"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
2020 - Toward Collaborative Community
Before I launch into what and where I want to be in 2020 - I want to give a little context.
Right now, I am writing in a cafe by myself in a new city, where I don't know that many people yet. I am remembering times in my life where I have had a full social life in the U.S., but most often that has been as a result of being involved in an activity or in school where like minds came together to work on common goals. The silver-lining to all this is that - in the U.S. one has the opportunity to "make" a communal family out of people who do not share the same blood but same minds, spirits,and hearts. This opportunity mainly exists in the cities and in public educational institutions.
Concerning all this - a certain thought keeps coming to mind that human beings - even though Western thought has tried to negate this - are pack-like animals ... but this doesn't HAVE to be a bad thing .... from the beginning of time humans, due to their initial physical vulnerability have created groups of association and survival clans, tribes, guilds, unions,corporation on up to nations . This obvious historical reality is something we can't deny no matter how much our ego desires individuality and elitist separation ... and note the desire for excellence can be a separation - this is why certain cultures downplay the goal of individual excellence while encouraging communal excellence.
Not that I think personal excellence is a bad thing to pursue, but rather that I notice that it has its tradeoffs. And one of the main tradeoffs is mental, emotional and spiritual health. If someone is unhappy in the U.S. it is mainly because they don't have enough of that thing called "love" in their life, and this doesn't necessarily mean romantic love, although some think it does. For instance, for me to pursue personal excellence pursuing design and architecture in my present program - I have to spend a wh*** hell of a lot of time by myself, and have little time to spend with friends or family. This bums me out, I know I am making a sacrifice, somewhat similar to people who leave their families and people overseas to come here alone ... it is ambition for a "better life" of some kind.
The better life I see for myself in 10 years - is where I co-create a design-related business that not only serves local communities but beyond, but most importantly creates a nurturing culture within the business operation. Not in the fake way of hyping up morale with motivational games so we can have better sales or production ... but in the basic ways people have created community since the beginning of time - sharing, listening, working together, and being open and compassionate, understanding, and patience.
Views: 13
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Comment by Stefano Viaggi on March 10, 2010 at 9:44pm
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I like this.
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Comment by Rob Harvie on March 10, 2010 at 9:49pm
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Liza - good comment, I think you are bang-on. It strikes me that the more we see the state as an avenue of assistance for the things that create difficulty in our lives, the less we rely upon our "community", which includes family, friends and neighbors.. and more and more, the aid we get when we are troubled is professional and impersonal.
Your blog caught my eye by the word "Collaborative" as I'm a lawyer very involved in the promotion of collaborative law - which is basically a process to faciliate resolution of legal difficulties by keeping people out of court and helping to engage them in a process which addresses finding solutions by attacking problems instead of people.
..and our experience is the more we examine the commonality bewteen people, the easier it is to find resolution where they are in dispute. So, I think your comments are very appopropriate, in many ways, and have in fact lead to specific changes in how many people now approach divorce, for example.
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Comment by Linda Holt on March 10, 2010 at 11:29pm
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Bravo!!!! I think that our society is showing this ill effect of alienation on many levels. There is the obvious "rich doesn't make you happy" and the trickle down affect as witnessed in the financial scandals and real estate bubble. Then there is the confusion where people are so inundated by media and desire for stuff that they isolate themselves and fear for tomorrow. And even the immigrants legal and otherwise, who have community with each other (often in poverty) but who are often isolated from access to the opportunities to contribute beyond their immediate survival.
I wholly agree with you Liza, and with you Rob. It will be the ultimate social innovation if we are able to collaborate to create a new collective voice for restoration of community. A couple of us have mentioned the work of Peter Bloack, and I am reading "Civic Engaement and the Restoration of Community" which is a PDF bock available for free download here: http://www.peterblock.com/assets/Civic.pdf
I hope this conversation continues and that I can collaborate towards that purpose!
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Comment by Thom on March 11, 2010 at 8:31am
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Nice to find someone writing my own thoughts. Incredible, actually. :-)
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Comment by James Ream on March 11, 2010 at 5:23pm
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I think its good you recognize getting 'burnt out', and its never to soon start living the world you want to build. With your friends and family building the same world, you'll be able to make progress faster, even though it may not seem so because people are changing around you. Insightful post, good cultural knowledge, +1 =D
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Comment by Liza Davis on March 12, 2010 at 12:09am
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I am thick in the middle of studies and haven't been keeping current on the comments - so here's my responses in order of posting:
Rob - Really excited to hear about the new field of "collaborative" law - I am wondering, are there particular academic programs that specialize in this training. There have been times when I have considered law, but the mainstream methods of law are based on this theory of one-uanship, and who-ever has the more competent lawyer, even if "truth" is on your side, can often be for lack of a appropriate legal term "screwed over." Also law seems to be more about being vindictive rather than finding some sort of just solution. I think particular of in the instance of theft - if someone steals my money - how does it really serve me, if that person is put in jail without me being reimbursed for my loss. I don't understand why in this instance civil and criminal law is separated.
In general, how law is applied seems awfully illogical to me, collaborative law seems to give one the opportunity to find solutions directly related to the situation at hand rather than, arbitrarily from law books.
Linda - Yes, I like your comment about media and alienation, but I think this is a catch-22 situation. I think a lot of people turn to media - tv, internet, video-games, etc. to escape a feeling of alienation - finding some sort of connection through media to fantasy projections of what one desires or to find connection with others who are also feeling alienated from their everyday lives.
In the U.S. the media is constantly bombarding us with images of WHO and WHAT we should be, and if we don't live up to that we can end up feeling alienated from ourselves, rejecting who we are/feeling ashamed and then feeling obliged to pretend to be the "image of success" for others .... if we cannot be real to ourselves or others in everyday life, it is very difficult to be truly comfortable alone, or in the company of others. Hence "interactive media" because it shields us from direct perception of the other - allows us certain options - 1) I can be more myself because judgement from strangers isn't as risky, or it often turns out that people are a lot less judgmental than you would have imagined - so many people are yearning to have a
REAL conversation/discussion - but the intensity of "real" is often hard to take in person - its easier to take on the web. 2) I can pretend to be an ideal self, because who will know ; 3) I can be many personas ...
True community is supposed to the type of place that accepts you where you are and you move from there.
James - I think I got burnt out before I started ... that is I became cognizant of the BS of Ambition HYPE to be the best you can be so that you can be a "model American" really early on .... so I spent more of my early adulthood being artsy, exploring spirtuality, travelling, experiencing different cultures, and so on ... and now it seems that I am finally ready to be more business minded but with all that experience to support my pursuit of business. I reject the idea that you cannot serve humanity, serve your soul, serve your spirit, do good, etc - through entrepreneurship of some kind.
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