Individual Initiative vs. Government Action

Some of the related questions that are in the air include:

What do you think about individual initiative versus government action? What role can government play in supporting and even catalyzing individual (and colloaborative) initiative? How does government inhibit individual initiative and how can this be mitigated/

Re: Individual Initiative vs. Government Action

This was a very painful issue for me. Fourteen years ago when I made a personal decision to try and change the “system” (social services within our government). I tried to work within the system. For two years I beat my head against walls, wasting hours and hours in meetings, only to find that decisions were completely ignored or intentionally opposite results given. I kept battling it out, long after I should have given up, telling myself that the system doesn’t change BECAUSE people don’t stay and battle it out. I found that my anger and frustration grew to such an extent that it lowered my effectiveness in my real life - where I was dealing with a dying child and a mother with Altzheimers. I was using energy I needed for them - wasting it - pearls before swine:)

I had to come to the realization, that a truth, for me - was that I was incapable of changing an entrenched “system” that existed only to keep itself in existence. I was never again going to ask for the sysem to be something it was presently impossible to be. Instead, I would work outside the social services system, without government help, and find ways around the system. Find ways to fill the needs of people and communities BY the people in those communities - no Government handouts for anyone. We would do what was necessary ourselves, and reach out to one person at a time, until the system was no longer NEEDED. We would eliminate it from the ground up - that it was the little every day people who would find the answers - not the big shots, not the powerful, and not the systems.

The day I gave up looking to the system was the most freeing day of my ent. career.

Re: Individual Initiative vs. Government Action

Hi Arlene, what a great post. Thank you. So touching, and real. And such a good reflection of the “energy and weight” of government. Yes, government is embodied by people, and has a meaningful mediation role to play, but it is not the source of solutions or compassion or … I look forward to continuing htis dialog.

Re: Individual Initiative vs. Government Action

Arlene,

 What a wonderful thing you are doing! I recognize your courage and passion.

 I want to share with some of my thoughts that are a little bit different then yours.

For a very long time I expected to manage change within the system. The amounts of energies and the usually low outcome frustrates me for long time. I always thought that I am doing it wrongly. Probably I did not manage my resources right. For the last years I check the outside path. With the experience I got it is seamed that it is harder to do it from the outside. The reason is lack of resources.

The reason for lack of resources I think is our Life condition (Spiral Dynamics term). We live in a society with 3 dominant intelligence/worldview paradigms Blue-Orange-Green. The Blue where most “systems” operates from - Assumes that “there is An Ordered existence under the control of ultimate truth”. i.e. there cannot be a change, and when you operate within a system you feel that everybody thinks that some external one/group is directing the organization. The operation of such systems and the highly “free market” economy activates the Orange Worldview that think it can recognize the “possibilities and opportunities” by looking around. This also brings some activities not to be fully aware to the situation, the classic “privatization” movement of government services sometimes misses to see the whole picture and unable to put all resources for long time. The Green tries to replace the Orange simplistic mistake with bringing pluralism and awareness to the whole group but find itself un efficiently use of resources, since we do not really know how to equally share the resources needed by our children and our aging parents and ourselves, (yes I know … we are aging too this is the dynamic of life).

There is a dynamics about resources that make this whole system fall. Since the Blue systems of “Government” has the access for legitimate founding but not open for change. It is also alienated from the mass population who is Orange-Green in “1st world” countries. The Orange tend to see most of his actions in a Dollar bottom line and Green seeks equality over reality so we get difficult times to get long term resources.  In this way we cannot build alternatives system we must work with the system.

A 2 Tier perspective that can recognize and hold all 6 Spiral Dynamics system will argue I think that we need to have access to legitimate control over resources hence we need to be present in the governance system. This is the 3rd way/side. We should try to bring consiusness into the governing process of our society. The new system we will create by bringing AQAL consciousness will be transformative but will include the current structures of governance (“democratic processes, Systematic order in governance organization”) but will add the responsibility that come with full consciousness to the people who operates in our societies  

This is not here yet, we should form it since there is no one else to do it - We can form it because we are the One.

http://thirdside.blogs.com/forum/2006/03/spiral_dynamics.html

http://www.radicalmiddle.com/x_confab.htm

  Neri

Re: Individual Initiative vs. Government Action

Thank you for this post Neri. Coincidentally (or not), I just got off Wikipedia's page on AQAL as I was passing on related information to Michael Strong (FLOW CEO).

This issue of how second tier thinking integrates personal and collective interests me greatly. How do we acknowledge and honor the commons and collective heritage  while empowering the individual to realize their potential to manifest consciousness and their unique potential? Where and how to we create rules of the game, and what are they? What is the role of government? What other regulating mechanisms to we employ? Etc.

Looking forward to the unfolding of this exploration.

Best,

Jeff