Spiritual Warriors

Time to bear witness in times of difficulty, hardship and suffering ... so far this year 1750 men, women and children have drowned whilst making the highly risky crossing of the Mediterranean in search of freedom and safety. What kind of world am I living in that makes these kinds of choices for some even a possibility?

Today the partner of a friend was turned away by the Border Agency at a British airport and sent back from whence they came, leaving them both separated - again when will I live in a world where we recognise and respect the heart has no borders. Really, really is this how it is meant to be ... scarcity and fear and isolationism are a state of mind. And minds can be changed if we are prepared to open our hearts.

In the words of Meg Wheatley, what the world needs now is 'spiritual warriors' - can you hear her call?

Thank Goodness for Northwoods

The Peace of Wild Things

BY WENDELL BERRY

When despair for the world grows in me 

and I wake in the night at the least sound 

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, 

I go and lie down where the wood drake 

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. 

I come into the peace of wild things 

who do not tax their lives with forethought 

of grief. I come into the presence of still water. 

And I feel above me the day-blind stars 

waiting with their light. For a time 

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Generation of the New Economy GNE

Oikos in Greek means household or home.

Nomos in Greek means the law, especially governing human behavior.

Another way of interpreting the meaning of economics is the human behavior governing the home or household.

In modern terms economics has become defined in neoliberal terms as the body of knowledge that understands the way the production and consumption of goods are distributed by people.

As a child I played the board game 'monopoly'. The endgame is the accumulation of wealth until one player dominates the game. The winner takes it all.

Capitalism as modern neoliberalism is also known is possibly reaching its endgame. It is also reaching ecological and social limits.

All of which spell social and ecological harm and collapse. The winner maybe taking it all too the bank, but the social and ecological losers are being mortally harmed.

This means homelessness, poverty, joblessness, illness, water issues, climate change, biodiversity loss, air pollution. In short a sick society and a sick planet.

Those wishing to find an alternative economics to capitalism and the neoliberal political agenda are exploring movements within new economics, that is, something wonderful in my backyard SWIMBY. Or as Charles Eisenstein puts it ‘the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible’.

There are many groups, movements and activities within new economics. These include; the commons, cooperatives, social enterprise, community interest companies, sacred economics, the gift economy and many more …

My inquiry is how can the other than human be listened to and included in new economics? Where is the heart space in new economics? What impact can mindfulness and contemplation play in new economics? What are the stories emerging that tell the tale of new economics as it happens? In economics how can we value the qualities of life as well as the quantities?

In other words how can I reclaim economics and make it relevant and inclusive to the time I am living in?