Eric Liu #TEDXChristchurch

Eric Liu is the founder of Citizen University, directs the Aspen Institute’s Citizenship & American Identity Program, and was recently appointed by President Obama to the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. His books include the national bestsellers The Gardens of Democracy and The True Patriot, both co-authored with Nick Hanauer. He also served as a White House speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and later as the President's deputy domestic policy adviser.

Twitter: @ericpliu

Present at the creation... Dean Acheson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Acheson

REimagining what a city can be out of disaster...

"Techtonic shifts".... teehee... changes all of what we understand and knew...

Everyone has a voice... social media and social justice, learning from one another in real time.

Present at the creation of a new age...

Three elements of citizenship
Power, imagination and character... at the core of what we do and why we do it!

Power - the capacity to ensure others do what you would have them do... We have an obligation to be literate in power... to understand - power is not a zero sum game... one does not have to lose when one gains... Power is a positive sum entity.  Power and voice and agency we all have, the more strong, adaptive and powerful we all become... at the edges, all.  Inclusion wins!!! Power must be claimed... it is not simply granted.  We must become fluent in elements of power... to organise, lobby, to bypass broken systems and ensure the voice of all is heard!  We must flex our claim, our power... Claiming power...

Imagination - the capacity to conceive of what is not!  Imagination needs to be cultivated.  The power of imagination in civic life... new ways of seeing one another and seeing the world we re in... Institutionalisation of empathy - WOW - the job of all of us!  Awareness of exponential consequences of actions.  Seeing others as we see ourselves... to see all of us as 'a body'.

Character - civic character in the collective.  Pro social contributor.  We must intentionally cultivate.  To be mindful of cultivating character. NZ focus on reciprocity, connecting...  Being citizen is about being responsible.  

Culture - how we all embrace, cling to, live our culture - how we can set of pro-culture behaviour... Each one of us is a node in the network... 

See a gap - fill it!  Christchurch gapfillers - in awe of all the gaps you fill to make life better for us all....

Christchurch has the blueprint for re-creating a better society!  WOW - Christchurch stands for every town... 

We do not need ruin and devastation to imagine new ways of relating... WOW - this speech has lifted the roof on the theatre... 

To live as if we were present at the CREATION of a new world because we are....