I am writing this on the opening day of the 2008 Tallberg Forum, which takes place in the resort village of Tallberg, Sweden each year.
The overarching question created by those involved in this forum to date is "How on Earth can we live together?" The status of the ability to answer that question was stated (at the end of the 2007 Forum) as follows...
"Do we know what to do? Probably yes. Will we do it? Probably not."
"We know how to be economical, to live in harmony with those closest to us and our community. We know how to cultivate our lands to sustain nature's ecological balances. We know how to stay out of trouble and protect our homes and livelihoods."
From my perspective as a student of three of history's greatest Systems Thinkers (Drs. R. Buckminster Fuller, W. Edwards Deming, and Russell L. Ackoff), I believe the complete statement of the challenge humanity faces can be found by looking at what is missing in the statements above.
What is missing is this:
By saying we know how to live in harmony with those closest to us, what is left out is that we do NOT know how to live in harmony with everyone on planet Earth. In other words, the global "human family" does NOT know how to stop fighting with itself. It is a family at war... a condition that strikes family members even within what we traditionally define as a "family". And - just as traditional families benefit from reconciling their differences - the "family of man" would benefit tremendously if it were to finally reconcile its differences.
I do not know why the Tallberg statements from 2007 leave out the need for the human family to come together as one... to stop the fighting... but this is a Critical Need is we are all ever going to "... learn to live together."
What is also missing from these 2007 statements if fun. That's right... fun.
I will update this essay later on that last topic and more, but it is time for the formal program to begin.
If any of you who are reading this are also at Tallberg, please look for me. We've got a lot to talk about! :)
And if you're not here in Tallberg, please contact me if you'd like to talk about this too.
