On the hopedance listserv (both the global and the local ones) we spend a lot of time figuring out how to save the world, how to implement possible changes/solutions that we see all around us. One member, Russ Ferriday, posted a question of prioritizing the main issues that we are facing along with a central question of: how to fix these issues. I responded with my usual pat answer... and then I went to Palden Jenkins’ newest book "Healing the Hurts of Nations: The Human Side of Globalisa-tion" to gain some clarity. You will find Russ’s post, my response, and an outline of Mr. Jenkins’ suggestions below.

<<OK, so let’s prioritize all these issues

A. Dodgy Diebold machines begging for massive election fraud

B. Fragile world economy

C. Emasculated UN

D. Out of Control market fundamental-ism

E. Wicked warlords in the White House

F. Unprecedentedly bad fiscal outlook

G. Voter apathy

H. Administration’s revived Plutonium Pit program

I. Administration’s tactical Nuke (Bun-ker Buster) program leading to nuke arms race

J. CO2 and greenhouse gas buildup -- global warming

K. Lack of a plan for nuclear disposal

L. Apparent fresh-water shortage

M. fishing of the world’s oceans

N. Debt

O. Perceived terrorist problem (I’m not ing to be controversial on this one!)

Add your favorite that I have not mentioned.

Can we fix them all at 

once, one at a time, or not at all?>>

In a message dated 9/25/03 5:52:43 PM, russf@topia.com writes:

<< Can we fix them all at once, one at a time, or not at all?>>

As I’ve been saying for years when it comes to a discussion of the bleak side of reality, you do what you can do. You may have discussions and debates about what are the priorities and spend lots of time debating whether one is better than the other and use our judgemental brains to figure it out...

AND/OR you figure out what is the BEST one can do, adding up all one’s skills, talents, personality and proclivities and GO FOR IT. I certainly am not going to WORRY about all these problems. Activists do not need to worry anymore than we already do. The point is to be the most effective in what one decides to do.

And one thing that is hardly ever mentioned is what do people LOVE to do. That is what’s going to SUS-TAIN our energy to keep going and hopefully we will have friends who will support us so that when they see us hitting our brains against the wall they might ask us to con-sider another perspective, another tack.

If you think that all these problems will be solved within our lifetime then we are deluding ourselves with the fix-it mentality that the dominant culture loves to foment. We are in this for the long haul, so my suggestion is to get used to it because it’s LIFE and we are living at a most inter-esting era, a turning point as to whether humans will continue as a race or not. Should we run around frantically put-ting out fires everywhere or TRUST that others are doing the best they can in the hopes that they trust us doing the best that we are capable of. We should communicate our strategies, our models, our positive solutions... and when we DIE we can have some semblance of PEACE to make our transition (for those who may believe in such things) less chaotic and more purpose-ful.

my two cents

bob>>

In the excellent book "Healing the Hurts of Nations: The Human Side of Globalisa-tion" by Palden Jenkins, he has a chapter called Weapons of Mass-Reconstruction. In it he explores ways people can start changing things locally and globally. Like Michael Moore, he doesn’t push us to become dynamic activists overnight. He says that according to Moore, we can still be slackers at heart but if we just vote, that would be a major step. Jenkins mentions the possibility of taking an hour each week to do something meaningful. I certainly am not that patient or generous. In fact my thinking is that the more we give, the more happy we can be. It’s almost a cosmic law, and it’s 180º in opposition to the dominant paradigm that demands we can get happy by accumulating more and more (of course this is one of the major tenets in Daniel Quinn’s books about the Takers and the Givers).

In any event, Jenkins lists many suggestions, and I only wish to list the sub chapters to give some ideas about becoming an effective citizen, activist or whatever label suffices for you. Get On With Your Life’s Work Make Changes in your Habits and Over-step Personal Boundaries Make Use of Events and Changes in Your Life Support something or someone Good It’s better to do small things well than big things badly. Get involved with things that matter for the future Talk to your children, neighbors and as-sociates Withdraw and Add support on crucial issues Live in Community and work in Groups Exercise your instincts and intuitions Forgiveness and self-forgiveness Soul-Pressure.

If you wish to continue this discussion, please send us your emails. A note about listservs for those who may be unfamiliar: Listservs are a popular way to keep in touch, to broadcast news items, meetings, film gatherings, parties, analyses, argiument, civil debates (ha!), etc. For those interested in joining a number of listservs you can go to the home page of hopedance.org where you can choose from four variouslistservs: Local, Glbal, Independent Media, and a Natural Building Netowrk listserv. Good luck and have fun spreading memes, not viruses.