"The Biggest Global Movement in History" -- Citizen Action for Biodiversity, Indigenous & Traditional cultures, Sustainability, Peace & Justice

It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know. It flies under the radar of the media by and large. It is nonviolent. It is grassroots. It has no clusterbombs, no armies, and no helicopters. It has no central ideology. A male vertebrate is not in charge.

This unnamed movement is the most diverse movement the world has ever seen. The very word "movement" is too small to describe it. No one started this worldview. No one is in charge of it. There is no orthodoxy. It is global, classless, unquenchable, and tireless. Its shared understanding is arising spontaneously from different economic sectors, cultures, regions, and cohorts. It is growing and spreading worldwide, with no exception.

It has many roots. But primarily the origins are indigenous cultures, the environment and social justice movements. Those three sectors and their subsectors are intertwining, morphing, and enlarging... This is a democracy movement...It's marked by kinship, communities, symbiosis. It's Pachamama ("Mother Universe"). It's Mama. It's the earth talking back, waking up...

The background music is not the best and the talk is now three years old––but this clip of Paul Hawken speaking at a 2006 Bioneers conference describing the collective energy of hundreds of thousands of civil society organizations made up of tens of million of people––if not more--from all over our planet–– is breathtaking.

The social entrepreneur drew his talk from his 2007 book, Blessed Unrest: How The Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

The movement Hawken describes is not something new. Citing poet/environmentalist Gary Snyder and actor/activist/writer Peter Coyote––Blessed Unrest refers to "the great underground, a current of humanity that dates back to the Paleolithic and its lineage can be traced back to healers, priestesses, philosophers, monks, rabbis, poets, and artists 'who speak for the planet, for other species, for interdependence, a life that courses under and through and around empires.'"

Hawken's imagination was captured by not only the explosion of movements––but also by the shift towards the "intertwingling" of causes––environmentalism; sustainability; biodiversity; indigenous issues; civil society, children's issues; community development; cultural heritage; democratic activism; fair trade; good governance; human rights; social, and economic justice; disarmament and peacemaking; water and other resource rights; and gender issues.

Those of us worldwide who are working to save endangered biodiverse species, coral reef habitats, pristine forests of the Asia-Pacific (and throughout the world); the peaceful traditional ways of life for farmers in Jeju Island, Korea; the sacred dugong and traditional village life for Okinawans; and the sacred Pagat Caves and Chamoru indigenous culture in Guam • to heal historical wounds from Japanese military colonial expansion and the Pacific War; and heal contemporary wounds from repeated nuclear test explosions and forced military occupation (with comcomittant crime, rapes, environmental degradation, noise pollution, emotional tension) throughout our islands (and throughout the world) • to spread the nonviolent and democratic ideals of Japan's Peace Constitution which forbids the use of force as a way to resolve international disputes; abolish nuclear weapons • and to build peaceful networks with others working for life-sustaining civilization throughout the world---who are meeting each other across national, geographical, religious, political, and socio-economic boundaries--know about this exhilirating, empowering "intertwingling" from personal experience.

We realize--that for those who choose to live on the level of common humanity and respectful, loving connection with our fellow creatures on our miraculous and beautiful living planet--there are no boundaries.

Orion excerpts Blessed Unrest here.

-- Jean Downey