Charles Eisenstein article about self determination

Transforming conversations that matter into actions that make a difference.

In April, Umair Haque posted a manifesto on his blog on the Harvard Business Publishing web site where he called for today's investors and start-ups to start building applications to "change the world" instead of just making apps that make money. He challenged Silicon Valley to find a problem to fix that will change the world for the better and then pledged that he would help by providing free consulting. Recently, he revisited this topic which he was due to speak on at this year's Supernova conference.

Instead of watching Twitter's ups and downs, we the members of the tech community could be using our social media super-powers to make a real difference in the world. We know how to spread news fast, share images and videos, organize our friends, and empower others all by using the same social media tools that we use in our every day lives. Isn't it time we put them to use towards a good cause? Below are some great examples as to how that can be done.

"A 27 year old student from Sweden, Henrik Edberg, shares "Gandhi's top ten fundamentals for changing the world": Change yourself. You are in control....."

"In the summer of 1996, a group of Nova Scotians came together to bring Robert Theobald, economist and futurist, to Nova Scotia to participate in community -based discussions following his proposed Massey lecture series on "fundamental transformational change at the personal and community level". Subsequently this group went on to found the Network for Creative change (NCC) with the goal of facilitating "systemic change" through creativity, learning, design and development using networking concepts."

If last week I was light and flippant in suggesting solutions to national problems, today I will be more serious. But unlike Al Gore, I will peer through a smaller telescope and instead of the global arena, I will focus on a tinier and not necessarily more manageable geographic area — the Philippines. Thus, I will ask and answer the question “If you ran the Philippines and could change anything, what would you change?”

Although the global economy has been a boon to countries worldwide, it is still greeted with skepticism by many Americans. In this Globalist Interview, UPS Chief Operating Officer David Abney argues that the global era presents Americans with new opportunities. He explores how the United States can ensure that the global economy works to the benefit of all its citizens.

As a Daymaker, all of a sudden everything you do, whether it's letting someone merge into traffic or simply offering the waitress a friendly smile of appreciation for serving you, creates what I call "perfect moments."