Integrale Weltbürgerkunde in fünf Schritten

Aus dem eben eingetroffenen Newsletter des Integral Institutes zitiere ich die Ankündigung eines Gesprächs von Ken Wilber mit Jim Garrison, Präsident des 1995 von ihm gemeinsam mit Michael Gorbatschew gegründeten State of the World Forum. Das vollständige Gespräch kann auf der Website des Integral Institute angehört werden. Es sind Gedanken, die mir am Herzen liegen, und die ich - in anderer Form - auch im Buch „Eine Welt oder Keine“ ausgedrückt habe.

"Nobody on this planet goes to bed at night hungry because of lack of food. They go to bed at night hungry because of lack of political ideas, and the lack of political systems to get them the food."

So, finally, we come to the all-important question: "what now?" As Integral thinkers, practitioners, leaders, artists, and activists, it is essential that we live up to a new standard of global citizenship, in which some sort of civic engagement becomes as intrinsic to our personal practice as any meditation, study, or physical exercise. These inner-focused practices must be allowed to come to fruition and find full expression in the world, or else we begin to swallow our own light, rather than sharing it with those who need it most.

Integral Civics in Five Generic Steps

Step 1 - Wake up! Continue to practice, practice, practice, in as many fundamental areas of your life as you can. If our problems demand an Integral response, the Integral response demands your ongoing efforts to enact it. This is arguably the most important step, which is why it is the first step—but it cannot be the only step.

Step 2 - Get informed! If you wish to do something to help the world, then you need to understand what is going on. Find perspectives that you trust, and use the Integral framework to deepen your understanding of these perspectives. While many feel that staying in touch with the news in our sound-byte-driven media can feel like standing on a mountain of marbles, there are indeed sane and stable voices out there, who retain some degree of journalistic integrity. Find those voices.

Step 3 - Interact! Share your perspective with your friends, your family, and your community, Integral or otherwise. Pay attention to where you agree, and where you disagree, while keeping in mind that, from an Integral perspective, everyone is always right—even if some are more right than others. Simply sharing your ideas and values with others helps to further refine and focus your views, especially while keeping an eye out for your own personal and cultural shadows, biases, and blind spots.

Step 4 - Get involved! Decide what level of engagement works for you, whether that means donating a portion of your disposable income to a particular cause or candidate that you resonate with, all the way to taking it to the streets in public protest—of course, at an absolute minimum, if you have any Integral perspective at all, you should be voting!

Step 5 - Wake up! The alpha and omega of Integral civics. You are asleep, and are having a dream. In that dream, millions of people are suffering needlessly. What is the best way to immediately liberate all of these people, to alleviate all of this pain?

Just open your eyes, and wake up. Now.