A culture of collaboration

In a culture of collaboration there is no right or wrong.

Nobody's wrong, everybody's right!

I have become especially sensitive to the prevalence of expression of opinion, not only by myself -- let me explain, give you advice, reassure you, correct you, guide you, help you along or even blame you for your stupidity -- but also by everyone else.

It's so easy. It's so culturally the norm, and it's so damaging! We all have a natural ability to change ourselves, to adapt to external conditions that we may sometimes classify as extreme. We have zero ability to change other people.

Zero!

We can coerce other people to change their behavior, jump through our hoops -- sometimes! -- but their thoughts and feelings will remain in place for a long time, and their behavior may "leak" into other ways of expression. When they decide for themselves that there is some advantage for themselves in changing their behavior, changes become more long-lasting, sustainable.

So often we hear "I have a right to ____!" which only means "I am right and you are wrong." In spite of what the Constitution says, we do not have "inalienable rights" granted to us merely by the fact of our existence. Governments may grant you legal recourse if you feel injured in some way, and we may call those protections "rights," but what that does is set up a polarity, a dialectic, between right and wrong. That notion is obsolete, we can let go our attachment to it now. That notion creates wars between individuals, families, ethnic communities, and nations.

In a culture of collaboration there is no right or wrong. There are no enemies, only potential partners. There is no retribution, there is only restoration of authentic relationship. The welfare of the whole society is not more or less important than the welfare of the individual; they are equal, inextricably woven together. Pain, suffering, and grief are no longer avoided, they are integrated into a healing evolutionary process and regarded as sources of valuable information.

A culture of collaboration contains an unshakable peace, joy, and cheerfulness.

~~ David Hazen