{"id":14,"date":"2020-07-20T20:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T20:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/attractionretreat.org\/Synopsis\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2021-01-06T02:53:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T02:53:44","slug":"the-alternative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/attractionretreat.org\/Synopsis\/the-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There is<\/em> an Alternative<\/strong><\/p>\n

The status quo of Western industrial civilization is thoroughly grounded in dominator hierarchies<\/a> and an Enlightenment philosophy<\/a> that rationalizes and normalizes separation, industrialism<\/a>, and neoliberalism<\/a>.\u00a0 It is failing us in many ways and destroying our life-support system in the process. This prevailing paradigm<\/a> is so ubiquitous and deeply entrenched that many people feel our plight is hopeless. Therefore, foundational to paradigm shift is becoming aware that there is a rational and spiritually fulfilling systemic alternative<\/a> to the dominant paradigm\/business-as-usual\/status quo that is within our capabilities to implement.<\/em> This alternative is sustainable<\/a> because it is holistically<\/a> integrated with a living planet and builds on the prime activity of living organisms--that is, the tendency to self-organize into networks or relationships of mutual support<\/a> that are increasingly diverse and that benefit the web of life<\/a>. Life supports more life, and one of the ways it does this is by making it rather enjoyable overall. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either trying to exploit you or make you feel worse than they do--or probably both.<\/p>\n

I propose that the focus in systemic change<\/a> work, as opposed to mere reform, must be to dig up the diseased root of the status quo and replace it. We can no longer be satisfied with clipping its many branches. Or, to use my favorite analogy, while I agree that the raging single-issue fires must be put out, we must also incapacitate the arsonist and not let our efforts be diluted by dedicating limited resources to continuously drafting more volunteer firemen who quickly burn out themselves.<\/p>\n

As we build the new, we can\u2019t forget to also compassionately offer hospice to the dying paradigm as it draws its last wheezing gasps.\u00a0 Occasionally euthanasia may be the most rational as well as merciful option. The latter runs the gamut from stopping corporate welfare<\/a>, taxpayer subsidies for industry, and financial market bail-outs and subsidies, outlawing mountain top removal and fracking, abolishing corporate personhood<\/a> and the Electoral College, and replacing our market economy dependent on the growth of excess, waste and increasing inequality.<\/p>\n

The Alternative\u2019s Systemic Framework to Ground Change<\/strong><\/p>\n

Connecting the Dots<\/em> develops a framework we can build on that is systemic, comprehensive, cohesive, coherent, and fully congruent with natural systems principles<\/a>. This framework then provides a foundation for the toolkit that\u2019s filled with non-hierarchical<\/a> social, organizational, and communication processes and methods as well as strategies and actions that will empower anyone motivated to participate in movement-building<\/a> and social change because they explicitly work with life and support a sustainable future that returns meaning to human progress and potential. Thus, when fully implemented, this alternative requires much less energy than the status quo while improving quality of life<\/a> and staying within the planet\u2019s carrying capacity<\/a>-- in huge contrast to the phenomenal amount of energy required to sustain the 24x7 propaganda machine of Industrial Empire<\/a> and global corporatization<\/a> founded on the fantasy that our finite life-support system is an ever expandable and expendable resource and that we are separate from and dominant over it.<\/p>\n

While the individual tools are all effective on their own, their real power comes from their interactive relationships within the overarching tool that is the framework itself. Within this framework, the tools and their interactions become paradigm shifting. Therefore Connecting the Dots<\/em> starts by developing the framework first in order to lay the foundation for why the tools are necessary and how they fit together and support one another in an interdependent manner to facilitate change. The framework is comprehensive enough to provide a rational narrative for how we got to this point, what must be stopped, and what it can be replaced with along with supportive evidence that draws from the latest findings in systems science<\/a>, ecology, psychology, physics, and age-old spiritual wisdom of partnership cultures in which people understood they were part of the web of life<\/a>. Together these findings synergistically<\/a> increase the probability of a sustainable paradigm shift occurring.<\/p>\n

However, this framework is not a list of the Top Ten Things You Can Do, nor is it dogmatic. This is a dynamic process open to refinement that is based on evidence that supports the following assumptions:<\/p>\n