Dear Mr. Gates.

Bill & Melinda Gates have posted an invitation on Linked In, asking for input toward what would make a better world. This was my reply:


Hello Mr & Mrs Gates,

Thank you for the invitation and opportunity to share my thoughts with you, on how we can make a better world.

In recent years I’ve taken to a study of macro-economics, and am a huge fan of the author Charles Eisenstein and his book “Sacred Economics.” I spent so many years trying to ‘do the right thing,’ and be the best global citizen I could, and what I wound up with was less than desirable: the chagrin of my colleagues. It was troubling, as by our words, it would have seemed we shared similar value principles; but in practice, we were operating quite differently.

Put succinctly, our growth model of economics is reaching its limit. And not just ecologically (which, in my estimate need be of higher priority), but the numbers game of our macro economic situation is steadily directing our species toward some very large decisions for how we wish to live.

I think growth economics puts us all into fight-or-flight psychology: more for me is less for you, and more for you is less for me… Constant growth on a finite planet no longer adds up to profitability - social or financial. Nor does a growth oriented system create equality. Nor access to fresh water. Nor access even to the inalienable rights which are so prized and cherished. This way of interacting - interest based currencies/usury - has run its course in terms of the Ecology, which of course includes our human ecologies.

As the oceans continue to acidify, as the Canadian Prime Minister continues to restrict information toward climate change, as the Fed prints our global wealth and well-fare out of existence… The time when we each need to sit with the emotionality of our collective situation intensifies. In my book, I propose a method of Non-Denominational Meditation by which any person can look back into their body to find a true sense of calling and of place. Becoming more mindful about our time and the way our actions dove-tail into the actions and behaviours of others I believe to be a crucial skill, given the impending changes upon each of us.

I appreciate your mission. And I would encourage people to develop the skills of Emotional Resilience at this time, by which meditation is key. The decisions we face today will truly mark us for all of history.

Thanks again Mr Gates for this opportunity to write to you.

Best & best,

Philip W. Sarsons

www.thebookofgardens.com

More For You is Less For Me. More For Me Is....?

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I think much of our troubles today are being mis-identified as something to do with human nature. When I attempt to have a discussion on economics with the average person, they reveal quite quickly an inability to balance a check-book. I've found this to be so for most all my life: people are largely economically... mis-educated, yet every facet of human culture is borrowed into existence by the things we call money.

So this hesitance toward economics, coupled to our use of it, keeps me very curious. I'm inspired greatly by Charles Eisenstein, who sums up much of our economic behaviour as "more for you is less for me/more for me is less for you." I find that this twin statement reveals the underlying psychology for our Situation: constant-growth on a finite planet. It has us instantly into fight & flight, by which some thrive and many do not, or can not. It is our lesser, beta, thinking, priming the situation for a misdiagnosis of what actually is Alpha.

An Alpha is someone who can provide, and I'll argue that the financial elite today does not do this. The money printing of the Fed is corrupting cultures world-wide - and by 'corrupt' I intend more-so to say 'corrode.' Some would rather loudly say 'rob.' Regardless of who-has-more, our futures are being borrowed out of the ecology which permits us to do and think - everything.

Again, Eisenstein is inspiring. As I cover in my own book:

"If we can monetize mini-vans landing on Mars to drill holes in little rocks with even littler laser-beams, what is so crazy about monetizing the cleaning of stream-beds and the plucking of old toothbrushes out of the coral reefs? If we can observe that we have an ozone layer, what would be so maniacal about tending to it in a generative way? The distance between these two sets of activity seems packed with confusion if you ask me. So the key to opening these doors comes alongside the courage to sit, developing a comfort with gentleness, curiosity, and kindness: qualities which are generally seen as antithetical to financial prosperity within consumer driven, constant-growth-economics. I find these nurturing and regenerative actions no less manly than digging things up or paving them over: that is, our currently careless economic Situation often gives rise to an equally careless persona. Our minds are simply too nimble, fast, and creative, to not contribute a solution to any given problem, regardless of its amplitude. So I find cooperation to be tops in confidence: it is the highest ground to rest your mind upon, it feels better, and from its awareness you have much less, or nothing, to lose. Making a positive contribution to a cultural conundrum requires great self awareness and fine self control to create a pervading assertion; one which would truly sooth the emotionality our situation and personalities routinely squeeze out of us."

The Book of Gardens:

A Lover's Manual for Planet Earth

Thanks kindly. Our 'human troubles' today, our economic puzzles will be solved by courage alone. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please visit http://www.thebookofgardens.com for more - especially if your opinion is contrary to my own. There are two distinct audiences for this book, and how I'd truly enjoy bringing them together. Enjoy the Day.

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