Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Sustainable Value Set

 

The Sustainable Value Set: Values for The 21st Century

http://www.thenewgreeneconomy.com/sustainability/the-sustainable-value-set

Comments On The Sustainable Values Set

By Kathryn Alexander
© Ethical Impact 2009 - All Rights Reserved

Abundance

• There is more than enough. We always have more than enough, if we do not succumb to greed and if we share.
• Abundance means that Self Sufficiency is not only possible, but mandatory.
• If every country is self sufficient, then trading overproduction is a sustainable process

All Actions Enhance Life

To act with care, love, appreciation, and gratitude is to enrich life's meaning and to honor the value and contribution of our experiences and relationships to our life in a way that support our own commitment to a rich and satisfying life - for ourselves and others.

Balance

• Balance is about giving equal importance to all aspects, but not at the same time.
• Being in balance affects the whole system, but not all at the same time, and not in the same way.
• If everything gets its needs met, things are in balance.
• You can't be in balance by yourself.
• A whole is a thing that can be broken down in to parts. The parts affect the whole, but not all at once, and not independently.
• Being out of balance causes another part to be out of balance which affects the whole.
• Balance is a non-linear concept – it doesn't affect in a direct and immediate fashion -this does not mean that there is no effect. Imbalance creates more imbalance until it creates an unstable, and non-functioning system.
Co-Creation
The recognition and active practice of being in relationship in such a way that the right of all parties to self-fulfillment and self-actualization is mutually reinforced. Through such action we create the world together.

Diversity
Diversity is the richness of life and how life replenishes itself and guarantees its evolutionary capacity and sustainability. On a personal level, diversity allows for resilience, increased capacity, and capability, and expanded consciousness.

Empowerment
• Is about power with, not power over.
• Is about honoring the unique gifts that all life forms offer.
• In its essence it is about right relationship.
• Empowerment is creating a space for people to truly offer their gifts and wisdom in ways that increase the viability of the project and relationships they are involved in.

Future Life
• Future Life is a first concern.
• The web of life is a continuum. Each part is preceded by the part before it and contributes to the part that comes after, and the emergence of individuality is a process of evolution.
• For life to continue, there has to be a caring and nurturing of the continuous possibility of life's existence.
• It's an attitude. We have to want to live.

Humans are intrinsic to the web of life
• All life changes the planet. When changes are within the field of integrity, they enhance the rest of the life on the planet.
• Humans are intrinsic to the changes that happen on the planet. When we respect life, the changes we make enhance the possibilities of other life on the planet. When we don't, we diminish the possibilities of other life on the planet.
• Our actions matter.
• No action is neutral.

Interity of The Whole
All parts are equally important and valid, interdependent, and interconnected. Any action affects the whole, but not at the same time, and in a non-linear fashion.

Interdependence
Nothing exists on its own or separately, without the support of something else. To remove any part of an interdependent chain is to put the life or sustainability of the entire chain at risk.