What would you do with $1 billion?
An action plan for regenerative systemic change
As I read the horrific news about forest fires and climate change and review the latest devastating IPCC report, I am reminded of that time, a few years back, when a Bitcoin billionaire offered me the job of Director of the new foundation he was going to start, ONE.give . This eccentric, colorful character said he was going to put ALL of his fortune into a nonprofit foundation, and give ALL of his money back to humanity and the Earth, hopefully inspiring other billionaires to do the same. I was moved by this vision, which seemed genuine and heartfelt, and honored that he was tapping me to lead it.
Sadly, this amazing opportunity turned out to be some sort of convoluted, ambiguous Public Relations stunt. The billionaire retreated to the tax haven of Puerto Rico with a number of other cryptocurrency “idealists.” Their yearning to “save the world” was, I discovered, less substantial than their desire to own private jets and yachts, and above all, avoid taxation. Eventually, I was offered a modest pay off if I would sign a nondisclosure agreement, which I refused.
At least I had a great time, for a few months, envisioning what I would do if, indeed, I was put in charge of a billion-dollar foundation designed to “save the world.” What I proposed drew from my 2016 book, How Soon Is Now? (which remains a lively and timely read!). As accelerating climate change is in the news again, I thought I would share my vision for what could be done. After all, one never knows: Perhaps another billionaire, finally grasping that current efforts toward “green Capitalism” are hopeless and an entirely new approach is needed, will stumble upon these words. I might become employable again.
ONE: Action Plan for Regenerative Systemic Change
In the last two centuries, humanity has transformed the Earth to an unprecedented degree. According to scientists, we now live in the Anthropocene: The epoch in which human activity reshapes the planet’s biogeochemical environment. Unfortunately, as of yet, we are not doing this with wisdom or forethought.
The industrial civilization we developed over the last two centuries rapidly degrades the health of our ecosystems. Over 100 species go extinct each day out of the more than 8 million organisms sharing the Earth with us. This means we are eliminating 10% of the Earth’s remaining biodiversity every 10 - 15 years. As we exploit raw materials, we spew toxic compounds and heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere, accelerating warming, pollution, and biodiversity loss. If we continue current rates of CO2 emissions, we will see a temperature rise of 2, 3, 5, or even more degrees Celsius by 2050. In other words, we are racing toward catastrophe.
We face the prospect of civilizational collapse and even extinction in the near term. Up to this point, piecemeal and reformist efforts to address the approaching catastrophe have failed, despite the concerted efforts of governments, scientists, NGOs, activists, and entrepreneurs. It is obvious we need a new approach.
We find ourselves in a crucible, destined to overturn our basic assumptions about the world we share. So what can we do? Einstein said, "No problem can be solved by the same kind of thinking that created it." At this precipice, we need to define a new kind of thinking, then apply it to break through the inertia.
As a species, we possess tremendous creative and technical resources. In the past, we overcame obstacles and accomplished things that seemed impossible many times. We can change direction quickly when we confront an emergency together.
To move forward, we need direction. We must define our desired endpoint. The sensible goal is this one: A planetary civilization that is ecologically regenerative and peaceful, where we enhance ecosystem resilience and biodiversity while supporting the well-being of our human family as a whole.
How do we accomplish this? By designing, prototyping, and mass-distributing a post-industrial infrastructure that meshes human activity harmoniously with the life-supporting activities of the biosphere.
Along with this goal, we also need to reduce our impact and eventually reverse much of the damage we have done to the Earth, as best we can.
The goal of a regenerative civilization may seem impossible, but new developments make it not only conceivable, but attainable. We are seeing breakthroughs in many areas, from renewable energy to vertical farming, new decision-making tools to ecologically sane currencies, from means of removing plastics and CO2 from the oceans in large quantities to self-sufficient housing units that include composting and aquaponics. These innovations can all mesh together into a holistic alternative.
The truth is, if humanity cooperated as a unified force — if we acted, starting today, as a planetary super-organism — we would be able to achieve this goal quickly. While it would require significant lifestyle changes for many, we could accomplish this objective without large-scale loss of life.
The exciting fact is that we possess the technical means to make the transition to a regenerative system over the next decades. At the moment, our competing ideologies, economic and political systems, parochial identities and selfish motivations that keep this goal out of reach. To make the leap, we need the new vision, the new system, and the means to distribute it.
Crisis is opportunity. Today, global civilization is connected as never before through networks of trade, satellites, and digital platforms for instantaneous communication and value exchange. Potentially, much of our already existing infrastructure - even religious institutions like the Catholic Church, which recently defined a redemptive ecological vision for the future - can be repurposed for the task at hand. In an emergency, this could happen with breathtaking speed.
Building A Global Movement for the New Planetary Culture
The Theory of Change proposed by ONE differs from that of many existing NGOs and initiatives, including COP-21, 350.org, the UN SDGs, and the DiCaprio Foundation's One Earth project. To support environmental health, we see the technical changes needed as only one aspect of a change that also requires a fundamental and far-reaching transition in humanity's beliefs, values, and worldview. At the same time, we recognize the necessity of initiatives that focus on addressing the problems of rising CO2 levels, biodiversity loss, etc, purely as an engineering challenge. We believe the situation requires "both-and" rather than "either-or" logic.
We must orchestrate a new level of cooperation and symbiosis between groups, initiatives, communities and stakeholders. We must overcome superficial differences in values, ideology, and strategic objectives. Reason and evidence are not enough to inspire collective action at the level we require. Even with the eruption of forest fires and ecological disasters across the planet over the last few years, coupled with the clear evidence of rapidly warming temperatures, the mass populace remains inactive and detached. We must understand why this is the case and address it.
We need a global movement that does not simply promote “sustainability” as an end point, or a superficial reform of Capitalism. The movement must envision, promote and establish a new model for human society that benefits everyone — a non-zero game or “win win” outcome for the world.
For a global movement to flourish — a movement capable of comprehensively addressing the ecological emergency unleashed by our industrial and commercial activity — it can’t simply focus on the crisis in a flat or two-dimensional way. People — particularly young people — will not rally in large numbers simply to sustain or protect the remaining resources or perpetuate the old system: They need a vision of something much better and more amazing up ahead.
Humans are creatures driven by myth. As Yuval Noah Harari wrote, as humans, we require abstract ideals and collective beliefs to coordinate our behavior: “Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths,” he writes. “Any large-scale human cooperation — whether a modern state, a medieval church, an ancient city or an archaic tribe — is rooted in common myths that exist only in people’s collective imagination.” Harris writes: “To change an existing imagined order, we must first believe in an alternative imagined order.”
For the regenerative movement to succeed, we must inspire and ignite a yearning within the human soul and spirit for something greater. This requires a redemptive sense of human potential as well as a utopian vision for the future. As Oscar Wilde noted, “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.”
We commit to creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to live and love fully, their time liberated for creative pursuits and personal cultivation.
What we offer is the utopian ideal of a regenerative society where technology is applied to emancipate our human family from drudgery. The focus of post-industrial civilization must shift from meaningless material accumulation to establishing multigenerational communities that live in harmony with the Earth, honoring and enhancing cultural diversity as well as biodiversity.
Humanity always needs a great mission to inspire us toward personal sacrifice and collective evolution. The new frontiers of the regenerative society include inner development (we will apply all types of ancient and new techniques to explore the “outer reaches of inner space”) as well as exploration of the solar system and universe, with the eventual goal of settling on other worlds. These two initiatives are not opposite but complementary. The global renaissance of esoteric spirituality (yoga, vipassana, Sufism, etc) and psychedelic research indicates that humanity is getting ready for this great mission of self-discovery.
Post-War Counterculture Movements as Prototypes
In the late 1940s, a tiny handful of artists and writers in New York City developed the ethos of what became known as the Beat Generation. The poet Allen Ginsberg worked in marketing. He intentionally crafted the group’s identity, hoping to inspire a larger movement of cultural change. This unfolded in the 1960s. The Beatles took their name from the Beats — John Lennon studied them. Ginsberg and his fellow Beats also influenced Bob Dylan, who took their message to the masses.
The Beat vision of a spontaneous DIY culture that was mystical, anti-academic, and anti-elitist inspired the hippie movement of the 60s. In a few years, this movement swelled to tens of millions globally. It led to phenomena like the 1968 Prague Spring, the Green movement, the Sexual Revolution, and the “Back to the Land” movement. Ironically, in the early 60s, sociologists confidently proclaimed the young generation to be the most conformist in history. Times can change quickly.
The 1970s and 80s saw a backlash against the counterculture of the 1960s. The machinery of advertising and mass media assimilate the style and ambience of the fringe radical movements. Mainstream culture substituted the commodified construct of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” for authentic liberation. Rock and roll — which once seemed to pose an authentic challenge to the status quo — was depoliticized and homogenized. The establishment outlawed and culturally repressed the exploration of altered states of consciousness through psychedelic substances, as cocaine, speed, and heroin became the popular drugs. The movement toward sexual liberation as a political act was degraded into the licentious, mindless hedonism paraded at Studio 54.
Begun in 1986, the Burning Man festival has its roots in the artistic counterculture of the 1960s and 70s, based on ideas from Situationists and DaDaists, as well as Hakim Bey’s concept of the “Temporary Autonomous Zone.” Over the last decades, Burning Man grew into an international movement with spin-off events taking place in South Africa, Israel, South America, as well as across the United States and Europe. The events themselves have created a culture of “Burners” who identify with the ten principles defined by its founder Larry Harvey. These include “Radical Self-Expression”, “Gifting”, and “Leave No Trace.”
Critics of the festival note an implicit Libertarian ethos in its principles, which make no judgment on economic disparity nor wealth inequality. In practice, this has allowed Burning Man to draw the economic elite to its countercultural vision of a liberated cultural zone — a free space for creative expression, consciousness exploration, and community, lacking an explicit agenda of social or ecological responsibility. Burning Man has taken aspects of the counterculture vision of the 1940s - 60s and created a template for this to replicate itself, growing and scaling.
As anthropologists note, Burning Man has many earmarks of a new religion, although one devoid of explicit spirituality or faith. If Burning Man stands for anything, it is personal freedom and creative expression. One challenge in building a regenerative social movement will be in evoking religious and spiritual ideals while remaining agnostic enough to attract skeptics and nihilists. Burning Man provides a prototype for this.
To bring about large-scale social change, we need to unify an elite with cultural influence, wealth, and charisma behind a new vision and set of initiatives. The mass of people follow the direction set by those they see as leaders. We can intentionally shape the values and ideals of this new global movement. We can use blockchain-based reward systems so that people receive tangible inducements to make lifestyle changes. These changes can start small but quickly become significant.
Prototypes to draw upon: Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement, Transition Town, The Zeitgeist Movement, Occupy, 12 Step, The Evolver Network, The Tea Party, MoveOn, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, Standing Rock.
ONE Initiatives
Our goal is a systemic transition to a regenerative society that is in harmonious balance with the Earth. A regenerative society is no longer based on exploitation of resources and human labor or the ecologically unsustainable commodification of human relationships. Such a transition requires a number of developments. These can happen simultaneously:
1. Network Infrastructure
The transition to a regenerative society requires a network infrastructure that supports the rapid transition in paradigm and practices while we reduce CO2 emissions. What we need is an open-source, peer-to-peer scaffold that supports the global community in doing the following:
Raising consciousness
Exchanging value outside of the monetary system
Sharing resources
Building / empowering local communities
Volunteering in crisis areas / refugee camps
Making intelligent decisions (liquid democracy)
Relocalizing energy, industry and food production
Enhancing the health of the commons (bioremediation etc)
Understanding the Earth as a whole system
Mass trainings in ecological design / permaculture
A “network of networks” can coordinate a rapid transition in areas such as energy, industry, food production, bioremediation, and waste management, while helping resilient communities form locally.
ONE can partner with a number of new platforms, some currently functioning, others in Beta and others still under construction. It may be necessary to make investments or donations to some of these projects to accelerate their completion or customize them for ONE.
Giveth.io: A decentralized altruism platform, using blockchain, that eliminates the bureaucratic middleman in charitable giving while it makes the process of contributing funds transparent and accountable. Donors choose an area of philanthropy under the leadership of a Delegate. The Delegate proposes a project that the Donor can accept or reject. Projects receive initial funding then further funding based on reaching milestones. This is a powerful platform for effective altruism that eliminates the bureaucratic middleman. It can be the basis of ONE’s philanthropy, inspiring many Donors to get involved.
Earthx: An open-source platform that maps data sets onto a virtual globe. It includes authoring tools for creating "geostories" that make use of the data, combined with video and audio. EarthX could be the basis for a geolocation based social network where individuals visually understand their actions in relation to the biosphere and technosphere as a whole. EarthX also offers the potential for modeling the potential ecological impact of different projects for the future, as it clarifies current trends with no need to read dense articles or scientific studies.
Kialos: a debating platform where the community explores basic propositions, offering supportive or countering arguments. Kialos can help individuals become planetary agents by sharpening reasoning skills. It can be integrated into a liquid democracy voting platform.
Democracy.earth / Sovereign: Democracy.earth could be a powerful tool of the movement toward local direct democracy, giving people the power to move their vote instantly and vote in different areas continuously.
2. New Communities: Designing, Prototyping, and Scaling
Bringing together the global network of ecological designers, we identify and develop prototypes and templates for self-sufficient, resilient, and regenerative models of living for both rural and urban communities. These templates can be customized for local conditions and scalable for rapid adoption. We use media, social tools, and other incentives to promote the rapid adoption of successful models.
ONE will develop a program for volunteers, healers, and “lightworkers” who want to give their gifts without struggling in the money system. We do this by developing a network of community land trusts and urban housing where these volunteers can live for free while they do their work. Those in service will amass a complementary currency they can spend with the ONE community, allowing them access to retreats, conferences, educational opportunities, and so on.
3. Movement Plus Media
The launch of a global social movement that supports mass adoption of regenerative principles and templates, that implements these techniques and principles in society. Such a movement must express its vision through media that takes many forms, from news shows to music to short video to an interactive user-generated content platform that provides tangible rewards to producers and creators of content. This movement must boldly propose a new vision and direction for humanity: The vision of a regenerative society, beyond the current paradigm that sees material success and technological progress as the only endpoints but puts forth a vision of humanity living in harmony, freed from meaningless drudgery, with individuals having the time and resources to develop their gifts.
4. Emergency Grants
While we build the new system, we must slow the current pace of global destruction. This requires immediate contributions and investments into necessary ecological projects to maintain the critical life support systems of the Earth. (Reforestation, kelp farming, CO2 removal technologies, regenerative farming, renewable energy, biomass energy, waste-to-fuel plants etc). We must support threatened indigenous cultures that protect the Earth’s remaining resources. We must also work with the current political system to some extent — supporting political candidates and movements with a green agenda, as well as culture hackers and disruptors — even as we construct a new system that supersedes it.
We can make donations to organizations that share our values and ideals as a way to accelerate the movement. These organizations will include: Amazon Watch, Buckminster Fuller Institute, Peace Accelerators, and 8 Billion Dreams. The leaders of these NGOs become part of our think tank so we can draw on their expertise and inspiration as we coordinate the next stages of the global movement.
Think Tank
ONE requires it's own internal think tank (like Heritage or CFR) to continuously define and refine its strategy.
One focus of the think tank will be the technical requirements for the transition, in areas such as renewable energy, regenerative farming, cradle-to-cradle manufacturing, transport, waste management, bioremediation, ecosystem management, etc. Projects and initiatives will be presented on a comprehensive Wiki allowing our global community to keep adding and focusing more precisely on their needs.
The think tank will develop the strategic and tactical action plan for enacting our agenda. The think tank will be affiliated with similar initiatives, drawing upon their expertise and research. We will invite leaders of complementary nonprofits (Amazon Watch, Green Schools Alliance, Buckminster Fuller Institute, etc) to be part of the advisory board. We will collaborate with other think tanks like Great Transition Initiative, Institute for the Future, and the Next System Project.
Another focus will be research and field-testing of techniques and methods to bring about large-scale behavior change, along with a change of value, beliefs, and ideology. Groups like Beyond Conflict and the Neuro-Leadership Institute will be partners in this. We will convene focus groups to test messaging etc.
Another focus will be preservation of and educational exchange with indigenous and local cultures who maintain living knowledge of ecological balance and how to live in harmony with their ecosystem.
Private Conferences
ONE will curate and co-produce a series of 4 or 5 day private gatherings that bring together investors, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and public artists with visionaries and shamanic practitioners. The goal is to align mission, values, and strategies.
The mission of ONE to undertake a comprehensive systemic redesign might seem broad, but we have an example from the last decades of an organization that succeeded in undertaking a similarly large-scale transformation: The Heritage Foundation and its allies. A group of Right Wing billionaires contributed billions of dollars over 4 decades to construct the infrastructure and build the political influence they needed to execute on their plan. They created a network of well-funded groups aimed at deregulation, reducing public spending, and cutting taxes for the wealthy. We can learn from and duplicate their strategy in some ways.
As Dark Money by Jane Mayer reveals, these wealthy extremists brought together a coterie of plutocrats who shared similar ideas and agendas to align their values on a deeper level. They met together over and over again until they reached coherence. ONE should convene similar groups on a regular basis, to build consensus and amass more funds.
Social Media Agency
As an element of ONE's Theory of Change, we see the potential of reaching mass audiences — particularly millennials and younger — by working with public artists (celebrities) with aligned values who have large followings on social media. By aggregating a number of influencers and integrating messaging toward particular goals or objectives, we can spread messages and ideas quickly to launch large-scale campaigns that have particular milestones. (For instance, can we get 10 million people to become vegetarian through a six month campaign?)
Through marketing, we can make ecologically beneficial activities (going vegan, for instance) appear hip and glamorous, while we deglamorize negative behavior habits like excess consumerism. The goal is to build a positive, pro-active social movement that promotes and coordinates collective actions for ecological health and social change.
Conclusion
We find ourselves in a crucible of transformation. This is a time when all possibilities seem open, while existential threats loom over humanity’s future. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from the ecological mega-crisis, which could engulf all of us.
What a wonderful time to be alive!
Confronting these threats, our human family has the potential to come together as one — to unify — as never before. We have everything we need to make a paradise on this world — what the visionary design scientist Buckminster Fuller called “Spaceship Earth.” We have the technical capacities and the knowhow to liberate our human family, as a whole, from drudgery and misery, as we restore and replenish the health of the biosphere which gives us life.
At this critical threshold, humanity needs a new vision and a new understanding of its role in the world. We need a movement that directs us toward a future that could be beautiful beyond our wildest hopes and dreams, along with a philanthropic initiative that orchestrates our technical capacity for living in a new way. ONE can help to provide this direction, shaping and coordinating the global movement through open-source collaboration and effective altruism.
As never before, the future is in our hands.
Announcing my next online seminar:
Hi Daniel, thank you for this interesting proposal. You have sparked the conversation with my family - what would you do if you had 1 billion pounds... You mentioned quite a few interesting sounding organizations, do you know of a website/platform that lists regenerative organizations?
Also why, in your proposal, have you made the conferences private? Surely live streaming and open-sourcing it would be best? And do you really think that change comes from leaders at the top? Don't you think grass-roots change is really where the movement comes from?