The Responsibility of Freedom

It's not enough to simply be free. For freedom means little if we never exercise it, instead allowing ourselves to be herded like sheep toward whatever destination our "shepherds" set for us, or our ability to set our own course impeded by excessive law or regulation.

For one reason or another, many of us have quietly gone along with the mainstream flow. But the time is swiftly approaching when we can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch it happen. Now that flow looks like it's headed over a cliff and taking us along with it.

Financial crises. Economic meltdowns. Jobs shipped overseas. Environmental destruction. Terrorism. Erosion of rights. Loss of liberty. War. The list is long and troublesome, and doesn't look like any of them are going to end soon.

Yet in the face of such problems, our political leaders are locked in a death match to see who will set the course for our future. Fueled by a lust for power, each thinks it knows best what is needed and where we should go. And they're willing to use the power of the state to get there.

Picking Sides

They'd like us to believe that one side is right and the other wrong, but rarely is it that simple. For each side supports policies that incrementally cede ever more authority to the federal government. And in the process, not only impose their will on our common affairs but also erode the ability of individuals to resist.

Yet for all the noise both make and the impact they try to have, neither comes close to that of a powerful shadow elite that operates with impunity out of the public eye, controlling the debate on both sides along with the life-blood of money, energy and resources on which our world runs.

Rampant corruption is everywhere, so much so that neither the elite nor are leaders make excuses for it. Instead, much of it is performed openly, or at least revealed by brave groups that try to shine a light on their practices.

Let's not be naive about it, however. It's not like we didn't know it was going on. Most of the time we turned a blind eye so they could keep playing their games, at least as long as we got our piece of the pie.

For a long while it was okay, for they at least allowed some of us to share in the wealth, dutifully led on by the carrot of comfortable lifestyles that enslaved us with debt, dead-end jobs and restrictive laws designed to keep us in line.

Now that gravy train has ended. Their greed and avarice has brought on a widespread recession, and their web of influence and control is becoming visible for all to see.

Worse, their arrogance shocks the conscience of ordinary people who are astounded to see how leaders on both sides -- and those who pull their strings -- advance their self-interest and agendas with impunity, completely ignoring the will of the people when they speak out against it.

And when our leadership does act on the issues they prop up for us to focus on, they simply give lip service to the greater good and the principles we hold dear while lacing their half-hearted efforts to "do something" with even greater controls and power grabs.

What can we do?

The question is, what does an awakening citizen do when faced with such a situation? Is he simply to roll over and go back to sleep? Or does he make a stand against their efforts, and risk martyrdom in the process?

Those have been our choices in the past. But they are not our only ones today.

If we recognize that the system no longer serves us and that it's foundations are rotting, then we might also see that taking sides in their wars only perpetuates their hold on power. It is the means by which we are manipulated and pacified enough to sit quietly on the sidelines while they continue gorging themselves at our expense.

It starts by using the tools at our disposal.

We can stand up and speak out against what they are doing. We can use our votes to throw the bums out and elect others who will be less so. But those remedies have always been there -- and we're still getting more of the same.

To really effect change, first we must expand our own consciousness sufficient to break free of the beliefs and practices they deftly apply on a larger scale. For they simply act out the same beliefs we share -- like doing what they want regardless of how it impacts others.

Let's face it. We all want to get our way, and fight with those who try to stop us. It's just that they have the money, power and influence to do it, while we are relatively powerless absent the participation of a large number of our fellow citizens.

They recognize the innate power of the people when acting in concert; this is why both sides fight so greatly to curry our favor and support for the policies and programs they want to implement.

Yet, they fear the exercise of that power by the people themselves and its ability to wrest the system from their hands.

But they know that cannot happen so long as they can control what we think and believe and want and fear. So they do their best to tweak us here and there to get us to go along with what they want and stay out of their way.

If we are to set the stage for the kind of change we really can believe in -- where individuals are empowered with responsibility over their own affairs and exercise it with due regard for the rights of all -- then we must let go off our own willingness to ram what we want down others' throats, even while carving out space to go our own ways.

We must shift out of our own narrow perspectives that only allow us to see things one way, and begin to see the value in every individual's point of view -- not so much to adopt it as our own, but to acknowledge their right to see it that way and create the lives it leads them to live. And since they deserve the fruits of freedom as well, we must chart new courses that allow them to exercise their freedoms as we search for ways to exercise ours.

We must change how we go about our daily affairs as well, reflecting our highest attributes in all we do. And so as to show we value them in others, to associate and do business with those who hold themselves to similar standards -- not by direction of some central authority like a union, trade or community group to further their own agendas, but simply because we want to love and support those who stand for what we do.

It very well might also mean turning away from the existing economy and system of finance as well. Instead, we may want to begin developing a new one based on expanding consciousness. For lack of a better term, such a system might perhaps best be described as conscious capitalism.

The Rise of Conscious Capitalism

Conscious capitalism is an economic system based on the expression of individuality and application of creative energies to better know ourselves and our relation to all of creation -- and in the process add our unique contribution to its rich diversity our world. Through it, the pursuit of individual desire gradually gives way to higher aspiration and the conscious co-creation of the lives and world we crave.

What might conscious capitalism look like as a way to get there? Business will be run by standards that balance the bottom line with concern for the well-being of customers, suppliers and employees alike, not to mention its impact upon the world in which it operates.

New stock exchanges might be created where companies adhering to enlightened standards can seek capital from awakening investors who seek not only returns on investment but on the common good as well.

To reduce the possibility for future power games, all such standards would be self-imposed and self-policed. And to make sure the public could knew they walked their walk, businesses would act with such transparency of intention and concern for social relations that people would clearly know their hearts (and actions) are in the right place.

As more and more such businesses are developed, we can increasingly turn away from the existing system, thereby taking ever-more steps toward the kind of world we want to live in, while leaving behind the old ways that will not help to get us there.

It will be much like green businesses today that are built upon concern for environmental impact. To succeed, the green movement requires consumers turning away from old solutions and embracing the new green ones. As it grows, it becomes like a snowball until eventually all will get on board or fall by the wayside.

Going green, though, is but one example of how the expansion of consciousness can shift the course of civilization. Each small shift allows the whole to be nudged closer to a more-desirable course.

The idea is not to FIGHT the existing system -- that simply perpetuates their hold on power, relegating us to the scrap-heap of activists who've fallen by the wayside.

Nor is it to impose our view of where we want to go and force others to go along with us.

The idea is instead to share our common visions for a new one, and embrace the efforts to grow it within the midst of the existing one. In some circles this is already starting, for in many places people are diverting their patronage to local businesses rather than large chains, buying their food at local farmers' markets, and trying to do business with those they can make a personal connection with.

It is this sense of humanity, of valuing the connection with others that is most important. For as much as central planners think otherwise, this is not a once-size-fits-all world, and no one knows what is best for everyone else. Such solutions rarely work, and efforts to create them usually result in far more secondary problems than they're worth.

How might we get there?

The foundation for the future lies not in the state imposing the shifting will of the majority upon all. Rather, it must be built upon the power of the individual, recognizing the strength comes from the very diversity that some want to stamp out. The idea is to empower each other and assume the responsibility that comes with it.

Yet we know that not everyone is ready for such a world. There are too many elements looking to hurt or take advantage of others. Others are simply too socially, emotionally or spiritually immature, ill prepared to accept the responsibility that comes with their individuality. We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves against their wrongs without sacrificing our own freedoms in the process.

Among them are the existing power elite. Their hold over us must end. But wielding the power of the state is probably not the best tool to use, for the effort to do so naturally goes against our commitment to self-determination. Besides, they are now so insinuated in the system that any efforts at effective change are easily thwarted.

Of course, it will be easier to do once corruption is purged by electing enlightened leaders committed to principles like truth, integrity and service of all without advancing their own self-interests, those of their political party, or the special interests that put them there.

Even then, however, the effort should be directed toward undermining the institutions and powers that enable them to play their games, like the operation of central banks and the creation of money. Moreover, to make sure their reach doesn't extend, we must be vigilant in fighting their efforts to create new venues for control and manipulation of our common affairs (advanced by the purported good intentions of our political leaders). Once that's gone, much of their influence will diminish and eventually end.

Remember, though, the world we seek is not one of isolationist groups bandied together to protect themselves against all comers. The world we seek is one of wholeness, where diversity and individuality are valued, and connections are open to embrace all living beings.

Recognizing that world will reflect the great diversity of the human experience, disparities of wealth will probably exist. It is therefore best not to demonize those of greater means, and instead find a way to bring them along with us. Besides, class warfare will not make people equal. It will only reinforce the hold of our differences.

If we truly want to change the course our world is on, we must first change ourselves. We must embody the beliefs and practices we want that new world to have, and show others how they can, too. Foremost among those must be to enhance the right of self-determination endowed to every soul.

This doesn't mean ignoring the challenges of inequality, risk and uncertainty that go with life in this world, or refusing to mitigate them for those who are least able to meet them. But always we must recognize the responsibility that comes with the gift of life, and the possibility that differing circumstance adds to the diversity of experience it offers.

Make no mistake. I am not espousing any plan for centralized control or redistribution of wealth, nor do I work for social justice in the sense bandied about today. In fact, the way those are advanced seems to be perpetuating the problems we're facing rather than solving them.

I only suggest that the course we're on is not serving us very well, and that we can do better than we are without giving up all we hold dear.

If you want a better world, the responsibility to create it rests with you. What better time to start than now?

Godspeed. I am

john