Imagine1:2020 Best Case Scenario for Me

I have a very strong sense of responsibility, fellowship and community. Though I have been tempted to forgo these characteristics in favor of more selfish goals with immediate rewards my best case scenario would be that I am able to hold true to these virtues and be in a position to make real change in support of them.

I have been a brother my entire life, well minus the 45 min it took for my twin to be born after me. I have always had to share. although there was always enough to go around. This has never once occurred to me to be anything other than a positive. It created a tightly knit family unit from where I have drawn most of my strength and conviction. In realizing that a family is really the oldest and perhaps still the strongest example of community. It nourished me, fostered me, encouraged me and taught me about the most important things in life. What I did not learn from family I learned through other communities such as the local academic communities. Other communities that I became a part of were other families, sports teams, universities, cities, states, geographical, ideological, business, and now online communities like Twitter, Facebook, and EVOKE.

What I have realized is that my growth is a result of the direct correlation between my ability to socially function within a community and the strength of the communities to which I belong. In 2020 I want to be in a position to improve and strengthen these two aspects, on as wide a level as possible.

I want to be able to help facilitate the ability to interact within a community to those that are having issues and promote activities and educational opportunities to nurture the traits that are most necessary for these interactions. I would want to target children with these philosophies early so that we can make the most of the time they have to learn in these communities and prepare them to be able to make the necessary adjustments to communication and technology as they grow. I do not propose to leave the older generations out but the big picture is that an investment in youth pays off not only tomorrow but in the tomorrows after that and in their children's tomorrows.

The second part is strengthening our communities so that an individual can take the tools they learn to learn as much as they can and then apply that knowledge. A communities strength is difficult to really address until it is defined. My working definition of a communities strength is a combination of principles: Purpose, Infrastructure, Diversity, Participation, and Security. (I will explore these in another post, please read and give input!!)

The community that needs the most attention right now is the global community. With technology and social media the world is getting smaller. The ability to communicate with such a large community is an opportunity to make significant changes that we need to make efficient and utilize to address some of the most basic problems that many of us forget exist, like hunger, poverty, and oppression. The biggest obstacles to this happening are all the social filters that we have around us. Be it culture, language, environment, or government this filters can be both great strengths until they hinder collaboration. Let us work within our respective communities to open up our perspectives and take advantage of the strengths that can be found in this global community.