The author, Yuval Noah Harari, has written that humans are the most powerful species because they can collaborate. Humans ability to read and write facilitates collaboration.
Does this apply to organizations and businesses also? Yes it does.
There are over 2 million nonprofits internationally – and over 260,000 foundations. Through collaboration they can achieve their greatest power – it is time to unite philanthropy to unite humanity.
But why do this? Self-interest. Through collaboration, individual philanthropies can achieve most of their missions.
How can philanthropy collaborate? One step is for foundations to get on the globe as a green light on the Unite homepage.
When foundations collaborate internationally, their solutions to humanity’s most intransigent problems will be international as well.
President Roosevelt provided philanthropy an international example to follow when he gave his famous Four Freedoms speech.
He stated the following in his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress in January 1941:
“We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms:
The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want — everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear — everywhere in the world.”
These Four Freedoms are a formula for social sciences as important as the formula (e = MC2) to the physical sciences.
When humanity has the first three freedoms “everywhere in the world” then we all live with the fourth freedom – Freedom from Fear.
President Roosevelt’s recitation of the phrase “everywhere in the world” at the end of each freedom is key. He was so adamant about these words that he personally added them; he handwrote them onto the pages of the speech he gave.
He made it perfectly clear that the Four Freedoms were not just for Americans. His own speechwriters questioned him about this, saying that “Americans wouldn’t be much concerned about the people in Java.” Roosevelt’s response was that Americans had better care because “we are all interconnected now.”
Now we need foundations and, individual donors, to show similar resolve.
It does not matter if a foundation is a small local one, or an international one, all are welcome as green lights! Freedom from want, including healthcare, is for people “everywhere in the world.”
If philanthropy is truly concerned about well-being for all, then one percent of its collective funding should go to supporting the revival and implementation of the UDHR – which is built on the foundation of the Four Freedoms.
With advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence, the provision of rights such as healthcare, can be efficiently provided “everywhere in the world“. It is a question of collaboration, and the willingness to do so.
When foundations unite, humanity will unite as well.
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