(Pangea Organics August 2011 CEO Letter) By Joshua Scott Onysko
On August 7th, 2011 the Sunday New York Times featured an article written by Drew Westen, a professor of psychology at Emory University. The piece was titled “What Happened to Obama” and the root of the article argued that our culture needs to hear “stories” from our leaders. Westen explains that we need narratives to define what is happening, to answer why, and to determine how they are going to solve our problems. To this point, I simply disagree. Stories are entertainment; they introduce protagonists and antagonists, and often exasperate the mess we find ourselves in. Westen states that we have depended on stories since the beginning of time, but perhaps we need to redefine the purpose of story-telling.
“What Happened to Obama” is not actually about Barack Obama’s success or failure, it is about determining what we as culture need and how to move forward with purpose. How do we responsibly act as stewards of the great planet Earth?
To begin, we need to shake away the oppressive yoke of blame. We shirk responsibility by condemning the “other” and, as result, create a paradigm that disempowers society. Why rely on distant leaders to execute change when we can act ourselves? Why strive for logistical peace when we are at war with our true desires? Why advertise health and well being when we rely on legal systems to harness destructive practices that never should have proliferated?
The great leader that we seek lies within us; we hold the power to create the world we wish to live in. A true leader reflects the intuitive intelligence of the collective consciousness. Society deprives itself of influence when it waits for elected officials to proclaim the who, what, where, when, and why. We allow ourselves to fall into the role of the victim, dependent on their stories for apocryphal knowledge. We wait…and wait...and wait for somebody to fix what is broken. This system does not serve us. A new system, within which we take ownership of our actions and consider the ramifications of each choice, can build the world in which we wish our children to live. It is impossible to truly learn from mistakes when we do not recognize them as our own.
When I vote, I consider how much our leaders are listening rather than how much they are speaking.
There is no time like the present to act. The only tool you need is yourself.
Sincerely,
Joshua Scott Onysko Founder & CEO Pangea Organics