Rearranging the Furniture
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I recently visited my sister’s house and barely recognized her living room even though I have spent a lot of time there. The paint, the flooring, the lighting, and the furniture were mostly the same, but the major difference was she had rearranged the furniture.
It’s time we rearrange the furniture in our war against global hunger. The alarming increase of people starving internationally and experiencing hunger nationally are evidence that business as usual is simply not working.
Einstein said the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have to do things in a new way.
Mind you, I’m relatively new to the “hunger space” and all the wonderful people who are trying to solve massive problems.
Because I’m new to this arena, I’ve made a few observations from an outsiders position and here’s some of the furniture that I think needs re-arranging:
Lack of partnerships
There are a lot of great people who are very passionate, but they create silos and don’t see the value in partnerships. I believe in the African proverb, “If you want to run fast, run by yourself. If you want to run far, run with others.” Whether it is government agencies, religious groups, or non-profits, differing ideologies and protection of territory harm the greater good.
Expecting the government to fix the problem
Governments are usually part of the problem, so expecting them to fix and solve the problem by themselves, is like asking the captain of the Titanic to fix the ship after he hit the iceberg.
So here are a few suggestions for rearranging the furniture:
Invent a new community
We are more global than ever and isolationism is simply not an option or realistic anymore. What does a global community or even a local community look like?
Go after the greater good
- Sharing resources, technology, information, and best-practices are essential to have any impact. Beat the swords into plowshares and share!
- Remove the phrase, “over there”
- Hunger in any part of the world poses a threat to our own national security. The “Jasmine Revolution” in the Middle East was started by growling, empty stomachs.
- Find pleasure in purpose
- Pleasure is the by-product of activity. We seek pleasure in our culture as the highest good, but find it is empty. We challenge ourselves to couch our concepts with the idea that eliminating hunger as individuals through practical activity will produce immeasurable pleasure in our world.
But, rearranging the furniture takes a lot of help. Want to help me move things around a bit?
What do you think of my ideas? What would you suggest we do to “rearrange the furniture?”