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<h1>We’ve Got a Better World in Mind</h1>

</p>
<p>The climate is in crisis. Mass extinctions and mass migrations mark our days. Cities are running out of water or deluged by it. Inequality and polarization are political cronies, their twisted outbursts manifested as information warfare. Our carbon, like our money, is always flowing out of us—up, away, into the atmosphere.</p>



<p>This is not the first time that things have felt hopeless. And we, as humans, have often made our greatest progress in the face of our greatest despair.</p>



<p>But our species has an annoying habit of procrastinating. </p>



<p>Technically, the solutions to our problems already exist. Since 2015,
Costa Rica has generated more than 95% of its electricity from renewable
energy, reaching 99% in 2017. Sweden is targeting 100% renewable energy use by
2040. As this issue went to press, IBM unveiled a new battery that runs on
seawater rather than rare-earth metals, and a Canadian company celebrated the
first electric seaplane voyage. </p>



<p>We have the technical and policy tools to implement sweeping changes to
existing human systems. The problem has been that, until recently, we haven’t
had the political will. </p>



<p>But that too is changing. </p>



<p>As children, we believe someone is “in charge,” tracking what’s
happening in the world and what to do about it. But the last three years have
taught us that there’s no one in charge.</p>



<p>Regardless of our age, we are the grownups. And we, the grownups, are
angry at the ways in which the “adults” in the room have lied to us. We’re
angry at inaction on climate change and inequality, corporate complicity with
authoritarian regimes, voter disenfranchisement, police brutality, and mass
shootings. Our anger has reared its head on the streets, at the ballot box, and
on our screens. </p>



<p>While many of us are dissatisfied with the status quo, dissatisfaction
alone is not enough to create the world we want. </p>



<p>Throughout history, great leaders have crafted visions of collective
futures to inspire action. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used his <a href="https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/march-4-1933-first-inaugural-address">1933
inauguration address</a> to lay out his vision for the New
Deal, explaining in broad strokes how he planned to change us for the better.
“When there is no vision, the people perish,” he said.</p>



<p>Today, we find ourselves again in need of such a vision. A successful
vision enables us to coordinate across social, political, and economic spheres
by creating a shared understanding of the current moment, the need for urgency,
and setting big-picture goals. The most successful collective visions
facilitate wide-ranging experiments to achieve their goals, while communicating
a set of shared moral values to guide those experiments. </p>



<p>Solving problems like the climate crisis will require massive
experiments across all segments of society. Regardless of our political or
religious beliefs, we all have a self-interest in finding solutions, and
different ideas about what those solutions are. </p>



<p>As part of a 2008 study, sociologist Erica Chenoweth and co-author Maria
J. Stephan reviewed all known major nonviolent and violent resistance campaigns
from 1900 to 2006 to determine which organizing techniques have been most
successful. </p>



<p>Nonviolent campaigns, <a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.7?mobileUi=0&amp;">they
found</a>, are “more likely to win legitimacy, attract widespread
domestic and international support, neutralize the opponent’s security forces,
and compel loyalty shifts among erstwhile opponent supporters.” </p>



<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240678278_Why_Civil_Resistance_Works_The_Strategic_Logic_of_Nonviolent_Conflict">Chenoweth’s data</a> also showed
another essential thing about political movements: No nonviolent movement has
ever failed once it achieved the active, sustained participation of 3.5% of the
population. </p>



<p>Of course, not everyone who gets behind a specific
vision of the future will choose to participate in collective action. And
that’s OK. There are many ways to contribute: some of us build the businesses
and organizations that will help bring about change; some choose to put our money
toward those organizations; some see voting and canvassing for values-aligned
candidates as the path forward; some support a vision of collective liberation
by refusing to cower in the face of oppression, by choosing joy. Some choose
all of the above. </p>



<figure><img src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/yes_a-better-world-in-mind-puzzle-grochocka-736x1024.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>YES! Illustration by Joanna Grochocka.</figcaption></figure>



<figure><blockquote><p>Our connections to place, culture, common purpose, and each other create a sense of belonging that every person needs to thrive.</p></blockquote></figure>



<p>Here at YES!, we’ve always worked to inspire people
to create a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world. Our founders
believed that every person matters and deserves to lead a dignified life, and
that we are part of an interconnected web of life on which our existence and
well-being depend. They knew that people working together can bring that world
into being, and that inspiration starts with a story of possibility. So, 24
years ago, YES! began telling stories of real people in real places coming
together to solve the problems they faced, in hopes that others would be
inspired to push for transformative change in themselves and their communities.</p>



<p>At the dawn of this decisive new decade, we at YES! feel compelled to
step back, take stock, and identify the core values and guiding principles of
systems change that, if widely adopted, could turn the tide. That’s why our
first issue of 2020 is “The World We Want.” With it, we aim to plant the seeds
for a collective 10-year blueprint to inspire and guide us all as we set out on
the complicated path of building a new future, together.</p>



<p>To build that collective vision of a better world, we find it necessary
to name what we see as the root causes of society’s problems. At the risk of
oversimplification, root causes regularly appearing in YES! stories include
extractive capitalism and consumerism; the troika of colonialism, racism, and
patriarchy; dominion over nature and each other (militarism, at its most
extreme); and social disconnection. Often, these systems intersect in ways that
amplify harm to communities. The result has been to concentrate wealth and
power for a few at the expense of everyone else, and the planet we depend on
for survival. </p>



<p>Ultimately, the goal is to dismantle these destructive systems and
replace them with restorative, generative systems that create lasting
well-being for all people and the planet. By naming the underlying values and
operating principles of those new systems, we hope to empower readers with an
important tool to advance lasting change.</p>



<p>The principles outlined here are a work in progress, but as YES! expands
its base of readers, contributors, staff, and partnerships, it’s important to
be explicit, transparent, and direct. We understand much more could be said
about these concepts, and we sincerely invite your feedback as we continue to
delve into these guiding principles.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Well-being</h3>


<p>When we put the well-being of people and communities first, over and
above profit, we create a more peaceful world. Well-being requires material
sufficiency to ensure a sense of security, health, and the pleasure of those
material things that truly delight us. But the majority of our well-being comes
from non-material things, including our capacity for wonder, curiosity, love,
and appreciation. As a society, we can strive for abundant well-being for all,
while, at a minimum, ensuring that everyone has what’s needed for survival. To
get there, we must identify, measure, and improve key indicators of well-being
at every level of decision-making.  </p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Community self-determination</h3>


<p>Much of the global despair and destruction can be attributed to
decisions by a handful of people that affect billions of others. A decision by
a manager at a multinational corporation on a random Tuesday can affect the
prospects of thousands of communities for decades. We must flip the model to
ensure a higher level of community self-determination, because people and
places thrive when democratic communities determine their own social, cultural,
and economic needs and solutions. We need solutions that shift economic and
political control from global corporations and national bodies to communities.
At the local level, we need democratic decision-making processes to ensure
bottom-up, community-led solutions that maximize community benefit over private
gain. To build local wealth, we’d emphasize local and community ownership of
resources and enterprises, with local businesses focused on meeting local needs
first, before exporting excess.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Equity</h3>


<p>We believe that every human should have access to
the opportunities and resources needed to reach their fullest potential. To do
so, we must actively correct for the devastating level of past and present
injustice and inequity. This means adopting solutions, policies, and approaches
that shift power from the few to the many, and supporting leadership by
historically marginalized communities, with those who’ve traditionally held
power stepping back into supporting roles. It also means  embracing the “curb cut effect.” Rather than
design solutions to meet the needs of the majority (e.g. people who cross the
street with two working legs), design them to meet the needs of those with the
least access (e.g. people using wheelchairs), thereby meeting the needs of
everyone. To ensure economic equity, we can adopt solutions that democratize
sources of wealth, rather than simply redistribute wealth. Lasting equity
doesn’t mean ensuring everyone has the same amount of butter, but making sure
everyone has their own cow. </p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Stewardship</h3>


<p>From the air we breathe, water we drink, food we gather and grow, to the
climate that supports life as we know it, our human existence and well-being
depend on a thriving natural world. It’s our responsibility to care for it for
ourselves and for generations beyond. Embracing opportunities that help us
recognize and cultivate our connection to all living things can generate that
deep sense of collective responsibility. With this understanding, we can
prioritize material sufficiency over excessive consumption, and adopt solutions
that foster sustainable use and restoration of our natural resources.
Indigenous knowledge and practices can guide us.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Connection</h3>


<p>What do the rise of depression, loneliness, polarization, and mass
shootings have in common? Social disconnection. Our connections to place,
culture, common purpose, and each other create a sense of belonging that every
person needs to thrive. Historically, our day-to-day work, play, and commerce
required us to connect with many different people on a personal level. With the
rise of automation and the Internet, we’ve lost vital opportunities for human
connection. We can rebuild our sense of connection and belonging by
intentionally designing spaces and approaches to value personal relationships
over anonymous transactions; foster a sense of common purpose; cultivate
compassion, empathy, and appreciation; and retain, restore, and develop
cultures and traditions.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Inclusion</h3>


<p>When everyone is invited to identify problems and participate in
solutions—especially those people most impacted—we can create positive,
enduring change. Inclusion can slow a process, but the results are better and last
longer. Fostering inclusion means inviting everyone to the party, and
cultivating meaningful contributions from new, unlikely allies. It means
embracing difference, illuminating intersections, and generously sharing
knowledge and ideas. Developing lasting solutions that work for all requires us
to collaborate and cooperate more than compete.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Resilience</h3>


<p>Things change. And when they do, communities built on rigid ideas,
infrastructure, and hierarchies struggle and fail. Adaptive communities—those
designed to expect change—can create lasting peace and prosperity. Building
resilience means cultivating diversity at every level, and adopting an attitude
of continuous learning, creativity, and innovation. It means finding holistic
solutions that fix the system (not just the symptoms) and solve multiple
problems at once. Resilient communities utilize natural resources, assets, and
skills unique to their place. The best part? Solutions designed for resilience
can often be adapted for other communities, especially those that share similar
conditions.</p>


<h3 style="text-align: center;">Integrity</h3>


<p>Trust can take a lifetime to build and a minute to destroy. And yet,
deep trust within and between communities is the foundation of lasting peace
and shared prosperity for all. Ultimately, trust requires a society-wide
culture and practice of integrity, especially among those in positions of
influence. We build and practice integrity through moral intention backed with
action—walking our talk. High-integrity communities champion transparent,
inclusive decision-making. When they screw up, they acknowledge the harm
caused, actively working to repair and reduce it. They have structures ensuring
accountability and measuring progress toward goals. They encourage members to
speak their truths, demonstrate courage, and experiment boldly. Most
importantly, they don’t give up on their dreams for a better world, even when
it gets hard. </p>



<p>Building the world we want will be one of the hardest things any of us
will ever do. But guided by these principles, and working together, we can make
2020 the year that everything changed.&nbsp; </p>



<figure><img src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/93-theme-opener-kwhipple-791x1024.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>YES! illustration by Kevin Whipple.</figcaption></figure>

<p>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a> at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/world-we-want/opinion/2020/02/19/world-vision-future">https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/world-we-want/opinion/2020/02/19/world-vision-future</a>.</p><link href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/world-we-want/opinion/2020/02/19/world-vision-future" rel="canonical"/><p>Yes! Magazine is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of ... . Learn more at <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org">Yes! Magazine</a></p><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.yesmagazine.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=77139&ga4=G-74QJNNY44Z" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

We’ve Got a Better World in Mind

The climate is in crisis. Mass extinctions and mass migrations mark our days. Cities are running out of water or deluged by it. Inequality and polarization are political cronies, their twisted outbursts manifested as information warfare. Our carbon, like our money, is always flowing out of us—up, away, into the atmosphere.

This is not the first time that things have felt hopeless. And we, as humans, have often made our greatest progress in the face of our greatest despair.

But our species has an annoying habit of procrastinating.

Technically, the solutions to our problems already exist. Since 2015,
Costa Rica has generated more than 95% of its electricity from renewable
energy, reaching 99% in 2017. Sweden is targeting 100% renewable energy use by
2040. As this issue went to press, IBM unveiled a new battery that runs on
seawater rather than rare-earth metals, and a Canadian company celebrated the
first electric seaplane voyage.

We have the technical and policy tools to implement sweeping changes to
existing human systems. The problem has been that, until recently, we haven’t
had the political will.

But that too is changing.

As children, we believe someone is “in charge,” tracking what’s
happening in the world and what to do about it. But the last three years have
taught us that there’s no one in charge.

Regardless of our age, we are the grownups. And we, the grownups, are
angry at the ways in which the “adults” in the room have lied to us. We’re
angry at inaction on climate change and inequality, corporate complicity with
authoritarian regimes, voter disenfranchisement, police brutality, and mass
shootings. Our anger has reared its head on the streets, at the ballot box, and
on our screens.

While many of us are dissatisfied with the status quo, dissatisfaction
alone is not enough to create the world we want.

Throughout history, great leaders have crafted visions of collective
futures to inspire action. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used his 1933
inauguration address to lay out his vision for the New
Deal, explaining in broad strokes how he planned to change us for the better.
“When there is no vision, the people perish,” he said.

Today, we find ourselves again in need of such a vision. A successful
vision enables us to coordinate across social, political, and economic spheres
by creating a shared understanding of the current moment, the need for urgency,
and setting big-picture goals. The most successful collective visions
facilitate wide-ranging experiments to achieve their goals, while communicating
a set of shared moral values to guide those experiments.

Solving problems like the climate crisis will require massive
experiments across all segments of society. Regardless of our political or
religious beliefs, we all have a self-interest in finding solutions, and
different ideas about what those solutions are.

As part of a 2008 study, sociologist Erica Chenoweth and co-author Maria
J. Stephan reviewed all known major nonviolent and violent resistance campaigns
from 1900 to 2006 to determine which organizing techniques have been most
successful.

Nonviolent campaigns, they
found, are “more likely to win legitimacy, attract widespread
domestic and international support, neutralize the opponent’s security forces,
and compel loyalty shifts among erstwhile opponent supporters.”

Chenoweth’s data also showed
another essential thing about political movements: No nonviolent movement has
ever failed once it achieved the active, sustained participation of 3.5% of the
population.

Of course, not everyone who gets behind a specific
vision of the future will choose to participate in collective action. And
that’s OK. There are many ways to contribute: some of us build the businesses
and organizations that will help bring about change; some choose to put our money
toward those organizations; some see voting and canvassing for values-aligned
candidates as the path forward; some support a vision of collective liberation
by refusing to cower in the face of oppression, by choosing joy. Some choose
all of the above.

YES! Illustration by Joanna Grochocka.

Our connections to place, culture, common purpose, and each other create a sense of belonging that every person needs to thrive.

Here at YES!, we’ve always worked to inspire people
to create a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world. Our founders
believed that every person matters and deserves to lead a dignified life, and
that we are part of an interconnected web of life on which our existence and
well-being depend. They knew that people working together can bring that world
into being, and that inspiration starts with a story of possibility. So, 24
years ago, YES! began telling stories of real people in real places coming
together to solve the problems they faced, in hopes that others would be
inspired to push for transformative change in themselves and their communities.

At the dawn of this decisive new decade, we at YES! feel compelled to
step back, take stock, and identify the core values and guiding principles of
systems change that, if widely adopted, could turn the tide. That’s why our
first issue of 2020 is “The World We Want.” With it, we aim to plant the seeds
for a collective 10-year blueprint to inspire and guide us all as we set out on
the complicated path of building a new future, together.

To build that collective vision of a better world, we find it necessary
to name what we see as the root causes of society’s problems. At the risk of
oversimplification, root causes regularly appearing in YES! stories include
extractive capitalism and consumerism; the troika of colonialism, racism, and
patriarchy; dominion over nature and each other (militarism, at its most
extreme); and social disconnection. Often, these systems intersect in ways that
amplify harm to communities. The result has been to concentrate wealth and
power for a few at the expense of everyone else, and the planet we depend on
for survival.

Ultimately, the goal is to dismantle these destructive systems and
replace them with restorative, generative systems that create lasting
well-being for all people and the planet. By naming the underlying values and
operating principles of those new systems, we hope to empower readers with an
important tool to advance lasting change.

The principles outlined here are a work in progress, but as YES! expands
its base of readers, contributors, staff, and partnerships, it’s important to
be explicit, transparent, and direct. We understand much more could be said
about these concepts, and we sincerely invite your feedback as we continue to
delve into these guiding principles.

Well-being

When we put the well-being of people and communities first, over and
above profit, we create a more peaceful world. Well-being requires material
sufficiency to ensure a sense of security, health, and the pleasure of those
material things that truly delight us. But the majority of our well-being comes
from non-material things, including our capacity for wonder, curiosity, love,
and appreciation. As a society, we can strive for abundant well-being for all,
while, at a minimum, ensuring that everyone has what’s needed for survival. To
get there, we must identify, measure, and improve key indicators of well-being
at every level of decision-making.

Community self-determination

Much of the global despair and destruction can be attributed to
decisions by a handful of people that affect billions of others. A decision by
a manager at a multinational corporation on a random Tuesday can affect the
prospects of thousands of communities for decades. We must flip the model to
ensure a higher level of community self-determination, because people and
places thrive when democratic communities determine their own social, cultural,
and economic needs and solutions. We need solutions that shift economic and
political control from global corporations and national bodies to communities.
At the local level, we need democratic decision-making processes to ensure
bottom-up, community-led solutions that maximize community benefit over private
gain. To build local wealth, we’d emphasize local and community ownership of
resources and enterprises, with local businesses focused on meeting local needs
first, before exporting excess.

Equity

We believe that every human should have access to
the opportunities and resources needed to reach their fullest potential. To do
so, we must actively correct for the devastating level of past and present
injustice and inequity. This means adopting solutions, policies, and approaches
that shift power from the few to the many, and supporting leadership by
historically marginalized communities, with those who’ve traditionally held
power stepping back into supporting roles. It also means  embracing the “curb cut effect.” Rather than
design solutions to meet the needs of the majority (e.g. people who cross the
street with two working legs), design them to meet the needs of those with the
least access (e.g. people using wheelchairs), thereby meeting the needs of
everyone. To ensure economic equity, we can adopt solutions that democratize
sources of wealth, rather than simply redistribute wealth. Lasting equity
doesn’t mean ensuring everyone has the same amount of butter, but making sure
everyone has their own cow.

Stewardship

From the air we breathe, water we drink, food we gather and grow, to the
climate that supports life as we know it, our human existence and well-being
depend on a thriving natural world. It’s our responsibility to care for it for
ourselves and for generations beyond. Embracing opportunities that help us
recognize and cultivate our connection to all living things can generate that
deep sense of collective responsibility. With this understanding, we can
prioritize material sufficiency over excessive consumption, and adopt solutions
that foster sustainable use and restoration of our natural resources.
Indigenous knowledge and practices can guide us.

Connection

What do the rise of depression, loneliness, polarization, and mass
shootings have in common? Social disconnection. Our connections to place,
culture, common purpose, and each other create a sense of belonging that every
person needs to thrive. Historically, our day-to-day work, play, and commerce
required us to connect with many different people on a personal level. With the
rise of automation and the Internet, we’ve lost vital opportunities for human
connection. We can rebuild our sense of connection and belonging by
intentionally designing spaces and approaches to value personal relationships
over anonymous transactions; foster a sense of common purpose; cultivate
compassion, empathy, and appreciation; and retain, restore, and develop
cultures and traditions.

Inclusion

When everyone is invited to identify problems and participate in
solutions—especially those people most impacted—we can create positive,
enduring change. Inclusion can slow a process, but the results are better and last
longer. Fostering inclusion means inviting everyone to the party, and
cultivating meaningful contributions from new, unlikely allies. It means
embracing difference, illuminating intersections, and generously sharing
knowledge and ideas. Developing lasting solutions that work for all requires us
to collaborate and cooperate more than compete.

Resilience

Things change. And when they do, communities built on rigid ideas,
infrastructure, and hierarchies struggle and fail. Adaptive communities—those
designed to expect change—can create lasting peace and prosperity. Building
resilience means cultivating diversity at every level, and adopting an attitude
of continuous learning, creativity, and innovation. It means finding holistic
solutions that fix the system (not just the symptoms) and solve multiple
problems at once. Resilient communities utilize natural resources, assets, and
skills unique to their place. The best part? Solutions designed for resilience
can often be adapted for other communities, especially those that share similar
conditions.

Integrity

Trust can take a lifetime to build and a minute to destroy. And yet,
deep trust within and between communities is the foundation of lasting peace
and shared prosperity for all. Ultimately, trust requires a society-wide
culture and practice of integrity, especially among those in positions of
influence. We build and practice integrity through moral intention backed with
action—walking our talk. High-integrity communities champion transparent,
inclusive decision-making. When they screw up, they acknowledge the harm
caused, actively working to repair and reduce it. They have structures ensuring
accountability and measuring progress toward goals. They encourage members to
speak their truths, demonstrate courage, and experiment boldly. Most
importantly, they don’t give up on their dreams for a better world, even when
it gets hard.

Building the world we want will be one of the hardest things any of us
will ever do. But guided by these principles, and working together, we can make
2020 the year that everything changed.

YES! illustration by Kevin Whipple.