Global Elders for Our Global Village

During our last discussion on America's democracy, we talked about its shortcomings and tried to envision a more evolved and enlightened form of government of the future. In particular, we lamented the absence of an institution of wisdom, such as a council of wise elders. As synchronicity would have it, not long after our discussion (recorded July 4th) Nelson Mandela, on the occasion of his 89th birthday (July 18), announced the formation of The Elders.

The following email from Derek Breen, one of the citizen philosophers in our last discussion, provides more details:

"Since fighting on the wrong side in an unjust war over sixteen years ago, I have alternated between inspiration and despair, hope and hopelessness for myself and for the future of humanity. In recent months, I've been finding myself more often in the despair category.

But this afternoon, a friend mentioned a news story from this past Wednesday, about a very special birthday present given from, rather than to, the celebrant. On his 89th birthday, Nelson Mandela introduced the world to The Elders <http://www.theelders.org/>, a select group of former leaders, (including five Nobel Prize winners) that has begun to work together to advance the causes of peace and global justice.

According to lone American elder, former president Jimmy Carter, "The Elders neither want, nor will we ever have, any kind of authority except that that comes from common moral values," he said. "We will be able to risk failure and we will not need to claim successes."

The only agenda of The Elders is that of humanity. Their only purpose is to ease human suffering in three essential areas: 1. Offering a catalyst for the peaceful resolution of conflict. 2. Seeking new approaches to seemingly intractable global issues. 3. Sharing wisdom: reaching out to grassroots Elders and to the next generation of leaders. Listening and helping to amplify voices for good all over the world.

In addition to Mandela and Carter, the elders chosen thus far include: Graca Machel - renowned international advocate for women's and children's rights Desmond Tutu - month after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, Tutu was elected the first black Anglican bishop of Johannesburg Kofi Annan - emerged from the ranks of United Nations' staff to become its seventh Secretary-General Graça Machel - renowned international advocate for women's and children's rights Gro Harlem Brundtland - former Prime Minister of Norway who championed the principle of sustainable development Li Zhaoxing - former Ambassador to the United Nations for China who played an important role in helping to maintain world peace Mary Robinson - former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Muhammad Yunus - Nobel Peace Prize winner who has worked tirelessly to gain loan opportunities for the world's rural poor

(read profiles of each at the official website<http://www.theelders.org/elders/> ).

The following is an abridged version of Nelson Madela's July 18th speech:

In today's world, many of the problems we face are global in nature. These include climate change, pandemics such as AIDS, malaria and TB. And of course, that entirely human created affliction: violent conflict.

The structures we have to deal with these problems are often tied down by political, economic or geographical constraints.

As institutions of government grapple – often unequally – with challenges they face, the efforts of a small, dedicated group of leaders, working objectively and without any vested personal interest in the outcome, can help resolve what often seems like intractable problems.

We have the makings of such a group. . . Using their collective experience, their moral courage and their ability to rise above the parochial concerns of nation, race and creed, they can help make our planet a more peaceful, healthy and equitable place to live.

Let us call them Global Elders, not because of their age, but because of their individual and collective wisdom.

This group derives its strength not from political, economic or military power, but from the independence and integrity of those who are here. They do not have careers to build, elections to win, constituencies to please. They can talk to anyone they please, and are free to follow paths they deem right, even if hugely unpopular.

I believe that, with their experience and their energies, and their profound commitment to building a better world, The Elders can become a fiercely independent and robust force for good, tackling complex and intractable issues, especially those that are not popular. Through their friends in business, they can mobilize up to date technology, and raise not only awareness of forgotten issues, but also help locate the resources to address them.

But whatever techniques they use, I believe that in the end it is kindness and generous accommodation that are the catalysts for real change. I know these esteemed friends of mine are capable of doing all these things. *Nelson Mandela - Wednesday 18th July 2007 (read the entire speech<http://dl.groovygecko.net/anon.groovy/clients/akqa/projectamber/press/The_Elders-Speech.pdf>or watch video <http://www.theelders.org/Video.aspx>)

* Never have I been filled with so much hope by a simple announcement. In an age where speculation about a sexy celphone or another book about a child wizard, or drunken exploits of a third rate actor can dominate the news for months, consider this email my small part in helping spread what I believe could be the most important story in our lifetime. Just imagine to potential of a group of proven global leaders, thinkers, activists working outside of the twentieth century system, to take on the most daunting global issues.

Please spread this story, discuss it with your friends and family, and support <http://www.theelders.org/supporters/> these pioneers in whatever way you can. For my part, I have just sent an official inquiry into working for The Elders as part of their support staff. I also urge you to sign up for the forthcoming Global Village <http://www.theelders.org/village/>, an online community through which we may all participate in this revolutionary global movement.

Sincerely, Derek Breen human being (with a little more hope than yesterday)"

Thanks Derek for your eloquent description of this historically momentous (and sadly under-reported) development.

America's Democracy

As we celebrate America's 231st birthday, we ask ourselves what do we think of America's experiment in democratic self-governing? Has it turned out as planned? Is it functioning as it is supposed to? What is the function of democratic government? What are the risks in adopting a democratic form of government? How is America's democracy different from other democracies? How has it changed over the last two centuries? What developments, unforeseen by the original architects, are now interfering with the founding principles? What are the founding principles of our democracy? How are we to evaluate the health of a democracy? How does one cure an ailing democracy? What are the obstacles to maintaining a healthy democracy? Do we need to develop, invent, or evolve a new, more advanced form of government to overcome the ills of the older form? What might a more enlighten/mature form of government look like? How could it come into being? Would the older form of government need to be dismantled, or could the new be added on top of the old?

Participants: Billie Lagerwerff, Derek Breen, John Tytus, Ken Thompson

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Skypecast Difficulties

My apologies to those of you who tried to connect to our live discussion yesterday by way of Skypecast. For reasons that are still unclear to me, Skypecast failed to maintain a connection more than about a fraction of a second, despite numerous attempts to connect. Skypecast is a very experimental system (very, very, Beta) and that may be the only explanation we can hope for at this time. The company is continuously updating their software, so I hope this is just a temporary bug. I will check to see if we can get a new release and will keep you informed on this blog.

In any case, we did record a very engaging dialogue with my local citizen philosopher guests on the topic of "America's 231 year experiment in democratic self-governing - what do we think of it?" The conversion will be released as a podcast, available through iTunes this Sunday, July 8.

Our next live discussion is scheduled for August 1, 2007. Please join us at that time. I hope Skypecast will be working more smoothly then. We would love to have you included in the discussion.

How to participate

Hello, this is Steve Donaldson, host of Thinking Out Loud. I hope you have been enjoying our ongoing series of philosophical dialogues with everyday people.

So far we have recorded 22 intellectually stimulating and philosophically insightful conversations ranging from "What is Love?" to "What are the obstacles to wisdom?".

These conversations have been released as free weekly podcasts through Apple's iTunes online music store, as well as through a host of other podcast providers. You can also download the mp3 recordings directly from this web site.

Starting this month, July, 2007, we will be switching from a weekly release schedule to a monthly schedule tied to our live recording sessions. Our live recording sessions are currently scheduled for the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm. The very next session will be this Wednesday, July 4th, 2007, at 7:00 pm eastern time US.

At this point we would like to encourage your participation in our dialogues as well. You can do so by connecting to our live sessions using special software that makes use of Voice Over Internet technology. The software is free and is called Skype. Some of you may already have it. Skype is best known for its ability to allow users to make free long distance phone calls over the Internet. A lesser know feature of Skype is its ability to allow users to participate in live group conversation known as Skypecasts. This is the how we can allow you to listen in and contribute to the conversation as it is being recorded. To speak, you will need to have a microphone connected to your computer. To just listen in, all you need are your computer speakers or earphones. You can download the Skype software from www.skype.com.

I will create the Skypecast session around 6:45, so you should be able to find it listed under "On Now" in the Skypecast Directory at that time. If you run into difficulty, contact me through Skype chat. My Skype ID is citizenphilosopher.

After the recording session, I will do whatever editing might be needed and then release the recording as a podcast on iTunes and other podcast outlets, the following Sunday.

If you have any questions for me or comments to share, please post them below under "comments".

Hope you can join us on Wednesday. Until then, remember, thinking is a good thing - everyone has a right to enjoy it...