COMMONWAY IN 100 WORDS:
[In five sections of about 100 words each, here is the essence of the Commonway vision, mission and message.]
Our Need/ Our Vision/ Our Values:
Need:
We are facing profound mega-crises, products of our flawed, limited behaviors. Our behaviors are the result of the delusion/consciousness of scarcity, limitation and separation. (Breaker consciousness)
In order to change any system, we must first change the consciousness that created the system.
The best way to create a new system is to make the old one irrelevant.
Vision:
Our vision is to create “A World That Works for All” – an inclusive global human society, thriving together with all beings on a healthy, sustainable planet. In order to achieve this, we must shift first our consciousness, then our cultures and behavior.
Values:
- Inclusivity (harmony)
- Collective Responsibility and Empowerment
- Consciousness/ Spirituality
- Authenticity
- Vision-Driven Action
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Our Models:
Our models are the “Velvet Revolution” in the former Czechslovakia, and the other “People Power” revolutions. With vision and determination, the people around the world transformed their societies, nonviolently and positively defeating their obsolete governments, including the world’s second largest super-power. It’s now our turn.
The Next Step: There have been many successful models of nonviolent, inclusive societal transformation, including:
- Gandhi: Freedom from British colonialism
- King: “The Civil Rights Movement”: Freedom from American Apartheid
- Havel: “The Velvet Revolution”: Freedom in Czechoslovakia from Soviet domination
- Mandela: Freedom from South African Apartheid
Each of these leaders indicated that their revolution was just the first step in a multi-step process. WE ARE THE NEXT STEP.
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Our New Story:
We will form a broad-based coalition that includes every sector of our society, and excludes none.
Our manifesto of change is, “Creating a World That Works for All”.
Our primary challenge is to help each other shift our consciousness and develop an inclusive and holistic perspective.
Instead of wasting time opposing the Breaker systems, we will organize, create and build alternative systems and structures. The means, goals and visions are one. Once people stop paying attention to the dysfunctional Breaker system, it will disappear.
Instead of angry demonstrations or empty and powerless apathy, we will empower ourselves and disempowered the Breaker state.
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Envisioning the Butterfly:
Like a voracious caterpillar, the Breaker Society devours all in its misguided vision: “Make More Money”. If left unchecked, caterpillars would destroy its entire ecosystem.
However, the caterpillar stops. It completely transforms. Every system and structure either disappears or transforms into something profound. The caterpillar is terminal. The butterfly is inevitable.
Like the “imaginal cells” within a caterpillar, we are the imaginal cells for the “Butterfly Society”, the alternative systems and institutions of a beautiful Mender society, one in alignment with our deepest consciousness and our greatest love. Rather than spend time protesting the caterpillar, we are envisioning the butterfly.
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Building the Butterfly
Learning: A New Perspective:
We help people within organizations change their perspective — to understand what works best for the good of all who are affected by the organization: “An Organization for All”.
Our work includes teaching and consulting with organizations, especially those that are on the “front lines” of social/cultural change. This includes courses and seminars, as well as books and articles.
Doing: Incubating the Imaginal Cells:
We support projects that create viable alternatives to dysfunctional Breaker systems and structures. Rather than insisting that others change their behavior, we are demonstrating the change through our actions.
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