‘Fourth Person’ | Collective Sensing
By C. Otto Scharmer and Eva Pomeroy
The number one problem facing humanity today is our sense that we are powerless to change any of it. The old ways of knowing and acting in our world are no longer sufficient. Our systems are collapsing. If we are going to serve societal transformation in the face of this collapse, as we believe is fully possible, we need to draw on a new form of knowing—knowing for transformative action.
Kosmos Autumn 2020 Gallery of Poets
Cynthia Anderson
Becoming Sequoia
To live for thousands of years,
you can’t be perturbed
by every insect or squirrel
or change in the weather.
When wildfire scorches
your skin, you heal and keep
going. Your intention protects
you like an amulet – you push
upward according to plan,
knuckled base nestled
against earth like a fist. You
follow the ways of a shaman,…
Kosmos Fall 2021 Gallery of Poets
Kate Meyer-Currey
Trailblazers: Opening the Doors of Neurodiverse Perception
Welcome to the neurotypical world,
neurodivergent changeling. It wasn’t
your choice to be born this way, under
such a wayward star.
You’ll find equality legislation hasn’t
got with our different beat yet; the
way is full of pitfalls like closed doors
and glass ceilings.
So here are some of my tips to start
you off…
Kosmos Winter 2022 Gallery of Poets
Gloria Heffernan
The Navajo Way
Dark eyes averted,
tongues silent,
the children listen
as their grandmothers
taught them to
while the schoolteacher
prods and pushes,
demanding answers
to validate her
good intentions.
Listening to the Earth
they trust the answers
to reveal themselves
in the stories of the elders,
the bird song at dawn.
Listening to experts
she dictates answers
trusting in tests
to…
Kosmos Gallery of Poets for the Sacred Season
Andrea Potos
When the Consolation of a Word Comes to You
Not detach, which sounds too much
about the retina, and this is not about the eye
but the heart, and its gates––
unlatch and allow yourself to roam
beyond what is hurting you, further into the fields
and meadows––there, find a spot
to kneel down in the deep, fragrant grasses,
make a bed for your body where the summer
is still singing…
Redefining philanthropy’s purpose and role by centering social movements
By Chung-Wha Hong and Sara Mersha
This essay delves into the pivotal relationship between philanthropy and social movements, challenging traditional paradigms. Emphasizing the need for philanthropy to move beyond mere funding and engage in true allyship with movements, the authors envision a praxis of solidarity philanthropy rooted in liberation.
Ineffective Rationalism and Effective Alibis | Part 1
By Alnoor Ladha and Lynn Murphy
In this two-part essay, Ladha and Murphy track the rise of the Effective Altruism and Longtermism movements, and their current influence shaping philanthropy and policy. The essay reveals how the underlying logic and approaches of these “extreme rationalists” is structured to avoid addressing the root causes of social issues.
Other People’s Children
By Colin Greer
A poem by Colin Greer, President of the New World Foundation. He has published several social science books as well as numerous books of poetry. He was a founding editor of Social Policy Magazine and Change Magazine, and wrote a column for Parade Magazine for almost 20 years. He wrote this poem in response to the myriad, often silenced, crisis affecting children in the US and around the world.
The Double Objective of Democratic Ecosocialism
By Jason Hickel
Delving into the systemic roots of capitalism contributing to the metacrisis, economic anthropologist Jason Hickel advocates for a revolutionary shift towards Democratic Ecosocialism, proposing the democratization of finance and production; universal access to essential services; and re-prioritizing well-being and ecology as the primary aims of the political economy.
Wealth as Responsiveness to Earth Wisdom
A Lakota elder challenges the prevailing Western notions of ownership and wealth by advocating for a return to the holistic understanding of existence found in Indigenous cultures. He emphasizes the importance of unlearning Western ideologies of possession and relearning Indigenous ways of being, which prioritize community, reciprocity, and harmony with the Earth.