Economics that Work for Everyone

I've had two recent opporunities to become immersed in economics far beyond trying to balance a checkbook. The first took place in my own home, and the second occured on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington D.C. To understand them, let me first introduce you to Louis.

Louis Bohtlingk is Dutch, and today is the publication date for his unusual book "Dare to Care: A Love-Based Foundation for Money and Finance." I met him recently over lunch in Washington D.C. at the suggestion of a friend. He asked if he could do a workshop in our house, since he knew that we had large room that would be sufficient for what he was planning. Then he asked if I would, in addition to hosting, play the role of the "God of Money." I had only a vague idea what I was getting into when I said yes to his request.

Our house filled with people, and the neighbors were soon wondering what sort of new neighbors they had on their quiet street. Six cars in the driveway, over a dozen people travelling from New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, all camped in our house or in friends' houses around town. The workshop turned out to be a dramatic encounter with The God of Money, played by me. The participants were led on an encounter, guided by the Eagle and the Condor, and facilitated by a Community Keeper and the Godess of Abundance (played by my wife, Wyn). There was a touch of shamanism, and we used masks, poetry and music to create the mystery and to open up the hearts and make the archetypes larger than life for the weekend.

The question to be explored in the workshop was, what have been your experiences when encountering The God of Money in the past ... have they been dominated by fear, greed, possessiveness, selfishness, or a desire for power? and how can you move past those experiences, through a psychological threshhold into a recognition and acceptance of abundance? Of course money is just a tool, and we have allowed the "God of Money" to take on attributes of fear, etc. In his new book, Louis defines money as an energetic exchange between two people. That energy can be a positive, love-based win/win for the two people engaged in the encounter rather than a fear-based encounter, fearing scarcity, feeling obligated, wanting to purchase more bigger and better "things," and so forth. The net result of the weekend with Louis and all of the workshop participants was a new slate of very good friends, a deeper understanding of the role that money plays in people's lives, and a sense of commitment to begin changing how money is created and how it is defined in our lives. Consider just one statement from Louis' new book: instead of basing our currency on a relatively rare mineral such as gold or silver, why not base it on an abundant source such as solar energy? Then everyone can have sufficient money for food, shelter, education, and basic human dignity.

That brings us to the second encounter with economics. I offered long ago to be one of the speakers at the Coffee Party rally on the steps of the nation's Capitol building. I was planning on talking about "We hold these truths to be self-evident ..." and how "We" meant every human, not corporations, not just Americans, not just the rich, not just men and women, not just members of a particular political party ....

The day came and I was told in advance that I had just three minutes to say what I had to say. Then, as it happened, the weather turned nasty. It was pouring rain, the lawn where the Coffee Party rally was being held was deep in mud, and it was freezing, and starting to turn into the late October blizzard that hit the Atlantic coastal States. I was maybe the tenth person at the podium, and at least five of earlier speakers talked about the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence. Another speaker was one of the spokespersons for the "Occupy Wall Street" folks, and he eloquently covered many of the grievances that the "99%" have with the establishment. So, very quickly, my talk turned from "Unalienable Rights" to "Love-based Economics."

It was too cold to pause for pictures. and would have been mean for me to ask someone to use my cell phone to snap a few pictures. But picture me in a heavy jacket, with a stocking cap on my head, holding an umbrella and you get the picture. I talked about the things that I love. Noetics. Sharing. Unity. Collective consciousness. Heart resonance. Co-creativity. And all of that made it very easy to stand in front of a couple hundred people and mention the very real possibility, and indeed the necessity, of a love-based economy, one where the only way to ensure that "you" or "I" are being properly cared for is to ensure that every cell of our body is being nourished and cared for. Of course, the cells of the human body include every one of "We, the People," no matter where we live, no matter whether we are employed or not, no matter if we are rich or poor, black or white or red or yellow, or green or any of 7 billion shades in between, no matter if we are Christian or Moslem or Jewish or Baha'i or agnostic or atheist ... we are all one body, and if any part of that body is suffering injustice or poor conditions, we are all suffering.

In my 3 minutes of fame, I also managed to get in a list of folks who should be required reading (in print or on websites), including Louis Bohtlingk (http://carefirstworld.com), Steven Lovink (http://planet2025.net and http://powerofone.org), Hazel Henderson (http://hazelhenderson.com), Charles Eisenstein (his latest book is Sacred Economics), and Nancy Polend (http://creatingthenewworld.org/) among others. All are working to create a sustainable and sacred future. Another book I wish I had mentioned is Natural Capitalism, by Paul Hawken and Amory Lovins.

I was amazed how well my talk was received. It is not mainstream thinking, but it should be, and it seems to resonate with people. Wish I could have stayed on to talk to folks ... at least one member of the audience hunted me down before I headed for the warm confines of the car and said she know knew why she was there ... because she had to hear what I had to say. Here's a reading list for you, so you can hear what I had to say last Saturday on the steps of the Capitol.

A Personal Branding Dilemma

I don't have an in-your-face personality. In fact, truth be told, I'm a bit shy in many ways. To quote my wife, I'm a bit backward about putting myself forward. Not a good personality for on-line video marketing. I probably would not be very good doing infomercials on late night TV. I definitely would not make a good used car salesman. So here's my dilemma.

I've become an Internet marketer, through choice and opportunity, but I don't like people who market to me. I've been learning and trying to share some of the tools as I learn, but for the most part, the marketplace is alot more noise than substance.

And now, I've found a market that I like ... one that's more than a little bit of substance, one that I really want to share with friends ... or I want to have the people I share my business with to be my friends. Yes, it's a "business opportunity." A networking opportunity. One that has so much potential that I think those who try the business would quickly become friends, or would cement existing friendships. I've sent out feelers to a few friends, but like I said ... I'm not a salesman. I seem to put the cart before the horse.

So rather than selling, I'm just going to "brand" myself. I'm old enough to collect social security checks, but young enough that I'm still planning out the next 50 years of my life. Yep, you heard me. An ageless wonder. If you'll pardon the pun, I'm a perpetual child. I really am planning on doing a coast-to-coast bicycle ride. I am bemused at the guilt I feel when parking in a "Seniors Only" parking space. If not for the color of my hair, I like to think I would be "carded" for ordering a senior coffee at McDonalds. And if you are interested in joining me in my business, you could well be right there beside me when I set out on a Masters Tour of the backroads of the US (and Europe, I might add).

On the other hand, not everyone rides bicycles. Well, have I got a deal for you! Don't turn off your TV set! Seriously, one thing that I love doing is attending seminars at sea with a close bunch of friends. Most of the seminars at sea I've been on have been more philosophical in nature, but I think it would be an absolute blast to take along ten friends on a cruise. Great way to bond, and reinforce mutual interests. If my business grows, as I fully expect it to, then I'm planning on doing just that ... arranging a cruise vacation, and subsidizing it for the top members of my business building team. We can just kick back and enjoy each other's company ... share stories, read poetry, play some music in the shipboard lounges, go on shore excursions (zip-lining, anyone? snorkelling? whale watching? Wahoooo!). No guarantees ... I'm just giving you a glimpse of where my dreams are taking me. But we could make those dreams a reality ... and make the world a better place to live for ourselves and others, at the same time.

So there you have it. My personal brand. A bit shy on the phone, maybe a bit socially awkward, backward about putting myself forward, but craving adventure, wanting to make the world a better place. I have the means and the methods, and I can share them with you if you're up for the journey of a lifetime! If you are even remotely interested, let me know. Skype donchild, FaceBook donchild, e-mail docchild@gmail.com. Join me, help yourself, help the world. We will boldly go forth, leading with our own personal brands and a quest for perpetual youth!

The Eagle Has Landed

Yesterday, we found out just how good Google Maps could be. We explored a bit of central New Jersey, then I reviewed the on-line map to find out how to get to where we were going. Up I-95, take 287 to the Verrazano Bridge, get off at exit 27, follow Atlantic Avenue, left on Clinton, then onto Remsen, where our sublet is. Only problem, Remsen is one way the other direction, but otherwise the map was perfect and we drove straight to our front door, then got to exploring the neighborhood.

After our son Tristan got off work at Simon & Schuster, he came by, helped us get settled a bit, then we walked over to his apartment, less than 20 minutes away, and he demonstrated his new-found skills as a cook, whipping up a nice fresh pizza nearly from scratch! Great to visit with Tristan and his girlfriend Olivia!

Today, we got oriented with some of the brass tacks ... where's the nearest laundromat, where do we pick up our mail (137 Montague Street #213, Brooklyn NY 11201 in case anyone's interested), where do we buy a cup of coffee, where do we park the car so it doesn't collect parking tickets ... all the important stuff.

At noon, Tristan came by and we set off exploring further afield. First we walked along the Brooklyn Heights River Walk, with it's gorgeous views of the lower Manhattan skyline. The walk ends at DUMBO, the area "Down Under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Overpasses." We had a delicious vegetarian food lunch at Siggy's on Henry street, then explored the galleries and bookstores in the DUMBO neighborhood.

On the way back, we made one more important stop ... at the neighborhood Trader Joe's! At last! Healthy and inexpensive groceries ... something we really missed during the 25 years we lived in Hawaii!

Zooming In

The trip is full of small adventures. Our intended route from Roanoke Falls to Washington DC was along Interstate 95. Unfortunately, a tour bus driver fell asleep at the wheel, killed four of his passengers, and closed the highway for several hours. The only good thing about the tragic accident is that we happened upon the back end of the tailback just as we got to an off ramp, so we got to explore a bit of the Virginia countryside from a smaller highway.

As it turns out, that was the extent of our touring (aside from getting lost in Washington DC as we tried to find our hotel). Washington's temp was 98 in the shade, and we'd already seen most of the monuments anyway, so we were not tourists ... just weary travelers looking for a room at the inn ... and for me, eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Wyn didn't fare quite so well in the sleep department, but she got to enjoy the good shows on HBO.

In the morning, we again explored Washington DC (Arlington, actually) thanks to hopelessly inadequate road maps and some pretty poor urban planning in my opinion. We were looking for Johnny Rocket's restaurant in the Shirlington area, and eventually found it, only to discover that our friend Yoko wasn't in that day. We telephoned Yoko, told her that we meant to surprise her, but would love a visit anyway. Ten minutes later, Yoko showed up at the restaurant (she and her husband Kevin manage the place) and we had an early lunch and a nice visit.

I was determined not to get lost again, so I finally turned on the GPS on my cell phone, and we had a wonderful female voice who navigated for us, and never got cross when we made a wrong turn. However, she had some competition. Wyn decided it would be really nice to have some lamb for dinner, and of course none of the highway rest stops have restaurants that serve anything besides fried chicken, hamburgers and pizza. But you wouldn't believe the serendipity ... or if you know us, maybe you would believe it.

We turned off the New Jersey Turnpike to look for the hotel we'd booked in Freehold New Jersey. Less than half a mile after we turned off the turnpike, we came to a place called Basil's Lamb Chop Grille. Wyn got her lamb chops, the GPS lady quit squawking about our missed directions, and we found our hotel just as a torrential downpour and lightning storm ended.

Tomorrow, we have a leisurely day as we finish the initial "getting there" part of our road trip, and begin the "being there" part of life's journey.

Almost Coasting

We originally wanted to wander up the east coast, but we've seen Savannah, we've been to Hilton Head and Charleston, so in the end we decided to dash instead of coasting up the coast. Hence we made it from just north of Jacksonville to just south of Virginia in one day.

Spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express near Roanoake Rapids in northern North Carolina after a day of seeing the countryside streaming by. We haven't seen any live wildlife, but did see roadkill possums, raccoons, deer, armadillos. In Kingsland Georgia, where we spent the previous night, the hotel was full of Forest Service staff who were there to fight a fire in the swamp, hoping to prevent it from reaching private land and eventually the highway. First time I've ever heard anyone hoping for a hurricane ... best way to put out a forest fire in powder-dry countryside.

Today should be a bit more exciting. We are destined for Washington DC, and will try to drop in for lunch at Johnny Rocket's in Arlington ... not that the restaurant promises to be all that great, but it is managed by our Honolulu friend Yoko and her husband Kevin Ryder. It will be fun to sit at the counter and see the looks on their faces when they recognize their customers. We may get a chance to see the Smithsonian, and would like to take a tourist's look at the White House. Then tomorrow, we head to New York, and get to see Tristan and Olivia, and our sublet apartment in Brooklyn. It feels like our adventure is really beginning now. Up to this point, it's been more of a vacation.

Emerald Isles

In our efforts to avoid tornado alley, we are exploring new territory. We spent Thursday night in Pensacola, FL, at a very poor example of what La Quinta usually is, then happily escaped to explore the beaches (in spite of it being the start of Memorial Day weekend).

First we walked around the historic part of Pensacola, which was interesting but ho-hum, then started out across the causeway and headed east along the white sand beaches. The sand is like the sand I remember we used to find in the bottom of ashtrays ... very fine, very white, and to carry the metaphor a bit too far, it was littered with butts. Thousands of them ... families, couples, college kids playing volleyball, and so many beach umbrellas that we could hardly get to the water to dip our feet.

After about half an hour, we got back into the car ... we're from Hawaii, we've seen beaches, and yes, the gulf shore beaches are nice, but ... well, as I said, we just came from Hawaii!

The road narrows, and on a holiday weekend, there were thousands of cars creeping along, parked in every square inch, half of them probably stuck in the sand, and the people were disappearing over the grassy dunes towards the miles-long beach. The parking stopped after awhile, and suddenly we were the only car on the road ... speed limit ranging from 35 to 20 mph and strictly enforced according to the signs, so we motored along enjoying the scenery and watching the nesting shorebirds in the Gulf Island National Seashore.

It was time for a late lunch by the time we reached Navarre Beach. Wyn tried some grilled fish, but discovered to her dismay that they used the same grill on which the did the blackened fish, which meant that the grilled fish was VERY spicy. Second try was a bit better. I had a New Orleans style shrimp poboy.

We then headed to Panama Beach, but discovered that all of the hotels were full, except for one that had a single room remaining at $169. We drove on, away from the beach, and ended up at a motel in Marianna. Tonight, perhaps we will dream of having dinner at La Mariana on Sand Island.

Brain Exercises

I spent a very interesting 24 hours in Houston. It was the big day ... I volunteered myself to be a guinea pig in a study to see if there are any early biomarkers for Parkinson's Disease (PD) in people who show no symptoms of PD, but have REM Behavior Disorder (RBD). RBD means that I physically act out my dreams, which can lead to some very interesting and at times dangerous circumstances. I figured anything I can do to help find a solution to RBD is a step in the right direction.

I went to the Clinical Research Unit at the Hermann Memorial Hospital and met the lead researcher, Dr. Schiess. She is the spitting image of my friend Ellie back in Honolulu. Dr. Schiess put me through about two hours of neurological tests, then sent me down to the MRI room. I did a functional MRI that lasted another two hours, then after a quick dinner, I went to the sleep lab for a long night of trying to sleep with electrodes pasted all over my head and body. In the morning, a quick shower under a shower head that provided nothing more than a slight drip, then back to the Clinical Research Unit, where I had a lumbar puncture. Most of the cerebrospinal fluid will be frozen for later research. Following the lumbar puncture, I had to lay flat on my back for four hours, then another eight hours of bed rest back at the hotel. I won't know everything until later, but for now, I passed with flying colors. On the PD scale of 1-200, I scored a low 8, meaning that I don't exhibit any PD traits aside from the RBD and a poor sense of smell (16 out of 40!!!).

So now, we are back on the road, trying to avoid storms and floods. We decided to try the southern route to the east coast, then follow the Atlantic seaboard northward. And as I'm writing this, the Weather Channel is warning about a possible tornado in Charlotte ... just west of our planned route.

Anyway, we left Houston and headed east, stopping in Lake Charles, Louisiana for lunch. We wanted fish, so got a recommendation from a local, ending up at a place that served catfish, crawfish, gator, shrimp, and gumbo. We went for the crawfish, shrimp and catfish in what turned out to be an amazingly tasty meal.

We then headed across the Achafalaya basin, witnessing the flooding from an elevated position along the Interstate, and decided to bypass New Orleans and stop for the night in Baton Rouge. The floods were not as impressive as the media make them out to be, but it is certainly a huge headache for all the folks who lost property. The only problem with our day's journey was that the hotel we found turned out to be pretty dodgey. In the room next to ours were a couple of gangsta types with droopy shorts and gang signals. They eyed us, then checked out our car ... we wouldn't have slept a minute, knowing that we were likely to wake up in the morning (if we woke up) with no car. So we got our money back, reloaded the car, and headed another ten miles down the road, where we are now ensconced in a very comfortable La Quinta.

I've been getting a good deal of brain exercise, but not much body exercise. We may knock off our journey early tomorrow and take time for a good long walk along one of the gulf beaches.

Houston, We Have Landed

We got to Houston, our intermediate destination. Today, I have an MRI, then a sleep study and a lumbar puncture, all as part of a study on REM Behavior Disorder (RBD), which is another way of saying that I tend to be very active when I dream. I'll be in the same medical center as Gabby Gifford, the Arizona congresswoman who is recovering from her gunshot injuries.

We stay in Houston until Thursday, then hit the road again.

When I say "hit the road," I mean that literally. We bought a car and will meander north and east. If you see a dark blue Honda CR-V doing some sight seeing, it may just be us! Not much else to say for the moment ... we are studying maps and trying to decide whether we would rather brave the slow flooding of the Mississippi River, or the storms of tornado alley. Eventually, we have to confront both.

Makin' the World Go Around

One of the most compelling arguments against moving also happens to be one of the most compelling reasons for moving. The argument boils down to one word: friends.

We are staying for a couple of nights with friends, Max Gail and Chris Kaul. I only really got to know them a couple of months ago, but it was a deepening of an old friendship that started many years ago. Chris is an old friend of the family, and Max is the sort who is easy to befriend, he has such a genuinely friendly nature. Max and Chris’s house at Point Dume in Malibu, overlooks the channel islands between LA and Ventura off the foggy southern California coast (at least it’s foggy this morning). It was the first time Wyn had met either of them, but hopefully she will find the friendship to be as easy as I find it.

Leaving Honolulu was made harder because we had to leave behind so many dear friends that we have accumulated over the past 26 years. But we have not abandoned the friendships, we’ve just moved them from our local friend list to our distant friends list. We had a farewell party where we got to say au revoir to many of them.

The party was hosted by Derek and Yvonne at their house on Oahu’s North Shore, and people came from all over Oahu, and we even had a couple (Howie and Gloria) fly in from Maui for the occasion. It was interesting to see the mix. We had to limit the number of people, but invited a handful of folks from the British Commonwealth Club (Barbara, John and Remy, Kathy, Pauline, Jerry), a few that we had gotten to know initially as parents of our son (Liz and Ray, Jean and Chester, Jill and Haim, Sophie and Mike), a few from our work lives who had managed to transcend the “colleague” sobriquet to become friends (Ruth and Norman, Lynette, Mary, Vicky) and a few who started out as friends of friends, but became just friends (Werner and Elaine, Joanie and Elizabeth, Rami). Some crossed the boundaries, touching our lives in more ways than one (Maggie and Fred, Will and Ellie, and several of those mentioned above). It’s like the old wedding rhyme … some were old friends, some were new, some were borrowed, and yes, judging from all the tears at our aloha party, some were blue. But it wasn’t goodbye, it was hana hou (“another time” in Hawaiian). These were all friendships that will endure. They have a long shelf life, and our phone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same. It may be that we can’t have dinner at the Shack every Wednesday night, and can’t walk up to Makapu’u Lighthouse to watch the whales in the sunset, but the memories remain, the friendships remain.

Another party, another entirely different group, was a casual dinner at Wahoo’s, where they specialize in fish tacos. We met several folks from IONS, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which has provided a long-standing platform for exploring deep thoughts and connections between people. I will look forward to getting to know the people in another IONS community.

When we get to the east coast, we begin assimilating a new group of friends, growing our circle rather than replacing it. There are friends, virtual and real, that we’ve met through various media and organizations … the Co-Creative Society, IONS, Tobri.com, the Shift Network, the English Speaking Union … most of them people we haven’t yet met face to face, but we will soon have the opportunity to see which ones we resonate with, which ones we want to invite over to dinner, go for a hike with, enjoy the beach, a concert, play golf with, meet for coffee and a casual breakfast. The social fabric may look different, but friendships are still made and deepened in the same way … heart to heart. And the heart to connections will endure … distance changes the texture of friendships, but not the value.

Cardboard Canyons

One thing about moving ... it takes lots of boxes. Boxes piled against the walls.

We had three piles of boxes forming cardboard canyons (mentally, mind you): stuff to be shipped by the movers; stuff we are taking with us; and stuff we going to mail because it's more economical than shipping. Only trouble with the last one is that, for now, we would be shipping everything to a mailbox in the local UPS store.

I look at the categories of boxes and realize they are all filled with "stuff." And we've already gotten rid of a house full of stuff. We have a few things that we still want to sell ... a sofa, a dining room table, a toolbox full of handyman tools, an old TV ... but it really is all just "stuff." There is very little that cannot be easily replaced. But all that is now a moot point.

Yesterday, the movers came and the three piles became one small one ... the pile of stuff we are taking with us. Everything else has gone with the Crown folks, and is now in storage until we find a new home and have the boxes delivered. The books have all gone to Colorado, and are likewise being stored. The third pile has two more days of fiddling to get it just right, then to the airport, and we're off.

Our schedule ... today, we have a cleaning crew coming in to render our empty condo spotless. We will be staying in a resort condo generously provided by a friend of ours, Pauline. Then we go to an airport hotel, and on Friday morning, early, we will be airborne, heading to LAX.

We are on the road. No more cardboard canyons until they are transplanted at our new location, yet to be disclosed to us by the universe.

Setting the Stage

In a nutshell, I retired, and I've always lived in a very expensive place ... East Honolulu. In order to stay happily retired, my wife Wyn and I decided to move to the US mainland. We looked hither and yon. We considered weather. Pacific Northwest is too rainy in the winter. Northeast is too cold in the winter. South is too muggy. Desert is too hot and dry. Mountains are too high. Plains are too plain.

Then we considered earthquakes (especially after the devastation of the tsunami in Japan). We had been tending toward the Western US, but then turned toward the Eastern US. Okay, New York is supposed to have an earthquake for some reason, at some point in the indefinite future.

Then came social networks. That finally decided it. Our son lives in New York City. I've got a lot of unmet friends in the Philly - Boston corridor. My wife is from England, and NYC is way closer to London than the 18-hour flight from Honolulu to London, so she goes from one social network to another (she's a face-to-face socializer).

Then came a new focus. Wyn likes big cities ... she lived in London, Paris and Tokyo before we settled in Honolulu 26 years ago. But she grew up in rural areas along the Welsh border in Western England, and she craves an environment where she can surround herself with animals. I like the country as well, or at least smaller towns that are close enough that we can get to cultural events.

So we drew a line around New York City and said that we want to be no farther away than two hours. Then I discovered a nifty feature on Google Maps. If you ask for the driving distance from point A to point B, you can drag point B around and instantly see the driving time to reach point A. Point A is our son's apartment in Brooklyn. Point B ranges from the northern Philly suburbs to Allentown PA, and north along the Hudson river, then into Southern Connecticut.

It's tough, moving practically to the far side of the world (even though it's still in the US), but it has been made easier by Craigslist. We've learned to read locations like a book. We know the best deals on real estate, on sublets, on second hand cars, on furniture. We found a sublet within walking distance of our son's apartment that will be the point A pin in the map as we scour the countryside. We have a UPS mailbox as a temporary address. We can't really ship all our books to the post office box, but at least we have an anchor. We'll keep our cell phone numbers so our friends can still get in touch with us easily, and will soon learn who has the best coverage in the area we select. From the usage maps, it looks like AT&T has very good coverage throughout the region, and Sprint, which I was thinking of using, is spotty. We'll see.

Meanwhile, we've got Crown Movers booked. We've got airplane tickets, flying via LA to Houston (I've got a long-standing appointment there), then we'll probably get a car and meander a bit until we end up in NYC.

So, if you see us wandering eastward, you'll realize I'm not an illusion, though I might be a fish out of water. I'm the one wearing "slippahs" (also known as "flip-flops" or "shower shoes" or "zorries" depending on where you live), flashing a shaka sign, ceding the right-of-way to impatient drivers ... in other words, carrying with me a heavy dose of the aloha spirit. If you see me, just say "Shaka, brah." Just like in Hawaii 50.