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      The WSC is comprised of several committees and decisionmaking councils: the WiseCouncil of 13, the Project Steering Committee of 20, the 64-member Global Policy Council and the 260-member All Peoples Council. 

The Wise Council of 13   1. Desert Bioregion   2. Ocean Bioregion   3. Forest Bioregion   4. Polar Bioregion   5. River Valley Bioregion   6. Mountain Bioregion   7. Plains Bioregion   8. Earth   9. Air 10. Fire 11. Water 12. Spirit 13. Human Element

      In the WiseCouncil of 13, each member represents a specific contiguous geological/biological region or “bioregion.” A bioregion includes all plant and animal life in a given watershed area. The 13th member, the Presider, serves as mediator and also represents the human element, but not just the human element of present time. The Presider must also speak for the ancestors and the descendants as well — seven generations back and seven generations forward. Thus, the Presider’s job is a particularly challenging one.

      WiseCouncil members are chosen according to the breadth and depth of their intuitive abilities and hold forth from a great Round Table reminiscent of Arthurian legend. The WiseCouncil also serves in an all-encompassing advisory capacity to the other committees and councils. Each WiseCouncil member’s job is to seek and nurture an empathetic connection with the natural world, and when required, retrieve relevant information to be shared with WSC participants and official voting bodies.

     WSC committees and councils serve as critical information gathering agents and decisionmaking forums. The deliberative councils propose critical legislation to national governments, and issue  advocacy-oriented advisories to international trade groups, financial institutions and corporations. Most governing and voting members of the WSC are representatives of NGOs or non-governmental organizations. Representatives are democratically elected by grassroots and community groups, and are selected for their ability to think holistically. In particular, the WSC solicits men and women with a special blend of intelligence, wisdom, and deep compassion for the Earth and all its beings.

From a reporter's notebook — Inside the WSC:

       "I looked up.  A scalpel of sunlight descended, temporarily blinding me. The tropical brilliance cascaded through a labyrinth of beveled glass set between the polished wooden beams arching gracefully overhead. Multicolored murals adorned the spacious meeting room. Fabulous and detailed scenes depicting endangered plants, animals, and Native cultures were no doubt intended to remind the delegates of what was at stake beyond the building’s walls. The interplay of dissonant languages generated an unintelligible chorus that overflowed the expectant space. My eyes scanned hungrily, struggling to absorb the rich extravagance of images, sounds and ambiance as quickly as possible. No effort had been spared to ensure that the visual impact of the decor would reinforce the lofty ideals of the institution."


A TYPICAL SESSION IN THE ALL-PEOPLE’S COUNCIL

      The drafters of the proposed “Share Tax” resolution rose to reiterate their arguments. Their voices were charged with emotion. “The world is suffering from a new onslaught of military imperialism instigated by the dominant global state and gross economic injustice perpetuated by a corporate hegemony. Present circumstances are untenable for many people, and it is from this frustration that terrorism and rageful violence erupts. As we see it, the only viable solution to the present level of inequity lies in defining a new kind of economic partnership between the North and the South — the so-called 'developed' and 'developing' countries of the world. Wealthy industrial countries must lead by respecting our diverse cultures and curbing their economic and military incursions, and reducing their environmentally destructive practices. Instead, they should offer to share their financial resources and technical knowledge with everyone, regardless of ability to pay. We believe our resolution is a step in this direction."

     “My people don’t even have the most basic material comforts," insisted a representative from a small African country. "We will not be denied the right to purchase what we need to improve our material standard of living.”

      “Resource use is a global problem; it affects everyone,” argued another impassioned sponsor. “There could be enough for everyone if those who have much would share with those who have little. Ideally, this would occur voluntarily, but in the absence of wise and responsible international leadership, we feel concrete steps must be taken now! We need policies that will guide the global marketplace toward better choices and fairer distribution of wealth. Our calculations show that if the rich nations reduced their consumption levels by about 60%, this would free up enough resources to triple the standard of living for the rest of the world, thus creating rough parity for both groups.”

      “We’re the ones paying the price,” a representative from a Central American jungle tribe cried. “Every day we observe more of our plants and animals disappearing because of large-scale tree cutting, oil drilling and mining, not to mention the building of more roads into our forests. We’re losing our land to foreign buyers and government sponsored industrial and resource development. Our people are dying from alcoholism, new diseases and having to accept low-wage work in cities. There’s a terrible separation between the rich and the poor. And the Earth is suffering; we’re all suffering from this epidemic of greed.”

     The World Stewardship Council might derive its financial support from philanthropic, lottery, and individual billionaire sources combined with many $5, $10 and $100 donations sent in by millions of ordinary citizens who had tired of the deceitful and imperialistic foreign policies of their own national governments and the chronic ineffectiveness of traditional international institutions.     

      WSC founders realized the urgent need to create an international consortium of multidisciplinary experts and grassroots activists willing to take action on issues existing international organizations and national governments were either unwilling or unable to address. At essence, the WSC is an organizational body guided by the authentic representation of all the world’s people and possessed with the intention and the resources to bring about fundamental global change. Additionally, the WSC seeks to help move humanity toward a more equitable and dignified presence on the planet. 

      The WSC has at its disposal considerable human and technological resources. Chief among them is a video, audio, and computer satellite network called GlobeNet. Instead of sowing fear, inadequacy and mindless consumerism with its worldwide audience, WSC broadcast media focus on quality entertainment, thoughtful inquiry and intercultural sharing. Its mission is to provide 24-hour-a-day, noncommercial programming that strives to encourage personal and community empowerment, independent thinking, and physical self-sufficiency.

      Besides hosting critical issue discussion forums, the WSC performs important outreach functions such as hosting the Schools of Rare and Endangered Knowledge and offering a wide variety of distance learning services. Communities and villages throughout the world can receive GlobeNet programs and respond to its interactive curricula by visiting local Community Communication Centers. Free or low-cost economic assistance and legal aid for rural communities is provided through Distributed Economic Coops.

     Other WSC programs address population stabilization and reduction, natural resource protection, pollution prevention, and strategies to mitigate the deleterious impacts of world trade policies. All too often, though, the WSC finds itself as the only major international assistance agent willing to work unconditionally with indigenous cultures and Third World communities who seek to protect themselves from the devastating effects of shortsighted resource exploitation projects and the impacts of free-trade globalization.

A NEW STORY — As described by a WSC staff member

      “We think of ourselves as messengers. We’re here to let people know they have options and choices. That they have some control over their lives and don't have to accept the present dysfunctional world as it is.

     "And what really excites us is creating opportunities for evolutionary breakouts. Evolutionary breakouts are individuals who can cast off outdated ways of programmed being and doing and can commit to a new story of human response — an improved model of Homo Sapiens that seeks to replace the old pattern of rage, revenge and retribution with compassion, generosity and universal tolerance.

     "These new individuals will rise to leadership positions and eventually influence the direction of nations toward a more conscious, equitable, and peace-oriented governance. This new humanity will blend the best of pre-industrial, even pre-agricultural human knowledge with our contemporary and future selves. And we’ll do this in ways that are relevant and fundamentally, radically formative. Our new story will be scribed by men and women willing to restructure their personal belief systems and revalue life in total — asking what it means to be a fully aware human and totally alive on this planet at this point in time.” 

SOME PERSONAL COMMENTS

      Evolutionary breakouts? Humans pushing the edge of what it means to be human?  I ask myself: Do people really care about the fate of the Earth, or of civilization? Do enough people really care to make the necessary changes, and can they grow this caring to the point where a national or international consciousness can actually alter the way it relates to the rest of the world?

       This is the key question: can we avoid a global catastrophe by coupling our technological ingenuity with a thoroughly renovated human consciousness? What if "we are the technology," as radical visionary José Argüelles has postulated? If this is so, is it possible to utilize our human ingenuity to bridge to a new physical and psychic reality that includes the synthesis of deep compassion for all life with the prospect of unfettered human creativity? Might we merge what is appropriate about our technology with everything else that we’ve learned (since the dawn of human history) does work? Perhaps a solution lies in finding ways to consult our deepest cellular memory and recover what has been forgotten but is now crucial to our continued survival.

      So much to consider. But evolution is not giving up. Not just yet anyway. I believe that someone, or something, out there — or inside us — is rooting for us to succeed, despite the apparent lateness, despite our deep denial of our true impact on the world social and physical environment, and despite our massive historical ignorance of our own long record of destructive, violent imperialism.

      But where to find others who share a like-minded conviction and able and willing to step forward to help civilization make the great transition?  I sense they exist everywhere, but are as yet unsure of how to act personally and how to find others of like mind. 

In this website I've attempted to describe a reality in which those who truly care about a compassionate future for the planet are invited to dream together about how a new world based on humane collaboration might look. And I invite my fellow dreamers to do more than dream. Let's design a new paradigm and implement our visions as well.

What follows are some of my visions such as the International Center for Appropriate Technology, the Southwest Intercultural’s SunSpirit Village and the PsyEarth Institute.

Let's create a new world that truly serves all life in a healthy, compassionate and loving way.