That all sounds great Richard. There seem to be more and more similar visions coming up all the time. I've been on the Board of the Transition Network, , was a founder member of the Open Coop, and like organisations like the Collaborative Technology Alliance, the Post Carbon Institute the Pachamama Alliance, the Collective Impact Forum, and I get invitations to online and physical events all the time promoting and training people for this. vision Yes, the key is people actively working together for people and planet, in an organised way. I like Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model for the structure of a bottom-up culture, and also Elinor Ostrom's work on traditional commons and how they work. See also my website, https://earthconnected.net/ and my book, eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through communications (free eBook version on my website), which I'm sure overlaps massively with your vision. There is a section in it "The Five Billion Year Story", that traces the evolution of life with symbiosis as a primary mechanism and has a chapter on "The Cooperative Ape: the early human story".
What projects and organisations do you see that give you the most hope, that are most aligned to your thinking? If this message resonates with you, perhaps we can have a video chat to meet and share ideas and plans.
It's great to meet you here Gary. I checked out your website and read your pamphlet and your work is impressive, much in alignment with what I am sharing. I would love to compare notes with you sometime.
You are right, that there are a myriad of movements -- re-localization, regenerative communities, local living economies, Transition Town, Circular economies, and in the US, Christian back-to-the land movements, and there are the Living Cities Earth network, Bloom Network Earth, SEEDS, Joe Brewer's regenerative communities, and Citizen Action Networks movement, and many more. It would great to hear of others who are working on the level of building bottom-up community-based movements. PLEASE SHARE others here in the comments, with links to them.
My sense is that these co-emergent movements needed time to develop with their own constituencies based on a myriad of different interests, political orientations, and worldviews. These things take their own course. We may be at a time where these seemingly scattered efforts can find very practical points of intersection where they can work practically together with a shared vision -- which at some point may develop into a very healthy global movement based in local communities.
I am holding space for that, being supportive with all of these efforts, rather than myself building my own network or organizations. I am communicating a new CONTEXT that may help these separate efforts come together in very specific ways in a local community.
My personal leaning is a vision of a spiritually-based global commonwealth and it goes back to what I call an Ancient Blueprint. It is a pattern seen through time and reflected in Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, through Mahatma Gandhi's vision of a Commonwealth of Village Republics and Dr. Ari's Sarvodaya movement - https://richardflyer.substack.com/p/sri-lankas-untold-story-of-resilience-35d
My book is a map to this interior realm and a blueprint for weaving community networks without a heavy duty philosophical approach or one laden with ideology. I think people are done with that approach.
People want authentic connection, communities of support, and to be part of what we both call trust networks. It's a very scary buy also an exciting time.
Just a quick reply for now. I find your reply great! I have taken a first look at Bloom network. Enough to know that I need to spend time going more deeply. My vision has a strong communication side, and they may already have much or all of that. I had heard of Sarvodaya, but at a first look, I share your sense of inspiration. I know Indra Adnan and her CAN. We applied for a €1 million EU prize a few years ago (which we didn't get) and she was one of our partners. My work has not emphasized the spiritual side but what you say resonates strongly with me and I look forward to learning more. I see the emerging vision, not as a new religion (because it is open, learning, questioning, locally varied, not received wisdom) but I think it fills a religion-shaped hole in society. It gives people a sense of being part of a larger whole – a primary identity as part of humanity that in turn is an integral part of the living Earth, and a vision of how to behave/what to do – look after the wellbeing of all people and the natural world.
I think my recent work on an easily understood framework for bottom up communities building on viable systems and commons theory might be of interest to you (but you might already have it all in some form). Perhaps a video chat would be good, if you are interested. Gary
I am glad that you resonate with re-connecting to the "spiritual" foundation. It is sad that we have to compartmentalized spirituality as if it were a separate department of reality. Shows you how the materialistic worldview has vacuumed out not only religion, but sadly, it's vacuumed out spirituality in its authentic form. I call that "throwing Jesus out with the bathwater!"
The neglect of spirituality in its purest sense (that could include the religious as well as the spiritual but not religious) from efforts to build regenerative communities is a noticeable exclusion and I plan on making that the main foundation. I believe with this broader focus, we can reach more into the mainstream and activate more people.
Yes, let's do a call when it is convenient to you.
Hi Alexander, I think you make a huge point when you mention that you think this emerging vision fills a religion-shaped hole in society. I remember looking at the cover of TIME magazine in April of 1966: 'Is God Dead?' I remember not being shocked or surprised because the notion was palpable – there were a lot fewer people going to church. My perception/observation is that whether or not one believes in religion, I -- and many others -- have noticed a significant degradation of morals since some time before that time and feel that it is a significant contributor. This notion could maybe be used as an effective selling point for what you and Richard are talking about, at the very least a talking point.
Good points, Richard. Ideas that needed to incubate inside of silos, are now ready to be liberated to work and weave together. The symbiotic culture is a context, and symbiotic networks a structure for doing this.
Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023Liked by Richard Flyer
There are a number of movements around the Nation and the World recognizing and trying to promote these idea, particularly as it seems like a spectrum of challenges and conflicts ascendant in the greater world of late - all of which will require radical cooperation, not extreme competition to overcome.
Absolutely. It seems like there are many national and global movements that also have a local focus. Symbiotic weaving doesn't create a new separate project or organization. Rather, it seeks to nurture a new CONTEXT, a new role emerging that connects others, in service.
Great to hear from you Gordon. I lived in Northern Nevada from 1999 until 2021! I would be happy to check out your website. Let's set up a call sometime to discuss how I can support your work. Do you have a calendar link?
Yes, absolutely. There is a method to my madness! Since I am launching the first two-thirds of my book here on Substack, I wanted to start with grounding "early readers" in some of the overall ideas covered in the book, through poetry, mini essays, video messaging, and at some point live video calls with breakout rooms. It's a process. I want people to get to know and trust me first, and as we build a community, to meet each other, first online, then in face-to-face community. That will take several months.
Kevin, that sounds great. Would love to hear more about your work. I was born in San Antonio!
As I am releasing the first 2/3 of my book here as a weekly serial next month, one of the chapters is on building what we called a region wide neighbor network. It is a way to bring together all of the groups and organizations that care about neighbors (neighborhood watch, churches, charities, businesses, government, etc.) to form a symbiotic network in a whole region that encouraged people on the street level to bring their neighbors together. Local media loves to support things like this.
What started as a weekly gathering once a year that happened on 100 different streets in Reno, NV, turned into an ongoing street level neighbor connectors project with thousands participating. Here is a link from Parade Magazine about many efforts, including ours.
We had built a short how to guide for a neighbor on a given street showing them how to start with a potluck and invite their nearby neighbors from the surrounding twenty homes. They became neighbor connectors and got involved in ongoing mutual aid, sharing backyard produce, helping each other on an ongoing issues.
It was a way to make literal, what Jesus taught in the Sermon in the Mount --- Love God and Love your neighbor.
Im traveling this coming week. Let’s talk the week after kevindoylejones1@gmail.com. Parade. Wow haven’t seen that in a while. Looks like great work. I know the woman who was running the community foundation in reno. Did you work with them?
That all sounds great Richard. There seem to be more and more similar visions coming up all the time. I've been on the Board of the Transition Network, , was a founder member of the Open Coop, and like organisations like the Collaborative Technology Alliance, the Post Carbon Institute the Pachamama Alliance, the Collective Impact Forum, and I get invitations to online and physical events all the time promoting and training people for this. vision Yes, the key is people actively working together for people and planet, in an organised way. I like Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model for the structure of a bottom-up culture, and also Elinor Ostrom's work on traditional commons and how they work. See also my website, https://earthconnected.net/ and my book, eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through communications (free eBook version on my website), which I'm sure overlaps massively with your vision. There is a section in it "The Five Billion Year Story", that traces the evolution of life with symbiosis as a primary mechanism and has a chapter on "The Cooperative Ape: the early human story".
What projects and organisations do you see that give you the most hope, that are most aligned to your thinking? If this message resonates with you, perhaps we can have a video chat to meet and share ideas and plans.
Yours in hope, Gary Alexander (garyalexand@gmail.com)
It's great to meet you here Gary. I checked out your website and read your pamphlet and your work is impressive, much in alignment with what I am sharing. I would love to compare notes with you sometime.
You are right, that there are a myriad of movements -- re-localization, regenerative communities, local living economies, Transition Town, Circular economies, and in the US, Christian back-to-the land movements, and there are the Living Cities Earth network, Bloom Network Earth, SEEDS, Joe Brewer's regenerative communities, and Citizen Action Networks movement, and many more. It would great to hear of others who are working on the level of building bottom-up community-based movements. PLEASE SHARE others here in the comments, with links to them.
I met with Bloom Network Earth today - https://bloomnetwork.earth/ and they are doing wonderful work. Indra Adnan's work with Citizen Action Networks - https://www.thealternative.org.uk/citizens-action-network also stands out as having a solid core and I want to support what they are doing.
My sense is that these co-emergent movements needed time to develop with their own constituencies based on a myriad of different interests, political orientations, and worldviews. These things take their own course. We may be at a time where these seemingly scattered efforts can find very practical points of intersection where they can work practically together with a shared vision -- which at some point may develop into a very healthy global movement based in local communities.
I am holding space for that, being supportive with all of these efforts, rather than myself building my own network or organizations. I am communicating a new CONTEXT that may help these separate efforts come together in very specific ways in a local community.
My personal leaning is a vision of a spiritually-based global commonwealth and it goes back to what I call an Ancient Blueprint. It is a pattern seen through time and reflected in Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, through Mahatma Gandhi's vision of a Commonwealth of Village Republics and Dr. Ari's Sarvodaya movement - https://richardflyer.substack.com/p/sri-lankas-untold-story-of-resilience-35d
My book is a map to this interior realm and a blueprint for weaving community networks without a heavy duty philosophical approach or one laden with ideology. I think people are done with that approach.
People want authentic connection, communities of support, and to be part of what we both call trust networks. It's a very scary buy also an exciting time.
Just a quick reply for now. I find your reply great! I have taken a first look at Bloom network. Enough to know that I need to spend time going more deeply. My vision has a strong communication side, and they may already have much or all of that. I had heard of Sarvodaya, but at a first look, I share your sense of inspiration. I know Indra Adnan and her CAN. We applied for a €1 million EU prize a few years ago (which we didn't get) and she was one of our partners. My work has not emphasized the spiritual side but what you say resonates strongly with me and I look forward to learning more. I see the emerging vision, not as a new religion (because it is open, learning, questioning, locally varied, not received wisdom) but I think it fills a religion-shaped hole in society. It gives people a sense of being part of a larger whole – a primary identity as part of humanity that in turn is an integral part of the living Earth, and a vision of how to behave/what to do – look after the wellbeing of all people and the natural world.
I think my recent work on an easily understood framework for bottom up communities building on viable systems and commons theory might be of interest to you (but you might already have it all in some form). Perhaps a video chat would be good, if you are interested. Gary
I am glad that you resonate with re-connecting to the "spiritual" foundation. It is sad that we have to compartmentalized spirituality as if it were a separate department of reality. Shows you how the materialistic worldview has vacuumed out not only religion, but sadly, it's vacuumed out spirituality in its authentic form. I call that "throwing Jesus out with the bathwater!"
The neglect of spirituality in its purest sense (that could include the religious as well as the spiritual but not religious) from efforts to build regenerative communities is a noticeable exclusion and I plan on making that the main foundation. I believe with this broader focus, we can reach more into the mainstream and activate more people.
Yes, let's do a call when it is convenient to you.
Hi Alexander, I think you make a huge point when you mention that you think this emerging vision fills a religion-shaped hole in society. I remember looking at the cover of TIME magazine in April of 1966: 'Is God Dead?' I remember not being shocked or surprised because the notion was palpable – there were a lot fewer people going to church. My perception/observation is that whether or not one believes in religion, I -- and many others -- have noticed a significant degradation of morals since some time before that time and feel that it is a significant contributor. This notion could maybe be used as an effective selling point for what you and Richard are talking about, at the very least a talking point.
Good points, Richard. Ideas that needed to incubate inside of silos, are now ready to be liberated to work and weave together. The symbiotic culture is a context, and symbiotic networks a structure for doing this.
There are a number of movements around the Nation and the World recognizing and trying to promote these idea, particularly as it seems like a spectrum of challenges and conflicts ascendant in the greater world of late - all of which will require radical cooperation, not extreme competition to overcome.
Absolutely. It seems like there are many national and global movements that also have a local focus. Symbiotic weaving doesn't create a new separate project or organization. Rather, it seeks to nurture a new CONTEXT, a new role emerging that connects others, in service.
Awesome Richard! Well done. I’m in!
When did you live in Reno? I would be very grateful if you took a look at our website and offered your feedback to our team. Thanks!!!
https://www.regenesisreno.com/aboutus
Great to hear from you Gordon. I lived in Northern Nevada from 1999 until 2021! I would be happy to check out your website. Let's set up a call sometime to discuss how I can support your work. Do you have a calendar link?
Let's talk
Great to see you here. You’re doing awesome work! Feel free to text me at (775) 721-3287
Great stuff, Richard. Are we readers also single siloed with respect to each other and would benefit from networking. Is that in the works?
Yes, absolutely. There is a method to my madness! Since I am launching the first two-thirds of my book here on Substack, I wanted to start with grounding "early readers" in some of the overall ideas covered in the book, through poetry, mini essays, video messaging, and at some point live video calls with breakout rooms. It's a process. I want people to get to know and trust me first, and as we build a community, to meet each other, first online, then in face-to-face community. That will take several months.
Our work at neighborhoodeconomics.org is squarely in line with your vision. Join us February 26-28 in San Antonio
Kevin, that sounds great. Would love to hear more about your work. I was born in San Antonio!
As I am releasing the first 2/3 of my book here as a weekly serial next month, one of the chapters is on building what we called a region wide neighbor network. It is a way to bring together all of the groups and organizations that care about neighbors (neighborhood watch, churches, charities, businesses, government, etc.) to form a symbiotic network in a whole region that encouraged people on the street level to bring their neighbors together. Local media loves to support things like this.
What started as a weekly gathering once a year that happened on 100 different streets in Reno, NV, turned into an ongoing street level neighbor connectors project with thousands participating. Here is a link from Parade Magazine about many efforts, including ours.
https://parade.com/48456/peterlovenheim/02-meet-the-neighbors/
We had built a short how to guide for a neighbor on a given street showing them how to start with a potluck and invite their nearby neighbors from the surrounding twenty homes. They became neighbor connectors and got involved in ongoing mutual aid, sharing backyard produce, helping each other on an ongoing issues.
It was a way to make literal, what Jesus taught in the Sermon in the Mount --- Love God and Love your neighbor.
Im traveling this coming week. Let’s talk the week after kevindoylejones1@gmail.com. Parade. Wow haven’t seen that in a while. Looks like great work. I know the woman who was running the community foundation in reno. Did you work with them?
Sounds great. Let's get in touch. The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada was led by Chris Askin during that time. Yes, they were supportive.