Getting started....where does it start?

[Yvette Dubel]

I have been pondering where to start in launching Cultural Fusion here. So it only makes sense to start with what i know i want to share....

In terms of the blog I think i'll share a few things that have captured my interest or attention. The themes may not be overt, but all related to ideas and issues that inspired Cultural Fusion or provide insights to guide it.

There's a cool TED Talks video i want to share this time around and my hope is that as more of you join you will give me feedback with regard to what you are interested in. I"ll confess that this post is a revision of one from another of my blogs, but I share it again here because it is that important.

Furthermore, it demonstrates the value of this undertaking in terms of what Cultural Fusion has to offer in terms of addressing real world problems. In all my undertakings I feel that my perspective as an artist brings a missing dimension to most issues. With this series I am discovering more about contrast vs competition in terms of defining value in the marketplace. Recently I have looked back to my early writings and decided to share some of them as reference material to help others understand the empirical foundation for my concepts that set me on the path of discovering Cultural Fusion. (I'll share that with you in an upcoming post.)

From a more "here now" perspective the following is a perfect example....What does it mean that no one else is talking about or seems to have considered what financial "down turns" actually involve in the context of the human drama we call life? Is there anyone that thinks loss of your home is a minor issue? On the contrary it is the sort of issue that turns one's life upside down and in many cases leads to other problems (depression, increase in abuse, etc). Yes, these are the sorts of complex issues that Cultural Fusion is being developed to help address based on established research findings that go beyond seeing people as subjects but instead embraces them as part of our human family.

There have been many experts talking/writing about market disruption as force that will shape the economy as it moves through this transition period. However, I'm not hearing much in terms of insight about the disruptive factors bubbling up right now in the States. Why?


In The Tipping Point Gladwell underscores the importance of “stickiness” with an example where including a map to a place that the readers were already familiar with made the difference, the status quo of using fear to manipulate behavior failed. This made me question how many people were also wondering about what will deliver the “stickiness” to keep attention on the part we play in the solutions we have to develop as a society and as individuals?

Now before I explain what prompted this post…

Consider what a radically new social landscape we create when we can engage all levels of society based on this idea….

Develop systems and operating frameworks that turn users into producers and consumers into creators as an approach to offsetting the demand on community human services AND support development of globalization models that address a significant current problems.

These are not limited to, but include economic development spurring social enterprises/programs and CSR program short falls, that will have a negative impact on corporation profits (declining social capital).

Corporations especially are invited to open dialogues to help harness the talent and passion of the individuals within their organizations. Consider the social capital value you lose when your business does not support your employees with a passion for social innovation that can be your key to connecting with market/customer/end user inspired product/service enhancements.

Often social enterprises are built with one large customer, without a growth in market share the endeavors are not sustainable, but these are issues for another time. You see my point, these questions and issues do matter.
Lessons from Freakonomics…there have been no shortage of reports about the anticipated crisis in certain sectors of the financial market. However little attention has gone to the very human side of that scenario, that could also mean an increase in demand on an already under supported human services sector.

Recently I was having a conversation with a close friend of mine who works in peri/prenatal outreach. She sighed as she said, “I am now where you were a few years ago…now I understand what you meant…and you were right about where things were heading.” We had a dialogue where I indicated that if nothing changed that exactly what is now happening would happen…hitting hardest the people we had been working with.

One person with full time employment providing shelter and varying degrees of support for two other single parents under the age of 21, having that one person (head of household) become displaced because of a big increase in their mortgage interest rate or defaulting on the loan because of a change in income actually impacts at least two other families. If they are barely surviving now what will that mean? Is this reality something to factor into economic policy? How do you visualize/develop solutions for a problem that has been denied proper attention? See the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina if you doubt this…many of the people who were displaced are still struggling to recover.

In the past I’ve written articles and proposals citing the various homeless statistics from county to county and I have learned that statistics do not tell the story that is the truth that many people live each day. One lesson: Life is more than numbers and you are more than your bank account.

Take for example a state reporting a decline in numbers entering homeless shelters, therefore concluding they have had an impact on the problem by achieving this benchmark of x decline in homeless count. Perhaps there are fewer people going to shelters but is that really because they are no longer “homeless” in the sense that they do not have their own permanent home? My experience and that of the many people I know or have known that work in the human services sector serving those in need…our experience is that people are staying away from shelters for a whole range of reasons from social stigma to fear of their safety. Some shelters for example will not allow a son that is older that 14 to stay with his mother and many women would sleep in their car with their children rather than have them separated.

Some shelters have policies that may deter many most in need of their services and that gets into core issues such as some people believing that certain people (active substance abusers) do not deserve the right to access of emergency shelters. The reality is that many of the women on the streets are also mothers and so this leads to occupancy in abandon or otherwise unfit/dangerous housing. Fear of prosecution on behalf of these women presents another challenge for the women charged with helping them and their children. Often this then leads to issues effecting the senior population living in challenging conditions that take on responsibility to care for their grandchildren rather than see them go into the foster care system.

My point is not to list all the people in need because obviously that is far from a complete list. The intention is to give you the context of the understanding shared between my friend and me. When I was focused on the grassroots level in a different capacity my driving mission was to help strengthen community services to be ready for what I hope would not happen because it represented what I then saw as a worse case scenario. Considering the downsizing of the mental health system I have wondered why no one is discussing how to develop intervention strategies for child and senior abuse victims. Without this it is likely we will have stories of deaths instead of rescues.

So when people wonder why I am so focused on the value of “art as
philosophy” to develop solutions to increasingly complex social situations…I ask you to think about this.

In times of great change there are opportunities as well as risks, and only those who take a chance will come out ahad. And that is why I want you to be
inspired by this post. I hope to share with you a bit of what inspires me and how I am reminded of a quote

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” —-Nelson Mandela

What do the financial indicators foretell for the most vulnerable among us? And can you have a complete picture of the economy or the world if you disregard them? From what i've heard it seems many economist and financial experts only value us as consumers.

And so we see a very obvious example of how the poor are treated as if they are invisible and I ask you to consider how do we build a better future if we ignore these realities? Furthermore, since there has not been value previously established for the radically new approaches called for that can bridge disparate situations to improve conditions for all, there exist a great opportunity for frameworks such as SoulFood in context such as Cultural Fusion. There is a place for the positive work of many who are committed to applying their talent for change. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by this post, realize that history will tell the truth of who we are despite what we claim or choose to believe.

If you didn’t know before…hadn’t thought of it this way. What will you do now that you have?

Now, I'd like to share this video with you to ponder.