Krysan Blog: TRAILBLAZING (2) Wings to Fly - Archives
- Details
- Written by Marian Moore
KRYSAN
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
(Other blogs are stored in the ARCHIVES)
TRAILBLAZING FOR GOOD
PRAYER FOR PEACE
Lord, make a channel of Thy peace that, where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that, where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that, where there is error, I may bring truth; that, where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that, where there is despair, I may bring hope; that, where there are shadows, I may bring light; that, where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood; to love than to be loved; for it is by forgetting self that one finds self; it is in forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
--- St. Francis of Assisi
BLOG 2
Sunday 24 January 2010
WINGS TO FLY
(Principles, Values and Freedom)
"Do not follow where the path may lead,
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
Last week, you may (or may not) have got the important message that each of us - no matter how ordinary we feel - can make a difference and help build a better world. For those with a 'good idea', social entrepreneurship was introduced as the business movement for the twenty-first century, it combining sound business practice with social benefit. Having now made that point again, I leave this subject to ask the right question about the wider (world) economy. The question is not 'When will this economic crisis be over?', but rather 'How will this crisis change us?' Things are picking up a little, but the worst thing we can do is to go back to 'normal' as, I think you will agree, it's something called 'normal' that got us into the situation where many lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes. What we need is 'a new normal' - a new moral compass - which will allow us to see the current situation as an opportunity to reassess our principles and values on a number of fronts - political, economic and social.
You might like to consider two propositions,
We are all guilty of having forgotten some very important things and maybe it's time to remember them again. My parents - now long-gone - were Durham mining folk. They were ordinary people who would never have dreamed of spending money they didn't have. They certainly had no time for keeping up with the Joneses, and most definitely the welfare of their neighbours was of prime concern to them at all times and in all circumstances. The mining communities around Durham are now also 'long-gone'. Things have changed and not always for the better. I say no more other than to urge you to read the latest book by Jim Wallis called Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street and reflect on,
'Our habits of the heart, our measures of success, and about the values of our families and our children, about our spiritual wellbeing, and about the ultimate goals and purposes of life - including our economic life'. JIM WALLIS, 2010
Too often, we've been ruled by the maxims that greed is good, it's all about me, and I want it now. Jim Wallis shows that the solution to our problems will be found only as individuals, families, friends, churches, mosques, synagogues, and entire communities wrestle with the question of values together.
Soon, I'll be examining some of the big issues in society in an Open University course called 'Philosophy and the Human Situation'. The course doesn't look easy (nor did I think it would be) and starts with the somewhat taxing questions, 'What are the limits of individual freedom in a civilized society? Should we tolerate unlimited freedom of speech, no matter how offensive the views expressed? Can the state ever be justified in interfering with what consenting adults choose to do in private? When, if ever, is coercion acceptable?' These are not merely abstract puzzles for philosophers to ponder from their comfortable armchairs and ivory towers. They are rather the sorts of big issues that people are prepared to die for. Even if we bury our heads in the sand and choose to ignore such questions, the way others answer them will impinge on our lives - for good or ill.
To my mind, it's all about freedom. And, I now refer to another book, this one by someone who is also 'all about freedom'. Her name is Marion Aslan and it is from Marion's book that I took the quotation used at the beginning of this discussion. You'll find the reference to The Art of Thriving: Beyond Recovery by Marion Aslan at the end of the blog. Marion is a trailblazer working for good - for and on behalf of people all too often damaged by the mores and practices of the psychiatric system in this country and abroad. This is the last passage from her book,
"By accrediting recovery to a pill, it declares a lack of belief in self, and disavows the innate mental process and self-healing which have accompanied recovery. It allows society to continue to bury its head in the sand, to see people in extreme distress as "mad" rather than accept its own failures to deal with the very issues that bring people into its system of "care" - abuse, violence, loss, isolation, neglect, stigma, prejudice and disenfranchisement." ASLAN, 2008
If you are someone with an interest in mental health (it affects us all) you can check out the EleMental website in USEFUL LINKS. The messages are radical - yes - but some things need to be passionately stated if attitudes (and practices) in mental health are ever to change. For those who wish to delve more deeply into the medicalisation of distress and its potential for great harm, I've included in the references below a recent book by a practising psychiatrist and academic. This book, The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment by Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, was shortlisted for the Mind Book of the Year Award. Good credentials.
Finally, whether we be talking about business with a social purpose, examining the global economic crisis, or (nearer home) discussing contentious issues around mental health, these are Gandhi's Seven Deadly Social Sins which seem as applicable today as they were when uttered. They are,
It is a sobering moment in the history of humanity when we can see our own thoughtlessness, greed, and impatience writ large across the global sky. It is time to remind ourselves of The Prayer for Peace from whence this series of blogs started; wise words for people seeking to help rather than hurt. And, aren't we all?
I salute all of the following courageous people mentioned here today - all trailblazing for good - and ask that we join with them in the debate and all start asking better questions.
Marion Aslan, Joanna Moncrieff, Martin Clark, and Jim Wallis
Permission to shine ...
Marian
REFERENCES
ASLAN, MARION, (2008), The Art of Thriving: Beyond Recovery, Coventry, pub. Clifford Press Limited.
CLARK, MARTIN, (2009), The Social Entrepreneur Revolution: doing good by making money, making money by doing good, London, pub. Marshall Cavendish Limited.
MONCRIEFF, JOANNA, (2009), The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment, London, pub. Palgrave MacMillan.
WALLIS, JIM, (2010), Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street: A Moral Compass for the New Economy, New York, pub. Simon & Schuster, Inc.
UPDATE FROM ONE INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT FOR HAITI'S DEBT RELIEF
("Make no mistake, you are central to the momentum.")
Dear ONE Member,
ONE's Tom Hart hands IMF Spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson a CD with the petition’s signaturesI’m starting to feel optimistic about our chances to help score a success for Haiti’s future. Humanitarian support is making a difference on the ground, and there is growing momentum for Haiti’s debts to be cancelled to give the country a clean slate as it begins reconstruction efforts. Make no mistake, you are central to that momentum.
On Tuesday, we delivered our 150,000 strong petition, to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) just ahead of their board meeting and there have already been some positive statements of intent. While highly influential, the IMF only holds 16% of the debt themselves so in this next stage of the campaign we are turning up the heat on governments directly at the G7 Finance Ministers Meeting next week.
You can learn more, and get updates on debt relief efforts at ONE.org:
http://www.one.org/c/international/hottopic/3219/?id=1430-4491290-Mko0hsx&t=2Thank you for all you’ve done on this campaign, it really is working,
Roxane Philson, ONE.org
P.S. If you are keen to do a bit more to help, we do need more signatures to demonstrate continued and growing interest. You can ask a couple of friends to join you here:
http://www.one.org/r?r=277&id=1430-4491290-Mko0hsx&t=4
Breaking News: Following the US announcement a day earlier, all G7 countries agreed on 6 February to support cancellation of Haiti’s multilateral debt.
