Wal-Mart: how to start a good conversation

On Aug 27, 2006, at 3:31 PM, John P Mackey wrote:

Fascinating discussion on Zaadz, Michael.  …   I encourage you to keep doing what one of the participants suggested (who is one of the Integral participants)—“include and transcend”.  I believe it is counter productive to argue with Green Meme folks from an Orange Meme perspective.  Instead if we consistently “include and transcend”—come from the Integral perspective in our arguments—then we will help create intellectual and emotional pathways for the Green Memers to keep evolving.  Wal-Mart is such a fascinating example because they are such a quintessential Orange Meme company which is beginning to evolve to Green.  They therefore serve as a real lightning rod for both Orange and Green Memers to argue about.  In talking about Wal-Mart, therefore, I urge us to adopt the following strategy:

1. Acknowledge the good and wonderful things that Wal-Mart has done and is doing—validate the Orange Meme.
2. Encourage and praise their Green Meme movements into environmental responsibility, while encouraging them to do even more—validate the Green Meme.
3. Include and transcend both their Orange and Green Meme work with a vision of conscious capitalism—corporations becoming more consciously responsible for “doing good”—validate the Second Tier Memes.

From: Michael Strong
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 5:10 PM
To: John P Mackey
Cc: Brian Johnson; Jeff Klein

Good articulation of FLOW strategy.

Although perhaps it is a subtle second-order issue, the language of Spiral Dynamics, by focusing on cultural memes, obscures the importance of institutional structures such as property rights and tax structure.  A green tax shift together with property rights solutions to tragedy of the commons problems would alleviate environmental issues far faster and more effectively than would second-tier memes without such institutional supports.  

Of course, one could say that true second-tier thinking implies these institutional solutions, but if so then we are the first people to suggest such a thing.  Some people perceive any talk of economics to be orange thinking even when it is authentically in the service of higher level goals.  "Include and transcend" has to include the use of the best analytical tools; my effort, then is to convince people that these bright orange tools of rationality are in the service of higher memes.

 This post addresses some of these issues:

 "The following article from Common Dreams on a Worldwatch proposal represents a far more powerful strategy for solving environmental problems.  By means of tax policy and pollution trading rights, orange meme businesses work very aggressively to achieve environmental goals.  It is wonderful to have conscious companies and consumers voluntarily changing their behavior, and there may well be many environmental problems that can be solved thusly.  But tax policy and property rights solutions (of which the sulfur dioxide permits are one example) will solve many environmental problems faster and more effectively than will the transition to conscious entrepreneurship.

 This is not in any sense intended to undermine the desire to support conscious entrepreneurship; it is, instead, respect for those who focus on the best real-world solutions to particular problems.  Worldwatch's conversion to market-based solutions to environmental problems is one of the most promising developments in environmentalism in the past twenty years.  By contrast, last time I checked Greenpeace was still hostile to market-based solutions.  A conscious entrepreneur who supports Worldwatch is a better conscious entrepreneur than is one who supports Greenpeace."

 The Worldwatch book described, "The Natural Wealth of Nations," sounds wonderful, by the way:

 http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/Sept98/091298a.htm

From: John P Mackey
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 4:28 PM
To: Michael Strong
Cc: Brian Johnson; Jeff Klein

The Orange Meme is both good and necessary!  Without it we don’t have capitalism or democracy or very much progress at all and we are stuck in poverty and domination by Blue Meme Clergy and their ilk.  I love the Orange Meme!  Integral consciousness takes the institutions and most of the technologies of the Orange Meme and utilizes them more consciously for the greater good of all.  It supplements the Invisible Hand of Capitalism with the Visible Hand of wisdom and compassion.  Both hands are necessary if we want to evolve our world in healthy ways.  I don’t perceive talking about economics to be “Orange thinking”, but many Green Memers do, which is why I think it is Important to always include Green Meme and Integral ideas when talking about economics in order to avoid unnecessarily polarization with them if possible.

I’m excited about the evolution of Lester Brown and World Watch.  I recently read his updated version of Plan 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble and Brown definitely seems to have accepted the importance and value of market based solutions to many of our environmental challenges.  Brown has interesting things to say about the potential of wind energy and plug-in hybrid cars combining to reduce our use of oil by up to 90% over the next 20 years.  Some exciting ideas there (although his views on food aren’t nearly so exciting IMO).