Organizing a Unity-and-Diversity Global Assembly from the Bottom Up 46 comments

24 Jun 2006 @ 00:22, by Roger Eaton Dear Friends, Our topic is "Organizing a Unity-and-Diversity Global Assembly from the Bottom Up." That means the real thing, a powerhouse Global Assembly to put the world on a better path. Can we possibly succeed? In preparing this talk, I was reminded of Shel Silverstein's cartoon of two raggedy men chained hand and foot, hanging from a wall. One turns to the other and says, “Now, here's my plan.” That's me to you - I have a plan. My aim today is to convince you that those two guys did get down off that wall. We have the raw material for success. There are hundreds of millions of people who see the necessity of adopting a global perspective. Unity-and-diversity is the generally accepted view of these thoughtful people who are looking to create an inclusive, sustainable, harmonious and prosperous new civilization for the world. Our task is to find a way to coordinate all this positive energy. The First Psalm has something to say in this regard. The great insight there is that positive human energy is naturally aligned, while negative energy goes in many directions. “The lawless, they are like the chaff, driven by the wind.” This natural alignment is our advantage, but it is still not going to be easy. Everyone is hard at work on their own piece of the puzzle and the benefits of coordination may seem theoretical while the effort involved in achieving that coordination is clearly real. We are going to use the internet, of course, and we have some new technology that will make the difference, but we must also organize on the ground beginning with local get togethers and working up from there. Our new technology is called the "Eaton Model of Collective Communication". The idea behind this name is that if we just say “collective communication” people think they know what it is and don't hear the details, but if we say the “Eaton Model”, then ears are open because this is clearly something new. And it is new, though the fundamental idea is simple -- voting on messages. Members of a group write messages and then they vote to select one message to represent the group. We will begin with the UDC mailing list of over seven hundred people, one-third of whom are affiliated with organizations. The initial emailing will invite each person to write on the topic of how best to go about building the Unity-and-Diversity Global Assembly. Say two or three hundred people respond. Their messages will be doled back out, ten messages to each person, to be rated. The top five messages from the first cycle of ratings will go out again for a runoff vote to select a final winning message. The dialogue will continue round by round, with participants inviting their friends, and as we increase in numbers, we will break out sub-dialogues to tackle issues, such as global warming; directions, such as interfaith dialogue; and organizational matters. There are three important points about the process to be understood. First, we will be using a dual rating system -- for interest and approval. With a single rating, the winning messages in an early test of the model were agreeable, but not very interesting. Do we want peace? Yes of course, but tell me something new! Notice that with our dual ratings, a message may be interesting but disapproved. One good example of such a message, again in an earlier test, was a suggestion to offer jailed felons twenty thousand dollars for their families if they agreed to be executed -- cost effective and zero recidivism! This message garnered much interest, and much disapproval, of course. But the real point here is that with dual ratings the winning messages will be both approved and have something new to say. Kindness and wit together will carry the day. Secondly, the message that wins is thereby transformed. One does not have to be new age to say that it suddenly acquires a glow. The winning message becomes doubly interesting, first for itself, but now also because everyone knows that everyone knows that everyone has read this message. The winning message becomes part of a common consciousness, thus working to unify the group. On a world scale, the winning messages from humanity will reframe every debate in a way that favors the global perspective. You cannot buy this kind of PR, and that is why we can succeed even without having the big money on our side. The third point is that two or more groups can use the Eaton Model to exchange messages and the very cool thing here is that where there are two groups, there are three voices, the third voice being the common humanity of the two groups. All we have to do is apply the same process of writing and rating messages to the two groups combined into one. So you see that the Eaton Model is naturally congruent with the concept of Unity-and-Diversity. It gives voice to the parts as well as the whole, and all in a single framework. If we go about the Global Assembly endeavor with care, we should be able to co-opt the nationalist energies and put them at the disposal of the common good. This is true for two reasons. First, because the voice of humanity is the natural court of appeal in the system of group voices, and second because by participating, one accepts the global view as legitimate. Therefore, the advantage tilts to favor those who are pushing the necessity of adopting a global perspective. The hardline nationalists and fundamentalists don't want to play on this field, so they opt out. But if they opt out, then they lose influence, and some of them will come back in with a more moderate approach. All the while, we will have the luxury of being inclusive. If you are not against us, you are for us. There is a good example online of a dialogue using the Eaton Model. It is a very positive exchange between Jews and Muslims. You can find it at groupdialog.org. We must bootstrap our way up. At this beginning stage, our plan for global coordination is still quite simple, being chiefly a plan to develop a plan. This is as it must be. As we bring in more people, our thinking will evolve and become more detailed. As an internet process we will be in great need of grounding, something to keep us practical. The in-person meetings, starting locally and working up, will help in this regard, but we should also develop a group of volunteers to carry out requests from the online group. Having organized volunteers as a resource will concentrate the online discussion on what is doable, which is a basic requirement for success. The volunteers should be trained in nonviolence. We need people who can think for themselves and not be led astray, and nonviolence training will give us that. Having an action arm that is trained in nonviolence will empower the online group, sustain its moral tone, and, who knows, possibly at the same time offer some protection from the powers that be, who think so entirely in military terms that they may not see the challenge coming at first. The volunteers will also be an excellent way of involving youth. Finally, let me introduce the idea of a “salutary shock”. Many people feel a great shock will be needed to turn the world around. That may indeed be true, but it doesn't have to be Armageddon or the like. As the online Global Assembly, representing the whole of humanity, again and again gives expression to powerful sayings that surprise us with their truth, generosity and humor, we will experience the shocking realization that we can trust this new humanity to be our protector. On that foundation, still keeping our eyes open, of course, we can build the better world we so ardently desire. For those who are interested, more details will be provided about the software in our breakout group. We will also be discussing the volunteer organization. If anyone would like to add names and emails to our initial mailing, please see Leland Stewart or me about that. Thank you.

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