Reflections on Issue Twenty-Four
Material of Wealth
I’m pleased you found The Understory—my biweekly essays on consciousness during the climate emergency. If you’re here for the first time, hello! Enter your email below to get issues to your inbox, free.
Thank you to everyone who had a chance to read Issue Twenty-Four over the past week. For those who have yet to read it, the reflections from other readers below may be a good starting point, or you can read “Material of Wealth” first.
The Understory reflections between issues are intended to share thoughtful comments from subscribers that expand upon and challenge parts of the previous issue. I am immensely grateful for the depth of the comments added this week by Peter, Anne-Marie, and Elliot. When writing The Understory I deliberately leave holes for readers to fill in with their imaginations and comments. There is beautiful synchronicity when the gaps created by small holes are widened by members of this community to carry us all deeper and broader into the topic.
An additional level of synchronicity happened just days after publishing Issue Twenty-Four. I was listening to Episode 71 of Manda Scott’s Accidental Gods podcast in which she speaks with her former professor, Jonathan Dawson, who leads the Regenerative Economics program at Schumacher College. Their conversation bobs and weaves between many of the wealth creation narratives and shared references from my essay. I wholeheartedly agree with Dawson’s evocation of Thomas Berry that we are currently between stories. If you enjoy listening to podcasts, I highly recommend you give this gem of an episode a listen.
As Shared by Peter Tavernise
“This is one of the key questions facing humanity: ‘but do we have enough wealth in what materializes well-being?’ The past four weeks or so I have been recognizing something I'd missed but makes enormous sense. Originally I thought our work was just a matter of moving people from fight or flight to tend and befriend, and we would automatically start making the ‘right’ types of decisions as communities. But on the heels of learning from Julia Kim about Gross National Happiness, I am sitting with the maxim ‘there is no mindset shift without a consciousness shift.’ Therefore all of us climate coaches and others who seek to make change will be needing to spend more time than even we had recognized previously concentrating our efforts and helping others to concentrate their efforts on the inner work necessary to shift consciousness and thus mindsets, which then result in changed governmental, health, social, and economic structures.”
What Peter describes is what I think about in the distinction between transition and transformation as briefly discussed in Issue Twenty-Three. We are predisposed to transition strategies due to them being far less disruptive and also consistent with our worldviews around linearity—move from point A to point C along a directional path. I too have become convinced that the soft landing of a transition is actually a stationary position rather than a changed state. Transition is running in place while transformation is a circumnavigation of Earth. This consciousness shift from one of linearity to circularity is but one of many that relate to how we understand our respective journeys, economies, and relationships.
It seems to me that we are sitting with two significant questions in this consciousness shift. First, what are each of our roles in the current economic and political systems in which we participate: personal, workplace, civic? Second, what are the new roles that we can play in future systems that we hope to bring forth? As Peter mentions we will need the might of climate coaches and so many others to support this shift. I am encouraged by the work I learn about daily in mobilizing for the transformation.
“You rightly point out, ‘We have enough jam and airborne carbon dioxide, but not enough culture, language, nature, and belonging.’ Richard Strozzi and others in the Somatics field talk about the three things each human needs, as a plant needs water, soil and sunlight in order to thrive, we each need safety, belonging, and dignity so we may also thrive. In this Somatic framework, all our conditioned tendencies and adaptive traits come from our childhood seeking for maximum access to those three things if they are not found plentifully in our family and society of origin. Frankly, few children find abundance of those safety, belonging, and dignity in Western/ ‘developed’ families and societies. So we have a lot of self-healing and wholing work to do (some of which is outlined in Bill Plotkin's Wild Mind) so that we can restore our sense of abundance.
Once this work is completed, we realize that as adults we are still running those old scarcity programs, when actually our responsibility in becoming adults is to self-generate safety, belonging, and dignity—to the point we have a surplus and begin giving it away. As a consciousness and thus mindset shift, this results in an incredibly attractive and dynamic leadership presence. Who doesn't want to be near someone who is giving away safety, belonging, and dignity? Because we all still don't know how to do that for ourselves. But those leaders who have reached that point are living lighthouses demonstrating it is both possible and simply healthy to become so embodied. And we can do that with simple practices (see all of Somatics).”
I have been embattled for the past year with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which first appears in “A Theory of Human Motivation” (1943). I felt an aversion to the pyramidal hierarchy, the individualism, and the ordering of its component layers. Richard Strozzi-Heckler’s reorientation to safety, belonging, and dignity is a breath of fresh air, and relates directly to a reference I heard a few weeks back. In a podcast conversation, Tyson Yunkaporta made brief mention that Abraham Maslow appropriated Indigenous knowledge from the Blackfoot (Siksika) Nation to create his triangle after first visiting the Alberta reserve in a 1938 anthropology research trip.
On Maslow’s appropriation, Dr. Cindy Blackstock notes, “First of all, the triangle is not a triangle. It’s a tipi. And the tipis in the Blackfoot (tradition) always went up and reached up to the skies.” The tipi top is designed with an opening to sky-world rather than the typical closures of our modern roofs or the rigidity of a pyramid to create relational flow. Blackstock additionally notes the contrast with the Blackfoot framework where self-actualization goes at the base, not the tip, based on the Blackfoot belief that self-actualization is the foundation of community actualization. In 2007, Terry Cross presented a model showing that the Indigenous views were relational rather than hierarchical, which Blackstone cover in detail within her paper, “The Emergence of the Breath of Life Theory” (2011). For more background on the Indigenous linkage to Maslow’s Hierarchy, please see Barbara Brey’s blog post.
The idea of leaders as living lighthouses is a wonderful addition to this structural discussion. Rather than the vertical orientation of the tipi or the triangle, lighthouses beam horizontally thereby casting light across the surface of land and sea—creating a kind of relational plane.
“Appreciating all you outline and reference, almost all of which is new to me, including Max-Neef. This shift is towards a true sense of wealth—the universe per folks like Duane Elgin and Brian Swimme is absolutely and fundamentally abundant with energy. The sun and the Earth provide all we could possibly need and completely unconditionally. Kate Raworth rightly points out in Doughnut Economics that the way we have set up economic systems in the past is to create a sense of scarcity so that wealth moves towards those in power, we need to discontinue that model for obvious reasons at this point. And we can revise, 'un-disrupt,' decolonize our conditioning, and re-indigenize ourselves around what we consider ‘wealth’ and what is possible in terms of how to be in the world by reading and listening to authors you've already discussed at length, including Melanie Goodchild, Arkan Lushwala, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Sherri Mitchell, Tyson Yunkaporta etc. And that process of healing and wholing leads to all you outline in your concluding paragraphs.”
See Peter’s comment in its entirety and add your reflections to his
As Shared by Anne-Marie Brest
“You touch on the crux of the problem and source of the crisis of the biosphere: ‘what we value.’ And until that changes, little progress will be made. Your discourse reminds me of two books The Real Wealth of Nations (2007) by Dr. Riane Eisler and Buddhist Economics (2017) by Dr. Clair Brown. Each book argues the same point that you are making:
• From Dr. Eisler's book: ‘The greatest problems of our time—poverty, inequality, war, and environmental degradation—can be traced to flawed economic systems that fail to value and support the most essential human work: caring for people and the planet.’
• From Dr. Brown's book 'Traditional economics measures the way in which we spend our income, but does not attribute worth to the crucial human interactions that give our lives meanings.’
I am wondering what examples we have of either nations (Bhutan? Costa Rica?) or companies (Patagonia? Eileen Fisher?) or communities that are examples of these principles being put to practice? And how can we leverage the success of these early adopters in our work? And as Peter comments below, the work starts with a shift in consciousness so how did these successful entities shift the consciousness of their constituents?”
I am so pleased Anne-Marie surfaces Buddhist economics, as I was particularly struck by Chapter Four of E.F. Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful where I think this concept originally surfaces. Schumacher notes how the essence of a Buddhist civilization (and therefore its economy) is centred on the purification of human character rather than the multiplication of wants. Within the system, the goal is to maximize well-being with the minimum of consumption by placing people ahead of goods. Schumacher goes on to describe:
“The Buddhist point of view takes the function of work to be at least threefold: to give a man a chance to utilise and develop his faculties; to enable him to overcome his ego-centredness by joining with other people in a common task; and to bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence.”
In terms of where this kind of thinking manifests itself in countries, I am most familiar with Bhutan’s intentionality from Julia Kim. I recall Julia remarking how the Bhutanese economy felt relative to other places that she had visited. Even upon arrival at the airport, the relationship with nature was clear, as was the silencing of wants with no billboards allowed across the entire country. Myriad cities and regions are also leading experiments to shift consciousness, governance, and communities of well-being with the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (Anne-Marie see the California Coalition) and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
The question of where we see well-being economies inside companies is a really good one. What I have been thinking about is the massive opportunity for those financial institutions who want to be leaders in ESG to redefine what wealth means. Herein is an opportunity to re-envision how they manage the assets of others for broader measures of wealth, and the kinds of services they can provide to increase client well-being. Here in British Columbia, our largest credit union, Vancity, recently created a new vision “to redefine wealth.” I think the possibilities in the relationship between ESG and wealth strategy are just beginning to emerge. Over the coming months, my prediction is that we will see a few financial institutions and asset managers boldly seek to build new operating models for how wealth is managed at their institutions within the broader context of well-being economies. What are you seeing?
See Anne-Marie’s comment in its entirety and add your reflections to hers
As Shared by Elliot Hoffman
“I'd also suggest Beyond The Limits as an important read by Donnella & Denis Meadows and Jørgen Randers published soon after Donnella's passing. In the Update, Meadows postulate that there are two root causes of the destructive nature of our "modern" cultures:
1. Extreme shortsightedness—as you point out, quarterly results ("better be more than last 1/4 or you're fired")
2. Extreme individualism—it's all about me and mine.
Moving from ‘accumulation to flow’ from ‘me to we.’
I believe that the key issue at this historic moment in all of human history is raising our consciousness and awareness of our actions, changing our behaviors as in making conscious choices every day, and in turn, cultural, economic, and social transformation. There is no inherent reason to think we cannot do this. The only and obvious question is, will we.
We must move from awareness to action with great urgency if my baby granddaughter and our children are to have the opportunity of a good lifetime. It is time to gather the ‘tribes’ in a massive movement and begin writing the next chapter in the human story— ‘The Future We Choose.’”
Huge thanks to Elliot for sharing both his own hopefulness, as well as the renewed hope of Donella Meadows decades after she wrote The Limits to Growth. As she writes, sustainability is not a sacrifice but “an opportunity to stop battering against the earth’s limits and to start transcending self-imposed and unnecessary limits in human institutions, mindsets, beliefs, and ethics.” Kate Raworth helps us to visualize the space of human and natural flourishing within these limits.
As is revealed in the Hopi Prophecy: Oraibi, Arizona June 8, 2000
You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered…
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, “This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word ’struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
Hopi Elders' Prophecy, June 8, 2000
See Elliot’s comment in its entirety and add your reflections to his
I hope this week between issues provides the space for further discovery and reflection. Go forth and make a difference in the week ahead. See you in a couple of weeks with Issue Twenty-Five.
Adam
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Why I Write The Understory
We have crossed the climate-change threshold from emerging to urgent, which demands a transformative response. The complexity of climate change demands continued focus and the courage to take bold action. I've found that the persistence of climate consciousness improves resilience to the noise and distractions of daily life in service of a bigger (and most of the time invisible) long-term cause.
The Understory is my way of organizing the natural and human-made curiosities that are presently altering my worldview. Within the words, research, and actions of others lies the inspiration for personal and organizational journeys. I hope that my work here helps to inform not just my persistent consciousness but yours as well.
Hi Adam. You wrote, “ I wholeheartedly agree with Dawson’s evocation of Thomas Berry that we are currently between stories.” and that reminded me of a post called “ Plot Economics” posted just over a year ago by the very clever Venkatesh Rao: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/03/09/plot-economics/ He argues that COViD has triggered a global a narrative collapse and that most of us are running at what he calls the log level, the “ the tick-tock stream of raw events being recorded, prior to being evaluated and filtered for significance.” Mere noting. I think we are emerging from that, but we have yet to restore a global narrative, a task made more challenging by the other existential problem, the climate crisis. I think you’d enjoy Rao, if you’re not already reading him.
Exciting to read what others have contributed, thank you as always Adam. I was not aware of Maslow's appropriation and complete reversal of the Blackfoot tipi of community actualization, thank you. And the Hopi prophecy maps exactly to everything I've been absorbing and resonating with these past four or five weeks. Thank you again!