Inspired by Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken
So, this is a mash-up of a few things, mostly:
HERE COMES EVERYBODY by Clay Shirky and
BLESSED UNREST by Paul Hawken
but, I would have to add a couple of seeds of thought by
Max Schorr of GOOD magazine (from his psfk SF talk) and
Eddie Izzard from his STRIPPED performance last night.
But this is why I really, really dig the internet. The power levers have been powerful because they have been out of reach to most except the highly-organized (so highly organized that they spend more effort on organization than anything).
Uploaded on July 20, 2008 by Cameron Maddux on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
From my Baha’i friend in Canada, word of this speech by Paul Hawken, reposted in full, with LOTS of quotable, Baha’i-like (and certainly in the greater scheme of things, Baha’i-inspired) lines… -gw
Subject: Paul Hawken’s Commencement Address at the University of Portland
Paul Hawken <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hawken> is a longtime friend of CharityFocus, renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental activist, founder of Wiser Earth <http://www.wiserearth.org/> and author of many books — most recently Blessed Unrest <http://www.blessedunrest.com/> . Recently, he was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters by University of Portland, when he delivered this superb commencement address to the class of 2009.
University of Portland, May 3rd, 2009
When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.
But let’s begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation – but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement.
Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.
This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food – but all that is changing. Continued
Zanurzcie się w Oceanie Mych słów (z Pism Wiary Baha’i)
While human rights are violated in Iran, the Baha’is face further persecution. Hungarian Baha’i youth express their views on how their brothers and sisters are treated in Iran.
for many years. But he also was partly responsible for the development of the Virtures 
Project. -gw
