As I look back over Peace Meme entries from the past two years, I'm taken back to the emotional, yet questionably effective, peace demonstrations I attended as I first began this blog. One thing that occurs to me, looking back, is that every time I went to a protest or march, there were always throngs of people shilling for their own pet causes, whether it be shutting down nuclear plants or coal power, impeaching the president, freeing some unjustly jailed dissident, or protesting against FOX News or Wal-Mart or China. All of these may have been worthy causes, but they were all about being AGAINST, AGAINST, AGAINST, or ANTI, ANTI, ANTI -- it got to be mind-numbing after a while.
That's one of the reasons that I wrote about in my last entry for letting the blog lie fallow for a season (or two!). Lately, I've been doing some research that has put me in touch with ideas regarding corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurism. If you're well versed in this field, you may be familiar with FLOW, an organization founded by John Mackey, Whole Foods CEO, and some of his colleagues. I remember reading an interview a while back (can't locate it at the moment) in which Mackey said that entrepreneurism will replace protesting as the new means of revolution. I like that because it blends the formerly "EVIL" world of corporations with progressive ideals and aims. If people can make the world a better place while MAKING MONEY, then we're on to something. This links to the Peace through Commerce page. Here's a primer from the FLOW website.
Vision
We envision a world in which everyone is living a life of flow: with meaningful engagement in productive, positive activity based upon creativity, optimism, and personal initiative.
Mission
* Create sustainable peace, prosperity, and happiness for all by liberating the entrepreneurial spirit for good.
* Articulate and animate an inspiring vision of a world with sustainable peace, prosperity, and happiness for all, catalyzed and sustained by entrepreneurial initiative and conscious capitalism.
* Serve as an "entrepreneur of meaning" to other organizations and initiatives.
* Provide an inspiring yet pragmatic vision.
* Create collaborative networks of organizations aligned with this vision and working to realize it.
* Provide public outreach, education and engagement platforms to catalyze a mass movement based on this vision.
* Cultivate awareness of the powerful role creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs play in the evolution and elevation of humanity.
* Describe and foster those social, cultural, economic, and legal conditions that lead to increasingly effective entrepreneurial solutions to all problems.
Principles & Values
FLOW and the FLOW Community are committed to the following four core principles:
1. Cultivate human flourishing,
2. Practice non-violence and radical tolerance,
3. Embrace freely-chosen, mutually beneficial solutions, and
4. Criticize by creating!
FLOW is comprised by people from all geographic, social, economic and political spheres who believe in the FLOW vision and embody FLOW principles. The FLOW community is an open, free space in which people can work together to create sustainable, global peace, prosperity, and happiness.
Comments