Trust and truth are manifestations of our humanity and goodness
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”- Leo Tolstoy
DAVOS, To Rebuild Trust You Must First Change Your Spots and Discover that you have Two Wings!!
‘Ill fares the land: to hastening ills a prey
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay’
These timeless words of Oliver Goldsmith, written in 1770, resonate all too easily in our era of a monetised, marketised, privatised, deregulated, self-regulated world, devoid of any moral and spiritual compass and sentiments, in which we find ourselves currently.
Photo credit: Gian Ehrenzeller/Shutterstock
Rebuilding Trust- Rebuilding Hope- Rebuilding a Better World
A diverse assembly of global leaders, all proven campaigners and activists for the common good, trustworthy and selfless, all projecting humanity, goodness, kindness, empathy and fairness, mostly arriving on their private jet planes from across the world and gathered for the annual gala in Davos in January 2024, inspiring our broken and harmed world to rebuild trust! Notable among them were António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Argentina's new President Javier Milei, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affair, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, and the prime ministers of Greece, Spain, South Korea, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and Lebanon, amongst other the great and the good. Pity the world that Donald, Boris and Vladimir could not be there. Who knows, perhaps next year! We must remain hopeful that trust will triumph!
In January 2024, millionaires and billionaires, their political and economic friends, the chit chat classes, and the elites attended the Davos Forum to kickstart and to Rebuild Trust. I was so happy, delighted and joyous about this game changing idea that I thought I must write a Blog about this momentous global happening, and hopefully in the process, inspire the beautiful souls at Davos on how they might navigate this historical changing of spots. So help me God. Precisely. There you have it.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”- Leo Tolstoy
It is normal to harbour a wish to lead a meaningful life which has a beneficial impact on those around us. However grand it might sound, wanting to 'change the world' is a proper and mature ambition.
However, have you ever stopped for a moment and asked yourself “Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose? Is this all there is to life? Can we live without heatred, revenge, war, poverty and destruction? Can we remember but forgive and reconcile? Is the destruction of our planet inevitable? Will greed and inequality always be a part of life?”
If we want to change the world for the better, we must- first and foremost- begin by identifying with our core human values- fairness, peace, stability, beauty, wisdom, kindness, sympathy, empathy, trust, resilience, whatever.
We live in a world today awashed with PhDs, MBAs, and experts of all sorts and still we destroy the planet, kill each other at wars, engage in acts of violence and terrorism, and sink deeper in more abject poverty and inequality, whilst abusing all life’s gifts and resources with the never ending economic growth and debt.
Therefore, do we really need more experts and authorities to rely on to tell us what is going on, or can we finally trust our own ability to observe our society and think critically ourselves about what is needed for change?
If you are interested in understanding human society without- all the usual political and economic mumbo jumbo- and if you wonder what is this life all about, yet not fully satisfied with what is on offer currently, then you might enjoy this dialogical Blog and conversation, co-creating the conditions for a meaningful change in our world.
My aim is to assist in seeing the world with a fresh pair of eyes. This is what I feel is needed to open our minds enough to empower and enable us to build the better world we all wish to see. In Search of the Light to Change the World
Davos Changing Spots? Time Will Tell!
Photo via pinterest Leopards
The Loss of Humanity is the Biggest Casualty of Being Dishonest and Untrustworthy
Even if a leopard cannot change its spots, I firmly believe in human goodness and ingenuity, that, when we realise we are engaged in acts of self-harm, we have the wisdom and the capacity to change our spots.
Davos, I sincerely hope that you will not let me down and by your actions you will prove me right on this belief and sentiment, that, humanity and goodness always trumps greed, selfishness and dishonesty.
‘No legacy is so rich as honesty.’William Shakespeare
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’- John Keats
Nota Bene
Davos and What it Means to be Human
Honesty, candour, truthfulness,transparency, accountability, integrity and humility in politics, economics, and business are central to the proper functioning of a democracy and the passport to good life and good society.
Trust is the essence of life and leadership to build a better world for all
...and when that trust is broken, life loses its meaning and purpose
In the context of current world events, crisis after crisis, the need to improve relations between economics, business, spirituality, and society seems even more urgent now than ever
A timeless lesson for devalued business, economics, politics and education
Time to Imagine a better Leaders and Leadership: Trustworthy and Wise
To my mind, in our current times of embarrassing uncertainty and immense confusion we have a great need for creative leadership which encompasses a selfless concern for the common good. An intergenerational dialogue brings light to the timeless characteristics of good leadership by sharing stories and perspectives from a life that is lived rather than simply theorised in business schools and MBA courses. Young and old, experience and stories, dreams, idealism and commitment, must come together shedding light on what a good life and a good society may look like.
Sharing a lesson from my late father who was a businessman, but also a spiritual Sufi and a poetic man, telling me about the Birds with Two Wings and our Journey in Search of Truth.
The Persian mythical bird, Simorgh (30 birds), akin to the Phoenix, symbol of resurrection.
I believe Attar’s classic Persian story can teach us a lot about the principles of vision, participation, values-led and collective leadership we must embody in order to build a better and more harmonious world.
So, here, I want to share with you what Attar has to offer on collective leadership, love and spirituality- so much missing today and so much needed to enable us together to build a better world: A world for the common good. These are the seeds that Attar and others like him have planted, and have germinated over centuries, growing into a garden into which you are about to step into.
The story of Simorgh as depicted in Farid ud-Din Attar’s famous 12th century epic poem, The Conference of the Birds and its lessons on “Values-led Leadership”
As I was growing up and entering the age of adulthood, in search of truth and wisdom, how to lead my life, my father in the true Persian tradition of storytelling, used to share with me many stories, wise sayings, concerning our lives and how to live, helping me to find my path in this journey we call life.
One day, on the relationship between money and the good life, he began his story as follows, as clearly as I can recall from so many decades ago:
You know Kamran, he said, we human beings are like birds with two wings, one material and the other spiritual. They are both as important as each other. Integrating our spiritual side of our lives with our material needs is crucial to the evolution of us, the human beings. They have to be integrated and become part and parcel of life.. You cannot lead a materialistic, monetised existence exclusively. That will be suicidal. Then, If you go excessively into spiritual life only, you are unproductive to yourself, your family and society. Like a bird which flies with two wings, human life has to be carried on with two successful wings of life—material and spiritual, he told me.
This thoughtful father and son conversation was over 55 years ago at my dad’s office in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. Then, would you believe it, how I felt, when, years later I revisited the same story, the same lesson at an English language class in Oxford and later on at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, discovering ‘A Christmas Carol’ the Scrooge and his spiritual transformation.
A Christmas Carol is an integral part of our Christmas tradition because it has a timeless, moral, spiritual and transformational relevance and value. Perhaps in a time when consumerism and materialism aspects of life, devoid from any spiritual values that dominates our daily lives today, turning us into a mad and confused bird with only one wing and unable to fly, it is time to revisit the lessons of Scrooge’s transformation and discover the true path to happiness, and become a person with two wings.
‘A Christmas Carol’: A timeless tale of redemption, compassion, hope, and transformation
There you have it Davos. Hopefully, soon, your participants will come to your annual forums, all with two wings!
Empowered by the Lessons of the GCGI, the main purpose of this Blog is to invite and encourage Davos to Change spots and become a force for the common good, where rebuilding trust will be part and parcel of Davos Forum.
Dear Davos,
In order to save time and space, allow me to go straight to the crux of the matter in hand: Is your heart, soul and mind in the right place to talk about trust?
Trust will blossom, hope will return, When we fix the broken economic model
How can you ‘Rebuild Trust' when your elites, inspired by the broken economic model of neoliberalism and Thatcherism have privatised and deregulated everything under the sun? You must not forget and shy away from your responsibility when your chosen economic ideology and model has monetised every human value, flogging everything, including trust, to the highest bidders, the mammon, the money-worshipers!!
The world of Business, economics and politics must rediscover its heart and soul, then, they can see the light of wisdom and then Davos can become a good place to take a leading role to talk about trust.
A Businessman and an Economist in Dialogue for the Common Good: Dubai 2004
‘Trust surely comes from the experience of a relationship - an in-depth experience - which by its nature is rooted in values that are not necessarily economic or monetary.’
Rebuilding trust is not, and cannot be, a slogan or a PR campaign. Trust is Earned. Trust is not a Supermarket Commodity. It Cannot be Bought and Sold in the Marketplace!
Trust is the foundation of our humanity, the moral and spiritual compass of our existence. Trust is everything, without it there will be nothing.
Trust is the most essential thing in these times. But is Davos and can Davos be the saviour of trust? This is my question.
To rebuild trust you must first and foremost become a forum for the common good, a web of meaning and purpose, a place of solidarity and cooperation, kindness, empathy, moral and spiritual sentiments, projecting, goodness, beauty, wisdom and hope: An Open Letter to Prof. Klaus Schwab, WEF, Davos
Davos must become a Journey to Healing, planting the seeds for a New World and New Life, nurturing them with the waters of Healing and Hope to germinate and grow.
Rebuilding Trust at Davos: Reimagining the Good Life and the Good Society
A painting by Artist Mary Rose Saliba
To Rebuild Trust is first and foremost about changing minds, which requires a changed education model, inspiring a changed economic mindset. Davos, are you listening!
Economics and What it Means to Be Human
Economics as Enabler and Economists as Empowerers of the Good Life and the Good Society
My Economics and Business Educators’ Oath: My Promise to My Student
The erosion of trust is not an illusion.
‘Trust is a public virtue in that it is a property or characteristic that communities need to possess in order to function well. Trust among members of a community facilitates exchange among individuals and social interaction. In this sense, trust can be understood as an aretaic (“virtuous”) property that contributes to the well-being or excellence of a community in the same way that virtues are understood as properties or character traits that contribute to individual flourishing.’
‘Simply put, to live in a community where people render aid to strangers without fear of suffering harm requires us not only to condemn violations of this norm but to offer assistance when we can, even in the face of uncertainty. If we do not engage one another in a trusting and trustworthy manner, we fail to maintain a community that reflects these values, and we diminish our ability to flourish both individually and collectively.’-Crisis in Trust and Perpetual Global Crisis
Britain Has Become a Sinking Ship of Systemic Corruption, Cronyism and Chumocracy
‘We all depend on our social, business, financial, and political affairs, on a shared currency of trust. But we have somehow devalued this currency and breaches of public trust have recently grown to epidemic proportions.’+
Yes. This is very true: The more I read, the more I investigate and research, the more I discover that, all over the world, there is no trust in anything or anybody any more. No trust in politics and politicians, no trust in the media, education, lawyers, police, army and the judiciary, medicine and the medical profession, business and finance, banks and insurance, food, food-processing, supermarkets and agriculture, as well as all sorts of tradesmen and traders, and God forbid, even religion and charities. Do I need to mention more! This, I am sure, resonates with so many people around the world.
The path to trust is only possible when we can free the world from neoliberalism, the inhumane, false ideology, devoid of any human values, such as love, empathy, ethics, trust, spirituality, altruism and care for mother nature and more.
This ideology that has chained, enslaved and corrupted everything we do and believe in, has educated the elites who are running the politics, economics, education, business, institutions, etc. What is important to them, believe me, has nothing to do with trust, goodness, beauty and humanity.
Ask them some pertinent and philosophical and meaningful questions, such as the one I have noted below, and all the way to nothingness when they open their mouths to answer!!
1. What does it mean to be human?
2. What does it mean to live a life of meaning and purpose?
3. What does it mean to understand and appreciate the natural world?
4. What does it mean to forge a more just society for the common good?
5- In what ways are we living our highest values?
6- How are we working to embody the changes we wish to see in the world?
7- What projects, models or initiatives give us the greatest sense of hope?
8- How can we do well in life by doing good?
9- What is the good life and what is the good society?
By their very nature, these questions involve thought and discussion around spirituality, ethics, morals and values.
But, there is hope for the future dear Davos!
There are 100s and 100s of real forums, real people with truly real values, all over the world who are working tirelessly, championing trust and other values destroyed by neoliberalism. They are the ones who will change the world.
I am delighted and honoured that our GCGI since its inception has been at the forefront of championing the values and actions needed to build the world of our dreams, the world of harmony, peace, fairness, justice and prosperity for all.
Therefore, before anything else, we must make universities, education, economics, business, management and MBAs trustworthy and values-led, then, everything else follows, good education will equal good economics and good business.
Beyond Davos - Rebuilding, Nurturing and Maintaining trust
Rebuilding trust and fostering global solidarity and cooperation by taking action in the interest of the common good: Our GCGI Journey of Hope
Journey of hope, a painting by Iryna Manukovska.
We, at the GCGI, from the very first days ‘recognised that our socio-economic problems are a reflection of our attitude to life and to one another. Justice, peace and harmony will come about only when the connection between the spiritual and practical in life is valued by each one of us and in society at large. This is beautifully expressed in a Chinese proverb:
“If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.
If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home.
If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.
When there is order in each nation, there will be peace in the world.”-Kamran Mofid
Davos, now that I hope you have discovered your two wings, this is how you should be imagining a better world at your forums as we have done at the GCGI
Imagine a political system that puts the public first. Imagine the economy and markets serving people rather than the other way round. Imagine us placing values of respect, fairness, interdependence, and mutuality at the heart of our economy. Imagine an economy that gives everyone their fair share, at least an appropriate living wage, and no zero-hour contracts. Imagine where jobs are accessible and fulfilling, producing useful things rather than games of speculation and casino capitalism. Imagine where wages support lives rather than an ever expanding division and separations between the top 1% and the rest. Imagine a society capable of supporting everyone’s needs, and which says no to greed. Imagine unrestricted access to an excellent education, healthcare, housing and social services. Imagine hunger being eliminated, no more food banks and soup kitchens. Imagine each person having a place he/she can call home. Imagine all senior citizens living a dignified and secure life. Imagine all the youth leading their lives with ever-present hope for a better world. Imagine a planet protected from the threat of climate change now and for the generations to come. Imagine no more wars, but dialogue, conversation and non-violent resolution of conflicts.
Journey to Healing: Let Me Know What is Essential
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
Photo: Via DeepDreamGenerator