Daniel Lubetzky

by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

A recent article in the NY Times announced that Mayor Bloomberg is asking for a federal bar on purchasing soda with food stamps.  The argument goes that people are restricted from buying cigarettes, beer and wine, and other potentially harmful substances, so why not prohibit sugary drinks? This effort is just another in the recent string of attempts against obesity and diabetes.

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Shlomo Ben-Ami wrote a very persuasive piece in The Guardian explaining that, precisely because the “moderate” leadership has no legitimacy because it was not elected and has hung on to power for too long, it forces them to be “unyielding” and to lack the power of compromise.  He writes:

“The assumption – dear to the architects of the current process – that peace can be achieved by driving a wedge between "moderates" and "extremists" is a fatal misconception. The paradox here is double. Not only does one negotiate with the illegitimate "moderates", but it is precisely because of their legitimacy deficit that the moderates are forced to be unyielding on core issues, lest the radicals label them treasonous.”

He adds:

The Palestinian negotiators’ dangerous lack of legitimacy – and, indeed, the disorientation of the entire Palestinian national movement – is reflected in the return of the PLO to its pre-Arafat days, when it was the tool of Arab regimes instead of an autonomous movement. The green light was given to the current negotiators by the Arab League, not by the elected representatives of the Palestinian people

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Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

Darya Shaikh and John Lyndon, OneVoice executives, published a poignant op-ed in the Huffington post.  Darya and John make the crucial point that peace talks on their own will not suffice in reaching a resolution for peace.  Without a newfound commitment to peace and a willingness to compromise, the talks will be empty and futile.  As OneVoice depicts in its “Imagine 2018” campaign, there are two very different possibilities for the future, and these talks may have the power to set the Mideast on the more favorable track.  It all depends on the commitment of the leaders.

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"Where you stand depends on where you sit."
— Nelson Mandela

For years, Forbes has published a list of billionaires that reflects the cult of money we live in.  We lionize wealth.  Why? Wealth accumulation is only a means to an end.  What are you going to do with that money should matter to society much more.   Why is it that so many people forget that? At least partly it’s because our society glorifies financial success, and ranking it is relatively easier as you are dealing with a very easy measure: money accumulated.

It would be far more interesting, though, if a publication or organization measured and praised the social impact of the greatest contributors to civilization. For example, Mohammad Yunus from Grameen Bank, who is nowhere to be seen on the Forbes list, would rank quite high because of the enormous impact he has had on society.  Bill Gates would too, given how much of his wealth he has given out and in such methodic ways to try to impact society. 

My friend Martin Varsavsky forwarded me a list published by BusinessWeek that is a useful start – ranking the most generous philanthropists within the Forbes 400 list. 

What we need now is to take it to the next level, asking a trusted third party to develop a way to take donations into contribution as the BusinessWeek list does, but to not stop there.  To add a measurement for the way the money is given out, whether there is a social innovation or model that helps advance society in the process.  For example, the Skoll Foundation is among those responsible for supporting social entrepreneurship and making it “cool.” So it’s not just the enormous amount it has invested (donated) into the space, but also the way it has gone about doing it.  That counts more than just writing a check, assuming the process and the platform are well thought out and innovative.  And even if someone doesn’t donate money, but they create models to benefit humanity, whether through better health systems like Paul Farmer, or through the many innovations that social entrepreneurs from India and South East Asia (including several impressive ones selected by the Schwab Foundation) have introduced to truly impact their countries.

Celebrities also have a currency – fame, and the power to use it effectively.  So here again, we could turn blind worship of celebrities into appreciation for those that, rather than paying the dues their publicist asked them to, sincerely engage in ways that are sustained and impactful.  George Clooney comes to mind, but there are dozens others who truly dedicate themselves to make this a better world.

If Fast-Company Magazine or TIME Magazine could create a formula that is sufficiently consistent, transparent, and simple while robust, it could become the basis for others to start rallying around and quoting and praising those truly worthy of adulation.

People that truly want to change the world do not do it for the sake of a popularity contest.  Changing the world is not easy, so if you just want to be popular in today’s society there are shortcuts to think you can get there.  So this list is not intended to impact those people.  For that there is education – helping people find purpose in their lives.

But for our society as a whole, which is so obsessed with Hollywood celebrities, political power, and financial wealth, a credible list that focused peoples’ attention on the contributions people are making to society could help start changing the discourse.

And to make this platform truly inspiring and accessible to high school students and not just people already in a position of influence, a supplemental list could be created that would track the CREATIVITY AND MAGNIFICATIONAL IMPACT of just one simple action or relatively modest behavioral change within every person’s reach.  The power of the internet can be the great equalizer.   With Do The KIND Thing, the KIND Movement is trying to inspire unexpected acts of kindness that are the most KINDTASTIC – truly transformative and impactful.  Ideally we can start putting a spotlight on how “the average citizen” can make a far-greater-than-average contribution to their community.  It would be great if society could find effective platforms to praise those who step out of their zones of comfort to make others a bit better off, to show how a 15-year old can change the world, one idea at a time.

I agree with pretty much everything in this column by Thomas Friedman that a third party to challenge the ossified and bankrupt two party system is desperately needed.

The only thing that I disagree with is Friedman’s self-important hedge that this is such a bold and risky prediction by him, as if he gets it right he will be a mind-reader. The writing is on the wall, everywhere you turn. From the excitement for Bloomberg’s centrist independent thinking, to cultural revulsion towards extreme partisanship.

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"It’s impossible, that’s for sure. So let’s start working."

                                        -Phillip Petit from Man On Wire

This week’s quote of the week is an excerpt that I came across in the Yizkor Service on Yom Kippur and found particularly moving :

When I die give what’s left of me away

to children and old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,

cry for your brother walking the street beside you.

And when you need me, put your arms around anyone

and give them what you need to give me.

I want to leave you something,

something better than words or sounds.

Look for me in the people I’ve known or loved,

and if you cannot give me away,

at least let me live in your eyes and not in your mind.

You can love me best by letting hands touch hands,

and by letting go of children that need to be free.

Love doesn’t die, people do.

So, when all that’s left of me is love,

give me away.

                                                              – Meritt Malloy

I also appreciated another concept from the prayer book that speaks of the power of generations, and provides an element of comfort when thinking of those who are deceased:

If some messenger were to come to us with the offer that death should be overthrown, but with the one inseparable condition that birth should also cease; if the existing generation were given the chance to live forever, but on the clear understanding that never again would there be a child,or a  youth, or first love, never again new persons with new hopes, new ideas, new achievements; ourselves for always and never any others- could the answer be in doubt?

I loooved reading this article that my team member Elle forwarded to me.  It does describe a certain crazy gene you have to have in order to start a new venture – whether business or social – particularly when you are trying to challenge conventional wisdom, or fill in a gap or prove something can be done which others think cannot.  The funniest thing is looking back as if facing down a precipice after climbing a mountain, and wondering how you were so crazy to go for it. Yet once it’s done, hopefully it all makes sense to others!  They may never know how perplexed you actually are, upon reflection, that it actually worked out!

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