USF Finding the Missing Pieces
Chapter Four – Finding the Missing Pieces
“Teacher, we have freedom do we not? And there are upward spirals in our economy? Why is it that more people and more creatures do not fit?”
and the teacher said, “Can you see the missing bridges yet?”
“No teacher, why doesn't the system grow to let every one and every creature share their gift?”
And the teacher said, “When you think about where you want to fit, what are your choices?”
and the student thought about that and said, “I could go into business, or get a job with government, or perhaps go to work for a social purpose organization.”
“Why are those your only choices? What kinds of people and creatures do not fit with those choices?”
“I know the answer to that teacher, there are those who cannot find jobs, and there are creatures who have lost their habitat.”
And the teacher said, “Yes, we limit the options to express our gift to those who can fit in government, business, or charity. That leaves people poor and ecosystems in downward spirals. But government taxes to help the poor and preserve the environment and business supports charity to help the poor and preserve the environment. Why do we still have poor people and a declining environment?”
And this was a hard question for the student and he went home and thought about it over night. But in the morning he had an answer. “Teacher, a handout, whether taxes or charity, does not create a bridge. It is not an exchange of value – the value only goes one way.”
The teacher said, “I am very proud of you. Do you remember our talk about financial resources? When we look at the flows through the three aspects of our systems, those who do fit can do quite well. But welfare and charity do not create a fit for the poor because there is no value returned to the system in exchange.”
and the teacher continued, “It takes four points to build a stable structure. Government, Business and Charity are only three. We need a fourth aspect to our systems so that value can flow across all six sets of bridges. That is the system feeding value back into itself supporting an upward spiral.”
“I am not sure I follow teacher. If a person does not fit in government, business or charity why would they fit in this fourth aspect?”
And the teacher responded, “Do you remember our talk about what people need? Poor people cannot buy what they need from business because they have nothing of value to the market. Does that mean that they have no gift?”
“No teacher, every living thing has a gift, what they are missing is a bridge.”
“Yes, yes my student. And if we cannot create a bridge to business or government or charity perhaps we can create bridges amongst ourselves? And perhaps we could think of this in the way that a family thinks about the assets it acquires to make life more comfortable. And perhaps this group of people in each community – building bridges amongst themselves – sharing their gifts amongst themselves – would be in a position to convert some of those excess financial resources we talked about back into living resources?”
“That is an interesting possibility if we could figure out how to do it. But what about the declining environment?”
“My student, my student. Follow the flows and see the spirals. What would happen if agriculture was something we did where we lived involving many creatures – instead of monocultures done somewhere else. What if we honored the gift of the smallest of creatures and treated ecosystems as something that we are a part of – instead of something to be preserved someplace else? What did you learn about upward spirals? Do we have any idea how productive we could be adding bridges for all the poor people and all the creatures?”
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