Arianna Huffington on AND Magazinehttp://huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=arianna-huffingtonAaron Stipkovich's pal Arianna blogs away and syndicates with AND. Here it is for you.enCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.noemail@noemail.org (Arianna Huffington)Wed, 30 May 2012 09:15:09 PDTGood old fashioned elbow grease.http://www.andmagazine.com/content/huffington_post.phphttp://www.andmagazine.com/content/uploads/arianna_huffington_thumb.jpgArianna HuffingtonAusterity: 2011's Darling Becomes 2012's Pariahhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/V3glu5exjdo/austerity-europe-us_b_1552657.htmlArianna HuffingtonTue, 29 May 2012 13:57:45 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1552657does change, it's worth noting.

And the evidence of profound change is all around. In May, anti-austerity sentiment helped François Hollande topple French president Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the architects of the austerity measures that have caused waves of protest across Europe, especially in Greece.

One day after the French election, according to the AP, "the conversation in Europe was already different Monday: Austerity had become a dirty word." And incoming President Hollande proclaimed that "austerity can no longer be inevitable."

More evidence of the change in conventional wisdom was seen in the language the AP chose to report the reasons for the outcome in France: "Austerity was intended to address these jitters by reducing their government's borrowing needs, but there has been a negative side effect: As economic output shrinks, the debt burden actually looks worse."

The same week as the French election, a number of local Italian politicians running against the austerity policies of Prime Minister Mario Monti were also victorious. But the even bigger news was in Greece, where the two main parties, the center-left PASOK and the center-right New Democracy, were dealt big defeats at the hands of anti-austerity forces pushing back against the EU austerity deal signed by Greek leaders in February.

"A rising chorus of opposition to Berlin's austerity policies" is how Reuters reported the elections in Greece and France, while the New York Times wrote that "as growth has slowed, an anti-austerity backlash has swept Europe."

In Greece, after New Democracy failed to form a coalition government, the job fell to the upstart second place finisher and austerity critic Alexis Tsipras, leader of SYRIZA, the Coalition of the Radical Left. Though he, too, failed to form a coalition -- forcing another round of elections on June 17 -- Tsipras increasingly represents the voice of the people.

The conventional wisdom is even changing in Germany. A week after the Greek election, austerity champion Angela Merkel's party performed poorly in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

A few days after the German elections, a G8 summit was held at Camp David in which the language of growth took precedence over the language of austerity. "Our imperative is to promote growth and jobs," began the statement the leaders issued, while President Obama proclaimed: "There's now an emerging consensus that more must be done to promote growth and job creation right now."

The Guardian noted that austerity proponent Germany was "isolated" at the meeting, and a New York Times editorial was even harsher:

Her one-size-fits-all austerity program has been a failure, pushing heavily indebted countries deeper into recession, making it even harder for them to pay off their debts. It is putting the already-weak recovery in the United States at risk and is fueling instability and extremism in Europe.


Just days later, and perhaps most shockingly, the change in the conventional wisdom about austerity even seemed to have penetrated -- gasp -- the Republican Party. In an interview with Time's Mark Halperin, Mitt Romney was asked whether, if elected, he'd make big budget cuts right away. His reply:

Well because, if you take a trillion dollars for instance, out of the first year of the federal budget, that would shrink GDP over 5 percent. That is by definition throwing us into recession or depression. So I'm not going to do that, of course... I don't want to have us go into a recession in order to balance the budget.


This echoed his comments back in February, when he made the common sense observation that "if you just cut, if all you're thinking about doing is cutting spending, as you cut spending you'll slow down the economy."

And even if Republicans don't come around on actual policy shifts, they seem to be getting the message that the public is turning against austerity. This can be seen, to great comic effect, in new rhetoric from the GOP's demigod architect of austerity, Paul Ryan. Appearing on Meet the Press, he hilariously declared that "the whole premise of our budget is to pre-empt austerity." That's right, the new line the GOP is running up the flagpole is that we can "pre-empt austerity" with... austerity. In the same way we can "pre-empt" osteoporosis by jumping in front of a bus.

The anti-austerity backlash even made it to the Cannes Film Festival, where bronze-medal winner Ken Loach used his speech to fuel the course-correction. "The characters in the film have no work, and the world tells them they have no worth," he said. "We are reminded of the situation in Europe where people are told they have to stay out of work, and stay of no value. So we are in solidarity with those against austerity -- another world is possible."

So how did this change come about? How does conventional wisdom change? While there are no hard and fast rules, two factors are most often responsible: public pressure and leadership. The change, when it comes to the thinking on austerity, has come from a combination of both: one pushing up from below, the other pressing down from above. Alexis Tsipras, who might be the next prime minister of Greece, has definitely been pressing down from above. "Our goal," he said of the architects of the EU austerity agreement, "isn't to blackmail or to terrorize, our goal is to shake them." And because conventional wisdom get so ingrained, that's often what's required -- to shake the system into a new way of thinking.

Of course, the most powerful weapon against wrong-headed conventional wisdom is the truth. After revisions to April's economic numbers in Britain showed a decline, the headline in the Financial Times was "Data deal blow to austerity plans." Data -- in other words, facts -- which are steadily showing that the idea of cutting our way to economic growth is a destructive fantasy.

Another factor in the austerity turnaround is the new media environment, in which there are fewer conventional-wisdom-bound gatekeepers. Social media allow the truth to be amplified. They connect and fortify the truth-tellers and provide them with an arsenal of tools with which they can slowly but relentlessly chip, chip, chip away at the wall of conventional wisdom. The Occupy movement, which has been fueled by social media, has also forced a wider debate on the issue into the national -- actually, international -- conversation.

None of this means that we should break out the Keynesian champagne any time soon. But it's clear the forces of austerity are in retreat. And that's a very good thing.

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>There's a new scarlet letter in town. Actually, it's the same letter -- "A" -- but it stands for a different word that's increasingly regarded as shameful: Austerity. The darling idea of 2010 and 2011 has become the pariah concept of 2012. And the evidence of profound change is all around, from France and Greece to Germany and -- gasp -- the Republican Party. The change, when it comes to the conventional wisdom on austerity, has come from a combination of public pressure and leadership: one pushing up from below, the other pressing down from above. None of this means that we should break out the Keynesian champagne any time soon. But it's clear the forces of austerity are in retreat. And that's a very good thing.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/austerity-europe-us_b_1552657.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/437794/thumbs/s-EUROPE-UNEMPLOYMENT-mini.jpgSunday Rounduphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/fBUmz5E-upw/post_3414_b_1548146.htmlArianna HuffingtonSun, 27 May 2012 08:42:31 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1548146Egyptian presidential election since the fall of Mubarak; private space travel hit the stratosphere, with SpaceX's Dragon capsule's arrival at the International Space Station; the Group of Eight agreed that focusing on harsh austerity instead of growth isn't working but then couldn't agree on a suitable approach -- pushing Greece ever closer to leaving the euro zone; Colin Powell mocked Mitt Romney's assessment of Russia as America's "number one geopolitical foe;" and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler. Finally, this Memorial Day weekend, be sure to check out this slideshow on ways to honor America's vets and military families.


Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>This week, last year's Arab Spring blossomed into the first Egyptian presidential election since the fall of Mubarak; private space travel hit the stratosphere, with SpaceX's Dragon capsule's arrival at the International Space Station; the Group of Eight agreed that focusing on harsh austerity instead of growth isn't working but then couldn't agree on a suitable approach -- pushing Greece ever closer to leaving the euro zone; Colin Powell mocked Mitt Romney's assessment of Russia as America's "number one geopolitical foe;" and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler. Finally, this Memorial Day weekend, be sure to check out this slideshow on ways to honor America's vets and military families.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/post_3414_b_1548146.htmlJeff Skoll, un entrepreneur social qui met les bouchées doubleshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/1qdWml9mI-8/jeff-skoll_b_1546749.htmlArianna HuffingtonMon, 28 May 2012 05:02:16 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1546749Edmonton Journal a récemment surnommé Jeff Skoll « le plus grand Canadien dont vous n'avez jamais entendu parler ». Premier président de eBay, M. Skoll est également un philanthrope des plus innovateurs avec la Skoll Foundation et sa mission pour la prospérité et la paix dans le monde. Il peut s'enorgueillir d'avoir mis sur pied le Skoll Global Threats Fund (une fondation luttant contre les menaces mondiales telles que le réchauffement climatique); Participant Media (une boîte qui a produit plus de 30 films, dont Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night and Good Luck et Waiting For Superman); sans oublier le Skoll World Forum, tenu en mars dernier à Oxford. Lors d'une conférence TED prononcée en 2007, il disait à la blague : « J'ai attendu votre invitation à côté du téléphone pendant des années. »

L'heure de la reconnaissance sociale est enfin arrivée, puisque Jeff Skoll vient d'être nommé récipiendaire de l'Ordre du Canada pour son travail philanthropique. La plus haute distinction civile du pays lui sera remise par le Gouverneur général David Johnston.

Cet honneur est pleinement mérité. Par l'entremise de son réseau d'organisations, Jeff contribue à établir une masse critique porteuse de changement. Son curriculum vitae est à la fois varié et très cohérent; sa vision des choses est à la fois simple et ambitieuse. Son but est d'utiliser tous les outils à sa disposition pour changer le monde.

Jeff est un pionnier du Web qui a accumulé la plus grande partie de sa fortune avant l'âge de 40 ans. Dans leur livre Abundance, publié en 2011, Peter Diamandis et Steven Kotler le décrivent comme emblématique d'une nouvelle classe de « technophilanthropes ».

Cette année, la thématique du Skoll World Forum était « Le flux », une manière de dire que le changement est la seule constante de notre monde en évolution. Toutefois, Jeff Skoll contribue par son travail à établir une autre constante. En effet, de plus en plus d'entrepreneurs dans son genre tentent de résoudre des problèmes sociaux et parviennent à atteindre des objectifs concrets. Par l'entremise du Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Jeff injecte une dose de leadership et insuffle un sentiment d'urgence qui font cruellement défaut à la classe politique. Le président du Skoll Centre, Stephan Chambers, résume le Forum 2012 en ces termes : « J'ai été ému aux larmes. Pour un homme britannique originaire d'Oxford, c'est assez inhabituel. »

Bref, la devise de l'Ordre du Canada, Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam (Désireux d'une patrie meilleure), sied à merveille à Jeff Skoll. Pourtant, celui-ci ne cherche pas à améliorer le sort d'un seul pays, mais bien de tous les habitants de la planète.

Voici donc la retranscription de mon entrevue avec lui. J'espère que son profil innovateur, ambitieux et empathique vous plaira.

D'entrée de jeu, pourquoi ne pas parler de cette rencontre avec Bill Gates dont vous avez fait mention dans Twitter ?

Bill et moi songeons en ce moment à monter un projet avec Davis Guggenheim, qui a réalisé Waiting For Superman. Nous souhaitons tourner une sérié télévisée au sujet des grands professeurs et de ce qui les rend uniques. La Fondation Bill-et-Melinda-Gates est un partenaire tout indiqué, puisque l'éducation a toujours fait partie de ses priorités. C'est la passion qui guide l'équipe de Participant Media, alors je crois que ce projet a de bonnes chances de se réaliser !

Cela me fait penser à votre mot de bienvenue au Skoll World Forum : « Si quelqu'un me dit "c'est impossible", je cesse de l'écouter. » Vous rappelez-vous la dernière fois qu'une telle situation est survenue?

Chaque fois que je fonde un nouvel organisme, de mauvaises langues critiquent mon travail. On m'a déjà dit : « Hollywood est rempli de cadavres de gens comme toi, qui sont venus ici pour tourner des films ». Heureusement, je me suis concentré sur la qualité et la pertinence de mes documentaires plutôt que sur leur succès commercial. Et vous savez quoi ? Ils s'en sont très bien tirés au plan commercial malgré tout, ce qui prouve qu'il y a un marché pour ce que je fais.

J'ai également fait face à de la résistance lorsque j'ai fondé le Skoll Global Threats Fund. Cette fondation a cinq objectifs : la lutte aux changements climatiques, la paix au Moyen-Orient, la prévention des pandémies, la non-prolifération nucléaire et l'accès à l'eau potable. Ces objectifs sont si ambitieux que certaines personnes lèvent les yeux par dépit lorsqu'ils en entendent parler. Mais je suis l'une des rares personnes qui a les moyens financiers de faire une différence, alors je me fais un devoir d'au moins essayer.

Bon nombre de gens d'affaires peuvent faire une différence, mais choisissent de ne pas s'impliquer socialement. En 2010, vous avez dit aux étudiants de l'�cole d'administration de Stanford qu'ils n'ont pas besoin d'attendre à la retraite pour redonner à la communauté, contrairement à leurs parents.

Oui, en effet, je crois qu'il est important de commencer à donner tôt dans la vie. Les jeunes font des erreurs, mais s'ils en tirent des leçons, ils pourront réaliser des projets philanthropiques deux fois plus efficaces une fois parvenus à la retraite!

En guise d'exemple, j'ai administré la Skoll Foundation moi-même pendant quelques années. Le problème est que nous n'avions pas de ligne directrice claire. Par conséquent, nous avons financé des projets mal ficelés. Après deux ou trois ans d'essais et d'erreurs, nous avons commencé à identifier des entrepreneurs sociaux très doués, capables de nous présenter de véritables plans d'affaires. C'est comme ça que nous avons trouvé notre niche.

Vous avez beaucoup mis l'accent sur « l'urgence de donner ». � cet effet, vous êtes sur la même longueur d'ondes que Bill et Melinda Gates ainsi que Warren Buffett.

J'ai assisté à la deuxième conférence Giving Pledge, présidée par Warren, Bill et Melinda. Parmi la cinquantaine de donateurs présents, il y avait une majorité d'hommes blancs et âgés. Après la plénière, le groupe a été scindé en quatre afin d'aborder les thèmes suivants : l'éducation, la santé, l'efficacité des �uvres philanthropiques et la coopération internationale. Quatre personnes à peine ont choisi cette dernière option, dont Bill et moi-même.

Les générations qui me précèdent ont tendance à se concentrer sur les secteurs traditionnels. Agrandir un hôpital, financer la recherche en santé ou construire de nouvelles écoles, tout cela est très bien. Or les jeunes entrepreneurs dont je fais partie semblent préférer la coopération internationale.

Pourtant, aux �tats-Unis, les problèmes comme le chômage deviennent de plus en plus aigus. Avez-vous l'intention d'en faire plus pour aider ce pays?

Au plan cinématographique, nous essayons d'aborder les problèmes qui peuvent être solutionnés par les �tats-Unis, comme la prévention des pandémies, la non-prolifération nucléaire et la lutte aux changements climatiques. Participant Media demeure une compagnie américaine, établie à Los Angeles, et qui vise un public essentiellement occidental. Mais petit à petit, cela va changer, car nous venons tout juste de tourner notre premier film en langue espagnole. Nous avons également tourné des séquences en Iran l'an dernier.
D'un point de vue entrepreneurial, nous avons atteint un certain équilibre. La plupart de nos équipes de production sont basées aux �tats-Unis, mais effectuent leur travail à l'étranger.

En passant, notre prochain documentaire, qui doit prendre l'affiche cet été, traite de la malnutrition. Environ 80 millions d'Américains sont affamés ou obèses. Ce sont les deux faces de la pauvreté dans notre pays.

Vous aviez l'ambition de devenir écrivain. En tant que réalisateur et documentariste, vous engagez maintenant des équipes de scénaristes. Est-ce un rêve d'enfance qui se concrétise indirectement?

Lorsque j'étais enfant, je n'avais pas vraiment la capacité ni le talent de raconter des histoires. Par contre, j'avais l'intention de m'impliquer dans toutes sortes de causes. Peu à peu, je me suis rendu compte qu'une bonne narration pouvait contribuer à mobiliser le public. Sans trop me faire d'illusions sur ma capacité à gagner ma vie de cette manière, j'ai consacré une partie de mon temps au journalisme. Je me suis impliqué au journal étudiant de Stanford, par exemple.

Devenir président de eBay a été une étape importante de mon cheminement. Je voyais ce poste comme une opportunité d'apprendre à diriger un jour ma propre compagnie. En ayant accumulé assez d'argent, je pourrais me mettre à écrire des scénarios. Or mon passage à eBay s'est avéré beaucoup plus enrichissant que je ne l'imaginais. Et plutôt que d'écrire moi-même des scénarios de piètre qualité, j'ai décidé d'engager des auteurs talentueux pour les orienter vers la télévision et le cinéma. Participant Media est le résultat inattendu de cette prise de conscience.

Pour l'instant, Participant Media tourne de six à huit documentaires par année, et le département numérique produit un certain nombre de courts métrages. Nous allons ouvrir prochainement un département de production télé. Si tout va bien, nous achèterons une chaîne de télévision afin de rejoindre notre public directement.

Vous espérez solutionner les grands fléaux qui menacent l'humanité par l'entremise du Skoll Global Threats Fund. Y'a-t-il un fléau en particulier qui vous empêche de dormir?

La situation politique au Moyen-Orient me cause certainement quelques nuits blanches. La paix n'y tient qu'à un fil. En guise de solution, j'ai choisi de miser sur la jeunesse. Ma stratégie repose sur des entrepreneurs sociaux à qui j'ai confié la tâche de créer des emplois.

Avez-vous déjà eu une conversation imaginaire avec l'enfant que vous étiez? Qu'aurait dit le jeune Skoll au sujet des organismes que vous avez créés?

Je crois que le jeune Jeff n'aurait rien compris ! J'ai grandi dans une famille de classe moyenne, à Montréal puis à Toronto. Je ne connaissais absolument rien à la philanthropie. Je ne savais pas comment lancer ou diriger une entreprise.

Un jour, à l'école secondaire, un professeur nous a fait faire un exercice très intéressant, qui consistait à écrire notre épitaphe puis imaginer notre vie à rebours. Cet exercice m'a aidé à comprendre que l'engagement social en serait le fil conducteur. Bien entendu, je voulais aussi avoir une vie de famille épanouie et un tas d'autres choses. Mais enfin, à chaque fois que j'ai dû prendre des décisions, il m'a été très utile de me remémorer ce petit plan.

Je ne savais pas que mon sens de l'engagement me mènerait à eBay, ce qui me permettrait ensuite de fonder Participant Media et tout le reste. Par contre, j'étais extrêmement motivé à trouver des solutions aux problèmes globaux. En ce qui concerne l'avenir, je constate que la planète fait face à des défis de taille. Nos documentaires ont du succès, et les projets que nous finançons parviennent à faire une petite différence localement. Mais est-ce que cela est suffisant? Je n'en sais rien.

J'ai toujours évité de m'impliquer directement en politique. Lorsque j'ai grandi au Canada, nous ne parlions jamais de politique en famille. Les choses ont commencé à changer quand je suis arrivé aux �tats-Unis. L'engagement politique m'apparaît inévitable, car c'est là que réside le vrai pouvoir.

Iriez-vous jusqu'à vous présenter à des élections?

Jamais, au grand jamais ! Par contre, j'admire les gens qui le font. C'est très courageux de leur part. Les moindres détails de leur vie sont scrutés à la loupe. J'ai un respect encore plus grand pour les politiciens qui parviennent à se faire élire et effectuer un bon travail. Enfin, je crois que le défi collectif qui nous attend est de transformer notre système politique afin qu'il soit moins corrosif et moins toxique.

Chaque jour, votre travail vous fait prendre conscience des menaces qui planent sur l'humanité. Comment parvenez-vous à demeurer optimiste dans ces circonstances?

� long terme, nous avons la possibilité de résoudre tous les problèmes, y compris ceux qui paraissent insurmontables. Pensez aux armes nucléaires, par exemple. Il y en a une quantité astronomique aux quatre coins du monde et pourtant, nous avons réussi à faire en sorte qu'aucune n'ait été utilisée depuis 1945.
Par ailleurs, le Global Threats Fund développe actuellement un système de détection des pandémies qui pourra alerter les autorités en moins de 72 heures. Neutraliser la propagation des virus à l'aide d'une batterie de laboratoires internationaux est quelque chose qui m'emplit d'optimisme.

Lors d'une conférence TED, vous avez affirmé avoir été influencé par les écrivains Ayn Rand et James Michener. Je vous cite : « Leurs histoires démontrent à quel point le monde est petit et interdépendant. Je me suis dit que je pourrais faire la même chose, c'est-à-dire écrire des scénarios qui incitent le public à agir en conséquence. » La conscience d'une planète interconnectée est-elle essentielle à l'engagement social?

Je vois cette prise de conscience comme une forme de pouvoir. Il y a quelques siècles, si un tremblement de terre survenait au Chili ou en Chine, il était impossible de le savoir avant qu'une lettre n'arrive par bateau un an plus tard. De nos jours, nous savons tout ce qui se passe instantanément.

Depuis 1999, je fais partie du conseil d'administration d'une ONG appelée National Center for Arts and Technology, dirigée par l'entrepreneur social Bill Strickland (qu'on peut voir dans Waiting for Superman). Bill a mis sur pied des programmes éducatifs qui ont fait passer le taux de diplomation de 30 à environ 90 pour cent dans les écoles où ils ont été implantés. Bill m'a demandé : « pourquoi est-ce que ce projet t'intéresse ? Tu ne vis même pas dans ces quartiers-là ». Je lui ai répondu que le décrochage scolaire, dans les quartiers pauvres, avait un impact sur toute la société - que ce soit en matière de crime, de drogue ou de surpopulation carcérale. Bref, améliorer le sort des plus pauvres, c'est améliorer le sort de tous.

Pour terminer, passons à une question d'ordre personnel. Vous avez affirmé que le cancer de votre père, survenu alors que vous n'aviez que 14 ans, constitue un moment charnière de votre vie. Votre père avait exprimé sa crainte de ne pas avoir fait tout ce qu'il voulait dans la vie. Comment faites-vous, désormais, pour établir des priorités et les réconcilier avec votre engagement social?

La maladie de mon père a été un électrochoc qui a stimulé mon désir de passer à l'action. J'ai tout donné au travail, avec pour résultat que je n'ai pas encore d'enfant. La plupart de mes amis en ont plusieurs. Certains d'entre eux se sont même mariés deux fois ! Donc sur le plan personnel, je suis en train de remettre la famille en tête de mes priorités.

Votre père est-il toujours parmi nous? Vit-il au Canada?

Mon père et ma mère se portent bien. Ils ont déménagé à Las Vegas, et totalisent 54 ans de vie commune !
La stabilité familiale doit être fantastique. C'est quelque chose que je n'ai pas connu, puisque mes parents se sont séparés très tôt et que j'en ai fait de même.

L'instabilité semble être devenue la norme. Tout ce que je peux dire, c'est que nous faisons des erreurs. L'important est d'en tirer les bonnes leçons.

Avoir des enfants et prendre soin de votre vie sont maintenant vos priorités ?

Oui, certainement. J'avais l'habitude de travailler comme un fou jour et nuit. Mais j'ai ralenti la cadence et, si Dieu le veut, je pourrai prendre mes premières vacances depuis plusieurs années.

Lorsque vous prenez des vacances, arrivez-vous à lâcher prise complètement ?

Lâcher prise ? Oh non, ça me rendrait nerveux !]]>Le Edmonton Journal a récemment surnommé Jeff Skoll « le plus grand Canadien dont vous n'avez jamais entendu parler ». Premier président de eBay, M. Skoll est également un philanthrope des plus innovateurs avec la Skoll Foundation et sa mission pour la prospérité et la paix dans le monde.http://quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/arianna-huffington/jeff-skoll_b_1546749.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/604485/thumbs/s-ARIANNA-HUFFINGTON-mini.jpgJeff Skoll, un entrepreneur social qui met les bouchées doubleshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/nrCcw4o54Sg/jeff-skoll-un-entrepreneu_b_1546287.htmlArianna HuffingtonFri, 25 May 2012 11:21:34 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1546287Edmonton Journal a récemment surnommé Jeff Skoll "le plus grand Canadien dont vous n'avez jamais entendu parler". Premier président de eBay, M. Skoll est également un philanthrope des plus innovateurs. Il peut s'enorgueillir d'avoir mis sur pied le Skoll Global Threats Fund (une fondation luttant contre les menaces mondiales telles que le réchauffement climatique); Participant Media (une boîte qui a produit plus de 30 films, dont Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night and Good Luck et Waiting For Superman); sans oublier le Skoll World Forum, tenu en mars dernier à Oxford. Lors d'une conférence TED prononcée en 2007, il disait à la blague: "J'ai attendu votre invitation à côté du téléphone pendant des années."

L'heure de la reconnaissance sociale est enfin arrivée, puisque Jeff Skoll vient d'être nommé récipiendaire de l'Ordre du Canada pour son travail philanthropique. La plus haute distinction civile du pays lui sera remise par le Gouverneur général David Johnston. Cet honneur est pleinement mérité. Par l'entremise de son réseau d'organisations, Jeff contribue à établir une masse critique porteuse de changement. Son curriculum vitae est à la fois varié et très cohérent; sa vision des choses est à la fois simple et ambitieuse. Son but est d'utiliser tous les outils à sa disposition pour changer le monde.
Jeff est un pionnier du Web qui a accumulé la plus grande partie de sa fortune avant l'âge de 40 ans. Dans leur livre Abundance, publié en 2011, Peter Diamandis et Steven Kotler le décrivent comme emblématique d'une nouvelle classe de "technophilanthropes".

Cette année, la thématique du Skoll World Forum était "Le flux", une manière de dire que le changement est la seule constante de notre monde en évolution. Toutefois, Jeff Skoll contribue par son travail à établir une autre constante. En effet, de plus en plus d'entrepreneurs dans son genre tentent de résoudre des problèmes sociaux et parviennent à atteindre des objectifs concrets. Par l'entremise du Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Jeff injecte une dose de leadership et insuffle un sentiment d'urgence qui font cruellement défaut à la classe politique. Le président du Skoll Centre, Stephan Chambers, résume le Forum 2012 en ces termes: "J'ai été ému aux larmes. Pour un homme britannique originaire d'Oxford, c'est assez inhabituel."

Bref, la devise de l'Ordre du Canada, Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam (Désireux d'une patrie meilleure), sied à merveille à Jeff Skoll. Pourtant, celui-ci ne cherche pas à améliorer le sort d'un seul pays, mais bien de tous les habitants de la planète. Voici donc la retranscription de mon entrevue avec lui. J'espère que son profil innovateur, ambitieux et empathique vous plaira.

D'entrée de jeu, pourquoi ne pas parler de cette rencontre avec Bill Gates dont vous avez fait mention dans Twitter?

Bill et moi songeons en ce moment à monter un projet avec Davis Guggenheim, qui a réalisé Waiting For Superman. Nous souhaitons tourner une sérié télévisée au sujet des grands professeurs et de ce qui les rend uniques. La Fondation Bill-et-Melinda-Gates est un partenaire tout indiqué, puisque l'éducation a toujours fait partie de ses priorités. C'est la passion qui guide l'équipe de Participant Media, alors je crois que ce projet a de bonnes chances de se réaliser!

Cela me fait penser à votre mot de bienvenue au Skoll World Forum: "Si quelqu'un me dit "c'est impossible", je cesse de l'écouter." Vous rappelez-vous la dernière fois qu'une telle situation est survenue?

Chaque fois que je fonde un nouvel organisme, de mauvaises langues critiquent mon travail. On m'a déjà dit: "Hollywood est rempli de cadavres de gens comme toi, qui sont venus ici pour tourner des films". Heureusement, je me suis concentré sur la qualité et la pertinence de mes documentaires plutôt que sur leur succès commercial. Et vous savez quoi? Ils s'en sont très bien tirés au plan commercial malgré tout, ce qui prouve qu'il y a un marché pour ce que je fais.

J'ai également fait face à de la résistance lorsque j'ai fondé le Skoll Global Threats Fund. Cette fondation a cinq objectifs: la lutte aux changements climatiques, la paix au Moyen-Orient, la prévention des pandémies, la non-prolifération nucléaire et l'accès à l'eau potable. Ces objectifs sont si ambitieux que certaines personnes lèvent les yeux par dépit lorsqu'ils en entendent parler. Mais je suis l'une des rares personnes qui a les moyens financiers de faire une différence, alors je me fais un devoir d'au moins essayer.

Bon nombre de gens d'affaires peuvent faire une différence, mais choisissent de ne pas s'impliquer socialement. En 2010, vous avez dit aux étudiants de l'�cole d'administration de Stanford qu'ils n'ont pas besoin d'attendre à la retraite pour redonner à la communauté, contrairement à leurs parents.

Oui, en effet, je crois qu'il est important de commencer à donner tôt dans la vie. Les jeunes font des erreurs, mais s'ils en tirent des leçons, ils pourront réaliser des projets philanthropiques deux fois plus efficaces une fois parvenus à la retraite! En guise d'exemple, j'ai administré la Skoll Foundation moi-même pendant quelques années. Le problème est que nous n'avions pas de ligne directrice claire. Par conséquent, nous avons financé des projets mal ficelés. Après deux ou trois ans d'essais et d'erreurs, nous avons commencé à identifier des entrepreneurs sociaux très doués, capables de nous présenter de véritables plans d'affaires. C'est comme ça que nous avons trouvé notre niche.

Vous avez beaucoup mis l'accent sur "l'urgence de donner". � cet effet, vous êtes sur la même longueur d'ondes que Bill et Melinda Gates ainsi que Warren Buffett.

J'ai assisté à la deuxième conférence Giving Pledge, présidée par Warren, Bill et Melinda. Parmi la cinquantaine de donateurs présents, il y avait une majorité d'hommes blancs et âgés. Après la plénière, le groupe a été scindé en quatre afin d'aborder les thèmes suivants : l'éducation, la santé, l'efficacité des �uvres philanthropiques et la coopération internationale. Quatre personnes à peine ont choisi cette dernière option, dont Bill et moi-même.

Les générations qui me précèdent ont tendance à se concentrer sur les secteurs traditionnels. Agrandir un hôpital, financer la recherche en santé ou construire de nouvelles écoles, tout cela est très bien. Or les jeunes entrepreneurs dont je fais partie semblent préférer la coopération internationale.

Pourtant, aux �tats-Unis, les problèmes comme le chômage deviennent de plus en plus aigus. Avez-vous l'intention d'en faire plus pour aider ce pays?

Au plan cinématographique, nous essayons d'aborder les problèmes qui peuvent être solutionnés par les �tats-Unis, comme la prévention des pandémies, la non-prolifération nucléaire et la lutte aux changements climatiques. Participant Media demeure une compagnie américaine, établie à Los Angeles, et qui vise un public essentiellement occidental. Mais petit à petit, cela va changer, car nous venons tout juste de tourner notre premier film en langue espagnole. Nous avons également tourné des séquences en Iran l'an dernier.

D'un point de vue entrepreneurial, nous avons atteint un certain équilibre. La plupart de nos équipes de production sont basées aux �tats-Unis, mais effectuent leur travail à l'étranger.
En passant, notre prochain documentaire, qui doit prendre l'affiche cet été, traite de la malnutrition. Environ 80 millions d'Américains sont affamés ou obèses. Ce sont les deux faces de la pauvreté dans notre pays.

Vous aviez l'ambition de devenir écrivain. En tant que réalisateur et documentariste, vous engagez maintenant des équipes de scénaristes. Est-ce un rêve d'enfance qui se concrétise indirectement?

Lorsque j'étais enfant, je n'avais pas vraiment la capacité ni le talent de raconter des histoires. Par contre, j'avais l'intention de m'impliquer dans toutes sortes de causes. Peu à peu, je me suis rendu compte qu'une bonne narration pouvait contribuer à mobiliser le public. Sans trop me faire d'illusions sur ma capacité à gagner ma vie de cette manière, j'ai consacré une partie de mon temps au journalisme. Je me suis impliqué au journal étudiant de Stanford, par exemple.

Devenir président de eBay a été une étape importante de mon cheminement. Je voyais ce poste comme une opportunité d'apprendre à diriger un jour ma propre compagnie. En ayant accumulé assez d'argent, je pourrais me mettre à écrire des scénarios. Or mon passage à eBay s'est avéré beaucoup plus enrichissant que je ne l'imaginais. Et plutôt que d'écrire moi-même des scénarios de piètre qualité, j'ai décidé d'engager des auteurs talentueux pour les orienter vers la télévision et le cinéma. Participant Media est le résultat inattendu de cette prise de conscience.

Pour l'instant, Participant Media tourne de six à huit documentaires par année, et le département numérique produit un certain nombre de courts métrages. Nous allons ouvrir prochainement un département de production télé. Si tout va bien, nous achèterons une chaîne de télévision afin de rejoindre notre public directement.

Vous espérez solutionner les grands fléaux qui menacent l'humanité par l'entremise du Skoll Global Threats Fund. Y'a-t-il un fléau en particulier qui vous empêche de dormir?

La situation politique au Moyen-Orient me cause certainement quelques nuits blanches. La paix n'y tient qu'à un fil. En guise de solution, j'ai choisi de miser sur la jeunesse. Ma stratégie repose sur des entrepreneurs sociaux à qui j'ai confié la tâche de créer des emplois.

Avez-vous déjà eu une conversation imaginaire avec l'enfant que vous étiez? Qu'aurait dit le jeune Skoll au sujet des organismes que vous avez créés?

Je crois que le jeune Jeff n'aurait rien compris! J'ai grandi dans une famille de classe moyenne, à Montréal puis à Toronto. Je ne connaissais absolument rien à la philanthropie. Je ne savais pas comment lancer ou diriger une entreprise.

Un jour, à l'école secondaire, un professeur nous a fait faire un exercice très intéressant, qui consistait à écrire notre épitaphe puis imaginer notre vie à rebours. Cet exercice m'a aidé à comprendre que l'engagement social en serait le fil conducteur. Bien entendu, je voulais aussi avoir une vie de famille épanouie et un tas d'autres choses. Mais enfin, à chaque fois que j'ai dû prendre des décisions, il m'a été très utile de me remémorer ce petit plan.

Je ne savais pas que mon sens de l'engagement me mènerait à eBay, ce qui me permettrait ensuite de fonder Participant Media et tout le reste. Par contre, j'étais extrêmement motivé à trouver des solutions aux problèmes globaux. En ce qui concerne l'avenir, je constate que la planète fait face à des défis de taille. Nos documentaires ont du succès, et les projets que nous finançons parviennent à faire une petite différence localement. Mais est-ce que cela est suffisant? Je n'en sais rien.

J'ai toujours évité de m'impliquer directement en politique. Lorsque j'ai grandi au Canada, nous ne parlions jamais de politique en famille. Les choses ont commencé à changer quand je suis arrivé aux �tats-Unis. L'engagement politique m'apparaît inévitable, car c'est là que réside le vrai pouvoir.

Iriez-vous jusqu'à vous présenter à des élections?

Jamais, au grand jamais! Par contre, j'admire les gens qui le font. C'est très courageux de leur part. Les moindres détails de leur vie sont scrutés à la loupe. J'ai un respect encore plus grand pour les politiciens qui parviennent à se faire élire et effectuer un bon travail. Enfin, je crois que le défi collectif qui nous attend est de transformer notre système politique afin qu'il soit moins corrosif et moins toxique.

Chaque jour, votre travail vous fait prendre conscience des menaces qui planent sur l'humanité. Comment parvenez-vous à demeurer optimiste dans ces circonstances?

� long terme, nous avons la possibilité de résoudre tous les problèmes, y compris ceux qui paraissent insurmontables. Pensez aux armes nucléaires, par exemple. Il y en a une quantité astronomique aux quatre coins du monde et pourtant, nous avons réussi à faire en sorte qu'aucune n'ait été utilisée depuis 1945.

Par ailleurs, le Global Threats Fund développe actuellement un système de détection des pandémies qui pourra alerter les autorités en moins de 72 heures. Neutraliser la propagation des virus à l'aide d'une batterie de laboratoires internationaux est quelque chose qui m'emplit d'optimisme.

Lors d'une conférence TED, vous avez affirmé avoir été influencé par les écrivains Ayn Rand et James Michener. Je vous cite : "Leurs histoires démontrent à quel point le monde est petit et interdépendant. Je me suis dit que je pourrais faire la même chose, c'est-à-dire écrire des scénarios qui incitent le public à agir en conséquence." La conscience d'une planète interconnectée est-elle essentielle à l'engagement social?

Je vois cette prise de conscience comme une forme de pouvoir. Il y a quelques siècles, si un tremblement de terre survenait au Chili ou en Chine, il était impossible de le savoir avant qu'une lettre n'arrive par bateau un an plus tard. De nos jours, nous savons tout ce qui se passe instantanément.
Depuis 1999, je fais partie du conseil d'administration d'une ONG appelée National Center for Arts and Technology, dirigée par l'entrepreneur social Bill Strickland (qu'on peut voir dans Waiting for Superman). Bill a mis sur pied des programmes éducatifs qui ont fait passer le taux de diplomation de 30 à environ 90 pour cent dans les écoles où ils ont été implantés. Bill m'a demandé: "pourquoi est-ce que ce projet t'intéresse? Tu ne vis même pas dans ces quartiers-là". Je lui ai répondu que le décrochage scolaire, dans les quartiers pauvres, avait un impact sur toute la société - que ce soit en matière de crime, de drogue ou de surpopulation carcérale. Bref, améliorer le sort des plus pauvres, c'est améliorer le sort de tous.

Pour terminer, passons à une question d'ordre personnel. Vous avez affirmé que le cancer de votre père, survenu alors que vous n'aviez que 14 ans, constitue un moment charnière de votre vie. Votre père avait exprimé sa crainte de ne pas avoir fait tout ce qu'il voulait dans la vie. Comment faites-vous, désormais, pour établir des priorités et les réconcilier avec votre engagement social?

La maladie de mon père a été un électrochoc qui a stimulé mon désir de passer à l'action. J'ai tout donné au travail, avec pour résultat que je n'ai pas encore d'enfant. La plupart de mes amis en ont plusieurs. Certains d'entre eux se sont même mariés deux fois ! Donc sur le plan personnel, je suis en train de remettre la famille en tête de mes priorités.

Votre père est-il toujours parmi nous ? Vit-il au Canada?

Mon père et ma mère se portent bien. Ils ont déménagé à Las Vegas, et totalisent 54 ans de vie commune !

La stabilité familiale doit être fantastique. C'est quelque chose que je n'ai pas connu, puisque mes parents se sont séparés très tôt et que j'en ai fait de même.

L'instabilité semble être devenue la norme. Tout ce que je peux dire, c'est que nous faisons des erreurs. L'important est d'en tirer les bonnes leçons.

Avoir des enfants et prendre soin de votre vie sont maintenant vos priorités?

Oui, certainement. J'avais l'habitude de travailler comme un fou jour et nuit. Mais j'ai ralenti la cadence et, si Dieu le veut, je pourrai prendre mes premières vacances depuis plusieurs années.

Lorsque vous prenez des vacances, arrivez-vous à lâcher prise complètement?

Lâcher prise? Oh non, ça me rendrait nerveux!

Pour suivre Arianna Huffington sur Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff
]]>Jeff Skoll contribue à établir une masse critique porteuse de changement. Son curriculum vitae est à la fois varié et très cohérent; sa vision des choses est à la fois simple et ambitieuse. Son but est d'utiliser tous les outils à sa disposition pour changer le monde. Jeff est un pionnier du Web qui a accumulé la plus grande partie de sa fortune avant l'âge de 40 ans.http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/arianna-huffington/jeff-skoll-un-entrepreneu_b_1546287.htmlThe Inspirationals: Jeff Skoll, Doubling Down on the Things That Workhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/aMxDnbrdFYY/jeff-skoll-order-of-canada_b_1544322.htmlArianna HuffingtonSat, 26 May 2012 07:06:55 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1544322Edmonton Journal recently called Jeff Skoll "the greatest Canadian you've never heard of." And during his TED Talk in 2007, he joked, "I've actually been waiting by the phone for a call from TED for years." But in fact, Jeff Skoll, beyond being the first president of eBay, has been a pioneer in the world of cutting edge philanthropy with the Skoll Foundation, with its mission of global peace and prosperity; with the Skoll Global Threats Fund, confronting the greatest dangers our world faces today; with Participant Media, which has produced more than 30 movies, including Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night and Good Luck and Waiting for 'Superman'; and with the Skoll World Forum, which I attended in March in Oxford.

Today, he is being presented with Canada's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada, for his wide-ranging philanthropic work. The Order, which will be presented by Governor General David Johnston, carries the motto Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam ("They desire a better country").

It's a richly deserved honor. Through his network of organizations designed to have a powerful impact on our world, he's working to create the critical mass necessary to bring about the changes our world so desperately needs. His résumé is at once remarkably varied and obsessively single-minded. His vision is simple and vast at the same time: to use all the tools at his disposal to change the world.

Skoll made his mark, and his fortune, as an online entrepreneur. In their 2011 book Abundance, Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler identified Skoll as one of a rising class of "technophilanthropists" -- tech entrepreneurs who made their money before the age of 40 and are now turning their attention and resources to solving the world's biggest problems.

The theme of this year's Skoll World Forum was "Flux," which Jeff calls "the one constant" in our ever-changing world. Fortunately, he is helping to establish another constant: the social entrepreneurs achieving measurable results in solving heretofore intractable problems all across the globe. His Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship is like a R&D lab for empathy, a super-collider for generating the kind of urgency that is so tragically absent among our political leaders. As Stephan Chambers, chairman of the Skoll Centre, put it during this year's Forum: "I have cried every day this week. Remember as I tell you this, that I'm male. And British. And from Oxford."

So, the Order of Canada's motto, "They desire a better country," fits Skoll, but only to a degree. He has gone far beyond merely desiring a better country, and indeed a better world, to empowering people to achieve solutions everywhere in the world.

What follows is a transcript of my interview with Jeff Skoll, a man who fits perfectly in our Inspirationals series, combining as he does an audacious vision, an innovative mind, and a deeply empathetic heart.


Why don't we start with your latest tweet, about your visit with Bill Gates to talk about a new movie about education.

We're actually thinking of doing a project with Davis Guggenheim, who directed Waiting for 'Superman'. The idea would be to do a TV special about great teachers and what makes teachers great. The Gates Foundation is really a great partner for this sort of thing, given their emphasis on education. At Participant, when there's a project we're passionate about, we're going to do it!

That reminds me of what you said in your introductory remarks at the Skoll World Forum, "When anyone tells me I can't do something, I stop listening." Do you remember the last time somebody told you you couldn't do something?

It seems to happen every time I start a new organization. When I started Participant, there was a lot of resistance. I heard all the silly quotes, like "the streets of Hollywood are littered with the carcasses of people like you who come to town and try to make movies." I just wanted to make good quality films that were about something and not worry so much about whether they were successful commercially or not. And they've done just fine commercially -- clearly there is an audience for this kind of thing.

The other one is when I started the Skoll Global Threats Fund. Its five big issues are climate change, Middle East change, nukes, pandemics and water. People often roll their eyes when they hear about those issues, because they are really big. And I think that's the biggest challenge I've ever tried to tackle. And the jury is out on how well we're doing on any of these things. But when you have the opportunity to make a difference -- how many people are in the position to be able to make a difference? I'm lucky enough to be in a position to at least try.

Of course, you put yourself in that position, because there are many successful people who don't choose to take the opportunity to make a difference. In your 2010 speech at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, you told the graduates, "And, unlike the successful business leaders of your parents' generation, you won't have to wait until you retire to think about giving back, getting involved in your community or philanthropy."

I think that's absolutely true. I think it's important to get started early. Because early on you make mistakes. And you learn from those mistakes and then you can double down on the things that work.

When I started the Skoll Foundation, I ran it myself for a couple of years, but didn't really have a clear focus about what we were doing. We made some grants that didn't necessarily work out. But it was through that that we began to see that there were certain kinds of grantees that were, in fact, highly successful, highly leveraged, with a business model. These turned out to be social entrepreneurs. If it weren't for those two or three years of trial and error, we might not have found our niche.

I think what you've stressed again and again is a sense of urgency -- that this is the time to really prioritize giving back. And interestingly enough this is an area where you and Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates agree.

I was just at the second annual Giving Pledge gathering, which Warren and Bill and Melinda started. If nothing else, last year there were 40 or 50 or so pledgers -- almost entirely old white men who are self-made. We had a breakout session during the gathering and we had four options: education, health, being a more effective philanthropist, and international giving. People self-selected into which groups they wanted to go to. Of the 40 or 50 pledgers, only four selected international giving -- me, Bill Gates and a couple of others. Everybody else was all about health and education.

I think for the older generation, they tend to focus more on traditional things, like putting up a wing in a hospital or doing health research or helping fund new kinds of schools. All those things are great, but for the younger generation I think there's more of an inclination to look more globally.

And at the same time, you are looking at the problems in the U.S., including growing unemployment and challenges facing young people. Are you looking to do more in this country?

In large part, on the movie side of things we aim at issues where the U.S. can make a difference, whether it's climate change or nuclear weapons or water or pandemic preparation. Participant is growing to be an international company. We've just done our first Spanish language movie. We did a film set in Iran last year, in Farsi. But for the most part we're an LA-based production company, trying to reach a western audience first and foremost.

On the social entrepreneur side, there's a good balance. Most of our teams are based in the U.S. but do their work outside the U.S. We have a documentary coming out relatively soon, hopefully this summer, that's like Waiting for 'Superman', only about hunger. It shows that there are about 80 million people in the country who are hungry or obese -- two different sides of the same coin, with poverty at the base.

The movies and documentaries you're making in a way take you back to your childhood ambition of being a writer. Here you are, being a storyteller, but also an impresario, bringing together other storytellers to amplify what you want to communicate. Do you sometimes think you are, in a very roundabout way, actually fulfilling an early dream?

As a kid, I didn't tell these stories -- I didn't know how -- but I wanted to be involved in the big issues. I figured storytelling was the best way to get people engaged. I didn't think it was the best way to make a living, but I always pursued a journalistic sideline. For example, I was editor of my school's newspaper as an undergrad and at Stanford.

For me eBay was a step on the road. I thought it would be a learning opportunity, after which I would go on to start my next company. And hopefully at that point I would have enough money to start writing all these stories. Well, eBay turned out to be a much bigger blessing than I could have imagined. And I thought, rather than writing these stories myself -- and probably fairly poorly -- I could hire writers and turn them into film and TV. So Participant is the unexpected outgrowth of the path I started on.

I see Participant as just the knee of the curve. We do six to eight movies a year. We have a digital division that does short-form video. We'll soon have a TV division, and, knock on wood, we'll be buying a TV channel. So that opens a whole new way to reach people with entertainment that inspires.

You are really hoping to help find solutions for every major social problem. Especially with the Skoll Global Threats Fund. Does one threat in particular keep you awake at night?

The one that keeps me up for sure is the Middle East. Because I think things are so tenuous over there. To address it, the strategy that we've been trying to use, with social entrepreneurs, is providing job growth for youth.

Have you ever had an imaginary conversation with a young Jeff and thought about what he would say about all you've created -- Participant, Skoll Foundation, the World Forum, the Global Threats Fund?

The young Jeff wouldn't have had a clue, that's for sure. Growing up in a middle-class family in Canada, I really didn't know much about philanthropy, running a company, or starting companies.

We actually had an interesting exercise a teacher had us do in high school. He asked us what you wanted written on your tombstone and then work backward from there. I found that such a powerful exercise because it helped clarify the path that I wanted to take with my life. Which again, was to get involved with the big issues in the world. And there were other things, like having a good family life and all that kind of stuff. But whenever I've come to a fork in the road, going back to that master plan of knowing what you want to be doing has been a very powerful metaphor.

I didn't really know that my path would lead through things like eBay and the Skoll Foundation and Participant, but I did always have the uber goal of trying to find these big issues and make a difference. And I don't really know what the future holds as well. For all the things we're doing, I don't know that it's enough. The social entrepreneurs are great and making a difference in the world. The movies are doing well and having an impact. But there are still major problems in the world. I don't know what's next.

I've always avoided politics. In Canada growing up we never talked politics. In America it's a much different thing. But maybe that's the next frontier -- to really engage politically -- because that ultimately is where the power is held.

Would you ever consider engaging to the point of running for office?

Oh dear, no. I admire people who have done so. I think it's so brave to run for public office -- you're just putting yourself out there and opening your life completely for scrutiny. I admire people who do run for office and do a good job. It's really hard. So maybe the next frontier is figuring out how to have a political environment that isn't so corrosive and toxic.

As you are dealing everyday with all the threats and dangers that we are facing, how do you keep your faith and sense of optimism and possibility?

When I think of the major threats in the world, long term, we do have the time and the ability to solve them -- even the most intractable threats. Think about nuclear weapons and how horrible it is that there are so many of them around the world. And yet none of them have been used since 1945.

And at the Global Threats Fund, we're working on something to bring virus pandemic detection down to about 72 hours. So if you can catch it at that point through all these detection labs we're building around the world, that's pretty optimistic.

One of the quotes I want to ask you about is from your TED Talk. You said that in your youth you read Ayn Rand and James Michener: "Their stories made the world seem a very small and interconnected place. And it struck me that if I could write stories that were about this world being small and interconnected, maybe I could get people interested in the issues that affected us all, and engage them to make a difference." The fact that these writers made the world seem smaller and interconnected clearly resonated with you. Is that the way to help us feel we can actually make a difference?

I think of it as empowered self-enlightenment. In the past, if there was an earthquake in China or Chile, people wouldn't know about it until a letter arrived by ship, or some other way, a year later. But now, anything that happens anywhere in the world we know about almost instantly.

I'm on the board of an organization called the National Center for Arts and Technology, run by Bill Strickland, a social entrepreneur who was in Waiting for 'Superman'. Bill has built these tremendous centers in these schools. The same kids that are graduating at 30 percent rates in the local high schools are graduating at 90/95 percent rates in his programs. I've been on the board, working with him since 1999. At one point he asked me, why do you care? You don't live in those neighborhoods. It's because these neighborhoods affect everybody, whether it's crimes or poverty or drugs or prison populations. We're all better off if these neighborhoods are better off.

Let's end on something personal. You've said that when you were 14, and your dad came home and announced that he had cancer, that was a pivotal moment in your life. How do you bring together this personal prioritizing that became so important, when your father told you he was afraid he hadn't done the things he had wanted to with his life, with that sense of our own self-enlightenment?

When that happened to my dad, it was a real call to action to get started on doing all the things I felt could make a difference in the world. The flip side, on a more personal note, is that I haven't had kids yet. Most of my friends by now have multiple kids, or have been divorced twice. But I've never been married. So in terms of a personal thing, that's become my most important personal goal.

But your dad is with us? Is he living in Canada?

My parents are alive and well and they're living in Las Vegas. And they're still together, 54 years.

That must be very good to have in your past, something I definitely didn't have. My parents separated early and I ended up getting divorced.

Well, it seems to be the norm. All I can say is we all make our mistakes, and hopefully they pass quickly and we learn from them.

Now, having children, and caring for your personal life is up there on your list of priorities.

It certainly is. I used to work crazy hours, night and day. And now I've mellowed a bit and I'm trying to have a little more fun and, god willing, maybe even go for my first vacation in a few years.

But when you take a vacation, can you actually disconnect completely?

Oh, that would make me very nervous.

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff

]]>The Edmonton Journal recently called Jeff Skoll "the greatest Canadian you've never heard of." But, in fact, Skoll, beyond being the first president of eBay, has been a pioneer in the world of cutting edge philanthropy. Here is my interview with him.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/jeff-skoll-order-of-canada_b_1544322.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/284785/thumbs/s-JEFF-SKOLL-MEDIA-SESSION-mini.jpgHelp Me Nominate Five Glamour Women of the Yearhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/PzV0W98ltHo/help-me-nominate-five-gla_b_1544131.htmlArianna HuffingtonFri, 25 May 2012 08:46:04 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1544131Glamour Women of the Year, I have the privilege of nominating five inspiring women -- or groups of women -- who have made an impact in 2012. And I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Please use the comments section to share the names and stories of women in any field -- entertainers, politicians, activists, educators, athletes, etc. Here are some suggestions from HuffPost editors:

Gazelle Emami, culture editor



Zaha Hadid: At 61, Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid continues to leave her mark in a field dominated by masculine sensibilities with her bold, curving structures. Hadid has been as active as ever in the past year, designing everything from The London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics and Glasgow's Riverside Museum to Chanel's Winter Wonderland runway. The first-ever female Pritzker Prize winner continued to pick up awards, including the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize in 2011 and the Jane Drew Prize for women in architecture in 2012.

Jack Mirkinson, media editor

Jineth Bedoya Lima: This journalist from Colombia was kidnapped, raped and tortured by a paramilitary group in 2000. Instead of shrinking away, she spoke up, and has become a leading voice for women journalists who have been the targets of sexual assault -- an issue which has, in many ways, only truly come to the forefront of the media dialogue in the last year and a half. Bedoya has continued to work as a reporter (she's flanked by bodyguards wherever she goes) and has taken the fight directly to her assaulters through a series of legal challenges, the latest of which is still going through the courts. It's because of people like her that we're finally having a real conversation about the tragedy of sexual violence that many women encounter while reporting.

Margaret Wheeler Johnson, women's editor



Sandra Fluke: In the face of personal attacks and immense renewed opposition nationally to women's reproductive rights, Fluke has emerged as a poised, articulate, unflappable voice of reason on issues that affect every woman in the United States. It's hard to overstate the impact she has made this year or her commitment to improving the lives of women nationwide.

Ashley Judd: Judd's response to the media frenzy around her "puffy" face was truly courageous, not to mention articulate and powerful. She's an excellent example of a woman with visibility and influence taking a position that stands to benefit many less visible women and girls.

Lena Dunham: As we say in our weekly Girls chats, Lena Dunham is our body image hero. While Girls is not perfect, it's an expression not only of a young woman's creativity and ambition but also her willingness to use her own body to question the huge disparity between the type of bodies allowed onscreen and the average American woman's body. The show also confronts women's emotional relationship with food very honestly.

Maria Klawe: The current president of Harvey Mudd College, Klawe is credited with almost single-handedly increasing the number of women enrolled in computer science classes at the university level. More about Klawe here.

Chris Greenberg, sports editor

Brittney Griner: This 21-year-old at Baylor is the most dominant women's college basketball player in the country as a junior. She led the Baylor Bears to a perfect 40-0 record en route to a national championship. Along the way, Griner became just the second female player to dunk in the NCAA Tournament (and she did it twice).



Pat Summitt: With 1,098 wins and eight national championships, Summitt is the most decorated coach in all of college basketball. She stepped down from her longtime post at the University of Tennessee after the close of the 2012 season at age 59 because she is facing early onset dementia. Summitt announced her diagnosis before the 2011-2012 season, but remained on the sideline and helped lead the Lady Vols to a regional final in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Griner's Baylor. President Obama will honor Summitt with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.



Virginia Rometty: Although she was not participating in the The Masters this year, Rometty was among the most talked about people at Augusta National. Appointed CEO of IBM not long before the most prestigious golf tournament of the year, Rometty's presence rekindled the debate about female membership as the men who previously held her position were welcomed into the club. Although Augusta Chairman Billy Payne did his best to avoid the issue as per usual, Rometty made an appearance that kept everyone talking about it. On the final day of the tournament, she secured a prime seat near the 18th hole and was hard to miss in a bright pink coat. For a club famous for its green jackets, this wardrobe choice garnered plenty of attention.



Victoria Azarenka: This 22-year-old Belarusian tennis player ascended to the top of the WTA rankings, fittingly reaching the No. 1 spot with her win in the final of the 2012 Australian Open. Not only was it her first time reaching No. 1 but it was also her first grand slam title.



Lindsey Vonn: The skier entered 2012 by immediately announcing her divorce and beset by rumors about her dating life, but managed to put together perhaps the most impressive season of an accomplished career despite the distractions. She was among the top three finishers more than 15 times during the season and approached several World Cup records.



Women's Olympic Boxers: While the star performances are yet to come, this sport will be making its Olympic debut in London this summer. It is a watershed moment for all female boxers and an opportunity for a few of the women in the competition to really distinguish themselves.



Dr. Ann McKee: Although the timeline of her research makes her perhaps a better candidate for a 2010 list, McKee remains among the most prominent researchers when it comes to head trauma and football.

Emily Peck, managing business editor



Sheryl Sandberg: If it's a woman in business you're after, it's hard not to pick Sheryl Sandberg. For many working women looking to break through the glass ceiling, the Facebook COO is a rock star and an inspiration. She's emerged as a leading role model for those seeking to find the confidence to lead. And when I asked several women journalists to name the most prominent woman in business, it was her over and over.



Update: Thank you so much for these wonderful suggestions! So many creative, empathetic, fearless women to choose from. Keep the ideas coming, please!

_________________________________



Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff

]]>As an advisory board member of Glamour Women of the Year, I have the privilege of nominating five inspiring women -- or groups of women -- who have made an impact in 2012. And I'd love to hear your suggestions.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/help-me-nominate-five-gla_b_1544131.htmlJPMorgan, the Volcker Rule, and the Extreme Brevity of Financial Memoryhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/92xqLb5B6Vg/jpmorgan-volcker-rule_b_1542420.htmlArianna HuffingtonSat, 26 May 2012 21:10:46 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1542420
In 1990, John Kenneth Galbraith tried to answer this vexing question in his book, A Short History of Financial Euphoria. Using the 1987 market crash as his launch pad, Galbraith looks at the history of financial bubbles -- and the subsequent and inevitable crashes -- and at why the lessons that would prevent boom and bust cycles from happening with devastating regularity are never learned. To Galbraith it's a combination of "the extreme brevity of the financial memory" and a general ignorance of history.

"There can be few fields of human endeavor in which history counts for so little as in the world of finance," he writes. "Past experience, to the extent that it is part of memory at all, is dismissed as the primitive refuge of those who do not have the insight to appreciate the incredible wonders of the present."

And not only is the boom and bust cycle repeated endlessly, so is the response. See if this sounds familiar: When the initial wave of public anger at a financial bubble bursting is at its highest, there are pledges from politicians to get tough and "never let this happen again." Some reforms are proposed but, as the public's anger -- and memory -- weakens, so does the "reform." By the time reform measures are passed (if they even are), lobbying has weakened them enough to make another crisis inevitable. In fact, that's how these measures are designed -- not with the intent of creating a fresh crisis per se, but by providing loopholes that explicitly allow the activities that will make the next crisis inevitable.

Exhibit A: The renewed battle over the so-called Volcker Rule in response to JPMorgan Chase's recent trading loss -- which might reach $5 billion. How did such a massive misstep happen? We want to think there must be some extraordinary reason for such an extraordinary loss. Was it because of a change in JPMorgan's risk model, which hid the true extent of risk the bank was taking on? Was it because of the personnel conflicts brought on by the vacuum created when Ina Drew, head of JPMorgan's chief investment office, came down with Lyme disease in 2010? Or was it, in fact, inevitable because "of a loophole in the reform legislation that Obama signed"?

In any case, it was no doubt helped along by the "extreme brevity of the financial memory." Right now the question is whether the small-bore outrage over the JPMorgan debacle will help the small-bore reform -- in the form of the Volcker Rule -- inch across the finish line in some more-than-meaningless form. But it's also useful to go back a bit, into Galbraith's "primitive refuge" of "past experience." Let's go back to 2008. It's not that long ago, but it has the feel of a distant memory when you recall the level of outrage directed at big banks at the time, and the kind of real reform that, for a minute or two, seemed possible. There were serious proposals to transform the way big banks do business, and to ensure that taxpayers would never again have to step in to pay the tab after another Wall Street bender. There was a lot of tough talk from the new Obama administration, which, if it was willing to do more than talk, had the public's will -- and outrage -- behind it.

But as the banks and their lobbyists surely knew, the devil is in the details. So, as the public began to forget its outrage, the lobbyists began to get to work. First, the most meaningful proposals, like bringing back Glass-Steagall, or getting rid of too-big-to-fail banks by breaking them up, were tossed aside. What was left became the Dodd-Frank bill, passed in the summer of 2010. In the year following the bill's passage, over two-dozen pieces of legislation were put into the mix to weaken it.

According to Public Citizen, members of Congress who support a weakened version of the rule raked in 35 times more in contributions from the financial industry than those who support a strong version -- $66.7 million to $1.9 million. And as lobbying intensified this spring, lawmakers were, as Bloomberg News put it, "signaling they're receptive" to revising the rule. Sounds like something out of a nature documentary -- modern democracy's equivalent of wild animals signaling they're receptive by lifting their behinds.

And now comes the JPMorgan trading loss -- exactly the kind of thing the Volcker Rule is supposed to prevent. "JPMorgan Chase has a big hedge fund inside a commercial bank," said Boston University economics professor Mark Williams. "They should be taking in deposits and making loans, not taking large speculative bets." Or, as Felix Salmon put it, the bank was "using its Chief Investment Office to gamble with taxpayer-backstopped funds." Once again, the taxpayer is the ATM at the Wall Street casino -- exactly what all the politicians, responding to our outrage in 2008 and 2009, were never going to let happen again.

And, once again, we're hearing the tough talk. "We are very confident that we will be able to make sure [the new rules] come out as tough and effective as they need to be and I think this episode helps to make that case," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

"Without Wall Street reform, we could have found ourselves with the taxpayers once again on the hook for Wall Street's mistakes," said President Obama. "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place."

Could have? And finish the job? It's not like the loophole-ridden Volcker Rule will end too-big-to-fail -- and as long as that's the case, the banks know they have us right where they want us. And the president didn't mention anything about finishing the job a few days earlier when he appeared on The View and declared that "JPMorgan is one of the best-managed banks there is." Peter Boyer and Peter Schweizer say this is evidence of Obama's "passive-aggressive relationship with Big Finance," but when someone is passive-aggressive, they're expressing aggression in the guise of passivity. This is passivity in the guise of aggression.

As for finishing the job, even when the Volcker Rule is implemented in July, the banks have two years to comply -- and to further water it down. Or, if Mitt Romney wins, repeal the Dodd-Frank bill altogether, as he's pledged to do.

Hearings were held Tuesday in the Senate Banking Committee on finalizing the derivatives rules. Before the JPMorgan debacle the leading Democrats, Chairman Tim Johnson and Chuck Schumer, wanted to lighten protections. Now, Johnson says the JPMorgan case illustrates "why opponents of Wall Street reform must not be allowed to gut important protections for the financial system and taxpayers." But where was that tough talk before? After all, what happened with JPMorgan was inevitable under the looser rules Johnson and Schumer seemed to support as of a few weeks ago.

The Times editorializes that "JPMorgan's fiasco should be a teachable -- even a transformational moment." Well, don't hold your breath.

It's clear the solution to the destructive effects of the financial euphoria-driven boom and bust cycle will not be found in Washington. The banks will always win on that front -- they own the lobbyists, and the lobbyists have a stranglehold on the legislative process. When piecemeal rules are written, the banks will hide behind complexity and loopholes.

So we all need to stop forgetting. We need to tap back into the outrage we felt when the financial crisis erupted in 2008. And maybe there could be some sort of Clockwork Orange-like aversion therapy for those inside the banks. Just imagine what would happen if any time a dazzling new financial transaction is mentioned, an electric shock follows -- strong enough to make us question the wonders of financial "innovation." It's sometimes said that humans have natural aversions to snakes and cannibalism. Maybe with the right kind of training we can eventually add to that list financial trades in which complexity has somehow magically removed all the risk.

Would this aversion therapy work? I'm not sure, but I know it's got a better chance of stopping the next nobody-saw-that-one-coming crisis than a watered-down Volcker Rule. Otherwise, a few years down the road, we're going to once again find ourselves in a lot of pain, wondering, "How could I ever have forgotten just how horrible this is?"

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>Financial crises are a lot like childbirth -- they both involve a lot of pain and end up costing you a lot of money. But, after a while, you forget about all the negatives and are ready to do it again.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/jpmorgan-volcker-rule_b_1542420.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/560166/thumbs/s-TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL-mini.jpgThe Moment I Knew I Needed More Sleephttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/tbyLq6y8gsc/arianna-moment-i-knew-sleep_b_1540841.htmlArianna HuffingtonThu, 24 May 2012 17:17:46 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1540841
What was the moment you knew you needed to get more sleep? I want to hear your story.











For more on sleep, click here.

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>The moment I knew I needed more sleep was four years ago, when I learned the value of sleep -- the hard way. What was the moment you knew you needed to get more sleep? I want to hear your story.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/arianna-moment-i-knew-sleep_b_1540841.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/619633/thumbs/s-MOMENT-I-KNEW-mini.jpgSunday Rounduphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/Gmrw2-z9jjU/sunday-roundup_231_b_1529961.htmlArianna HuffingtonSun, 20 May 2012 09:34:49 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1529961Facebook went public with the third largest IPO in history. On the downside of the ledger, Moody's downgraded more than three-dozen Spanish and Italian banks, and JPMorgan's trading losses zoomed past the original $2 billion estimate. On the political front, a pro-Romney super-PAC's plan to disentomb the Reverend Wright scandal made headlines. Some might question the wisdom of those backing a candidate who is an elder in a church known for magic underwear, baptizing dead people and a belief that Jesus visited America making religion a campaign issue -- but in a world where single-mom Bristol Palin shamelessly moralizes about the value of kids "growing up in a mother/father home," all bets are off. The controversy prompted Romney to deliver the quote of the week, saying of his stance on Reverend Wright: "I'm not familiar with precisely what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was." Mitt, check your Facebook timeline!


Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>This week, Facebook went public with the third largest IPO in history. On the downside of the ledger, Moody's downgraded more than three-dozen Spanish and Italian banks, and JPMorgan's trading losses zoomed past the original $2 billion estimate. On the political front, a pro-Romney super-PAC's plan to disentomb the Reverend Wright scandal made headlines. Some might question the wisdom of those backing a candidate who is an elder in a church known for magic underwear, baptizing dead people and a belief that Jesus visited America making religion a campaign issue -- but in a world where single-mom Bristol Palin shamelessly moralizes about the value of kids "growing up in a mother/father home," all bets are off. The controversy prompted Romney to deliver the quote of the week, saying of his stance on Reverend Wright: "I'm not familiar with precisely what I said, but I stand by what I said, whatever it was." Mitt, check your Facebook timeline!http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_231_b_1529961.htmlMy Conversation With the Dalai Lama: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality, Part 2 (VIDEO)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/duly8vWtwVI/arianna-dalai-lama_b_1519694.htmlArianna HuffingtonSun, 20 May 2012 09:34:38 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1519694Dalai Lama received the Templeton Prize on Monday, I was seated next to Canon Mark Oakley. "We need to move beyond relevance to resonance," he said.

It was a call to move beyond the shallows to the depths, beyond the passing novelties of the moment to the echoes of the soul. The Canon summed up the vicious circle we too often find ourselves caught in: "We are," he said, "spending money we don't have on things we don't want in order to impress people we don't like."

To find the peace of mind that alone can replace this aimless search which has led to an epidemic of stress, anxiety, and drugs -- legal and illegal -- the Dalai Lama is looking to science (specifically neuroscience) to convince a skeptical, increasingly secular society of the power of contemplation and compassion to change our lives and our world.

As he wrote in his 2005 book, The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality:

The great benefit of science is that it can contribute tremendously to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level, but it is only through the cultivation of the qualities of the human heart and the transformation of our attitudes that we can begin to address and overcome our mental suffering... We need both, since the alleviation of suffering must take place at both the physical and the psychological levels.


It is for this decades-long passion to bring together science and spirituality that he was awarded the Templeton Prize, a $1.7-million honor given to "entrepreneurs of the spirit" who make "an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works." The prize, the motto of which is "how little we know, how eager to learn," has been given annually since being established in 1972.

In awarding the Templeton Prize to the Dalai Lama, the organizers cited his "engagement with science and with people far beyond his own religious traditions," and the fact that "for the past 25 years, he has focused on the connections between the investigative traditions of science and Buddhism and encouraged serious scientific investigative reviews of, for instance, the power of compassion and kindness and its broad potential to address the world's fundamental problems."

Contained within that citation are three themes I focused on in my interview with him: his work combining scientific investigation with religious exploration; his thoughts on compassion; and his techniques for increasing our capacity for it, including, of course, sleep!

Of course, these three themes are all inextricably bound together. According to the Dalai Lama, science and Buddhist thought share many things:

On the philosophical level, both Buddhism and modern science share a deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes. ... Both Buddhism and science prefer to account for the evolution and emergence of the cosmos and life in terms of the complex interrelations of the natural laws of cause and effect. From the methodological perspective, both traditions emphasize the role of empiricism.


While the Dalai Lama contends that religious claims must give way to the empirical findings of science, he also believes we must "ensure that science never becomes divorced from the basic human feeling of empathy with our fellow beings."

Or, as he put in his 2004 book, The Wisdom of Forgiveness, co-authored with Victor Chan, "To utilize technology more constructively, inner peace is the most important factor. That's the main reason to have closer relations between modern science and ancient human thought."

When the two come together, the result is the cultivation of connection -- of empathy and compassion. What's extraordinary about the Dalai Lama is his capacity for empathy in the face of all that he's endured -- sustained onslaughts not just against his people but against him, as well. China, of course, has been brutally occupying his homeland since 1951, and he has been in exile since 1959. The list of human rights abuses against the people of Tibet is appallingly long, and those abuses continue to this day. According to the Human Rights Watch, China responded to a 2008 uprising in Tibet by "brutalizing detainees and torturing suspects in custody." In the past year alone, some 30 Tibetan monks have self-immolated in protest.

And though the Dalai Lama has been in exile for over 50 years and strictly advocates non-violence, such is the power of his teachings that the Chinese government treats him as an enormous threat. Among the attacks it has made on him are claims:



Despite this relentless demonization, he's remained among the world's foremost practitioners of the cultivation of compassion.

"We have to make every effort to promote human affection," he says. "While we oppose violence or war, we must show there is another way -- a nonviolent way. Now look at humanity as a whole. Today's reality: whole world almost like one body. ... Our future depends on global well-being."

At the heart of this approach is the Buddhist belief in the mutability of consciousness -- the idea that we can, through certain practices, change our inner being. "It means that the cultivation of loving-kindness can over a period diminish the force of hate in the mind," he explains. Unlike our physical qualities, "the qualities of the mind have the potential for limitless development," which means that "it is possible for a mental quality like compassion to be developed to a limitless degree."

How can this be done? One way is through the practice of mindfulness, focusing one's mind by focusing on a single process, most commonly breathing. Another technique is one he calls "giving and taking." This is how he describes it: "I make visualization: send my positive emotions like happiness, affection to others. Then another visualization. I visualize receiving their sufferings, their negative emotions. I do this every day. I pay special attention to the Chinese -- especially those doing terrible things to the Tibetans."

One of his goals in bringing science and Buddhism together is to study and enhance the transformative effects of these practices. Since 1987, he's been organizing dialogues between scientists and Buddhist thinkers and practitioners on a range of subjects, from physics and astronomy to empathy and compassion.

"These are times," he says:

...when destructive emotions like anger, fear and hatred are giving rise to devastating problems throughout the world. But I believe we have a valuable opportunity to make progress in dealing with them, through a collaboration between religion and science...


Experiments have already been carried out that show some practitioners can achieve a state of inner peace, even when facing disturbing circumstances. The results show such people to be happier, less susceptible to destructive emotions, and more attuned to the feelings of others. These methods are not just useful, but cheap: you don't need to buy anything or make anything in a factory. You don't need a drug or an injection.


So how can we spread these ideas? How can we scale them to meet the huge challenges we're facing all over the world? A good way to start is by trying to emulate this remarkable man's approach to living: "The important thing is that my daily life should be something useful to others," he said last year. "As soon as I wake up in the morning, I shape my mind. The rest of the day, my body, speech, mind are dedicated to others."

Call it step one on our journey from "relevance to resonance."

Watch my conversation with the Dalai Lama here (with a video slideshow here).




Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>To find the peace of mind that alone can replace aimless searching, which has led to an epidemic of stress, anxiety, and drugs, the Dalai Lama is looking to science to convince a skeptical society of the power of contemplation and compassion to change our lives and our world.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/arianna-dalai-lama_b_1519694.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/604956/thumbs/s-DALAI-LAMA-ARIANNA-mini.jpgMy Conversation With the Dalai Lama: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (VIDEO)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/WMgI9VEml5o/arianna-the-dalai-lama_b_1515059.htmlArianna HuffingtonTue, 15 May 2012 07:44:07 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1515059Dalai Lama received the Templeton Prize today, I was seated next to Canon Mark Oakley. "We need to move beyond relevance to resonance," he said.

It was a call to move beyond the shallows to the depths, beyond the passing novelties of the moment to the echoes of the soul. The Canon summed up the vicious circle we too often find ourselves caught in: "We are," he said, "spending money we don't have on things we don't want in order to impress people we don't like."

To find the peace of mind that alone can replace this aimless search that has led to an epidemic of stress, anxiety, and drugs -- legal and illegal -- the Dalai Lama is looking to science (specifically neuroscience) to convince a skeptical increasingly-secular society of the power of contemplation and compassion to change our lives and our world.

As he wrote in his 2005 book, The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality:

The great benefit of science is that it can contribute tremendously to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level, but it is only through the cultivation of the qualities of the human heart and the transformation of our attitudes that we can begin to address and overcome our mental suffering... We need both, since the alleviation of suffering must take place at both the physical and the psychological levels.


It is for this decades-long passion to bring together science and spirituality that he was awarded the Templeton Prize. I sat with him before the awards ceremony. Here is our conversation (with a video slideshow here):



Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>For his decades-long passion to bring together science and spirituality the Dalai Lama was awarded the Templeton Prize this week. I sat with him before the awards ceremony. Here is our conversation.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/arianna-the-dalai-lama_b_1515059.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/604956/thumbs/s-DALAI-LAMA-ARIANNA-mini.jpgMy Mother: The Ultimate Fearless Role Modelhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/r1AcIH43wUo/fearless-role-model_b_1512193.htmlArianna HuffingtonSun, 13 May 2012 05:59:39 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1512193
She described the night when German soldiers arrived at their cabin and started to shoot, threatening to kill everyone if the group did not surrender the Jews the Germans suspected (rightly) they were hiding. My mother, who spoke fluent German, stood up and told them categorically to put down their guns, that there were no Jews in their midst. And then she watched the German soldiers lower their guns and walk away. And just hearing it, I remember the fear rising inside me, not just fear for my mother and the danger she faced but fear for myself. How would I ever live up to this standard of fearlessness?

My mother did not let financial concerns stop her from leaving my father when I was 11-years-old. For my father, as for many Greek men of his generation, there was nothing wrong with extramarital affairs. "I don't want you to interfere with my private life," I remember him telling my mother when she complained. His marriage was part of his public life, his affairs part of his private life. But that was not okay for her, and even though she had no job and no obvious way to earn money, she took her two children and left, trusting that somehow she would make ends meet. And, somehow, she did.

My mother was the ultimate non-thing person. For instance, there was the time we tried to give her a second watch for her birthday, only to have her give it to someone else two days later. "I already have a watch," she explained.

She told me once that she operated like the government: She first decided what it was that her children needed and then she set out to find the money. My mother was one of the original deficit financers. She made ends meet by borrowing or by selling her possessions, from a carpet brought by her parents from Russia to her last pair of gold earrings. My mother's real wealth was the fact that she never made decisions from a place of lack. Even when she and my sister and I had to share a one-bedroom apartment in Athens, she always radiated abundance. When I said I wanted to go to Cambridge, she never said, "We don't have the money." Which we didn't. She was a dreamer and always believed that the universe would conspire to bring forward the resources to fulfill her dreams. Which in her case were all dreams for her daughters.

When I started making money -- after my biography of Maria Callas became a big bestseller -- my mother saw this financial success only as a passport to freedom, which for her meant never having to make decisions based simply on the price tag. She taught my sister and me all about abundance: that it has more to do with your state of mind than your actual bank balance. And she was constantly living in a state of offering. Food, of course, was her favorite thing to offer, but it was a metaphor for so much more. I'm convinced that she absolutely believed that something terrible would happen to her children -- and her grandchildren and her friends -- if they went 20 minutes without eating. Nobody could ring our doorbell, whether the Federal Express man or a parent dropping off a child for a play date, without being asked, indeed urged, to sit down and try whatever she was cooking in the kitchen. And nobody could leave our house without goody bags filled with food.

My mother took control of her own status and defined her own worth. So she was freed from the petty turf wars and ugly envy of the status game, freed from fear about how "they" ranked her and what privileges "they" would bestow on her. By deciding her own worth and radiating the confidence that comes with this, she was secure in her status regardless of her life's circumstances. Getting rid of the fear that the status game generated allowed my mother to connect in a much deeper way with people at all levels of life.

She cut through hierarchies and showed everyone fortunate enough to come into contact with her that we're all cut from the same cloth. She approached life by liking everybody, and because this feeling of trust and connection is contagious, everybody liked her right back.

One night, while I was living in London, a member of Parliament I was dating at the time brought the Prime Minister Edward Heath to dinner. My mother was in the kitchen, where she could be found most of the time, talking to the plumber, who had come to fix a last-minute problem. As I was leaving the kitchen, I overheard my mother asking the plumber what he thought of the prime minister. I didn't hear his reply, but a few minutes later my mother had engineered a sit-down between the prime minister and the plumber around the kitchen table so they could talk things out.

Later in life she put into practice her beliefs that there is no job that is beneath anybody and that one's status is not determined by what one does for a living but by the qualities and dignity one brings to the job. In the mid-seventies, she went to Los Angeles for an extended visit with my sister and her then-husband. After about a month, when it became clear that my sister's husband would rather not live with his mother-in-law, my mother, not wanting to bother anybody, decided she would just strike out on her own.

But to do this, she was going to need a job. So she thought about what she knew how to do, what her talents were. What she came up with was that she knew how to manage a home -- cooking, cleaning, and making everything run smoothly, on time, and with a minimum of friction. It was what she'd done all her life, and she was good at it. She put an ad in the paper looking for someone who needed a house manager. Lo and behold, she got a call back, went for the interview, and got the job. So she found herself in Santa Barbara, taking care of a beautiful family and their teenage kids, all of whom immediately fell in love with her. Aside from all the household duties, my mother would counsel the whole family on her organizational ideas, which she dubbed, "creative order." More often than not, the kids would end up in my mother's room, talking through their problems with her.

She had taken the job with no sense of inferiority, and so it never occurred to the family to treat her as inferior. She simply went there to be of service and to earn a living, never forgetting exactly who she was. And, of course, when she got her first paycheck, she tried to give it to Agapi and me because she said she didn't need money, since she already had room and board.

Her adventure ended when I called her and asked her to please come to London. I need you, I told her, if I'm ever going to finish this book. My mother had never been able to resist a call of need from one of her daughters. So she flew to London and managed my little flat instead, keeping the kitchen going all night while I was furiously working to meet my self-imposed deadline.

Her job in Santa Barbara had been one more way that she taught her daughters by example how to cut through hierarchies and never wait for authority and leadership to be granted from without. Her solutions to problems would sometimes seem simple and obvious, but that was because of the fearlessness and trust with which she approached the world and moved through it.

I was blessed to have my own mother as my ultimate fearless role model. She and I were different in one key way: She lived in the rhythm of a timeless world, a child's rhythm; I lived in the hectic, often unnatural rhythm of the modern world. While I had the sense every time I looked at my watch that I was running out of time, she lived in a world where a trip to the farmers' market happily filled half a day, where there was always enough time for wonder at how lovely the rosemary looked next to the lavender. In fact, going through the market with her was like walking through the Louvre with an art connoisseur, except that you could touch and smell and taste the still-lifes.

The last time my mother was upset with me was when she saw me talking with my children and opening my mail at the same time. She despised multitasking. She believed that it was simply a way to miss life, to miss the gifts that come only when you give 100 percent of yourself to a task, a relationship, a moment. She was quite certain in her belief that many of our emergencies were actually manufactured.

My mother embodied the qualities that we need to grow into as we grow older -- especially simplicity and a connection with the sacred. For all those blessed to be in her orbit, it felt as if these dimensions of life were taken care of.

While our goal at the beginning of life is to see what we can make of it, my mother used to say that as we grow older, the goal is to see what it can make of us. Well, she made of life a grand adventure -- and it made of her a magnificent tour guide.

My mother, who lived with me most of my life -- through my marriage, childbirth, and divorce -- died in 2000. Her death forced me to confront my deepest fear: living my life without the person who had been its foundation. I did lose her, and I have had to go on without her. But the way she lived her life and faced her death have taught me so much about overcoming fear.


Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>My mother embodied the qualities that we need to grow into as we grow older -- especially simplicity and a connection with the sacred. For all those blessed to be in her orbit, it felt as if these dimensions of life were taken care of.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/fearless-role-model_b_1512193.htmlhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/603902/thumbs/s-FEARLESS-ARIANNA-mini.jpgSunday Rounduphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/3FQcJlVqxkQ/sunday-roundup_230_b_1511999.htmlArianna HuffingtonSat, 12 May 2012 20:58:32 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1511999JP Morgan caused $2 billion in losses and showed why muscular banking regulation is still so badly needed; Rick Santorum endorsed Romney in an email sent out around midnight with no advance notice to reporters -- just one step short of sending his endorsement directly to spam folders; and, of course, the week's top story was obviously President Obama's "I do" on gay marriage -- a groundbreaking move that aligned him with Dr. King's evocative suggestion that we be the headlights of history, not the taillights. Thank you for your bold leadership, Mr. President. Now, if you can get to know as many unemployed people as you do gay people, perhaps you'll provide equally bold leadership on jobs. Finally, here's wishing moms everywhere a very happy Mother's Day!

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>This week, risky trades by JP Morgan caused $2 billion in losses and showed why muscular banking regulation is still so badly needed; Rick Santorum endorsed Romney in an email sent out around midnight with no advance notice to reporters -- just one step short of sending his endorsement directly to spam folders; and, of course, the week's top story was obviously President Obama's "I do" on gay marriage -- a groundbreaking move that aligned him with Dr. King's evocative suggestion that we be the headlights of history, not the taillights. Thank you for your bold leadership, Mr. President. Now, if you can get to know as many unemployed people as you do gay people, perhaps you'll provide equally bold leadership on jobs. Finally, here's wishing moms everywhere a very happy Mother's Day!http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_230_b_1511999.htmlSunday Rounduphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/nWNCJjfM-ko/sunday-roundup_229_b_1484615.htmlArianna HuffingtonSat, 05 May 2012 21:01:27 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1484615the killing of Osama bin Laden, Brian Williams repeatedly held up the famous photo of administration members watching the raid and asked those in the photo, "What does it conjure up inside of you?" This week also brought the latest job numbers, which revealed the lowest percentage of adults working or looking for work in 30 years. Maybe Williams should tape a follow-up special where he holds up a copy of the jobs report and asks administration members, "What does it conjure up inside of you?" Contrasting the White House's relentless focus on the bin Laden operation with its lack of relentless focus on the economy is enough to make one want to scream. Hmm, maybe Edvard Munch could paint it and we could raise $120 million to help the unemployed.

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>On this week's NBC special about the killing of Osama bin Laden, Brian Williams repeatedly held up the famous photo of administration members watching the raid and asked those in the photo, "What does it conjure up inside of you?" This week also brought the latest job numbers, which revealed the lowest percentage of adults working or looking for work in 30 years. Maybe Williams should tape a follow-up special where he holds up a copy of the jobs report and asks administration members, "What does it conjure up inside of you?" Contrasting the White House's relentless focus on the bin Laden operation with its lack of relentless focus on the economy is enough to make one want to scream. Hmm, maybe Edvard Munch could paint it and we could raise $120 million to help the unemployed.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_229_b_1484615.htmlBecoming Fearless Goes Video: We Start With... Moneyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andariannahuffington/~3/jb91TRnZbEU/becoming-fearless-money-video_b_1474726.htmlArianna HuffingtonFri, 04 May 2012 10:42:21 PDTtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1474726
For me personally, the biggest step was realizing that fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of fear. Fearlessness is like a muscle -- the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. It's getting to the point where our fears do not stop us from daring to think new thoughts, try new things, take big risks. It's about getting up one more time than we fall down.

My desire to share these thoughts led to my book On Becoming Fearless... In Love, Work, and Life. And now I'm delighted to announce a series, Becoming Fearless, sponsored by Toyota, that will revisit and expand on some of the book's themes, from parenting and work to relationships and love.

We kick off today with a video about one of the most fear-inducing forces known to humankind: money.

Money isn't just money -- it's also a stand-in for our hopes, dreams, goals and, of course, fears. We fear we will never have the resources to live well, parent well, or feel secure. And then there's the fact that not only do women make less money than men, we save less for retirement, and we usually outlive our husbands, if we have them. When I recently appeared on The Colbert Report, I presented Stephen with a certificate before the taping, declaring him an Honorary Woman. "Do I still get paid 100 percent of my salary?" he replied. It would be great to get to a point where he didn't have to ask that question.

For Becoming Fearless, I rounded up some friends and experts to talk about money, our fears about money, and how to overcome those fears.

As you'll gather from today's video and those to come, our goal is not to lecture, but to open up the conversation with a range of voices and perspectives. It's a way of reminding ourselves that fear is universal. Whatever frightens you has frightened someone before you. It touches everyone -- but as we all know, it doesn't stop everyone.

And since your voices are crucial, we hope you'll join that conversation -- not just in the comments section but by visiting our Big News page about Becoming Fearless, and by participating in our tweet contest, using the hashtag #BecomingFearless.

Add your voice to the conversation on Twitter: twitter.com/ariannahuff]]>I'm delighted to announce Becoming Fearless, a video series sponsored by Toyota that will explore the theme of fearlessness on a range of subjects, from parenting and work to relationships and love.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/becoming-fearless-money-video_b_1474726.html