WHAT IS FORWARD?

Cascade Forward is a progressive organization, but we have a slightly different philosophy when it comes to progress. Central to our work is a simple question: what does it mean to move society “forward"?

If our goal is social advancement, we must define what it is to advance.

It is our very modest, basic assertion that our society, and indeed civilization in general, exist for two purposes.

First, to minimize human suffering. Tens of thousands of years ago primitive villages were founded to protect their inhabitants from starvation and encroachment by wolves. Today we have modern needs and modern dangers, but the goal remains the same. We discover new science, develop new technology, even output culture with the purpose of preventing or alleviating physical, mental, and emotional pain.

Second is to increase human happiness. What is the point of religion, philosophy, education, art, if not to nurture the emotions of humanity? We would all agree that it is better to be happy, and we spend much of our lives seeking better days and brighter times. Even when things are going well, we are open to better.

Fear is the Enemy of Fulfilment

In keeping with the basic nature of this philosophy, we further assert that one of the primary impediments to personal and societal fulfillment is fear. When people are afraid, society slinks back to the comfort of the cave, barking around a fire with hands full of spears. On September 11, 2001, society took a huge step back, for example. The fear the right wing capitalized on after that day leads directly to Donald Trump and the current dissolution of the US federal government that is costing lives, wrecking the economy, and destabilizing the entire world.

In order to bring back advancement in our society, we must work to eliminate fear. Food drives and supply drops help individual people and families face difficult times with less uncertainty. Advocating for health care reforms like universal health care is done with the purpose of removing the average American's fear of medical emergency and financial ruin.

On a micro level, consider a young woman with a passion for science. She dreams of higher learning, but her family is poor and she works instead of studying to help make ends meet. The fear of financial devastation keeps her away from a career that could cure cancer, or fix climate change. What if she simply didn't have to be afraid? What if society decided together that it is better that she succeed as a scientist for the good of us all?

People Thrive When Their Souls Feed