The Give Idea or Secular Moralism

Jessica Jackley of Kiva.org, a micro-financing non-profit, just spoke at TED about finding ways to give and share with the poor. A couple of days ago Nik Marks, a statistician who measures happiness for the Happy Planet Index, showed us the five things that lead to well being — the last was to give. Over and over from the stage in Oxford this year, we’ve heard people say, essentially, “we who live in the West have enough; it’s time to give away our excesses.” Not only that, but by giving we can find more meaning, and more self actualization in life.

This isn’t a new notion. It’s actually been resonating quite a bit over the past couple of years — see Generation M Manifesto (for meaning) and our own “Meaning of Business.” The global financial crisis, the climate change movement, the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Haiti earthquake, the BP oil spill, and other worldwide concerns have become catalysts for doing for others. Social innovation platforms and social design projects are cropping up around the world and are being financed not just by non-profits (which are taking on greater importance lately because of their deep knowledge in social and support spaces), but by quite a few large companies — companies that understand the growing consumer desire to become a part of something transcendent, and thus recognize a viable business proposition.

Interestingly, the idea of giving also has deep roots in theology and spirituality. In the Christian religion, Jesus talked about the need to give to the poor (“It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter heaven”). Buddha gave away worldly goods to become an ascetic, which eventually led to the Middle Way. One of the five pillars of Islam is charitable giving.

Could the current trend by scientists and intellectuals of reaching out to the world’s troubled places have something in common with religion? Indeed it can. But at the same time, what's happening isn’t religion. There is no god involved; only human nature. Or as my colleague and friend Tom Manning called it the other day, it’s “secular moralism." In other words, perhaps what we are experiencing these days is a different kind of spiritual awakening brought about by a real connection between humans rather than a perceived connection between humans and an ephemeral higher power.

Last thought: interesting how important ideas can be reborn and embraced if they are re-framed.

Photo of Jessica Jackley at TEDGlobal 2010 by James Duncan Davidson.