Sangita and the Elephant

Hi Everyone,

Our wonderful Conversation Leader, Sangita Iyer of Cohort W2 recently published this piece on Rescuing an Elephant in the Wilds of India in the Huffington Post.

This is a really entertaining and account of being witness to a tremendous act of inter-species caring.  As someone with a life-long deep connection to elephants, I thank you for sharing this article, Sangita!

What an adventure!

Israel Replacing GDP with New Indicators of Economic Health

Hi Everyone,

According to this article passed on by Molly Freeman, the Israeli government has committed to 

formulating "a new series of indicators to gauge the quality of life in Israel and the country’s economic situation, instead of relying solely on gross domestic product ‏(GDP‏) figures."

Huzzah! 

(You'll see that you need to register for the site to see the full text of the article - but here are some excerpts for you...)

"...Among the things to be measured are civil and government involvement, employment and the balance between work and leisure, infrastructure and housing, education, personal security, health, personal and societal welfare, and the environmental situation."

“One of the fundamental problems in using GDP as the basis for measuring human progress is the fact that it includes many factors that have a negative influence on society and the environment,” the report stated. “For example, investment in prisons, policing and security, or investment in industrial production that pollutes, contribute to the growth in GDP. There is also importance to measuring investments whose goals are to advance and preserve the quality of life and in measuring activities to strengthen social cohesion,” the report added.  GDP also does not relate to questions of the distribution of wealth and income between individuals, and does not include many activities of households and their contribution to general welfare, said the report.

And, the article goes on:  "Israel is following many other countries who are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, who, in recent years, have adopted a list of measures that complement GDP.  Israel is already involved in the process of adopting new social indexes, as it was the country chosen by the OECD to undertake pioneering research into evaluating the quality of life, based on 11 different indexes determined by the OECD."

Thanks for sharing this amazing news!  We'll have to take a closer look at how many of the indexes are measuring the work of care in households and communities.

Finland's Secrets to Success (Again)

Thanks to Kim Otis, CEC Director, for sharing this really nice in-depth look at the Finnish model of a caring eocnomy from The Atlantic magazine:

The Secret to Finland's Success With Schools, Moms, Kids—and Everything

In addition to describing the huge benefits of the Finnish system for human well-being...which never fails to make me want to pack my bags... this article also takes a good critical look at the differences between the Finnish and American contexts - and offers an assessment of how we might still borrow from the Finns despite the huge structural and cultural differences between our countries.

And, here's an interesting graph from the article, showing the international differences in taxes as a share of GDP:

And, while we're on the subject - here's one more Finland article, by a Finnish Mom - which ends with this powerful line:

"It’s not always a question of resources, but how a country chooses to use them." 

Amazing how it always comes back to values and choices, doesn't it?

- Sara

Caring Activism: Change Strategies that Model Culture Shift

Hi Conversation Leaders!

Thanks to Maura Conlon-McIvor, CELP alum and now CELP faculty who couldn't help noticing that the title of this article in YES! Magazine sounded oddly familiar.

A Caring Economy Requires Building Bridges—Not Burning Them

The article is a lovely profile of the social activism strategies being employed by Ai-jen Poo, the founder and director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, a membership organization of housekeepers, nannies, and home health assistants, most of whom are undocumented immigrant women.

I think many of you will be interested in this description of how tactics rooted in love, caring, and connection - rather than opposition - are the right and most effective strategies for creating change for a caring economy.

Thanks Maura!

Enjoy!

What if social value determined economic value?

Elizabeth Nicolosi, Cohort S

Hi All,

Elizabeth Nicolosi of Cohort S just shared this awesome article which shows what happens when economic value is quantified using social value as the key variable.

The results may not surprise you Caring Economy Conversation Leaders - but it is fascinating to see the analysis.

Hospital cleaners more valuable than bankers: Research quantifies social value created by workers

Enjoy!

The Balancing Act

Hi All,

Thanks to Molly Freeman for alerting us to this series of New York Times articles called The Balancing Act, which looks at the ways working mothers from varied backgrounds are balancing careers and family responsibilities.

Here's the first installment, called "Coveting Not a Corner Office but Time at Home"

And here's a great commentary on that piece called Men Want Work-Family Balance, and Policy Should Help Them Achieve It
which goes further to explore the needs of men and fathers as part of this picture of policies needed to improve the lives of working families:

And here's the second article in the NYT series called "Working Parents, Wanting Fewer Hours"

These articles are wonderful sources of real-people stories showing how the dilemmas and struggles caused by a lack of caring policies at work and as a nation.

Good reading!

Human Capital, Social Capital, Natural Capital

Hi Everyone,

As you know, in the Path to Real Prosperity presentation, there is discussion of the notion of "human capital" - the term economists use to describe the capacity that individuals have to learn, create, collaborate and contribute as workers and as citizens.  And of course, a big part of the Caring Economy message is that supporting children and the people who care for them is necessary for economic success because it is through positive early childhood experiences that high quality human capital is created.

However, the broader "Real Wealth" model and the "New Economic Map" also show the community volunteer sector and the natural sector as being important missing pieces of a sustainable economy.

Recently, Adam Chefitz (Cohort YLP) has been asking for resources that might help to flesh out the connections between vibrant community and natural sectors and economic success. Thanks for the great questions, Adam!

Here are some links that can help you expand your discussion of the economic value of social and natural capital.

On Social Capital:

Here’s a link that shows how social capital is connected to economic development:

And this one shows how social capital is framed in a public health context 

If you want to read in more depth on the concept of Social Capital and applications, this is a good white paper.

On Natural Capital:

A good starting point is this link to the Natural Capital Project - an organization working to do for natural capital what the caring economy campaign is doing for human capital.

Hope you find these resources helpful!

Best wishes,
Sara

Babies in Boxes - In a Good Way!

Hi Everyone,

My sister Shannon shared with me this wonderful example of a specific practice through which Finland demonstrates its commitment to the development of all the human beings in the country...

"For 75 years, Finland's expectant mothers have been given a box by the state. It's like a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys that can even be used as a bed. And some say it helped Finland achieve one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates. "  

Read the full article:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22751415

Compare that lovely nationwide practice of care to the perhaps equally long-standing American practice of bashing and blaming working mothers...

case in point, the recent remarks my OTHER sister Erin sent me...

At a live Washington Post event earlier this week, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) said that America is so "mediocre" in educational outcomes because "mom is in the workplace."

The subsequent MomsRising action alert puts it beautifully:

"The problem in our nation isn't that moms are working, it's that our nation isn't working for moms. Statements like this one from Governor Bryant are about passing the buck.  The fact is that we have a modern society, with 3/4 of moms in the labor force, but we're far behind the rest of the world when it comes to systems that allow both contemporary families and businesses to thrive."

Here's a link to the MomsRising petition to demand an apology from Governor Bryant:
http://action.momsrising.org/sign/GovBryant1/?akid=4345.83880.9iU_Ut&rd=1&t=2

Let's keep focusing on a world where we help moms and dads and kids thrive...and enrich our economy to boot!

Keep the faith!

- Sara

Give, Receive, and Dance: An uplifting commencement address tailor-made for Caring Economy Conversation Leaders

Hey all,

Here's an uplifting and wonderful graduation speech which emphasizes the value of generosity and kindness in an eloquent and accessible way.

It was passed along by Allan Ament, who writes:

"Here is a link to a wonderful commencement address all about compassion, sharing and taking care of each other.  And it starts by quoting Taylor Swift == who'da  thunk."

Thanks Allan!

The full text of the address is below, or click here to view it online.  

Miserable & Magical: A Graduation Speech for Paradoxical Times

--by Nipun Mehta, May 27, 2013

[When the student body of an elite private school in Silicon Valley was given the chance to vote on who would give their graduation address this year, they chose a man named Nipun Mehta. An unexpected choice for these teenagers, who belong to what Time magazine called the "Me Me Me Generation". Nipun's journey is the antithesis of self-serving. More than a decade ago, he walked away from a lucrative career in high-tech, to explore the connection between inner change and external impact. ServiceSpace, the nonprofit he founded, has now drawn over 450,000 members across the globe. In this electrifying address that garnered a standing ovation, he calls out the paradoxical crisis of disconnection in our hyper-connected world -- and offers up three powerful keys that hold the antidote.]

Thank you Jennifer Gargano, Chris Nikoloff and the entire faculty at Harker.  To you, the class of 2013, congratulations!  I’m delighted to be with you on your special day, and it is a particular honor since I know you chose your speaker.

So, graduation day is here and this once-in-a-lifetime milestone moment has arrived.  In the words of Taylor Swift, I can tell how you’re feeling: “happy, free, confused, and lonely, miserable and magical at the same time.”  Who would’ve thought we’d be quoting words of wisdom from Taylor Swift at your commencement. :)

Today, I’m here with some good news and bad news.  I’ll give you the good first.

You might be surprised to hear this, but you are about to step out into a world that’s in good shape -- in fact the best shape that that it’s ever been in. The average person has never been better fed than today.  Infant mortality has never been lower; on average we’re leading longer, healthier lives. Child labor, illiteracy and unsafe water have ceased to be global norms. Democracy is in, as slavery is disappearing.  People don’t have to work as hard to just survive. A bicycle in 1895 used to cost 260 working hours, today we’ve gotten that number down to 7.2.

So, things are progressing.  But I’m afraid that’s not the full story.   You’ll want to brace yourselves, because this is the bad news part.

This week, Time Magazine’s cover story labeled you guys as the “Me, Me, Me” generation; the week before, NY Times reported that the suicide rate for Gen X went up by 30% in the last decade, and 50% for the boomer generation.  We’ve just learned that atmospheric carbon levels surpassed 400 PPM for the first time in human history.  Our honeybee colonies are collapsing, thereby threatening the future of our food supply.  And all this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What we’re handing over to you is a world full of inspiring realities coupled with incredibly daunting ones. In other words: miserable and magical isn't just a pop-song lyric -- it's the paradox that you are inheriting from us.

So, what do you do with that? I’m going to be honest -- I don’t really know. :) I do know this, though:  

At the core of all of today's most pressing challenges is one fundamental issue: we have become profoundly disconnected.

Rather ironic, considering that we live in an era where Facebook has spawned 150 billion “connections”, as we collectively shell out 4.5 billion likes on status updates, every single day. Yet, a growing body of science is showing what we already feel deep in our gut: we’re more isolated than ever before.  The average American adult reports having just one real friend that they can count on.  Just one.  And for the first time in 30 years, mental health disabilities such as ADHD outrank physical ones among American children.  

Somehow we’ve allowed our relationship to gadgets and things to overtake our real-world ties.

We’ve forgotten how to rescue each other.  

Yet, deep inside we all still have that capacity.   We know we have it because we saw it at Sandy Hook, in the brave teachers who gave up their lives to save their students. We saw it during the Boston Marathon when runners completed the race and kept running to the nearest blood bank.  We saw it just this week in Oklahoma when a waiter at a fast food chain decided to donate all his tips to the tornado relief efforts and triggered a chain of generosity.

So we know that we can tap into our inner goodness when crisis strikes. But can we do it on a run-of-the-mill Monday?

That’s the question in front of you.  Will  you, class of 2013 step up to rebuild a culture of trust, empathy and compassion?  Our crisis of disconnection needs a renaissance of authentic friendship.  We need you to upgrade us from Me-Me-Me to We-We-We.

Reflecting on my own journey, there have been three keys that helped me return to a place of connection.  I’d like to share those with you today, in the hope that perhaps it might support your journey.

The First Key Is To Give 

In the movie Wall Street -- which originally came out well before you guys were born -- there’s a character named Gordon Gekko whose credo in life reads: Greed is good.  When I was about your age, Silicon Valley was in the seductive grip of the dot-com boom. It was a time when it was easy to believe that Greed was Good. But a small group of us had a different hypothesis:

*Maybe* greed is good, but Generosity is better.

We tested that hypothesis. When I started ServiceSpace, our first project was to build websites for nonprofits at no charge. We ended up building and gifting away thousands of sites, but that wasn’t our main goal. Our real purpose was to practice generosity.

In the early days, the media was pretty sure we had a hidden agenda. "We're doing this just to practice giving with no strings attached," we said. The few who actually believed us didn’t think we could sustain it. The thing is -- we did. A decade later, when our work started attracting millions of viewers, entrepreneurs told us that we'd be crazy to not slap on ads or try to monetize our services.  The thing is -- we didn't.  We probably *were* a bit crazy. And when we started Karma Kitchen, people really thought "No way!"  It was a restaurant where your check always read zero, with this note: "Your meal is paid for by someone before you, and now it’s your chance to pay it forward."  The thing is -- 25 thousand meals later, the chain continues in several cities around the globe.  

People consistently underestimate generosity, but human beings are simply wired to give.

In one study at Harvard, scientists surprised a couple hundred volunteers with an unexpected monetary reward and gave them the choice of keeping it or giving it away. The only catch was that they had to  make the decision spontaneously.  Lo and behold, the majority chose --- to give away the money! Greed, it turns out, is a calculated after thought.  Our natural instinct is, and always has been -- to give.

When you take Econ 101 in college, you will learn that all of economics is rooted in the assumption that people aim to maximize self-interest.  I hope you don’t just take that for granted.  I hope you challenge it.  Consider the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa who have rocked the history of our planet with the exact opposite assumption, with the belief in the goodness of our human nature.

Or consider Ruby Bridges.

Six-year-old Ruby was the first African American girl to go to an all-white school on Nov 14, 1960.  All the teachers refused to teach her, except for one Mrs. Henry.  Ruby received constant death threats and on the way to class every day, people would line up to shout and throw things.  Mrs. Henry instructed Ruby to not speak to anyone, as she crossed the jeering crowds every day.  But one day, she saw Ruby saying something, so she said, “Ruby, I told you not to speak to anyone.”  “No, Mrs. Henry, I didn’t say anything to them.”  “Ruby, I saw you talking.  I saw your lips moving.”  “Oh, I was just praying.  I was praying for them,” Ruby responded.  Then she recited her  prayer, and I quote “Please, God, try to forgive these people.  Because even if they say those bad things, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

A six year old!  Wishing well for those who were wishing her harm. How generous is that? And what does it say about the power of the human heart?

Our capacity to love is a currency that never runs out.  

May each of you tap into that generous ocean and discover every day, what it means to give.

The Second Key Is To Receive

When we give, we think we are helping others.  That's true, but we are also helping ourselves.  With any act of unconditional service, no matter how small, our bio-chemistry changes, our mind quiets, and we feel a sense of gratefulness.  This inner transformation fundamentally shifts the direction of our lives.

A couple summers ago, we had two 14-year-olds, Neil and Dillan, interning at ServiceSpace.  One of their projects was a 30 day kindness challenge -- they had to come up with and do a different act of kindness every day for a month. In the beginning they had to plan "kindness activities", but slowly they learned how to spontaneously turn their daily life into a canvas for giving.  Doing the dishes for mom without her asking, stopping to help a stranger with a flat tire, standing up for a bullied kid, gifting all their winnings at the arcade to a child.

Very quickly, kindness shifted from being an activity -- to a way of life.  

It wasn't just about who they were helping, it was about who they themselves were becoming through the process. Last weekend, I happened to see Neil after a while, the day after Senior Prom and he had a story to share, "Last night I noticed that the dance floor was too small and a few of the special needs students just couldn't get on.  So I grabbed a bunch of my friends, and we started dancing in a little circle around them.  Everyone had a great time."  Then, he paused for a reflective moment, and asked me, "But I felt so good about doing that.  Do you think I was being selfish?"

What a profound question.  What Neil experienced was the fact that when we give, we receive many times over.

Or as the Dalai Lama once put it, "Be Selfish, Be Generous.”  It is in giving that we receive.

When we think of generosity, we typically think of it as a zero sum game.  If I give you a dollar, that’s one less dollar for me. The inner world, though, operates with an entirely different set of rules.  The boundaries aren’t so easy to decipher.  Your state of being inherently affects my state of being. This isn’t feel-good talk. It’s actual science. Research shows that, in close proximity, when people feel connected, their individual heart-beats actually start to synchronize -- even with zero physical contact.  In neuroscience, the discovery of mirror neurons has shown us that we literally do feel each other’s pain -- and joy.  

And joy is *definitely* not a zero-sum game.  The law of abundance says that if I give you a smile, that's not one less smile for me.  

The more I smile, the more I *do* smile.  The more I love, the more love I have to give. So, when you give externally, you receive internally.  How do the two compare?  That's a question only you can answer for yourself, and that answer will keep changing as your awareness deepens.

Yet this much is clear: if you only focus on the externals, you’ll live your life in the deadening pursuit of power and products. But if you stay in touch with your inner truth, you will come alive with joy, purpose, and gratitude. You will tap into the law of abundance.

May you discover that to be truly selfish, you must be generous.  In giving, may you fully experience what it means to receive.

The Third Key Is To Dance

Our biggest problem with giving and receiving is that we try and track it.  And when we do that, we lose the beat. 

The best dancers are never singularly focused on the mechanics of their movements.  They know how to let go, tune into the rhythm and synchronize with their partners.

It’s like that with giving too.  It's a futile exercise to track who is getting what.  We just have to dance.

Take one of my friends for example, a very successful entrepreneur. 

Along his journey, he realized that it’s not just enough, as the cliché goes, to find your gifts.  Gifts are actually meant to be *given*.

In his daily life, he started cultivating some beautiful practices of generosity.  For instance, every time he walked into a fancy restaurant, he told the waiter to find a couple that is most madly in love.  "Put their tab on my bill, and tell them a stranger paid for their meal, with the hope that they pay it forward somewhere somehow," he would say.  Being a fan of Batman, he took his anonymity seriously: "If anyone finds out it was me, the deal is off."

Many restaurants, and waiters, knew him for this.  And as a food connoisseur, some of his favorite places were also quite pricey -- upwards of a couple hundred bucks per person.

On one such day, he walks into a nice restaurant and does his usual drill.  The person serving him obliges.  However, this time, the waiter comes back with a counter request.  "Sir, I know you like to be anonymous, but when I told that couple about the tab being covered, the woman just started sobbing.  In fact, it’s been ten minutes and she's still tearing up.  I think it would make her feel better if you were to just introduce yourself, just this once."

Seeing this, he agree to break his own cardinal rule and walks over to introduce himself. "M'aam, I was only trying to make your day. If it has brought up something, I'm so sorry."  The woman excitedly says, "Oh no, not at all.  You’ve just made my year, maybe my life.  My husband and I, well, we work at a small nonprofit with physically challenged kids, and we have been saving up all year to have this meal here.  It is our one year marriage anniversary today.”  After a pause, she continues, “We always serve others in small ways, but to receive a kind act like this on our special day, well, it’s just an overwhelming testimonial that what goes around comes around.  It renews our faith in humanity.  Thank you.  Thank you *SO* much." 

All of them were in tears.  They kept in touch, he joined their board and they are friends to this day.

Now, in that scenario, who was the giver?  Who was the receiver?  And more importantly, does it even matter? Dancing, tells us to stop keeping track.  

Sometimes you're giving and sometimes you're receiving, but it doesn't really matter because the real reward of that give and take doesn’t lie in the value of what’s being exchanged.  The real reward lies in what flows between us – our connection.

Conclusion

So, my dear friends, there you have it.  The bad news is that we're in the middle of a crisis of disconnection, and the good news is that each and every one of you has the capacity to repair the web -- to give, to receive and to dance.

Sometime last year, I spontaneously treated a homeless woman to something she really wanted -- ice-cream.  We walked into a nearby 7-11, she got her ice-cream and I paid for it.  Along the way, though, we had a great 3-minute chat about generosity and as we’re leaving the store, she said something remarkable: "I'd like to buy you something.  Can I buy you something?" She empties her pockets and holds up a nickel. The cashier looks on, as we all  share a beautiful,  awkward, empathy-filled moment of silence.  Then, I heard my voice responding, “That’s so kind of you. I would be delighted to receive your offering.  What if we pay-it-forward by tipping this kind cashier who has just helped us?”  Her face breaks into a huge smile. “Good idea,” she says while dropping the nickel into the tip-jar.

No matter what you have, or don’t have, we can all give.  The good news is that generosity is not a luxury sport.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, when he said, "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve."  He didn't say, "You have to be smart to serve." Or "You have to be famous to serve." Or "You have to be rich to serve." No, he said, "*Everybody* can be great, because *everybody* can serve.  You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't need to know the second law of thermodynamics to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

Harker Class of 2013, may you ALL find greatness in service to life.  May you all give, receive -- and never, *ever* stop dancing. 

This is a transcript of a commencement address Nipun Mehta delivered at The Harker School, May 2013. He is the founder of ServiceSpace.org, a nonprofit that works at the intersection of gift-economy, technology and volunteerism. Nipun's speech last year at University of Pennsylvania's commencement shares more about his personal journey.

Big News from Venezuela: Pensions for Mothers

Hi Everyone,

Here's a piece of great news, passed to me by Conversation Leader Eve Purdew:

Venezuela's new Labour Law for Workers (Lottt) came into effect this week, guaranteeing shorter working hours, longer maternity leave and pensions for all Venezuelans. 

Along with establishing new working hours, the Lottt prohibits unfair dismissal, outsourcing, guarantees the right to work for both women and people with disabilities and increases maternity leave.

...Venezuela now has the world's third longest maternity leave. Mothers are entitled to six weeks pre-natal leave, and twenty post-natal. Fathers are also entitled to two weeks paternal leave. Under the law, the same conditions apply to parents who adopt a child under three years of age.

All workers are also now entitled to retirement pensions, including full time mothers and the self employed. 

Read more here:  http://rabble.ca/columnists/2013/05/venezuelas-new-labour-law-best-mothers-day-gift
And Here:  http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9202

Thanks for passing along the good news, Eve!

- Sara