by Flemming Funch
A key purpose for the New Civilization Network was for me always that it would somehow be a connecting glue between many different groups, organizations, individuals, websites, etc. I.e. it wouldn't in itself be an organization or a hierarchy, but it would be a *network* - a self-organizing structure where many independent nodes can connect with each other in any way they choose, where any one of them can take a lead in some area, as they're inspired, but where there's no hierarchy of who's in charge.
It so far didn't entirely happen, as most people seem to identify NCN as a particular website, or a certain isolated group of people. And, for that matter, it is of no importance whether the network forms under the banner of NCN or under any other banner. The point is: how do we most effectively network all those diverse people who are working on pieces of the bigger puzzle, and how do we do it in a way that persists no matter whether any particular one group or websites persists or not.
Thinking about this, an obviously important factor is what exactly it is that holds such a network together. I.e. what is the one thing that people in NCN have in common, and what is the one thing they have in common with the people who make up many other communities, networks, websites, organizations, etc.?
That kind of should be an easy question to answer, but it isn't.
Most people that I have some sort of relation to, or that are members in NCN, or that I meet in many different types of events I go to - most of them would be quite willing to agree that WE are all part of a bigger informal network. It is a certain feeling that we seem to share, that we're working on the same bigger cause, or at least that our work somehow all dovetails into something bigger.
But it kind of works best if we don't try to specify too precisely what it is we agree on or what precisely we're working on. Maybe we can manage to agree on some kind of label, like "New Civilization" or "Cultural Creatives" or "Change Workers" or "Activists" or something. But such labels are conveniently so general that people can read all sorts of things into them, even if they don't really agree on the details.
I've learned long ago that it isn't really enough to just gather people together under some label. I used to think that was all it took. "Everybody interested in Education, please meet over here!". And I thought that would automatically lead to some self-organizing, self-motivated group that would revolutionize that field. Oh, it is easy enough to gather a bunch of excellent people together. But then what? They unfortunately don't automatically turn into effective teams or into a functioning network. And the more general the initial label is, the more jarring are the disagreements when people try to get down to work, and they realize they don't agree on the details.
I'm bringing up several things at the same time here. What I actually wanted to examine was the possibility of a somewhat more precise common denominator amongst the people we ought to network.
I'd like to think of it as the people who would like to build a world that works for everybody. But even that is a very general statement, and different people are going to read very different things into it.
Is it spiritual people? I think it would lead down the wrong track to assume that as a key. Some people who might hold key pieces of the puzzle don't consider themselves spiritual at all. And some people who hold spirituality as their primary focus have disconnected themselves thoroughly from the problems of the world, and their possible remedies. So, no, being New Age is not enough, and many people who are new age are not going to be much help.
Are they Cultural Creatives? Probably. But, again, that's a vague term that doesn't really say much. Sure, it implies a large group of people who probably will be quite positive towards what we're up to. But it doesn't define the key.
And, before I get too far, don't expect that I have the key. I'm looking for it.
I suspect that there might be one central idea, and one central test that determines whether somebody is, or ought to be, a member of a broad New Civ type of network.
For one thing, I think that most labels need to be ignored, and it is a matter of what people DO. Labels are often wrong. Even if a label is clear, people are often doing the opposite of what they say they're doing.
If somebody needs to assert a certain label for themselves, it is unfortunately often because they're going to be doing something different, and they're consciously or sub-consciously trying to cover that up. A person who's making a big deal out of explaining to you how honest and well-trusted they are, is probably going to lie to you. Somebody who is spending significant effort on making clear how spiritual they are, is probably going to do something very un-spiritual. An individual who tries very hard to establish how much of an educated authority they are in a certain field, is probably going to tell you something they just made up off the top of their head.
My point is not about being negative or cynical, but just to focus on what is being done, rather than on what anybody says about it.
OK, so I think I'm looking for the people who are giving something to the whole - who are working on how things can be better for all of us. I don't think it matters a lot whether they think of it that way, but it matters that this is their orientation.
I contrast that with the people who are working almost only for themselves. I.e. people who're spending most of their effort on getting ahead of others, and on keeping others away from their loot.
This is just a feeble hypothesis. But potentially it might actually be a very black and white criteria. There are grey areas, but I postulate that most people are clearly in one mode or another. And that a lot of people who aren't quite sure, would easily choose their own mode, if the choice is made clear to them.
Maybe this is like the Cultural Creatives and The Moderns, and this has already been sorted out, I'm not sure. I still seem to be looking for such a test.
I'm looking for the people who predominantly and instinctively will always choose enlightened self-interest and do something for the world as well as themselves, rather than just something for themselves and against the rest of the world.
I'm looking for the people who get excited about some sort of global gift economy, where we all try to add things into the pool that somehow serves the whole.
People who make open source software and share it on the Internet are a good example. They're a good example because they create something valuable and give it to the world, but most of them have nothing to do with any do-good, spiritual, leftist, activist, socially conscious kind of mind-set.
Great gifts to the world might be provided freely, happily and voluntarily by chain-smoking, foul-mouth, socially inept, atheist nerds.
What I'm saying is that I'd rather test for who's actually doing some significant good, rather than for who's saying the right things, or who's politically correct. It is sometimes better to be effective than to be nice.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we just need to get all the NICE people together. Or all the meta-physical people. Or all the socialist libertarians.
But I'm leaning towards the belief that the people we most need to network are those who are providing solutions for the whole, no matter what they otherwise look like.
I don't care if we're talking about people who are making lots of money on what they do or not. I claim that there are some more important distinctions. Some people make lots of money by thinking up ways of charging people as much as they can get away with for stuff that really is free or that they really don't need, or they trade and speculate in stuff that produces no value at all for the world. So, I'd leave those kinds of people out. But some people become very affluent by finding ways of providing great value for the world - by coming up with better products, better methods, better services, and bringing them to as many people as possible. That's great.
So, I'm saying there are some distinctions that go across many other lines and boundaries. And I'm saying that I care little about most of the superficial ones. More than anything, I'd like to see those people connected up who truly are making a positive difference towards making the world work for all of us. No matter what they look like, or sound like.
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