How did sobe5 come into being?
In our Tao Wing Tsun classes, we teach children between the ages of four and ten values such as discipline, respect, and perseverance. Together with the children, we ask ourselves questions such as: „Why is it good to make mistakes?“, „What does justice actually mean?“ and „Is our environment important to us?“.
All the conversations and topics are individually valuable, but I often had the feeling that something overriding was missing. The individual value building blocks need something to frame them, an overall concept for good social behavior.
So I set out to find a guide to good social behavior, a kind of „quintessence of good behavior.“ And you know what, I found nothing that satisfied me.
Many different sources, mostly religious, do tell us something about social behavior. But, I wanted simple, non-religious guiding principles on „good social behavior.“ Guiding principles or principles that I can then discover together with my child, live and, of course, question again and again.
So I wrote down the first principles, changed them, discarded some completely, and wrote new ones. As long as, until what I wrote down seemed to me ultimately correct and as an overall concept also sensible. The result of this creative process is now sobe5.
„What exactly is sobe5 ?“ you may ask.
sobe5 practiced, applied and exemplified, creates with its five principles the behavioral basis for large and small people who in the future will naturally think sustainably and holistically, be empathetic and very likely act accordingly. The three „pillars“ of sustainability, ecology, economy and social justice, must be increasingly harmonized. Children who are introduced to the sobe5 principles and who also „live“ these principles can eventually form the foundation needed to establish and support precisely these three pillars of sustainability. Empathy is indispensable if we want to prevent (warlike) conflicts and is an ability that, if present, prevents many problems, conflicts and suffering from arising in the first place.
With its initiative, sobe5 expressly does not want to „force“ people into any system, but rather to see or promote free, critical people who question everything, but also behave socially towards their environment.
So take the sobe5 principles, think them through or question them, and if you like, take the principles to heart by living by them. If you don’t want to heed them, that’s your free choice, which of course is always yours.
What does sobe5 want to change?
Our society does not have it easy. We have completely forgotten to concentrate on what is really essential because of all the information that hits us every day. life becomes worth living first and foremost through good, empathetic and direct interaction with one another.
Far too many people are increasingly optimizing themselves, saying: „I’ll do what’s good for me. If someone doesn’t like it, I don’t care.“ This is the social tenor that has prevailed for far too long, is spreading and in the long run has a destructive effect on every society. Perhaps sobe5 can break through these thought patterns and bring people, and herewith primarily people’s children are meant, to a common denominator in terms of „good“ social behavior, i.e. good interaction with each other.
We need basic principles of „social behavior“ that are clearly defined, can be learned and taught, and are completely neutral in terms of content. There is no other way to bring about lasting change in our society.
The vision
Humans change what happens in this world and still most of the suffering on this planet is not caused by nature but by humans themselves.
Lack of social behavior and non-existent empathy in many fellow human beings of all ages, are the causes of violence, crime and great suffering in the most diverse facets. sobe5 wants to show children the way to a fulfilling life that has its origins in good interaction with each other and is completely focused on sustainability and empathy in almost all aspects of life.
sobe5 wants to change, and literally change EVERYTHING. Because behind every change, or rather in front of every change, there are people who bring about these changes. The „better“ or more socially characterized the individual is, the better the entire social structure becomes.
In this context, „better“ means that people think ahead in the sense of future generations and accordingly make decisions that must be completely different from the decisions of today’s „functionaries“ in corporations, and „hysterics“ in politics.
They act far too often out of pure self-interest, are usually completely haphazard and have long since lost all sense of reality. As far as social aspects are concerned, obvious problems are simply negated, ignored and glossed over.
How is this ever going to create a well-functioning community?
I would like to see the sobe5 principles and the resulting „right“, social ways of acting taught to children in many forms. This could be experienced through conversations, projects in nature, discussion of sobe5 principles, or role-playing with parents and friends, etc. The possibilities here are endless.
No matter how this will happen: The important thing is that we become more aware of the issue of social behavior for the sake of our children and our children’s children. The sooner we start, the more beneficial it will be for our society, the individual being and our world, which belongs to all of us.
Let us act together – it is already five past twelve.
The sobe5 principles are:
- Do not harm yourself or others
- Always be helpful and good
- Stay away from violence and crime
- Respect and d protect our environment
- Make yourself better today than you were yesterday