For a long time now, I have had the understanding that our world (or at least the US which I live in) needs to change the way that we “do business” because the current antiquated way is seriously failing our needs. I have been struggling to put together a complete understanding of where all the weaknesses are and what an ideal solution would look like. However it is becoming clearer in our collective consciousness every day.

We as a group are raising our consciousness. This should come as no surprise as we have been raising our consciousness for a long time now. This is the reason we have chosen to participate on this planet. We are however crossing a certain threshold which is very important for our advancement. In the terms of Wallace D. Wattles,  (The Science of Getting Rich), we are leaving the competitive plane and are entering the creative plane. In Gabriel Cousens terms, we are leaving the Culture of Death and entering the Culture of Life.

Life by its very nature increases life. From the moment life was created, it has started its upward path of creating from itself the advancement of life. We started with small single cell creatures which advanced into communities of single cell creatures, which advanced into multicellular organisms which are communities of different types of cells all working together for mutual benefit. Our body is very much comprised of beneficial organisms such as bacteria which many would not call “us.” A lot of our economic theory is based off of thoughts similar to Darwinism or evolution which paint a picture that the universe is brutish and cold. Only the strong survive and reproduce. The weak are eliminated. You must trust no one and dominate others to succeed. This is a very partial picture, to say the least. The symbiotic relationships found in so many ecological communities make it very clear that cooperation is the equal of competition if not more important. In the competitive plane, we advance at the expense of others be it other humans or the rest of the world. In the creative plane, our actions advance everyone together. Business benefits all stakeholders, not just one.

The current system is designed to reduce us to material consumerism. It was created by some of us in the competitive plane to make it easier for them to outcompete us. It obfuscates how the world works and inhibits us from learning how to do stuff ourselves and makes us dependent on them. It hides the sins of industry and politics while encouraging us to give our power to those who we may or may not trust or who may or may not have our best interests at heart.

The world we are creating is one in which everythings becomes transparent. All stakeholders are involved and responsible for their choices. Gone will be dirty deeds done under the cover of night. The internet removes the gatekeepers from the media and allows information to transfer instantaneously across the world. If someone decides to short change their employees it becomes available for all to see. If a politician sells out his populace, the world sees.

Our social structures by necessity will need to be recreated to reflect this change in consciousness. Similarly, correctly done, the structures will help progress advance the change in consciousness that is occurring and help to entrain bystanders ever upwards in the same way that our current structures are holding them down.

Dave Pollard conveniently released his blog post Imagining Post-Industrial Society.  He does a great job characterizing the differences between the Industrial Society and the Post-Industrial society.  Please spend the time to read it, as the rest of the post is influenced by his.

Of the characteristics of this new age which will be developed into our new structures are as follows. These I believe to be the most important ones.

• The advancement of all. Our structures must be designed for the advancement of all stakeholders.
• Reclaim your power.  Power must be centered as locally as is reasonable.  When it is being used faraway, it’s hard to ensure its being used justly.
• Transparency in all aspects. This empowers all of us to take full responsibility for our actions. Actions taken on behalf of us, must suit our conscious.

Dave stated that “it’s hard not to conclude ‘you can’t get there from here’.” I think that it’s inevitable that we are going to get there. It’s inevitable because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to fight against the natural ways of doing things. The amount of energy we expend to hold ourselves down is an amazingly large amount. As our consciousness grows to allow us to create more natural structures, that tremendous amount of energy will be free for constructive use. The increased transparency of information is happening through the internet.  It’s an example of how technology and structures, and how we interact with those structures can change our perception and consciousness.  The internet has also connected us in ways that just weren’t possible before.  It has allowed us free access to information that has been traditionally expensive.  Information like, how do I start a business?

With every structure or relationship you are a part of, ask yourself, “Does this advance all the stakeholders involved?”  The design of our social structures is essential.  They must be consciously built to reinforce the ways that you want to interact with them, because they will alter your consciousness with respect to how they were created.  This is a topic I intend to more fully explore as it is deeply close to my heart.