by John Perkins
Your gifts include your personal passions and skills. Whether you are a carpenter, a dentist, a writer, a parent, a student, or whatever else, those gifts are yours. True success comes from following your unique passions, employing your skills, and joining the growing community that is determined to create a better world.
You can start with your individual behavior (recycling, driving less, turning off lights, shopping and banking locally, and so forth), but do not fall into the trap of believing that those things alone are enough. See such actions as good, but also view them as portals into new ways of relating to the world and everything around you.
On a flight a few years ago from Leh Ledakh to Jammu, India, the group I was leading ended up on the same plane as the Dalai Lama. When he learned that the author of a book that he liked, Shapeshifting, about indigenous shamans, was on board, he invited me to sit next to him. We had a lively discussion about shamanism, and as the plane landed, he offered a further invitation, for my group to visit him at his house in Dharamsala.
As we chatted with him that afternoon, he told us that it is good to pray for peace. “But,” he added, “if that is all you do, it’s a waste of time. It may even be a distraction. You need to take appropriate daily action.” He smiled that Dalai Lama smile. “You must act. Every day.”
The Dalai Lama’s words are applicable to the actions necessary to create a life economy. Recycling, driving less, turning off lights, and other such commitments are good — but it is important not to let them distract us from dreaming bigger and taking “appropriate daily action” to make that bigger dream a reality.
Likewise, despite all the teachers who tell us that thinking positively is all we need to do, it is not enough. More than a billion people live on the verge of starvation. For them, driving less is not an option; thinking positively will not put food in their bellies. We need to do more. We need a revolution.
Revolutions happen because people come together and act. Although key individuals inspire and lead others, revolutions succeed because of communal actions. The rugged individual as hero is an old story; it diverts from the need for the collective actions that generate real change. The Dalai Lama knows this; the Sangha (community) is one of the three “jewels,” or tenets, of Buddhism. Every religion, every social and political movement, honors the power of community. My uncle Ernest, the bank president, understood the importance of supporting his local community in Waterbury, Vermont.
The drive to build local communities has gained strength in recent years. Farmers’ markets, the emphasis on buying locally, the reemergence of community banks, and even the commitment by large grocery chains to purchase produce from neighborhood growers all are part of an important trend. At the same time, a whole new aspect of global community is evolving.
On a trip to the Himalayas several months before the first version of this book was published, I talked to a tribal elder who lived in a tent more than fourteen thousand feet above sea level. He lamented that his people would never have telephones. “The lines can’t reach this high,” he told me through an interpreter. I heard something similar from an Achuar leader deep in the Amazon rain forest. Now, as I write this new version, both of these men — and their communities — have satellite phones.
For the first time in history, we are communicating instantaneously across the planet. And we all are reaching the conclusion that each of us, every living being, is threatened by the same crises of rising oceans, overwhelming pollution, melting ice caps, species extinctions, overpopulation, and the devastation of natural resources. We know that we must do whatever it takes to turn that around, to dream a life economy into reality.
When audience members ask me what, specifically, they can do, I start with, “You must follow your passions and use your talents in the most efficient, satisfying, and enjoyable way you can.” Then I mention some of the appropriate daily actions we all can take.
We can join nonprofit and other nongovernmental organizations and consumer movements aimed at boycotting specific corporations. We can support reform movements aimed at such things as taxing corporations, regulating banks, getting money out of the electoral process, and stopping the causes of climate change. We can participate in demonstrations and marches; write blogs, books, or articles; make videos or movies. We can run for elected office or campaign for the place where we work to commit to public service. We can spread the good news about a life economy. We can buy magazines and watch TV programs that feature women and men who express the new dream. The choices are practically unlimited.
We each can spread this new message in our own way. The carpenter can build houses with local, sustainably produced materials, incorporate solar panels and other energy-efficient technologies — and constantly brag about it. The dentist can talk about the life economy while filling a cavity. The mother can teach her child to buy local products and save in a community bank.
Each of us can take his or her own path — as long as we all head for the same destination: an economy that works for everyone. American history offers a great lesson in this. Tom Paine did not try to lead armies; George Washington did not write pamphlets; Martha Washington did not write pamphlets or lead armies. Tom Paine had a passion for writing. George Washington had a passion for leading men. Martha Washington had a passion for organizing women to make clothes for soldiers. They took separate paths and headed for the same destination: getting out from under the yoke of British tyranny.
You must take the path that is most effective for you, the one that offers you the greatest joy.
During demonstrations to end the Vietnam War, we were invited to feel our “bliss factor.” Teach-ins, love-ins, music, dances, and festivals blossomed across the nation. The most successful ones were pro-peace rather than antiwar. People stuck flowers into the muzzles of soldiers’ rifles. Folk singers wrote songs honoring the demonstrators and glorifying peace. The movement was successful because we participants came together in communities that enjoyed the process — and because we were passionate about a cause.
I’ve watched recent social, environmental, and peace movements burn out because passions were not honored in ways that evoked joy. The dream is not just about the destination; it must include every step along the path. Obstacles — which will be encountered — can be seen as great opportunities to learn and to gain strength.
The lists presented in the following chapter offer ideas for specific actions you can take. These are only suggestions, and the lists are by no means comprehensive. At first, I was reluctant to provide these suggestions, because I thought they might seem to trivialize this dream-changing process. Then I realized that as long as they are understood to be part of a process — beginning points, inspirations — they serve a purpose.
A friend, Tracy Apple, told me that she felt a deeper connection to the earth when she stopped using plastic bags. It led her to more actions, including becoming a key developer for the Pachamama Alliance’s Awakening the Dreamer program, which as of this writing has been conducted in eighty-two countries. “I understood,” she said, “that when I commit to an action, I’m contributing a part to something that is far greater than the sum of those parts.” Giving up plastic bags was important by itself, but it also was a portal into a new level of consciousness.
The lists in chapter 47 are divided into six categories: (1) things we all can do; (2) things students can do; (3) things retired people can do; (4) things people between student age and retirement age can do; (5) things corporations can do (and consumers can insist they do); and (6) things entrepreneurs can do. These are suggestions, intended to inspire you to do whatever it takes to follow your passions and create the world we all know is possible.
As you read the lists, please keep in mind that perhaps the most important advice of all is to enjoy the process. Follow your bliss. Make it fun. Don’t burn out. Whenever you come up against an obstacle, see it as an opportunity that excites your creative juices and enables you to experience the joy of finding s
olutions. Whenever someone criticizes you or tells you the life economy is impossible, or whenever you meet a roadblock such as police officers preventing you from marching, understand it as a manifestation of the old story. Like a good martial artist, gather strength from such actions; use the energy to energize you.
It is time for you — and me, us — to do whatever it takes to bury the death economy and birth the life economy.
CHAPTER 47
Things to Do
The following lists are meant to stimulate you to come up with your own plan of action and are by no means intended to be complete. Neither should they be considered exclusive to the populations identified in the titles. In other words, if you are a student, feel free to draw from the retired people’s list, and vice versa.
Be sure to choose items that fit your passions, that raise your bliss factor, that bring joy into your life. Doing whatever it takes to birth the life economy must be fun. Of course, there will be times when you encounter obstacles and setbacks. See these as challenges that stir your creativity and offer opportunities to experience the joy of creating solutions.
Understand that love really is all we need. When we love ourselves, our planet, and one another — when we do the things that increase our ability to love, and encourage others to do the same — everything works!
ELEVEN THINGS WE ALL CAN DO
1. Keep telling a new story, one that is based on creating an environmentally sustainable, resource regenerative, socially just world where one group of people does not make other groups of people desperate. This story is about cleaning up pollution and regarding our planet as a living being; helping starving people grow, store, and transport food more efficiently; living less materialistic and more spiritually fulfilling lives; developing new technologies for energy, transportation, communications, banking, and wholesale and retail trade; bringing diverse communities together with the understanding that we all live on a fragile space station that has no escape shuttles. In other words, tell the story of converting a death economy to a life economy. Spread this story, every chance you get, to as many people as you can. Talk; write; make videos; offer study groups; do whatever it takes.
2. Shop and invest consciously. Replace recreational and mindless shopping tendencies with activities that truly nourish you and those you love. When you must shop, buy locally, as well as at consignment and thrift stores. Make things last. Buy goods and services from (and invest in) businesses that are committed to making a better world. No one is perfect, so seek out the ones that are doing the best in their field. E-mail them about the good things they are doing, encouraging them to get even better. Also e-mail the businesses that you avoid, telling them why you refuse to patronize them. Insist that any organizations, and pensions or other funds that you are part of, do the same.
3. Live consciously. Focus on doing things that enhance your relationship with other people, your community, and the world around you, including honoring nature in whatever form it takes in your locale. Break old patterns that revolve around materialism and buying “stuff”; downsize your house, car, and wardrobe; bicycle or take public transportation; avoid activities that use fossil fuels; give talks at local schools, libraries, and other forums.
4. Pick a cause that appeals to your deepest passions, and support it on a regular basis. This could be changing a corporation, such as Monsanto, Chevron, or Walmart; or promoting a movement, radio station, blogger, nonprofit, or nongovernmental organization. Give it your attention every day — in the form of time and energy (even if only for a few minutes) or money. Use social media to let all your friends know what you are doing. Craft e-mails and letters about your cause, and distribute them frequently to your social media contacts, ask them to distribute these to all of their social media contacts, and so on.
5. Become part of the living local community. Use local banks that invest in local projects, local merchants, locally owned restaurants; as much as possible, buy food that is locally and organically grown; use materials and goods that are local and/or environmentally and socially responsible; create community gardens and urban green spaces. Encourage everyone you know to do the same. Vote for enlightened school and other local leaders. Join or form groups that bring people together to have fun doing such things: bicycle, nature, book, “change the world” clubs — be creative. Drink tap or filtered, not bottled, water.
6. Flood media outlets, corporate executives, and government officials with information about the need to move from a death economy to a life economy. Do this locally, nationally, or internationally — or all three.
7. Support reform movements that most appeal to you. These will be country- and community-dependent activities to encourage geopolitical, economic, and social reforms. Demand such things as guaranteed living wages and/or employment, health insurance, medical care, and retirement pensions.
8. Encourage the creation of local, national, and/or international parks, wildlife preserves, and other such areas. If you live in an urban setting or a run-down area, organize people to turn vacant lots into parks and playgrounds. Spend quality time in these places and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
9. Fight for campaign finance reform and/or climate change regulations in the United States and elsewhere. Join organizations such as Move to Amend, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Pachamama Alliance, or others that appeal to you.
10. Avoid debt. Take positive actions to pay off credit card charges and other debt without incurring interest payments. Make a point of using cash whenever possible.
11. Make heroes and icons of people who are working to create a better world. Honor the founders and managers of institutions and movements discussed in numbers 1 through 9 above, the visible and the behind-the-scenes people who create an environmentally sustainable, resource regenerative, socially just world, who help starving people feed themselves, and who promote better business and living models — rather than the CEOs of irresponsible corporations, overpaid athletes, or celebrities.
NINE THINGS STUDENTS CAN DO
1. Learn all you can about what’s really going on in the world. Understand that the mind-sets created by the stories we are told and that we tell each other, and the distorted history of humanity that is taught to our children, are extremely powerful. Look to the alternative media for the story behind the story.
2. Question authority. Know that there are many conspiracies intent on deceiving you. Question and stand up to them every chance you get. By doing so, you will change the mind-sets and a new story will evolve.
3. Understand your passions. What do you most enjoy in life? Focus on activities that bring you joy, and on developing a deeper appreciation of and knowledge about subjects that most appeal to you. Determine to live your life according to your passions. Recognize that the most important education you can get involves self-knowledge and a commitment to living your bliss.
4. Seek out others who are looking to change the story. Join or develop communities of people who are intent on helping each other rise to new levels of understanding and living in ways that are more connected to each other and to our living Earth.
5. Speak out. Help people who do not fit the definition of number 4 above to understand the deceptions we’re fed. Teach your contemporaries — and let your elders know that your generation is not going to be hoodwinked.
6. Take a stand against debt. Do not accept burdensome student loans or credit card and other debt. Join organizations that help students avoid debts and/or get out from under existing debts.
7. Work for your passion. Go to work only for organizations and businesses that are consistent with your passions and philosophies. If you can’t find any such jobs, create your own. Take the route of the self-starter, the entrepreneur, and refuse to be caught in work patterns that deplete your energy and creativity.
8. Join organizations. Participate in nonprofit and other nongovernmental organizations, societies, or movements that
support the things you feel most passionate about, such as Generation Waking Up, Move to Amend, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Pachamama Alliance, Dream Change, and others. Get involved. Take action. Become part of those communities. Offer them your creativity and talents, or money, to support positive change.
9. Make videos or films aimed at ending the death economy and building a life economy. These could focus on whatever most appeals to you — human, animal, or plant rights; consumer or social movements; economics, politics, or history; science-fiction stories about the future; or a limitless number of other subjects.
SIX THINGS RETIRED PEOPLE CAN DO
1. You can’t be fired, so rattle the cage. Get involved in activities that might have frightened you before. Don’t be afraid to express yourself, and even be “outrageous.”
2. Take action. Follow your heart and get involved in causes that appeal to you. Avoid the temptation to believe that you are past your prime or are unable to offer something meaningful to the world, or to become distracted by self-absorbed activities. Enjoy leisure activities such as golf, cards, tennis, sailing, watching TV, but also understand that the greater pleasure comes from offering what you have learned in life to bigger causes and creating a better world for future generations.
3. Mentor younger people. You have a great deal to offer. Whether you were a carpenter, a teacher, a health worker, a gardener, a business executive, or whatever, recognize that your experiences are precious and can help those who follow. Elders in indigenous communities traditionally have been honored for their wisdom. Honor yourself as an elder and teach young people to make every job, every activity, about nourishing life and a life economy.