One of my heros is Werner Erhard

The possibility to create the context in which people’s lives really matter is undoubtedly the most profound opportunity available to anyone, ever. Werner Erhard

Twenty four years ago I did the Forum. My life was profoundly changed in two weekends and an evening. While Werner Erhards name is often disparaged in the media, he is one of the most brilliant thinkers and social innovators of our time. His work continues to impact the world.

We don’t mean that people are at fault for, to blame for, or should feel guilty about their circ**stances. It’s possible to create for oneself a context of responsibility. Life presents circ**stances no one of us has complete control over. But in a context of responsibility, I would say, for instance, about the recession: “I can be responsible for the quality of my life in this recession. I can do something about the circ**stances I find myself in. I’m not powerless or a victim.” A context gives one the opportunity to think creatively, rather than to think only reactively. It is not a justification, an explanation or a prescription. A context is a place from which you approach the circ**stances of life. One then can deal with life from a sense of some personal effectiveness. . .

. . . Our thinking needs some new possibilities and new opportunities. I’m not giving people answers, but rather attempting to bring forth a breakthrough in opportunities to think creatively. I like that Chinese proverb which says, “If we don’t change our direction we’re gonna wind up where we’re headed.” We need a new paradigm of being and thinking and acting. We need to be aware that our answers are shaped by the paradigm of thinking in which we work out solutions and not merely do more, better or vari­ations of the same kind of thinking. I’m asking people to stop and take a look behind their thoughts.

Werner Erhard - 1982

http://www.wernererhard.com/wernererhardinterview.html

Every undertaking that I have accomplished in the past two decades has been influenced by the coaching in integrity, possibilty and accountability that I experienced in that short time. To me, this is the epitome of successful social innovation.

You don't have to go looking for love when it is where you come from.

Werner Erhard