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World Peace Requires Virtuous Commerce

Posted on October 15th, 2007 by Will Marre.
Categories: Leadership, Education, Community, Uncategorized.

World Peace Requires Virtuous Commerce

There is a new game going on called Totalitarian Capitalism. Huge economies such as China and Russia are proving that consumer capitalism can drive economic growth without political freedom. They’re also proving that technology can easily be used to control information rather than broadcast it. This should be more than a little concerning. Remember, we thought we won the Cold War because the weak Russian economy, but Russia has become the oil and energy supplier to Europe. Now Russia is getting richer by the day, and they’re dusting off the buttons on their nukes. China is one of the most repressive police states in the world, yet it’s an economic miracle. A miracle with a 100,000,000-man army, inter continental ballistic missiles, and an appetite for Taiwan.

In a world where critical economic resources such as oil, water, and minerals are increasingly scarce, the imagined benefits of competition are simply too tempting to pursue the opportunities of collaboration.

Peace will come when leaders recognize the benefits of peace outweigh the potential benefits of war. Those benefits must cover the whole spectrum of human motivations, spiritual as well as material. This requires visionary world leaders and an international business community who see the ultimate threat not as bad financial quarter, but rather human extinction or world wide dark age of unprecedented suffering.

I know this sounds like idealist mush, but, as the McKinsey survey reflects, it’s not. We are on the verge of a whole new level of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to create everything we need from atoms and molecules instead of iron, ore, precious metals, and oil. We are on the verge of solving the problem of sustainable clean energy. We are on the verge of solving the riddles of disease. We are on the verge of creating sustainable abundance based on the economics of ideas rather than the economics of things. But being on the verge doesn’t mean now. But in real time these advances will take 50 years to come into widespread use. In the mean time we must find the will not to destroy each other and reduce the world to barbarism before we can save it.

So what is required? We must demand that our political and business leaders have a worthy vision of a new future and have practical plans to get us there. So far all I see are little ideas, politically inspired mush, and too little bold investments in world saving technologies.

But we, you and I, can do a lot. We must take stock of whom we work for. Is your employer or are you adding unique value to the world? Would anything of tangible value be lost if your employer went out of business or you quit doing your job? Human energy, brains, and talent are terrible things to waste. We’ve all been given an advantaged life. Why not use it to create the most value you can?

Don’t be reckless. Be wise. Spend enough time in daily self-reflection to get a sense of inner direction. Then take the common sense, one step at a time approach to changing your impact and elevating your influence. You will attract allies. You will see opportunities. As the door unlocks, open it wide. Speak up. Act. In your next business meeting, ask the big questions others aren’t. We can’t do everything, but what can we do? Our children are depending on our courage.

Will Marre
Founder, American Dream Project

4 comments.

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Robert Anderson

Comment on October 16th, 2007.

You are as God made you…why fight it…why try to change it? God made this planet for a purpose and the driving force of this planet is hate and killing.

Perhaps God uses this planet as an “example” or perhaps he is preparing this planet as a “silver bullet” to fire into the heart of ultimate evil. Like a child packing and packing an “iceball” to throw at his rival.

Whatever His purpose you can not overcome it…submit to the will of God and revel in your few moments here on earth. Do the ultimate eveil you can imagine and join in God’s Plan.

It is simply how he does business on this planet.

S. P.

Comment on October 16th, 2007.

Sounds like a great idea, however it has never happened in world history. Commerce creates violence, slavery, corruption and many other bad policies. Manufacturers are still actively engaged in slavery. Moving companies off
shore for the cheaper labor costs is merely taking the work to the slave instead of the slave to work.

Nations are fighting over oil production. Fundamental extremist are being funded by so called ally nations. Religious upheaval is everywhere. We tolerate other religions and cultures in our own country to the point that we no longer have a national language or culture. Isn’t in god we trust still printed on or currency?

Who are we as Americans? Our American culture is so undefined that other cultures have to hyphenate their race. They aren’t Americans they are Japanese-American, or African-Americans, or whatever race you want to use.
Most of them were born here and have never set foot on their “mother” nations soil. I say Americans need to stand up for themselves. Become a proud country again and say. Bring me your huddled masses and will provide
them the opportunity to become whatever you strive for. Complain about your opportunities and we will send you back immediately. Our language is English, learn it use it or go home.

C.G.

Comment on October 17th, 2007.

We all have a respoonsibility on this earth, yes, created by GOD, not for evil but for good. Fighting the forces of evil have to be recognized as real and threatening to freedom. We do have large hurdles to overcome. Being born in 1952 and having seen quite a bit over the years, it does blow my mind when I see that China, a communist country, has the power it has in the world, in commerce, in manpower, in cheap labor and that they are a driving force in the downfall of American commerce. And Russia, another communist country, or group of little countries now, is another important player in world commerce. I know we are a global community and that we need to work and live together, but is that what we are doing. I do not think so. We are not living and working TOGETHER, when we allow such that is happening in the world now. We need to stand up for ourselves, be strong and do the right thing. One person can make a difference. Every day, we can make a difference. Speak up, speak out, initiate change, even small changes, in where you work, where you live, who you speak to. We must do this to survive or the end of civilization as we know it will be changed forever, if we make it. I believe we will. GOD has given us the talents to do what needs to be done and we must do it.Today.

Amy

Comment on October 24th, 2007.

For those of us interested in the idea of “Virtuous Commerce” I would like to suggest reading about the Merchant Priesthood, and the idea of “Sacred Commerce”. Quote from Ayman Sawaf’s website about this part of our human history:
“For the Merchant Priesthood, the foundation of a healthy society was the principles of flow, balance, and abundance. Commerce was their way of assuring goods flow through the entire population creating equity between different levels of society, and ensuring that there were no bottlenecks of wealth. Goods for them were measures of energy, it was prosperity not profit that mattered to them.”
We can potentially learn from our not so distant past, and move forward with vision, and from a center point of balance and wisdom–seeking to create what it is that we truly wish for, rather than protecting what it is that we have known in our lives. Blessed Be.
(Ayman Sawaf - http://aymansawaf.com/sacred.html)

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World Peace Requires Virtuous Commerce