18 Mar The Economic Crisis: Part 2
In my last article I’ve explored the idea that our current systems & structures are a reflection to our historical state of consciousness. Now that our consciousness is on the move, what effects will it have on these systems & structures?
All over the world, people sense the happiness void in our current way of doing things. A major shift in our consciousness is happening all around and basically is a shift from the mind to the heart. The heart is a perfect complement to the brain as it intuitively understands that it needs little to be happy and that all of us are one. On top of that, it is built for dealing with uncertainty as opposed to the brains’ yearning for certainty (upon which we’ve been building our society for over ages).
I believe it will take another while before this shift in consciousness fully materialises into our systems & structures. Yet the first sightings of this fundamental change are there, to the ones who open their eyes to it.
How the world is going free
The world is going free, as the urge of nature wanting to be free is stronger than ourselves. And now that we are facilitated by technological advancements (social media, P2P), millions of people from around the are freely sharing places to stay over (Couchsurfing), knowledge (Wikipedia), skills, talents, products. After all, giving unfolds our purpose in life and brings about tons of happiness. People feel that, and we are slowly rediscovering the tremendous power of giving.
Our business are aware of this shift and business models have been changing:
- Freemium: free base service & optional premium modules (skype, linkedin)
- Reversal of revenue stream: advertisers pay, not the end user (facebook, metro newspaper)
On top of that business are giving as well:
- Marketing & Sales: using part of their budget to freely give away products (Ben & Jerry’s Givolution, RyanAir who recently gave away 600.000 free seats)
While the intention of (the people behind) these businesses might be pure, we will always regard those kind of initiatives with suspicion. After all, our businesses still operate from that framework of ‘ownership’ with its progenies of materialism and protectionism. So we will always take that into account in our opinions on . Which is unforntunate, because I firmly believe this doesn’t have to be so, and that there are businesses that have a pure intent.
Translation to our systems & structures
Some exciting new stuff is going on though that is a direct reflection of our shift in consciousness towards our systems and structures. The idea is that we live in a world of abundant unused talents and resources that people (freely) are willing to share. Various platforms around the world facilitate this sharing and take our society to the next level. Take the example of Snappcar which enables everybody to share their cars with people from around their neighbourhood. The idea is that we have plenty of cars, most of which are unused for a large part of the time. So why not share them? The Dutch start-up Peerby offers a similar concept but doesn’t confine itself to cars alone; you can basically share anything, from a teaspoon to your guitar or your washing machine.
The American Giftflow takes it one step further and mobilises generosity by uniting people that freely want to give and receive on their platform. My own contribution to this development is the platform Givolicious, which will be launched later on this year and focuses on sharing & collaboration within business. Check out my post “the end of competition in business” for my ideas on that.
Alternative currencies are on the rise as well. These currencies mobilize abundance, but more importantly provide a first step towards gaining experience with how a world without interest would look like. You can read all about that in my previous blog “Money & the Rise of the Alternative Currency”.
Role of Businesses
Our businesses face a fundamental choice; do we see this development as a threat and try to protect our old way of doing things OR do we grab this opportunity to contribute to this fundamental change in our society and make the world a better place while we´re at it?
In the near future, I will provide you with a pragmatic overview of the things your business can already install to prepare itself for this new world.
Yours truly,
Jeroen
Contact me at: jeroen [at] givingisallwehave [dot] com