For Ebony who will inherit the future 2 Towards a Partnership Society in Australia Bev Floyd 3 DRAFT BEING REVISED. FEEDBACK WELCOME. [email protected] Updated November, 2017 Not to be copied or sold for profit without permission from the author ©Bev Floyd 2017 4 Contents Introduction 1. Not just a dream 2. Social change we have inherited 3. Australia, the lucky country 4. Signs of the times 5. Governance within a partnership society 6. Husbands and wives 7. Religion within a partnership society 8. Gender in a partnership society 9. Growing older in a partnership society 10. Doing business in a partnership society 11. Minding the environment 12. Role of the media in a partnership society 13. Creativity in a partnership society 14. Ethics, responsibility and regulation 15. Australia’s future role in the world End-piece APPENDIX A: Partnership and Gladiatorial models compared APPENDIX B: Bringing about a partnership society 5 6 Introduction Not Just a Dream is my attempt to explore how far Australia has travelled along the path to a partnership society. I have not tried to write a learned or academic book. My aim has been to give a panoramic overview of social change from circa 7000 BCE to the present and to illustrate (with examples) the gradual ‘return’ to a partnership society. My definition of a partnership society is one in which ‘men’ and ‘women’ participate equally and can reach their potential to contribute to society. It is a society where poverty is minimised; race and religion are not hindrances to contribution and the environment is protected. I have tried to describe what a Partnership Society, ¹ might be like in various areas such as business, gender, the environment etc. I have been influenced by a book called The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler²... a work of enormous scope and impeccable research. Not just a dream differs from The Chalice and the Blade in being focussed primarily on the experience of social change within Australia. Chapters one to four trace progress to the present. Chapters Five and onwards suggest further steps we might take towards a partnership society (one where male and female attributes are valued equally and men and women work together to improve people’s lives). Starting this book was difficult. I wrote one beginning, then another and another. I knew I wanted to write about the social impact of differences between masculine and feminine attributes but the subject was complex and issues went off in all directions like fleas from a matchbox. I discarded one after another inadequate attempt before I had the good fortune to find Eisler’s book. I unashamedly borrowed her approach while adapting some of the content to my own purposes. Gradually my own story emerged. Not just a dream—towards a partnership society in Australia is my own creation although I owe Riane Eisler³ a significant debt for her vision, her extra-ordinary grasp of history and social change and also the effort it must have taken to write The Chalice and the Blade. I can whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone wanting to understand the way male and female differences have affected social history. Like Riane Eisler I believe ‘It is hardly surprising to find a correlation between the status of women and whether a society is peaceful or warlike, concerned with people’s welfare or indifferent to social equity, and generally hierarchical or egalitarian. For as we have seen throughout this book (her book), the way a society structures the relations between the two halves of humanity has profound, and highly predictable, systems implications.’ It is my hope that Not Just a Dream will clarify issues around contemporary trends and events that threaten our world—that it can be a blue-print for everyone seeking to hasten the return of an inclusive society free of war and want, a society filled with peace, happiness and love. 7 INTRODUCTION NOTES: Note 1: Centre for Peace and partnership studies. The mission of the Center for Partnership Studies is to accelerate movement to partnership systems of human rights and nonviolence, gender and racial equity, economic prosperity, and a sustainable environment through research, education, grassroots empowerment, and policy initiatives that promote: • Human development • Social well-being, and Long-term economic success, with special emphasis on valuing the work of caring and caregiving still primarily done by women. [http://www.partnershipway.org] Note 2: Eisler, Riane. ‘The Chalice and the Blade’, The. Published by Unwin Hyman Limited, Broadwick Street, London. 1990 Note 3: RIANE EISLER, JD is President of the Center for Partnership Studies and internationally known as a systems scientist, attorney working for the human rights of women and children, and author of groundbreaking books such as The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, now in 26 foreign editions, and The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. Dr. Eisler has received many honors, including honorary PhDs and peace and human rights awards. She lectures worldwide, with venues including the United Nations General Assembly, the U.S. Department of State, Congressional briefings, universities, corporations, conference keynotes, and events hosted by heads of State. [http://rianeeisler.com] 8 1 Not just a dream I dream of a world without violence and war—a world where everyone has shelter and food, children grow up surrounded by love and joy and wisdom and everyone has the opportunity and the challenge to achieve their highest potential. This will be a world where poetry and art, music and dance is prized and the natural world is understood and reverenced—a world with gratitude and respect for the earth, the plants and the animals. I am convinced this will one day become a reality and not just a dream—that it is the reason for human existence and our sacred duty to work towards this day with every ounce of our energy. But it will be an evolutionary process—taking its time, with diversions and setbacks and disappointments. Our individual efforts will seem puny compared with the slow and certain progress towards the fulfilment of this dream. 9 PARTNERSHIP AND GLADATORIAL MODELS COMPARED The partnership model The partnership model is a mediator model rather than a gladiatorial model. People who support this model are active peacemakers. They believe in participation, compassion, inclusiveness. They are kind-hearted and thoughtful. Their role is to take care of children and the family. From early childhood, they develop nurturing skills. They have a full emotional range and use it in their role as peacemakers. Around them develops a flat management system where everyone is valued for themselves without a need to prove their worth. Their role is a virtuous and beautiful one. More females than males are in this category but there are also many males. Equality for females is extremely important to social change as women are more closely aligned to the partnership model of life and when their voice is truly heard and respected then society is more likely to change for the better. The gladiatorial model The role of gladiators is to fight. They are reared knowing they will be gladiators and are trained for their role. They are competitive, heroic and tough. They must be courageous and have an intense will to win. In times of war they are in the forefront of the battle and keep the rest of their community safe. The most successful gladiators develop leadership skills, are decisive and good in crises. They learn to guard their emotions and to switch them off when hard decisions are required. Around them develops a hierarchical system where they test their strength and courage against the next gladiator on the ladder. The hierarchical system is valued also for its ability to instil obedience to commands as well as ensuring quick and effective responses to dangerous situations. Gladiators are generally male although not always. However, if the role is distorted, domination, brutality, war and destruction ensue. Weaker individuals are crushed. There is poverty and misery. Technology is turned from peaceful goals to war-like goals. Free speech becomes difficult. The arts and gentler pursuits are corrupted. A society where gladiators are encompassed within the partnership model. 10 The Dream. Few people would actively disagree with these hopes. The yearning for peace and security and love lives in us all. Given the state of the world, however, many would think it the height of stupidity to claim it could ever eventuate. Nonetheless, I am willing to say not only do I think it will come to pass, but also that we (that is we in Australia) are already more than halfway there. In The Chalice and the Blade, Riane Eisler describes society 9000 years ago, (and potentially for millennia prior to that) where the dream was a reality and communities of people lived it. War and violence was almost unknown. Everyone had food and shelter. Children were brought up in relative harmony. The female aspect of life was respected. The earth, source of their well-being, was cherished. Art and technology flourished. Life may have been difficult but it was overall peaceful. With the coming of agriculture, Paleolithic and Neolithic peoples across fertile valleys of Europe operated through co-operation between men and women. They practised Goddess worship which supported values associated with the nurture of the land and of children. These communities were inclusive and co-operative. They were communities with a partnership model of governance. [Paleolithic (early phase of the stone-age); Neolithic (latter part of the stone-age)] Archaeological diggings from this period provide no sign of weapons of war, no fortifications.