Ready for climate change teach-in—talking power and the myth of scarcity
flappe September 13th, 2007
(Frances) Tomorrow I leave for the International Forum on Globalization’s super-packed teach-in in Washington, D.C. I’m giving a workshop called “the Power of Frame and the Frame of Power”—exploring ideas included in Chapter 4 in Getting a Grip. I would love your ideas.
At the Teach-In I’m also speaking about another core idea in Getting a Grip: How we can shift from a mental frame of scarcity of “goods and goodness” that becomes self-fulfilling, toward a frame of aligning with nature that then allows us to experience plenty. (See The Spiral of Powerlessness and the Spiral of Empowerment.)
Last night I read in two books as prep. One is Jules Pretty’s The Earth Only Endures and the other, the Human Security Report 2005 from the U. of British Columbia.
What surprising facts in this report! Like, the experience of violence against persons is 12 times greater in the U.S. than in India!
Or—how easy it is to lose sight of the big picture on violence: As the Cold War and wars of liberation from colonialism ended, the report says the world has seen a big decline in warfare since the early ‘90s, including an “80 percent” drop in “the most deadly civil conflict numbers.”
Listening to news of violence on NPR this morning—and NPR’s expose of the U.S.’ drastic undercounting of victims—I have a hard time holding it all. Yet, my fervent hope is that my new book can help us to do just that—develop an understanding of causes deep enough that we can choose effective action.
Onward. Frankie
