<div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt">
<br>Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and the concept of <i>ubuntu</i>. Aimee Oberndorfer Le writes:
</p><blockquote>
<i>"I've always understood it to translate roughly to 'I am
because we are,' which is similar. Desmond Tutu puts it this way:
'Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a
human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You
can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu -
you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too
frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you
are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well,
it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.'"</i>
</blockquote><p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b><br></b></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b><br></b></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt"><b>The
Enabling Empowerment Principle - Intrinsic Motivation</b></span>
</p>
<p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">A person
is empowered when they are able to make choices on their own that determine
what their next steps will be. The more choices you are free to make on your
own, the more empowered you are. The choices you make can have a positive
result or a negative result. An empowered person is responsible for his or her
life and decisions. </span>
</p>
<p style="margin:0in 0.5in 0.0001pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">
</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:22.5pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt"><i>Breaking The Poverty Cycle & Sustainable Development</i> – Pic and
Sirkin (Program in Mexico) speak of it this way:
</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 1in 10pt 67.5pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">
An optimally functioning democratic society entails a
citizenry that participates in constructing its future.<span> </span>We have stressed the importance of
laws, infrastructure, clinics, and schools in creating the structural context
in which people lead their daily lives.<span>
</span>Policies and program can enhance choice, personal agency, and intrinsic
empowerment so that people may form a strong social core. Change in systems of
paternalism and rule-boundedness – especially at the local level is realized
through the actions of agentically empowered citizens and leaders.
</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 1in 10pt 67.5pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">
A mindset of a personal agency requires thinking beyond
isolated behaviors, to perceive oneself as part of a community and as an agent,
rather than object, of change. Programs that address several domains of
activity facilitate a more comprehensive conceptualization of oneself as an
agent. They do so by supporting the application of the developed skills across
a number of situations, thus building wider competencies and creating
opportunities to execute new behaviors.<span>
</span>This process requires not only common skills but also the reduction of
psychological and social barriers.
</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 1in 10pt 67.5pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">
When psychological barriers are sufficiently reduced,
personal agency can evolve to the point where individuals begin to see
themselves simultaneously as part of the context and influential within it. We
named this intrinsic empowerment. Drawing from the fields of socio-economic
research and psychology, intrinsic empowerment combines the ideas of
empowerment and personal agency as part of a fluid context.<span> </span>It is a specific form of empowerment that
is intrinsically derived and therefore, we argue, is more likely to be
sustainable. Together, individuals empowered with these psychological
characteristics have the capacity to profoundly impact communities, and
institutes within their communities.
</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0.25in 10pt">
<span style="font-size:10pt">
Pic and Sirkin’s work is influenced by Robert S. Hartman’s original
work on formal Axiology of which I refer often in our OST Hotline conversations <br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0.25in 10pt"><br><span style="font-size:10pt">Thanks to all hearts and minds who gather here - I celebrate you all during this time of darkest night, turning to the light. </span>
</p>
<span style="font-size:10pt"></span><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div><div><b>Skye Hirst, PhD</b><br></div>President - The Autognomics Institute<br></div><div><i>Conversations in the Ways of Life-itself</i><br>
</div><div><a href="http://www.autognomics.org" target="_blank">www.autognomics.org</a><br></div><div>@autognomics <br><br></div><div>New Phone Number:<br><a href="tel:207-593-8074" value="+12075938074" target="_blank">207-593-8074</a><br>
</div><div><br></div></div>
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