3DN Local Organizing and the Planetary Mind
- We are born into a world with existing political and economic structures with which we must learn to interact for our comfort and survival. We tend to think of those structures as “the powers that be” yet all economic and political power resides ultimately in the individual. See Using a Better Map No organization or structure has any power except that which we cede to it. Therefore, each of us has the power to change the political and economic structure in which we find ourselves. The question is how do we exercise that power to create the world we want?
- It seems to me that change begins with a conversation between individuals about common interests. We have the most in common with those who reside within our locality where everyone is affected the same threats of violence, the health of the environment and the health of the economy. I see the role of a grass roots organizer as starting a conversation between members of a community, across interest and expertise and the socio-economic strata, about 'What can We do to make Our community a better place to live'? To the extent that such an organizer is successful, and a community engages in that conversation, political and economic structures can be changed in ways that benefit the community as a whole.
- When a community is successful in implementing beneficial changes, that information should be made available to all other communities so that they are aware of the possibilities and can consider whether they, as a community, should be pursuing similar projects. As more communities engage in the conversation, more projects would be undertaken and more possibilities explored and more ways found for more and more people to find the support they need. If every community were engaged in that conversation, and the results of each project shared with all communities, we would be thinking and acting as a species – participating in the planetary mind - See Positive Steps to a Positive Future
- The proposal is to provide a community networking tool to connect existing organizations through a medium that assists them in refining their techniques in building community consensus for mutually beneficial projects, and then spreading that information to communities around the world. Hence the name 'Local organizing and the Planetary Mind'. I am trying to link my thoughts about this proposal through the essay Better Maps.
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