By Rick Fullerton | Bio
On my way to a candlelight vigil for climate
justice, I wondered who else would show up. It was minus 5 Celsius and
with the wind chill it felt like minus 25—bitterly cold by any measure.
Hardly a day to be concerned about global warming. Yet some 200
committed souls braved the cold—some on foot, some on bicycles, and
others (reluctantly) by car. By the time I arrived, the vigil
organizers had thankfully decided to move the event inside. Once out of
the cold wind, I was impressed by the strange bedfellows who had come
together to express their commitment to the future of the planet.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Wisdom in Action
Tagged with:
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Over the past few years, I have written about
how life in our society is increasingly becoming a 'spectator sport'. I
am again reminded of this as I listen to week after week of pundits
second-guessing President Obama and other leaders as if their points of
view are a) true, b) somehow contributing to a civil public discourse,
and c) honest and not contrived to produce controversy or provoke
conflict and drama.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
There is a widely understood belief in
Argentina’s culture that “the way we are is a big part of the problem …
and one of our characteristics is that we’re always waiting for a
leader to come along and save us.” The first time I heard this I was
giving a talk to a large event in Buenos Aires. A man stood up and
challenged my ‘American optimism’, suggesting that I just didn’t
understand the way things really were in ‘their’ country. My response
was to acknowledge that this may be true and to suggest that, since
they were all waiting for the leader to appear, perhaps he could take
the job until the leader came along. That got a chuckle or two and
drove home my point. We live as if[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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By Jim Selman | Bio
It is interesting reading the Buenos Aires Herald
this week. It is a 130-year-old newspaper written in English filled
with Argentinian issues and perspectives on topics often having to do
with what’s going on in the USA. There have been two or three articles
a day about the new Administration. One thing that seems to be showing up (and that I suspect is true in the North American press as well)[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
Tagged with:
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I am more than happy to see Obama back on his game and in what looks
like the homestretch in what has been a grueling horserace—for the
candidates and the public. I am committed to Obama because I believe,
along with a lot of other people, that he is sincere in his commitment
to unite the nation and that he has demonstrated his capacity to stand
for something beyond politics-as-usual. I have said on more than one
occasion how sad it's been to watch the fracture of our nation and our
communities in the wake of the "neo-conservative" tide and President
Bush's consistent and constant disregard for any policy or initiative
other than what benefits corporate business interests. Now we have a candidate who speaks with eloquence and passion FOR something more than power and money.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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Barack Obama’s speech to the United States and the world last week moved
me more than any political oratory I can recall. It wasn’t just the
content of the speech I found moving but the quality of human being
that he showed us—a man willing to take a stand for his convictions and
tell the truth about a subject that has been an ‘elephant head on the
table’ for decades. He will have my vote and whatever the maximum
financial contribution allowed is to support his campaign. I was also impressed by the fact that many of the most positive comments after the speech came from conservative pundits.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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 By Shae Hadden | Bio
With each passing day, it seems as if every environmental and social
crisis we’re facing is heading into even more dangerous waters. In the
conversations I’ve been having, it has been quickly apparent to me who
is resigned about this state of affairs and who is engaged and in
action. Although the latter group appears to me (for the moment) to be
in the minority, I’m reminded of Buckminster Fuller’s concept of the
‘trimtab factor’ and of the potential influence a small group of people
can have on the future…and I am inspired by their actions.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at Leadership
Tagged with:
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trimtab
By Don Arnoudse
Bio
I
read a very sad story about Richard W. Daly, a former member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives, in the Boston Globe last week.
Under the headline “ Legislator faded away, died alone” was the report that he had been found next to his bed by his landlord. He had been dead about a week. The Globe reported:
“He
was a 32-year-old freshman legislator, impeccably dressed in a
pinstripe suit, crisp button-down shirt, and bow tie, when he strode
through the halls of the State House almost 40 years ago.... Those who
knew Daly then have been remembering that part of his life as they
prepare to bury a man who apparently left no money for his own funeral
and had no known relatives to claim his body…a virtual recluse (who had
been) living in a $130-a-week rooming house." [ Read More]
Written by eldering at Personal Empowerment
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Tagged with:
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ubuntu
I’ve been musing about David Suzuki’s campaign some more…. If I were
leader of a major nation, I think I’d be overwhelmed by all the input
from every imaginable camp, not to mention the politics of
decision-making and the drift toward ‘governance by poll’. I don’t
think there is a centralized institution in the world capable of taking
on all the items that need to be addressed in the timeframes that are
necessary if anything will make a difference. The only viable strategy
I see for addressing the myriad problems confronting us as a society is
the same strategy corporations have found is central to their
viability: specifically, to inspire and empower people to declare their
personal responsibility for the issues they care about and then take on
projects and initiatives to do something about them. In other words, we
can’t wait for ‘them’ to do it for us. [ Read More]
Written by Jim Selman at Leadership
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Tagged with:
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suzuki
I was speaking with a woman today, probably in her late 20s, who works for the Public Service in Canada. She is a graduate of one of top colleges and presumably someone the government doesn’t want to lose. She has a both a big vision for change and a seriously self-limiting conversation about what she is and is not able to accomplish in a big bureaucracy at her age. In the absence of a change in her internal conversation about her future, she will probably leave the Public Service early and we’ll lose a potentially very strong leader. [ Read More]
Written by Jim Selman at Personal Empowerment
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