Quick Book Notes – Charles Eisenstein: The more beautiful world our hearts know is possible

This book is a sort of guide to the New Story: not what it is but, a clear, compassionate process of how to move into it.  He illuminates the personal and societal habits and mindsets holding us back, and their benign successors.

He sums up the New Story as “the story of Interbeing, the Age of Reunion... the world of the gift.”  Whereas, “More than anything external, it is our own habits that draw us back into the old story... habits of scarcity,...judgement, and... struggle.”  But as he points out, giving attention to a habit and the feelings underlying it weaken its addictive power.

Since the New Story is about interconnection, he warns against its advocates feeling righteous, which perpetuates separation and alienates others.  “Today, our economic environment screams at us, “Scarcity!” ... political... “Us versus them”, ... medical... “Be afraid!”  Together they keep us alone and scared to change.”  Whereas in truth “fundamentally we are the same being looking out at the world through many sets of eyes”.

Book Review: Freefall by Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz

This is a clear and level-headed book on the causes of the American financial crash and the botched solutions to it. Joseph Stiglitz is  a winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, and a former head of the World Bank: hardly a political firebrand, but his book is deeply critical of the malfunctioning of the financial institutions and regulators which led to the crash, and the lack of truly systemic solutions since then. I have summed up key points from the book below.

• The flaky mortgage lending was aimed at exploiting the lower classes - he would say, deliberately.
• There is a need for better measures of individual wellbeing - there is one created by the UNDP.
• The US has limited individual security benefits, for fear of rewarding laziness or incompetence, yet in effect it has increased corporate security benefits (bailouts etc.)
• "Rugged individualism combined with rampant materialism has led to an undermining of trust".
• "Securitization" removed any personal relationship between borrowers and lenders, and hence any scope to adjust or restructure problem loans.
• "This crisis has exposed fissures in our society, between Wall Street and Main Street".
• We have seen an increasing short-termism, on the part of individuals, firms and government".
• He sees part of the role of government as to have a vision, to think longer-term. The system of campaign contributions and lobbyists makes this very difficult.
• In 2010 "the total gap between what American homeowners owed and the value of their homes (was) between $700 and $900 billion."
• Commercial real estate also has a big "underwater" problem, i.e. the value of loans exceeds total value of property.
• The way the Obama Government intervened to 'rescue' the banking sector has not restored lending to small/medium businesses, which is well below pre-2008 levels.
• He cites evidence that the US treasury is overly identified with the interests of the building sector.
• he talks of 'Keynesian' versus Hooverite approaches to recession, the first being that Government must increase spending, the latter that deficits must be cut to restore confidence. He gives many examples where this hasn't worked.

The Dodd Frank Act of 2010, aimed at reforming financial regulation, is described by Stiglitz as "a Swiss cheese bill - seemingly strong, but with large holes". Key elements are:

1. Creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - a hopeful step.
2. A systematic regulator - merely a council who advise the Fed.
3. Curbs on excessive risk taking: pretty weak in actuality.
4. Carbon derivatives: pretty weak in actuality.

He believes that the US "faces the risk of another major crisis within the next fifteen years" - most of the problems have barely been addressed. Trust remains low, and the global credibility of the US has been much weakened.

Book Review: Resilience by Liggy Webb

A sound basic guide to personal resilience

If you do a web search for books on personal resilience, this one comes up as well rated. It is a clear, common-sense self-help guide to the basics of the topic.

The book is easy to use, with a mix of checklists, exercises, anecdotes, and resources guides at the back. It handles such issues as dealing with strong emotions in a sensible style which avoids New Age jargon.

Resilience has useful brief sections on the valuable deeper approaches, such as Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, and the Kubler Ross Grief Cycle model.

I agree with Liggy that handling conflicts well is a key part of personal resilience, and she has a good chapter on this, including understanding your own ‘conflict style’, core skills for handling conflict, and the Cool Down Model.

There are also chapters on such topics as looking after yourself, improving relationships with others, and creating and achieving a positive vision. I liked the appendix with top 20 Survival Songs – an intriguing mix, ranging from Monty Python through Sugababes to Vera Lynn. There are also some useful website listings.

For me, the main limitation of this book is that it does not go deep enough in its guidance or self-help processes on some key issues, such as facing, clearing and reframing negative emotions. However, I would happily recommend it as a sound basic starter to the subject.

Book Brief: Thomas Berry: ‘The Dream of the Earth’

Is myth both the problem and the solution?

Berry has an unusual, eloquent, and valuable view of how we humans got into the current crisis, and how to move out of it.  This view is powerfully presented in the ‘Dream of the Earth’, one of his many books.

Thomas Berry described himself as a cosmologist and Earth Scholar – he was also a Catholic priest, who was born and lived in the USA, and died in 2009 at the age of 94.  The idea of the universe as our context, and the universe as a story that we need to read and contribute to, were crucial to his work.

Berry has a clear and stark view of the current situation: “we could describe our industrial society as the addictive, paralysing manifestation of a deep cultural pathology...”  He comments that not only does materialist society regard the planet as something to be used, but also our cultural and even spiritual values see humans as separate from the Earth and other life on it.

Berry believes that an important reason for this situation is a rise of ‘redemption spirituality’, which largely regards this world as a vale of pain to escape from.  By focussing too much on the link between human and divine, “We have lost contact with the revelation of the divine in nature.”

Berry believes that myth is at the root of both the problem and the solution: “the main difficulty in replacing the industrial order is not the physical nature of the situation, but its mythic entrancement... the myth is primary... so far the energy evoked by the ecological vision has not been sufficient to offset the energies evoked by the industrial vision – even when its desolation  becomes so obvious...”

This new myth “must emerge from our new story of the universe.  This... can be understood as soon as we recognise that the evolutionary process is from the beginning a spiritual as we as a physical process.”  He comments that, “The human community must assume adult responsibilities in our role on Earth.  The recent centuries have been like an adolescent period in humans’ handling of this power.” To do this, “we must invent, or re-invent, a sustainable human culture by a descent into our pre-rational, our instinctive, resources.”

So it’s crucial to the new story that we humans see ourselves as part of the continuing story of creation, “as that being in whom the universe reflects on and celebrates itself.”   This is the essence of creation spirituality, which is well explored in the book Genesis Meditations by Neil Douglas Klotz.

Deeper contact with nature is crucial, both to give us the insights to move forward, and the passion to act on them and preserve this planet where, in truth, we are “a species among species”.  As Berry says, “The mythic dimension of the ecological age is... a deep insight into... the entire earth process.  This includes its seasonal rhythms as well as its historical transformations, its revelatory communication as well as its pragmatic functioning.”

Berry has a sense of optimism about the future, which may seem surprising.  It arises from his sense of the intelligence of Gaia, and a belief that if Gaia allowed humans to create this mess, it must be a huge growth opportunity for both humans and the planet: “the basic mood of the future might well be one of confidence in the continuing revelation that takes place in and through the earth.  If the dynamics of the universe... guided us safely through the turbulent centuries, there is reason to believe that this same guiding process is precisely what has awakened in us our present understanding of ourselves and our relation to this stupendous process.”

For more on Thomas Berry and his work see: www.thomasberry.org

Book Brief: Active Hope by Macy and Johnstone

An excellent guide to personal resilience

I have taken part in workshops led by both Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, and regard them as two of the best teachers on personal resilience in a full sense of the phrase.  This book is a clear, concise guide to their approach, and has the authority and richness that comes from their many years of teaching.

Their work is known by various names, including Deep Ecology, and the Work That Reconnects.  It draws from a range of sources, including Buddhist teachings and general systems theory. 

One of their key ideas is that there are three ‘stories of our time’, and it is empowering to name them, and choose the one we live by:

-          Business as Usual: this is the story that governments and business would like us to trust in them.  There’s nothing basically wrong, and a bit more economic growth and technology will sort things out soon.

-          The Great Unravelling: worsening climate change is only one of several huge problems which show that the world is falling apart and it’s too late to save it.

-          The Great Turning: whilst this story is less visible in mass media it is already happening in many ways across the globe.

To some extent, all three stories are happening, but only the third one encourages us to act and believe we can make a difference.  The book highlights three Dimensions of the Great Turning:

·         1. Holding actions: this means actions to reduce or stop the damage caused by Business as Usual to the climate, ecosystems and lots more. Whilst some of the big changes need to come from government and business, we can change our own lifestyle, and participate in campaigns, boycotts and more.

·         2. Life-sustaining systems and practices: in every sector, including banking, food and transport, sustainable approaches are already available.  Individuals can choose to make such changes now.  But it requires big changes to spending priorities and to the patterns of Business as Usual, which will require much wider popular pressure on governments.

·         3. Shift in Consciousness: this is a sense of belonging and connectedness with all life on Earth.  As we deepen this, it brings a sense of urgency, and a passion for positive change. 

Much of the book is about how to achieve this change in consciousness, and act upon it. Central to this is a four-stage process which Joanna and Chris have evolved over years: I have led it with several groups, and found it very effective. This process, the Work that Reconnects, recognises that many people feel pain and distress at the state of the world and the way things are going, but don’t know how to handle it, so deny it, stuff it down, which keeps them in tension and inertia.

Their four-stage process offers a safe, supportive way to help people face their pain, move through it, and find ways to engage actively with positive change. The process is described in the book, but is best done in facilitated groups, since witnessing and support from others is a key element.

 

The book has a whole chapter on each of the four steps in this process, plus valuable chapters on such topics as Catching an Inspiring Vision, Building Support around you, and Maintaining energy and enthusiasm. Unlike some books in this sector, this one is well written, and pretty concise at 238 pages. The passion, wisdom and huge experience of both authors shines through, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It gracefully interweaves large perspectives, wisdom from great teachers, real-life examples, and self-help exercises.