A conversation with Hazel Henderson on the Love Economy
It was great to share the stage with Hazel. She spoke about the Love Economy as a system of caring for all productive work. I like that. Especially as it relates to the work of women in many societies where their contributions are traditionally seen as volunteer and invisible work. It reminded me of this quote I saw the other day:
“The majority of our mental load and emotional labor as modern-day mothers comes from constantly and creatively trying to piece together some semblance of a village, stepping into roles meant to be filled by other village members, and unconsciously grieving this soul-crushing loss (which is hidden in plain sight). We hugely underestimate the weight of villagelessness on mothers.” ~ Beth Berry (@revolutionfromhome)
Tru dat. The moderator, Rick Ulfik (of We, The World) asked us whether we can build an economy that works for all. Basically, we agreed with the quote from Mahatma Gandhi that “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed” — especially if we learn how to follow the patterns and processes of nature.
How do we remember that? I mean, it seems as though we’ve forgotten this simple truth… That’s why I like the Solarpunk Movement — it frames the future in terms of nature’s abundance and in terms of empathy and altruism, not in terms of the mistaken notions of survival of the fittest and cut-throat competition.
Ethical aspects of inclusive economics
This is at the heart of syntony, after all. It’s just a matter of what messages we choose to tune into, as Rick pointed out and Hazel reinforced with mention of her Ethical Markets Media program. Jack Strasburg (Coordinator for We, The World’s Economic Justice Campaign) mentioned the Ecological Footprint (developed by my friend Mathis Wackernagel) and the Global Footprint Network (of which he is President). Yes, indeed. A tremendously valuable tool, no doubt. And… it only measures all the damage we are doing. My friend Kathryn (Bottrell) Ananda of Australia has developed the Positive Handprint as an alternative (but complementary) measure of all the positive, life-affirming, future-creating, opportunity-increasing activities we do/make/are. I love that idea since it feeds into that evolutionary narrative of the type of Solarpunk future we know is possible.
How do we know? By using our syntony sense. By remembering that we are part of a grand narrative of the cosmos becoming. By knowing that we are the most highly sensitive instrument ever produced on this planet to tune into those Positive Handprint type engagements with life. And by harkening to that poetic Spanish phrase of recuerdos del porvenir — memories of things yet to come. This is the syntony potential that we can grow into, that we can elicit, that we can help emerge and flourish. If we listen for it with our syntony sense attuned…
Later… I thought about how much my brother Chris Laszlo is doing in this area. His work truly informs and is informed by a deep understanding of what it means to engage in productive processes that contribute to the narrative of flourishing in our world. His work at Case Western Reserve University as professor of Organizational Behavior and as an independent author on such topics as quantum leadership, flourishing enterprise, and sustainable value generation make him a leading authority on the emergence of this new paradigm in business and economics. It is wonderful to be so connected and intertwingled with people who are truly being the systems they want to see in the world! What an amazing experience to have ventured into this area myself, knowing that others are far more knowledgeable and able to work with it than I am. But just knowing that they are there, and that I am connected with them — from Chris to Hazel to you right now — is what makes this co-emergent narrative so magical, so possible, so real. Syntony in action!
I wrote this reflection soon after having participated in this event: 11 Days of Global Unity Summit 2021
Day 4 – Economic Justice – Virtual Summit: “Can We Create an Economy That Works for All?” Featuring — Hazel Henderson and Alexander Laszlo. 14 September 2021 at 1PM Eastern Time
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