Change the World

Today, writing from Barcelona I’m filled with joy, inspiration and pride for my home country. I feel compelled to post not just about my excitement for president-elect Obama, but what his presidency and his understanding of technology will mean for our country, and indeed the world.

Tonight, we elected a visionary, transformational new president. Through a near-perfectly executed, grass-roots and high-values campaign, Obama sparked a political revolution that inspired young Americans to get involved in a deeply heartfelt movement for change. What made that near-perfect execution possible was leveraging communication technology and social media to build, and communicate with, an insanely broad base of supporters. In his victory speech tonight, he called on us all to become involved in our government in a manner that reminded me of Kennedy’s “Ask what you can do for your country” edict. Obama will broaden the movement he began in his campaign by providing new ways for us all to participate in a transformational new democracy.

In recent interviews, Obama shared his excitement for expanding the technology innovations his campaign built to involve citizens in his presidential campaign. I’m still astounded at how he broke campaign donation records in tiny $5-$20 increments donated by a broad base of supporters. Obama plans to expand and innovate on that technology during his Presidency– possibly realizing a true idealized version of democracy– enabled through technology. I imagine local ‘meetups’ and volunteer groups, expanded Peace Corps task forces sent overseas to aid in crises, volunteer mentor groups and tutors to help children in disadvantaged areas (see groups like 826 Valencia to see how possible this can be). I envision initiatives set out by President Obama to solve our problems like climate change and energy by working with companies like Google to get our best minds to work on solving problems with our minds, and not our brawn (think of expanding forums like the TED conferences).

Indeed, Obama has pledged to create a new Chief Technology Officer cabinet-level post in his administration. And I do not believe I’m being overly optimistic in believing that with new technology, smart communication and human organization systems, plus an inspired group of participants, yes we can absolutely affect real change and meaningful progress.

Last night I attended an election-night party here in Barcelona filled with excited American expats, local Catalonian politicians, and Obama supporters from all over the world. We partied, we talked excitedly about the results and what a President Obama might mean for our world.

This morning, I’m filled with a sense of pride for my small involvement in Obama’s campaign, and for the first time, inspiration to become actively involved in our democracy. Our new President’s understanding of technology and innovation as the #1 component of increasing the standard of living for all people gives me an overhwelming sense of hope that an Obama administration can affect real, meaningful and progressive change.

The Greek Stoic Epictetus wrote, “Do you know that old age, disease, and death must overcome us, no matter what we are doing? What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, begin on that now.”

In Buddhism, the term “Samvega” means, a sense of urgency or passion for spiritual or life practice coming from knowing the preciousness of life and the constant nearness of death.

With a powerful sense of Samvega, I’ve decided to join the Obama campaign. I’ve always followed politics closely, but I’ve never been inspired to get involved with a political candidate before. While I write this, there are over 700 wildfires burning in Northern California because of Continue reading →

Rather than see a problem that we need to feel guilty about, what if we made living sustainably into a game? From that standpoint, my friend Phillipe came up with 7 easy ways to make direct changes to how to live a more environmentally sustainable life:

1. Stop Junk Mail. Check out these two sites: http://www.stopjunkmail.org http://tinyurl.com/5aqxw

Continue reading →

A great ad can entertain and inspire by tickling us with its producers’ creativity. Advertising makes some of my favorite things free (pretty much all my favorite sites on the internet, and also radio) but it certainly can be overdone by front-loading $12 per-ticket movies with too many previews. But a worse offense is to launch an advertising campaign devoid of creativity or innovation. A great ad campaign can move us emotionally. It can make us laugh or cry or bring color and humor to an otherwise mundane city bus.

But I learned a new rule of advertising recently that discourages creativity. Turns out that many ad campaigns Continue reading →

Ken Wilber is an interesting fella. A prolific writer in spirituality and personal growth and the founder the founder of the Integral Institute. Wilber is also a staunch proponent of a theory called Spiral Dynamics which purports that human nature is not fixed. Humans are able, when forced by circumstances, to adapt to their environments by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models of the world that allow them to handle new problems. One of the more inspiring examples of this to me was illustrated in An Inconvenient Truth, in how we as a population of evolved humans addressed the issue of our shrinking ozone layer, by changing our practices in using CFC’s…and, stopped the damage we were doing to the ozone.

Reaching new levels of the ’spiral’ illustrated in the theory of Spiral Dynamics require greater levels of self-awareness. It’s my belief that the more self-aware the entire population is, the more able we are to make smarter group decisions that push the population’s level of happiness and responsibility forward. To me the practices and resources of personal growth (whether it be a simple Yoga class w/ meditation or a book on reaching your financial goals) is an accessible way to invite a population of people into greater self-awareness. That ‘next level’ of thinking, to me, helps illustrate a basic example of how personal growth can play into the theory of massive leaps in spiral dynamics.

To that end, some friends of mine recently launched a personal development review site, called GrowthPop.com, where users post reviews, rate & comment or discuss their experiences with self improvement & growth resources from books to workshops to spiritual gurus. I feel like this sector has been heating up lately, from mainstream folks like Tony Robbins, to the proliferation of life coaches and Yoga going mainstream. A single source where you can find everything in one place will help more people find resources to become more conscious of their thoughts and actions and play a key role in helping the masses discover new levels of consciousness…and…thereby save the world. =)

I had a birthday last Sunday, Martin Luther King’s is today. Here’s an insightful quote from the man himself:

“Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political or economic changes. In this sense, power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified as a resignation of power and power with a denial of love…What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.