Reclaim Paradise: Reset for the Common Good
Our global society is facing unprecedented change, termed “The Great Reset” and “The New Normal.” In a societal re-framing, what takes hold depends on the road taken and we are at a crossroads. We can Reclaim Paradise on earth or fall deeper into Corporate Rule and control by a self-elected few. However, there are road signs that point the way to Reclaim Paradise and Home Rule.
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MAUI COUNTY, HAWAII, has shown the way to rapidly and peacefully shift our governance by educating, engaging and focusing the local community on the trigger for systemic change. This uplifting change process is well-illustrated by its successes in transforming 125 years of local corporate rule. This rule and subjugation are what the planet is moving toward at an accelerated pace. The incredible history of corporate rule in Maui set the stage for a strategy that transformed it and the solution applies globally.
By focusing on the local trigger for systemic change, a small group can steer their region on a different path. Home Rule results in a system where community and environmental needs are prioritized over corporate profits and destructive policies. It is a shift from a hierarchical framework of control to the distribution of more power to a localized base.
This is not about anarchy; it is about utilizing the existing system so that it serves the people, instead of supporting corporate greed and the removal of liberties. The pandemic has provided a rapid acceleration to enact Corporate Rule. This can also be an acceleration for grassroots groups to Reclaim Paradise.
INTRODUCTION
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The word paradise often evokes images of pristine natural landscape, sparsely populated, with clean air and clear skies. It is no wonder that Maui fits this ethos. With beautiful white sand beaches stretching for miles of coastline, fringed by greenery and encapsulated by clear blue waters, Maui truly is a paradise for those who visit. Yet for residents, it became a stolen paradise.
The real damage to Maui and its paradisiacal existence is rooted deeply in the forces that have sought to control Maui over the last 125 years. It is important to examine what forces and events were the impetus of the decades of Corporate Rule in order to see the path of change.
Corporate Rule is when large businesses, or corporations, often faceless and inhuman organizations that exist to increase profit for shareholders, take control of governance so that the needs of the corporation (or corporations) supersede the needs of the people and the environment. The same system is currently casting its dark shadow over much of this planet. Corporate Rule diverts wealth and power to an elite few, based on deception, censorship, divisiveness, surveillance, thievery and domination. This system involves subjugation of the masses — in a variety of forms. It also usually entails the degradation of the natural environment and the removal of resources for corporate profits, often to the detriment of the local people, who use and depend upon the environment to provide for their local economy and future.
Maui’s residents have struggled under Corporate Rule for three generations. This is the same type of governance system we are moving into on a global scale. The shift worldwide to Corporate Rule shares common goals of exploitation and subjugation that Maui has experienced. These micro and macro versions utilize similar operating systems, with inherent weaknesses. They also share similar ways to be transformed.
After 125 years of Corporate Rule, Maui was finally able to take a step into the light of Home Rule, or a government that is controlled by the voice and will of the people it represents. This book is the true account of this shift of Maui’s government from Corporate Rule to Home Rule, a very timely story.
Hawaiians believe that what has emerged today in the move to Home Rule was born from what has occurred over seven past generations. The history reveals what we are dealing with, its weaknesses and ways to transform it. Maui’s seven generations have four distinct phases, each creating a cultural shift. The third phase was Corporate Rule, but remnants of each phase helped shape the existing culture and community narrative, and played a big role in developing strategies and messages for systemic change.
This is a story of moving from subjugation and servitude to grassroots engagement and empowerment. It is a story of hope for all oppressed societies — ushering in the good news of how to get out of this ever-encroaching system whose aim is to reset the world for global Corporate Rule.
We have a choice to take an uplifting approach for systemic change that lays out how we can utilize this Great Reset to transform our governance and societal systems to serve the common good. Home Rule and the Great Reset for the Common Good are systems based on transparency, collaboration, mutual respect, prosperity, and well-being. These values function at a higher frequency, when compared to Corporate Rule. This approach is neither a philosophy nor a fantasy, but a well-proven strategy that applies worldwide.
The road to the common Good is illustrated in the lessons from seven past generations. The tipping point of Maui’s shift to Home Rule is an uplifting account of a relatively small group of activists who ended Corporate Rule by focusing on the trigger for systemic change. This new phase has brought unprecedented positive change, for both the residents and the environment. This small group also provided a template to stop the erosion of freedom that happens to all local governances.
The ripples of this story of Reclaim of Paradise have global implications. ​There is a way to win this battle for greater prosperity and well-being for the 99%. Maui is a guide to using doable steps to lead the way back to a true Democracy and the Common Good. The systems that control and monitor society can be changed to serve all of society, instead of the elite few. Our most effective approach to rid our nation of this exploitive, manipulative, unjust hierarchy is to start where we still have power: within our local governance.
Most importantly, this story illustrates how you can help bring this shift to your community.
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