Turning to One Another

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This is a familiar lesson from participative processes. As people engage with one another--even as they develop terrorizing information--they develop relationships that enable them to encounter the unknown together, and they develop much greater collective intelligence. Old divisions and problems fade in importance; people learn that in working together they are capable of achieving surprising results that benefit everybody. And people develop trust in themselves as a coherent collective. They have learned to think well together, and they have made decisions that they're proud of. They have realized that they hold in common enough concerns and desires so they can work well, even brilliantly, together.

The year 2000 problem requires just such participation from all of us. We cannot leave Y2K to the technology experts, or to the consultants, or to leaders. We are all affected, we all have essential perspectives to contribute, and we all must be involved.

What's Possible and Who Cares?

In the past few years, more and more people have expressed a great longing for community and autonomy. Can we use Y2K to transform these longings into new ways of being together? The year 2000 requires that communities, regions, nations, and the planetary community work together to develop scenarios and make contingency plans. But it is how we choose to engage in that planning that offers the real opportunity for deep and meaningful change. Let's all begin our planning from the place of possibility, not fear.

Consultants from the University of Washington's program on sustainable community have learned that the first critical question to ask of any community is: 'What's worth sustaining?' If we can begin Y2K planning from this essential question, we will evoke our best creative energies. Years ago, consultant and organizer Marvin Weisbord learned that he had been asking the wrong question. He had gone into troubled systems asking 'What's wrong and how can I fix it?' He came to understand that the critical question was, 'What's possible, and who cares?'

If we begin our planning from 'What's possible?' we will avoid attempts to patch together the old system, or to frantically re-create systems that have resulted in isolation and dissatisfaction. People do want to be together differently. In a recent survey on Y2K, 89 percent of respondents wanted simpler, more decentralized systems so that their communities could be more self-reliant and independent.

The nature and complexity of Y2K leads us to invite back those we've excluded from current society. Our elders knew how to function before computers became substitutes for human activity. Our poor and disenfranchised long ago learned how to pull together in the face of need, or failed delivery of services. Our youth want to reconnect with us, their energy could be focused on the many assessment and information-gathering activities required. Our churches can provide both physical and emotional centers for this work.

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