Road to Damascus
3/21/03
It was a beautiful, perfect Southern California day, but my heart was unsettled by the recent invasion of Iraq and the rising incidents of terrorism, genocide, rape and starvation occurring around the world. I have always had a keen sense of gratitude for the grace and bounty of this life and a strong sense of responsibility to others who are less fortunate. Now it seemed impossible to justify my life of such abundance. Walking along the beach, asking the wind and waves to reflect these tumbling emotions, I hoped the vast Pacific waters would somehow imprint her peaceful moniker upon my agitated spirit. It was March 21, 2003, the day I invented social entrepreneurism.
Since I was questioning the intention and direction of my life in the face of these disturbing global issues and believing that most limitations are self-imposed, I decided to take the risk, peel them back and examine what could be possible if I got my thoughts out of the way. Therefore ‘money is no object’ and ‘skilled resources are plentiful and available’ were my working assumptions.
Around the world millions of people had taken to the streets expressing their fervent desire for peace. I found it so terribly moving, however, I also realized that the people most directly affected by the absence of peace can not call out in this way. The fact is demonstrating for peace is a luxury. Those of us who have enough to eat and a livelihood to sustain ourselves bear a responsibility to act on their behalf. Logically, it became REALLY clear that to build a foundation for a lasting peace, we need a global grassroots movement that supports socio-economic justice.
What unfurled is my dream of local and global businesses that provide services and products, operate with a sense of integrity for the environment and care about the social impact of their business. They would be businesses that offer fair market value with just labor practices. They would partner specifically to provide the best products and services at the fairest prices and thus strike an economic balance for shareholders, workers and consumers.
In addition, troubled by the tainted and skewed media coverage in the USA, I believe that international issues are being ignored. Seeing diminishing importance and even denial of anything that isn’t reported on a major network or in mainstream print, my unbridled vision included a grassroots media distribution system that supports artists, authors and filmmakers who are inspired and support cross-cultural awareness and diversity.
To my thinking, the primary issue at the bottom of this global imbalance is a fundamental misunderstanding. There is a cultural division of perception that keeps a cycle of social and economic violence in place. We must educate our youth (ourselves) to value diverse perspectives and to learn from inter-national cultures. We need to create and foster new ways to see the familiar; making life itself richer, more fulfilling and more valued. We need socio-economic reform and cultural advances that are based on peace, awareness, tolerance, education and leadership. Surely the roots of peace can be planted, nurtured and will flourish in such fertile soil.
Later, when I re-iterated this conversation with myself to my close friend, Jeff, he wryly described it as my “Road to Damascus” experience. Just a few days later I discovered the phrase, “social entrepreneurism.” Even though I had never heard it before, it eloquently described my hope for the world. At the heart of all of this, in my heart, is the sense of being completely and irrevocably connected; responsible for the well-being of every human being as well as to the planet itself. Personally, professionally, primarily, I am a global citizen and I place the bounty of this gifted life in service to these goals.
