- …
- …
- INTERDEPENDENCE INITIATIVE
“I believe that people are interdependent, fundamentally good and capable.”
- Pierre Omidyar In a world that is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, this same process is revealing underlying forces that are fueling polarization, racism, tribalism and fragmentation.
These are worrying because recent history has taught us that the eventual fruits of these trends invariably lead to an increase in violence, oppression and the weakening of the fabric of civilization.The Omidyar Network is therefore embarking on an exploration of interdependence by asking the following framing question.
How might we create a society where:MINDSETS
All citizens recognize and value our interdependence
STRUCTURES & NORMS
The structures in society support an ethic of interdependence which cultivate compassion and
trustworthiness and encourages all citizens to act in the long-term interests of society.CAPABILITES & BEHAVIORS
All citizens recognize and value our interdependence
Interdependence is not a goal. The ultimate goal is individual empowerment and societal well-being and interdependence is simply a feature of reality like gravity or evolution. When we understand gravity, we can build a plane that flies. When we don’t understand gravity, we build a plane that crashes. Similarly, if we understand interdependence we can more readily build a society that enables individual empowerment and social wellbeing by ensuring that both mindsets and institutions are informed by the ethics of compassion and trustworthiness. If we fail to acknowledge interdependence and the ethics it demands, we build a society that results in oppression and needless suffering and fails to achieve its potential.
