“How do you know what the world is ready for?” These are the words of actress Anne Heche from her memoir book Call Me Crazy, a conversation she was having about whether the world was ready for a pair of lesbian actors (at the time she was Ellen DeGeneres’ partner) to come out of the closet.
Anne Heche
How many times have you heard the expression, “I guess the world isn’t ready for (fill in idea or issue)”? Most often this conclusion is arrived at by someone who is seeking a rational explanation for why an intended outcome hasn’t been achieved. This phrase has long been used widely to explain unsuccessful attempts to change social systems.
Recently I experienced a surprisingly strong reaction upon hearing a friend speak these words, a reaction I cannot recall having all the other times I have heard the words, or even spoken them myself. Suddenly I was wondering if such a conclusion was a cop out, a consolation fabricated by the egoic mind. Like Heche, I was questioning who can determine what the world is ready for. What degree of audacity would be required to come to such a conclusion?
For anyone not familiar with what I do, let me explain why this subject has me so engaged: my work these past several decades has been advocating a new paradigm for how human beings relate to one another and to planet Earth. I envision a new consciousness – a “new story” - that transcends the status quo and demands a more mature approach to the challenges facing humanity today. It is an approach that includes environmental sustainability, spiritual fulfillment and social justice for all.
One expression of my work includes FutureShapers, LLC, a company I co-founded in 2012 whose mission is to “inspire, support, develop and accelerate the consciousness of leaders in executive positions so their organizations become less dysfunctional, more effective, conscious, socially responsible and life affirming.” In our view, the biggest global crisis is not climate change or population or pollution; the biggest crisis in the world today is that of responsible leadership – what we refer to as “conscious leadership.”
Is the world “ready” to embrace conscious leadership? I know large numbers of people realize the existing paradigm isn’t working for them; and they may not think in terms of paradigms. Large numbers of people are hungry for something they are not getting these days, something they may not even know how to talk about. While they may not describe these missing qualities as I would, phrases like “is that all there is?” “lack of meaning,” “unfulfilling work,” “an inner emptiness,” “yearning to make a difference,” “concern about the future their children and grandchildren will inherit” are usually met with spontaneous head nods. These responses tell me that the world – not our current leaders but the people - is not only “ready” for this change but practically starving for it!
Explaining that “the world isn’t ready” takes the pressure off those who are attempting to make change happen and places responsibility on a not-yet-ready society. It diverts responsibility by telling a different story about why the intended outcome failed. This assertion, while reasonable and logical, is egoic audacity in my view.
While we are on the subject of the ego, I suggest that declaring anyone or any group “isn’t ready” for what one might be offering is another expression of the egoic mind, implying that “the other” is less informed, less conscious, less ready or basically “less than” we. It is another way to feel better than those who “aren’t ready.”
Asserting that the world isn’t ready for what you are offering is disempowering, an expression often based on resignation, sometimes cynicism. Once you make this assertion there is no logical sense for trying to make change happen anymore. This reversion to “why-botherism” would be not only foolish but you could appear crazy.
One of my favorite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw who wrote:
The reasonable person adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to themselves. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable person.
Logic and reasonableness have gotten us into the mess we’re in. Let’s get unreasonable and rattle things up!
Many of us know that real social transformations most often occur when relatively small groups of committed citizens take a stand for the change to occur. The founders of the U.S. numbered fewer that sixty delegates to the first continental congress. There was significant opposition to the country becoming independent, and this posed real danger and risk for this small band of committed people.
Activist “Mother Jones” (1837-1930); Copernicus (1473-1543)
Often, these stand-takers for change are perceived to be radical, extremists and revolutionaries. Mother Jones, Gandhi, Caesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Gloria Steinem and Copernicus come to my mind. They were willing to be labeled “fools” or “crazy.” Do you remember Apple’s famous commercial that began with “Here’s to the crazy ones”? The last line in the ad is:
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
So back to my questioning whether anyone of us can determine what the world is ready for, Whether it is voting rights for women, national sovereignty, farm workers rights, civil rights, women’s liberation, demystifying a scientific myth, or a revolution of consciousness - who can claim that they know what the world is ready for?
I believe that the world is ready to consciously evolve and accept our interconnectivity, our collective relatedness, our interdependence, our stewardship of this planet, and a compassionate recognition that the well-being of all of us comes ahead of the selfish wants of any one group of us. This is the stand I need to take, and I make this declaration based on the thousands of conversations I have had with people who know something is amiss.
This animated video, created to accompany a short talk by my mentor and friend, the late social scientist Willis Harman, makes a compelling argument that for any of us to feel secure in today’s world we all need to feel secure. It is time for us to be responsible for everyone on Spaceship Earth.
I have answered the question “Is the world ready?” for myself. I now ask you, dear reader, to answer it for yourself. And, should you agree with me, take your own stand and start acting like it is your stand rather than agreeing with those who have convinced themselves that there’s no sense in trying to change things because “the world isn’t ready.”
A colleague - Bruce Bronzan - had lunch together as I was hatching this post so I gave him a preview and he responded with the following comments:
As we discussed at lunch on this topic, I personally think that if you can think it, it is not too early, and the world is ready for it to at least be introduced. The point you make on ego has some truth and I understand what you are saying. But I would lean more to a different aspect of that person’s psyche. Part of the problem with folks who say or think the world is not ready, etc, etc, is they are not appreciating the natural process involved and their place in it. The whole nature of ideas is that new ones don’t take hold immediately and make a sudden change like waving a magic wand. They always start as just ideas, often in a lonely post. It is the norm for many new ideas to be resisted with little or no effect at first. That is the nature of a new idea that changes things. But if it is sound, it grows over time and through many stages, gaining strength, definition and size – not unlike a seed tossed into fertile soil -- it can’t not grow.
There is a stage of critical mass achieved and real change begins to happen. This evolutionary process can’t be avoided. Thus each part of the process has its own independent and equal value. Each point on the road is equally valid—for its time. The world is thus, always ready for each point. It is just that one who comes up with a new idea needs to realize where she or he is on that road and simply respect that. They are where they are. So if it is at the beginning, then it is, well….. at the beginning. That is its place. That is what the world is ready for. And the world is always ready for that point at its time.
I would go one more step. One could argue that a uniquely honored point along the way is that first one. It is so because it is the hardest, and loneliest. It is always easier to get on the band wagon somewhere down the road. But the first point – the idea – is a uniquely human event of creativity. The folks who question whether the world is ready should think more in terms of the beauty of the position of being able to have that unique creative spark and simply accept the nature of that step. I would think that this interpretation of their psyche is more positive. Such a person needs a Zen perspective to how they see themselves and that point (any point) in life. The real remedy to the person thinking the world is not ready is nearly a spiritual one. The remedy is found in a clearer awareness of their place in life in general, followed by acceptance, and peace – if not joy – with that.
Not to belabor the above points – but let’s take a pop song – “Imagine” by John Lennon. Was that idea ahead of its time? Well yes, in terms of the world actually changing. Was the world ready for that as an idea? Absolutely! It became an anthem that is still being played to this day at the Olympics. But let’s go a bit further. Was John Lennon one to say, “Naa, don’t release that song, the world is not ready for it”? Obviously not. But the reason didn’t have much to do with ego as it had to do with the fact that he knew exactly where he was in the process and accepted that. He was at peace with that position because of the clear spiritual place his mind was in. Interestingly enough, the words in that song also reflect that very thing. Maybe, that is one of the reasons I love that song so much.
Bruce Bronzan
Posted by: John Renesch | May 10, 2014 at 11:17 AM