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Social Change



Last Update 8/9/07

Note: This will not be a coherent polished piece of work for quite some time. Be forewarned that I will be using this page as a place to note, formulate and revise my thoughts as they occur to me.

As a philosopher of social change, I believe the following:
  1. The way human beings are now living is not sustainable, socially, politically or environmentally. Unless changes are made in the near future, humanity will destroy itself, either through war or environmental disaster.

  2. Even if humanity is able to avoid complete annihilation, we still run the risk of geopolitical social collapse.

  3. There potentially exists an effective, unified approach to resolving all humanity's most pressing problems, while supporting what is best in humanity and human culture.
I also believe we should all pledge our time and talents to finding that approach, particularly considering that we have entered an era of intensifying global crisis.

During the next several months, I plan to gradually outline what I've determined thus far about such an approach, and what progress I've made at formulating it in detail. Please check back regularly for updates.

The Problem

The overall issue that has been facing the world over the last few millenia is the tension between individuality and the interests of the community. In the distant past, all human beings lived in stable communities where the interests of the individual were irrelevant as compared to the interests of the group.

However, starting with the advent of Christianity, a higher premium was placed on individual life and destiny. Over the next several centuries individualism became a stronger and stronger influence in world, culminating in the 1980's when the emphasis on the individual reached a peak. So the question that faces us is this: Will the inevitable backlash turn individualism into a failed experiment, will humanity itself become the failure, or can individuality and community truly coexist in a way that supports both?

The Symptoms

I would identify the following as the "Big Three" threats to human survival and achievement.
  • (Modern) War
  • (Modern) Poverty
  • Environmental Collapse

The Solutions

I have listed these roughly in the order I feel they need to be reformed.
  1. Religion
    Why do we need to start with religion? I would give the following three reasons.
    1. As a theist, I believe everything starts with God
    2. As a pragmatic matter, religion motivates people and gives them focus
    3. In terms of priority, religion provides a foundation for everything else
    Similarly, I identify the necessary religion as Christianity for personal reasons of faith, and for the practical reason that Christianity provides the only theological framework I know for resolving the tensions between individuals and communities --through the personal relationship with God. Since Christianity gave birth to individualism, it only makes sense to look to Christianity for the solution. However, it clearly needs to be a very different interpretation of Christianity than the mainstream version (which is chiefly an Old Testament morality combined with a Pauline evangelism).
  2. Philosophy
    Existential Humanism combines the most individualist approach, existentialism, with the most promising approach to communal experience, humanism.
  3. Economics
  4. Morality
  5. Science
  6. The Arts
  7. Education - In my years in the field of education, I came to believe that all educational crises are moral in origin.

The Conceptual Tools

Over the past ten years I have developed several different theories and approaches for advancing social change. Some of these will be posted here, others may appear in other venues.
  • Tripartite Analysis - A paradigm that separates all phenomenon into three aspects, individual, communal and universal, balancing the first two with the help of the third. Related to the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity.
  • Quadraphasic Analysis - A paradigm tracing transformative progressions, including the progression from community to individuality and back.
  • Pragmatic Metaphysics - A method of creating useful metaphysical models independent of the necessity of proof.

    The Methods

  • NEW Many Selves Psychological Method
  • Starving Evil
  • Instructional Method for providing individualized basic instruction to a mixed-ability group with a minimum of resources.
  • Social transformation through Status
  • Administrative Method

    The Programs

  • The All People Open Mic and the philosophy behind it.
  • The Columbus Philosophers' Meetup
  • High School Special Education Class, 2001
  • Saturday Scholars Tutoring Program The pilot program for the instructional method detailed above.

    The References

    Religion:

  • The Bible
  • The "Tao Te Ching"
  • "A History of God" - Karen Armstrong

    Social Change:

  • "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr." - editor, Claybourne Carson

    Sociology

  • "Guns, Germs and Steel" - Jared Diamond
  • "Stiffed" - Susan Faludi

    Comments below:

    • Comments from Readers:

    Christopher,

    Hi, my name is Katelyn and I was incredibly excited to find Kitopedia last year. The agenda of the site and my own personal agenda align peacefully. It is such a relief to know that we can work together of these issues – and there are places where I can find inspiration and insight.

    I though you might be interested in helping raise awareness for a project supporting the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. Specifically, my team (ChangingThePresent.org - a nonprofit org) is helping raise money and awareness to support the Tutu Foundation’s peace education programs - designed to address the problems of violence and apartheid in South Africa by teaching peace to young children in school.

    http://www.changingthepresent.org/gifts/show/3811

    Perhaps you would be interested in helping our efforts by adding a widget or mention on your blog or site?

    ChangingThePresent
  • Katelyn Clapham, New York
    9/27/07
    Comment on this Page or Read Guestbook