| THE INTEGRITY PAPERS | Genre Group | ceptualinstitute.com/genre.htm |
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Robert Theobald (see books, biography) is a community futurist who is convinced that fundamental
change is both required, and possible. He has been working to achieve it for over forty
years. For a summary of Robert's recent thinking, see How to Achieve the Inevitable/Impossible Transformation , The Healing Century and Personal Mission Statement |
Subject: developing activities -- critical.
Date: Mon, 08 Jun 1998
From: Robert Theobald <theobald@iea.com>
To: transform@igc.org, qln-network@igc.orgI have sent very little material to you over the last two weeks as the world has been evolving very rapidly. Please make time to read this if at all possible.
If you forward it, add the following.
Robert Theobald has been working on fundamental change activities for the last 40 years. He sees himself as a synthesizer and modler of cultural change.
Commitment patterns - June.
A personal note.
When I came out of my operation, I decided that I would continue to be involved in transformative work. I did not expect that the universe would respond so generously. For the first time since the sixties, I feel that what I can accomplish in the immediate future can make a significant difference.
This e-mail is longer than I hoped. PLEASE make time to read it. It shows that it is possible to vision and carry through a process which could manifest what is already happening in cultures throughout the world.
My current picture.
Ever since I was thirty, I have been convinced that Western directions had to be fundamentally changed. I expressed this belief in a book called The Challenge of Abundance published at the beginning of the sixties and also helped catalyze a report on this subject to President Johnson called The Triple Revolution.
It appeared during the sixties as though this need for change was being addressed. There were a multitude of events and meetings which aimed to challenge the dominant culture. A great deal of very good thinking was done. But I have since decided that those of us committed to this belief were then regarded as the "clowns of the culture." It was fun to listen to the "crazies," because most people still believed that things could, and would continue as they were.
The last three decades have seen the concepts of The Triple Revolution confirmed. Developments in weaponry, computers and human rights have changed dynamics in the world. At the same time, ecological limitations have become ever more visible. Two patterns have emerged in response to these realities.
The first has been the very visible attempt to deny any need for fundamental change. Old economic models have been promoted as absolute truths. Technology has been touted as the answer to all problems. Economic, social, moral, ecological and spiritual stresses have been largely ignored. This is the pattern that has been supported by almost all communicators.
The second, largely hidden trend, has been the germination of the seeds sown in the sixties. This has been supported by the slowly growing understanding of the shift from Newtonian science to new approaches based on chaos and complexity. There is now hard evidence that some 25% of the population of the rich world believe in the need for fundamental change. Many of the beliefs of those in traditional societies are also congruent with the needed changes from dominator models.
If these last two statements are true, why then is there so little evidence of this new view in the world? There are two answers to this critical question. One of them we cannot change immediately. It is the dominance of industrial-era views among those who have access to, and control, the mass media. Fortunately, the work we need to do does not demand that we shift this reality in the short-run - indeed, the wrong sort of attention may
move our activities backwards rather than forwards.The other reality can be altered very rapidly. It is the feeling of those people who want a different future that they are alone. If this very large percentage of the population should grasp that they are part of the birth of a fundamentally different culture then change would come very rapidly. It is therefore my belief that the core challenge is to give a large number of people the opportunity to achieve this learning.
How can learning of this type be achieved? The basic trap is to act as though the styles we learned in the sixties and seventies work today. There are no fully clear answers. I am convinced, however, that two keys are the willingness to listen to those with whom one disagrees and the acceptance of working in very small groups so that everybody can have the opportunity to express their views.
My activities are all clustered around this type of work. From my perspective, the primary challenge is to enable a very large number of people to develop their understandings of the new world so they can work together. We need to help people understand that the many movements that currently exist are motivated by convergent dreams. We need a new choir that can produce a harmony from many different tunes.
I am convinced that the context of the world culture will seem to change rapidly in the period before the millennium. The brittleness of the technological culture we have created is increasingly obvious. The trigger for this realization will be, in large part, the Y2K issue which can obviously create panic or move us to understand the urgency of our transformational dreams.
No one person can see all of the patternings of the current transformational change process. Here are the efforts in which I am primarily engaged. I am convinced that they move in the right direction and can make a major difference for a relatively low cost. This is true because we shall work with those who care passionately about these issues and who will use existing budgets to support much of the activity.
The first two activities could synergize dramatically:
Australia. Following a series of chance events, I have enough credibility to serve as a catalyst for transformational change through a visit in September/October 1998. There is now an extensive tour set up which can give a large number of people an opportunity to get involved both through direct contact and through media exposure: it is being prepared through conversations in the major cities. The challenge in this case is to produce a model that will invite the people touched by the tour to stay involved and be large enough in scope to contain all the energy that will be generated.
North America. There is an emerging set of relationships which aim to create a large-scale opportunity for groups across the continent to meet in small groups using satellite, video, radio, web-sites etc. This work will take place in the winter/early Spring of 1998-99. While we have many ideas as to how to invite people to be involved in this work, we lack the extensive catalytic process that is already in place in Australia.
Knowledge patternings. There is already a remarkably coherent body of knowledge about the directions in which we must move and the ways we need to think/act in the future. Unfortunately, this is not visible to most people. One reason is that the language and images used by different people are very different and ideas that are actually common seem contradictory. More seriously, this division is also perpetuated by egos and institutional barriers. I am part of a rapidly growing effort to find ways of expressing transformational thought so it can be understood by a large number of people.
Community activities. Changes need to be worked though in work, professional and geographical communities. I am convinced that all of us who think about these issues also need to be involved in specific local activities both to keep us humble and aware. As I live in Spokane, this is where my commitment is placed. There is a need for networking between communities particulalrly in the Y2K context.
"What's Working" and "Best Practices." I believe that providing knowledge about models is critical so people can choose activities which will meet their needs. I see many other people doing this work, however, and am only
involved in supporting their work.What will make a difference to the activities described above.
We are currently at the point where we are creating the core networks for this work. We need people who can be deeply involved in, and committed to, this work. If you see this set of activities as something where you have
the skills and the energy to be involved, let me know. Please give me a sense of where you can be most helpful. (If you have received this as a forwarded message, and would simply like to be kept informed send a message
asking to be placed on out limited e-mail list.)We have received some limited financial support for this work. We are going ahead with what we are doing, believing that it is so crucial that it must be done and that people will provide funding. Tax-deductible contributions can be made in both the United States and Canada. If you have the money to support positive contributions, please consider whether this comes high on your list. I know of no other effort in the transformational field that promises to reach so many people at such a low cost. Hot leads to people we might approach would also be much appreciated.
Finally, I hate to see this work going on without a "historian" or "archivist." If a person, or group, would be interested in playing this role, please let me know.
Support resources:
Print package: $20.00
Print and audio-tape package: $40.00
Print, audio-tape and video package: $70.00
(Send checks to Robert Theobald, 202 East Rockwood Boulevard, Spokane, Wa 99202.)Blessings and Peace,
Robert
East 202 Rockwood Blvd, #1,
Spokane, Wa 99202, USA
509-835-3569
http://www.transform.org/transform/tlc/index.htmlLet's think of the next hundred years as "The Healing Century" and live
with honesty, responsibility, humility, love and a respect for mystery.
Transformational Learning Community
http://www.transform.org/transform/tlc/rtpage.html
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