For The World: A Far-Sighted Collective for Shaping Viable Futures
For The World, a project designed by first-year student Erika Choe, serves as a far-sighted collective that embodies decentralized and democratic practices to actively engage in building a better future. Erika envisions the website as your “go-to guide for exploring and sharing alternate models for a more connected, meaningful and regenerative future.”
"We need alternative solutions that help shape viable futures; to move us from an independent culture to one that embraces interdependence."
"As our world becomes increasingly fragmented and segmented, we are motivated to cultivate a more meaningful and connected existence," Erika says of her inspiration to create For The World. "It is no longer healthy to be alone in this accelerated era of pandemics, inequality, isolation, and climate issues. It is also no longer beneficial to remain in the lonely climb for independence." Instead, Erika offers a solution to "dedicate our practices to raising alternative solutions that help shape viable futures; to move us from an independent culture to one that embraces interdependence."
The Inception ︎
Through a seven-week-long study on how the sharing experience manifests in our individualist culture, Erika realized that “it all boils down to the fact that we are always in a relationship with something, and that connective tissue that binds us together is what pushes us forward.” Which begged the question: how can we strengthen the quality of our relationships?"
Erika explains that in an attempt to structure her findings, she applied a four-part system to categorize four alternate models she wanted to highlight. She later discovered that these four pillars were a part of a larger "STEEP" analysis structure used in evaluating external factors of our futures. "This gave me the confidence and assurance that I was on the right track in systemizing an overwhelming wealth of information," Erika shares. The Four Pillars for Alternate Models are as follows:
Political Pillar (Quadratic Voting)
Economical Pillar (The Co-op Model)
Social Pillar (The un-traditional agency model)
Environmental Pillar (Carbon Negative & Regenerative Models)
You can read more about each of the four pillars on her FTW website tabs:
"In the somatics lineage, we say that the three basic needs that all humans have are safety, dignity, and belonging. Once those are intact, we can start to feel satisfied and good in our lives. When they're not there, we constantly seek them out.
We need to be scholars of belonging…What does it look like to belong to each other?"
—adrienne maree brown
In our rapidly destabilized planet, the English economist Kate Raworth posits the reimagination of ‘progress’ as a quest to overcome structural dependency on growth and normalize economies that make us thrive—whether or not they grow. In her words, “When something tries to grow forever, within a healthy living thriving system, it’s a threat to the health of the whole.” By choosing a higher ambition, we are able to create opportunities for those in need and dignity to those who heed. And ultimately, a call for like-minded individuals to band together and reach for a regenerative and distributive future.
