between human beings and the natural world to address the environmental crisis. More...
- The Story of Global Security – Women in the field of international security explore their assumptions about America’s role in the world in these times. More...
- The Story of Real Wealth – David Korten suggests we re-organize our failing economy on the basis of the true nature of wealth and money. More...
The Stories We Tell Ourselves, by Louise Diamond
Right now there are three major systems in various stages of breakdown – international security, the environment, and the global economy. Yet if it is true that within every crisis is an opportunity, we live in a uniquely exciting moment. By inquiring deeply into the stories we tell ourselves about the most basic elements of these systems, we can test our assumptions against the rapidly changing realities of our interconnected world and re-wire our mindset as needed to address the challenges of our times.
Stories are important because all social systems exist within a narrative context. That is, we all have a set of beliefs that frame how we make meaning about our world and our place in it. Then we act from that story, as if it were ‘truth.’
Sometimes these narratives get concretized into ideology, overtly stated and acted upon. Political parties, and diverse factions therein, are a good example of this, as are certain streams of religious belief. Sometimes the stories become a general philosophy of life or worldview. Other times they exist more in the assumed-to-be-true realm, unarticulated yet just as powerful in determining our actions.
The opportunity for breakthrough out of breakdown comes when we can push through the stories we are most familiar and comfortable with, and start asking provocative questions to surface our deepest and often unconscious core beliefs. When we articulate our mind map in this way, we can see if it provides us with the best way to act in the world, or if we need to make any changes.
Later in this issue we will see what others are saying about the basic stories of global security and the economy. Here we can pose some of the core questions relating to the environment that are worth asking ourselves, individually and collectively, in these times. This list is not exhaustive – rather, it is only a beginning of a fruitful discovery process:
We start with the most fundamental question of all: What is the basic nature of the relationship between human beings and the natural world? Our answers to this provide the framework for all the ensuing questions.
- How has that relationship changed over your lifetime, if at all? If so, why?
- What, if anything, needs to change in that relationship now?
- When the relationship is working well, what’s happening?
- When the relationship is working poorly, what’s happening?
- How do we value the life-force in humans, animals, plants, minerals, and the elements, and how are they related?
- How do we make sense of the rich diversity of life forms in the world?
- What does sustainability mean? What would (does) it look like, feel like?
- What is the connection between life as we know it on this planet and the larger universe in which we exist?
- What are ways that different cultures would answer any of these questions?
- What other questions should we be asking to deepen and broaden our understanding of this topic?
Finally we ask ourselves, How can our explorations of these questions assist us in addressing the critical challenges of climate change, air and water pollution, energy needs, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity, declining fish stocks, extreme weather events, and more?
When faced with crises, the natural tendency is to immediately put our attention to solving the problem. The ‘problem,’ however, is most often a symptom of something larger, something that has grown from how we think about things. The crises we face today demand of us that even as we put our fingers in the dike to stave off greater catastrophe, we also take the time to step back and explore those thoughts, those stories by which we make meaning in our lives, and re-write them as necessary.
Living systems are said to operate toward the best fit with their environment. In this regard human beings have a long way to go. It all begins with the stories we tell ourselves. Once upon a time…
The Global Security Story, by Louise Diamond
I recently convened a group of 18 women who work in the field of international security in Washington DC, in partnership with an organization called Women in International Security. We met for three hours to articulate, communicate, and validate our assumptions about global security – not at the level of political ideology but at the core of our understanding about the very nature of security itself on the planet in these times.
We addressed the question: What are our most basic assumptions about national security?
While it is not possible to capture the full richness of the dialogue, here are some of the themes that emerged:
Culture: The current system for international relations and security was created from the Western European tradition. Other cultures view the world differently, and therefore think of security differently.
In particular, we learned about the theory of Axiology which suggests that in the beginning of human history the original peoples who lived near the Equator found food literally falling from the trees, so didn’t need to worry about food. Consequently, they developed the relationship of people to people as the focus of society. Once people began migrating north, into the cold, they had to grow their food and had only a short growing season in which to secure enough to get them through the cold months. They consequently developed the relationship of people to object as critical. As these distinct cultural types evolved, they led to different understandings of what makes for security, which we can see displayed in today’s world.
Economy: We spoke of the fact that the meeting of basic human needs – for food, water, shelter, etc. – is critical to our understanding of security. Some have named this Sustainable Security, linking national security with human security and collective security. Some refer to this notion as 3D – linking defense, development, and diplomacy.
Also, we discussed the basic principle in the field of economics that states as a given that resources are scarce and people will therefore fight for them. We considered that this might be a skewed view; that in fact our security rests less on being the biggest and best fighter for our national interests but on cooperation and alliances to serve the well-being of the whole; that the security of all helps the security of each.
Communication: We discussed the need for dialogue and listening to a variety of points of view, rather than accepting as truth the stories told by leaders or the media. In order to address the needs of the larger whole, we need to be able to look at things from others’ perspectives. In fact, our lack of knowledge and education about others leads to fear, and that creates insecurity.
We also considered the role of dignity in our global relations, and how important it is to respect the inherent dignity of others and ascribe that right to them even as we do to ourselves, because when peoples’ dignity is violated they become aggrieved (which can exacerbate security situations). We raised the paradox of, on the one hand wanting to value and respect all cultures, and on the other hand finding certain elements of other cultures reprehensible, using the example of honor killing.
Complexity: We explored the notion that security is way beyond issues that can or should be addressed by military means. We considered food, climate, the economy, and other areas that present challenges to global security, and that we need to be taking a more global approach over a national one to the larger security concerns. We also suggested that we tend to assume that governments are primarily responsible for protecting our national security, but what about other players, including ourselves?
One additional question was posed, but we didn’t have time to address it: What is the story we tell ourselves about America’s role in the world, historically and currently, and how must it change, if at all, given the rapidly shifting and highly interdependent nature of 21st century global affairs? More food for thought…
The Story of Real Wealth
David Korten has written an excellent essay about the most basic beliefs underlying our economic crisis, and how they can – and must – be changed to get us out of the mess we’re in. You can find this story, called Don’t Fix Wall Street, Replace It, on the CommonDreams website, http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/13-6.
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