Draft Declaration for Evolutionary Transformation

Systemic Essays

Draft Declaration for Evolutionary Transformation - 2/29/20 
(Feedback welcome)

We, the undersigned, commit to serve humanity, the environment, and life itself  by promoting holistic democracy, which addresses the whole person, the whole society, and our interwoven social system. Currently, this movement is primarily cultural; many seeds are being planted to advance these principles. We urge the development of more organizations committed to these goals, whose members:

• identify as co-equal members of the human family, respect the essential equality of all human beings, affirm individuals’ multiple identities, recognize each individual’s unique personality and particular skills, and work together to weave our diverse peoples into one nation; 

• aim to overcome unconscious bias and resist discrimination based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, or any other similar identity;

• promote partnerships, nurture democracy throughout society, empower people, support freedom for all, and oppose arbitrary efforts to dominate others;

• work to prevent social problems by correcting root causes and standing up for each other; 

• love others as they love themselves, avoid selfishness and self-sacrifice, rely on love and trust rather than hate and fear, channel anger productively, and decline to scapegoat or demonize opponents; 

• attract people with contagious joy, face-to-face community, and caring friendships;

• honor their nation’s accomplishments, maintain its highest traditions, criticize its failures, and help build a more perfect union;

• push for compassionate policies supported by strong majorities, recognize the value of visionary campaigns focused on goals not yet supported by strong majorities, and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and consumer boycotts when needed;

• encourage members to improve their emotional reactions, engage in honest self-examination, support each other with their personal and spiritual growth, and avoid oppressive or disrespectful behavior;

• seek to help transform their nation into a compassionate community rooted in healthy families that:

  • establishes everyone’s equal rights and their equality under the law;

  • one way or the other, assures everyone a meaningful, living-wage job opportunity and provides a non-poverty income for those unable to take advantage of those opportunities or entitled to retire;

  • cultivates shared leadership, assists the development of worker-owned businesses, and supports labor unions and worker representation on boards of directors;

  • protects free speech, makes it easy for everyone to vote, reinforces the rule of law, and defends individuals’ freedom to engage in activities that don’t deny freedom to others; 

  • stops global warming and lives in harmony with the natural environment;

  • ends animal cruelty;

  • forms supportive relationships with other countries, affirms their right to self-determination, promotes human rights, and advocates peaceful resolution of conflicts with mediation and negotiation.

In these ways, using specific tools such as those included in the Systemopedia, step-by-step, person-by-person, family-by-family, community-by-community, nation-by-nation, we pursue the eventual, evolutionary transformation of our social system into a compassionate community that serves humanity, the environment, and life itself. 

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NOTE: Feedback welcome. My latest draft will always be here (with its date in the title). Feel free to take it, modify it, gain signers (perhaps using Google Forms), and post their names (perhaps using Airtable). Signers could then be invited to horizontally collaborate concerning next steps.