The journey of a thousand miles..

Here's a single step in the direction of actually getting a blog going about business, leadership, creativity, and spirituality. I've been interested in retracing the books and ideas that have led me to the understanding of business as vocation and capitalism as the most effective vehicle for social change. The name "fair profit" connotes a hybrid non-profit/for-profit business model that I think will be the key to lasting change. It's akin to "fair trade" or "organic" but has much wider reaching implications. I envision it more along the lines of ISO9002 certification. It would be a standard that consumers could trust to help them choose among multiple product offerings. It would encompass fair labor standards, green business practices, community involvement and executive compensation, among other things. Often we make buying decisions based on price alone and don't think about the other costs associated with low prices. The reality is that we can change the world by changing how we spend our money.

There are a couple of quotes that were particularly influential in my starting this blog. I'll paraphrase them here:

Our task in life is to learn the truth and act on it
- Tolstoy (The Kingdom of God is Within)
Every act is an act of self-definition; everything you think, say, and do continually creates who you are.
- Neale Donald Walsch (Tomorrow's God)
We must be the change we wish to see in the world
- Gandhi

What it really comes down to for me is that I believe that the most fundamental issues that face humanity and the planet, the issues that prevent peace, are spiritual issues. By spiritual I don't mean religious, I mean issues that relate to our understanding of ourselves and our connection to other humans, all of life, and the larger whole. The problems arise from a false notion of separation - the idea that what happens to someone else somewhere else doesn't affect me. That I can succeed at another's expense. That I have done something to deserve my lot in life.

I believe that we are all inextricably connected, and that our sense of separateness is only due to our inability to see beyond our own experience. It is easy for me to comprehend how protons and electrons are a part of an atom, and how atoms are a part of a cell, and how cells are part of an organ, and an organ is a part of the body. Everything that operates on a more simple level than the human mind has been proven to be made up of progressively smaller parts. Even things that are seemingly solid have lots of "space" and "motion" in them on an atomic level. That's why it doesn't make sense to me to think that this progression stops with human beings. Who's to say that we aren't like the protons and electrons, seemingly busy doing our own thing, unknowingly part of something(s) much larger and more integral. So, in refelcting on how to best use my talents to make meaningful change toward a peaceful world, it became quite apparent that the most fundamental work is to increase human awareness of connection to each other and all of life.

The question then became "How?". That's where capitalism comes in. I believe that business is the most powerful force in the world today. It controls money and influences governments. It transcends national borders. In fact, governments and non-profits exist on the proceeds of business. Government in the form of taxes, and non-profits in the form of government aid, corporate donations, and individual donations (from wages, earned in corporations). So it seemed only logical to use the most powerful tool (Capitalism) to tackle the most serious problems (Sense of separation). Hence the fair-profit model which aims to do just that; make people aware of the power of their purchases and provide tools that enable them to more easily spend money in ways that are consistent with their values.