I challenged you to give me something positive in today's world and I found it for myself. I have been reading the November Shambhala Sun magazine which is jam-packed with great articles. I will present some here today, but the one I am with right now is a book review by Bill McKibben of Paul Hawken's new book, BLESSED UNREST: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming.
Paul Hawken estimates that there are around two million groups working workwide for social justice and ecological survival and that these groups constitute " a kind of nascent, invisible superpower." Because there are no leaders, logos and very little media coverage, we are not always aware of these grassroots groups that believe there is more than one bottom line in the world, and that simply adding up the GNP is not the way to tell if life is getting better.
Hawken says currently we treat goods better than people. What if we reversed that and treated people better than goods.
Bill McKibben, a powerful environmental force in his own right, says that when he was rinsing pepper spray from his eyes from the protest of the WTO in 2000, that he looked up and saw "Wake up, Muggles," printed on a large balloon floating overhead. It's good advice.
"Wake up, Muggles." Unite!!
I am also with a comment Jane made to me yesterday. She works for Kaiser and is one of the first to be informed of their new advertising campaigns. The Thrive campaign did well and now they have a new promotion. A 90 second commercial aired last night on Gray's Anatomy. It sounds like this ad is oriented to making people feel more comfortable with cancer care. Who could argue with that, and yet I am still bothered by advertising health care, even if it is done with a positive message and intention.
I wonder about using advertising for education and guidance. I'm grateful the Paul Hawken book shows we can get together and manifest change and do it on our own. Of course, his book will be advertised and sold to us, and so the circle is complex, and our zeal for change can still unite individuals together in ventures that are compassionate, far-seeing, and bold.
