Ideas for making the world better - without changing laws

[Andrew Gubb]

Mariana started a cool thread about making the world better, but it turned mostly into a discussion about changing laws.

I wanted to make a more practical discussion. Let's talk about ways that WE can make the world better. It could be ideas which you're interested in implementing, or not, but you should be within a reasonable stretch ABLE to implement them.

It's possible to change laws by lobbying, of course, but given the effort involved it might not sound like such a great idea anymore.

Or maybe it might. You're allowed to suggest that. But let's avoid the "I'm the government I can change any law I want" perspective and get grounded.

How could YOU make the world better?

P.S. It's believeable enough that someone with enough determination can either earn or solicit money for their projects. So it's okay for your project to need monetary funding which you don't currently have.

[LostMyMap]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

How could YOU make the world better?

Ah good. Well I think a good place to start is with my own little part of the world. Little practical things to start with. For instance, I'm replacing most of the lights in my house with CFLs. They save energy and with local recycling programs, they don't have to end up in the landfill. I donate stuff to charities. Don't have to, I just do. My new office is less than four miles from home. When I start there, I going to look for alternative ways of getting there besides the car. My bike, or a scooter or something. On my beach walks, if I come across drifting trash, I pick it up. I really don't know why people leave it there. It's not that hard to take it with you.

Just little things. Not a huge impact if it's just me. But if everone did a bunch of little things....

[ssandra]

My first and and most important contribution to society at the moment is being nice and friendly to everybody. Even those who have hurt me or slighted me. I may not always have them in my life or be close to them, but I will not change my way of being for them, and I will be nice and friendly to them.


Secondly, I think with my coaching I'm helping a lot of people create stable home lifes. Happier relationships. Letting go of the past, in order to enjoy the present and create a wonderful future.

Happy people create happy people, so in my own small way, I'm making the world a happier place!

[Andrew Gubb]

I pick up trash when I'm in the beach or the forest too If everyone did this, then those little things definitely would build up...

[1by1]

The idea here is beautiful - quit complaining and be the change you want to see in the world. To me that sums up an awful lot of what PD is about

[ZephyrusX]

I'm working on my own issues not only so that I can be happier, but also so that I can provide more value to others. In striving to help others experience the best out of their lives, I don't want to deny the very thing I profess to love: my humanity. And besides, happier people are better equipped to empathize with others.

Oh... And at some point in my life, I want to go to law school

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Learning about and educating others on naturally and abundantly occurring sources of medicine in hopes that I can help push the domino effect of herbal medicine into something that could eventually lessen the industrial impact of medicinal use and production as well as garner new cultural respect for nature.

Co opting a biodynamic nature preserve and nondogmatic spiritual retreat center with like minded individuals in a small Vermont farm town.

[thirial]

I was originally going to write my idea in the other thread, but i think it would be more appropriate here because its practical, doable, and doesnt involve legalizing drugs :P

At the moment a few friends and I are in the design phase for a new idea we believe, if executed correctly, would make the world a better place.

What we want to create is a centralized network of blogs that are concerned with creating change - these blogs have themes like Education, Personal Development, Human Rights, Corruption, Corporate Responsibility, Sustainable Energy and Technology, Environmental Conservation, etc and include blogs by individuals, activists, and NGOs as well as Social Enterprises

the problem with a lot of these types of activist blogs is that they receive very little attention because promoting a blog is often a full time job, and for these people who are not being paid a cent that is often too much time they have to spare. if we can create one single go to network for this category of world changing blogs then together these blogs become easier to find and much more powerful. we have the domain that we want to create a brand around - creatingrealchange.org

if you think the idea has potential then i would be very grateful if any of you could give us some specific / constructive criticism to work off in this thread:
Creating Real Change

---
now im not trying to divert attention from this thread (even though i admit to feeling a little lonely in my own thread :P) so here are my thoughts on some of the questions that Andrew Grubb posed in the OP that will hopefully stimulate conversation:

Andrew: "P.S. It's believeable enough that someone with enough determination can either earn or solicit money for their projects. So it's okay for your project to need monetary funding which you don't currently have."

I dont think there is anything wrong with earning money from a project that is trying to make the world a better place as long as the amount is open and transparent. I founded and run an NGO in Ecuador which is concerned with the conservation of the Amazon and economic development in various Andean communities - people pay to volunteer on our programs and i earn a part of that money albeit a small percentage compared to what is injected into the economies of the indigenous communities we work with and peanuts compared to what i earn in Australia. Now I can utilize that small money I earn on future projects, like the one mentioned above.

In my opinion one of the most important factors of any budding organization, whether it has a social mission or not, is its ability to become self sustainable monetarily. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis many charities were unable to continue working or had to cut back on their services because all the donations dried up - Social Enterprises on the other hand adapted to the new economic landscape much more quickly by using capitalistic principals like efficiency and innovation and were able to earn money while still advancing their social missions.

one of the most amazing books ever written on the subject that explains practical ways on How to Change the World is this one:
Amazon.com: How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas (9780195138054): David Bornstein: Books

i recommend everyone here read it, i never travel away form home without it

[ZephyrusX]

CoolBee posted a thread similar to this awhile back. She links to a website that lists ways that individual people can make a small difference in their lives. For the record, I agree with Brutha's opinion in her thread. I don't think making small changes at the individual level will make a significant difference. On the other hand, I don't think you need to be a politican, a lawyer or what have you in order to make significant changes. For example, every day people wield a tremendous amount of consumer power that could potentially have significant political power if used collectively.

Here is the thread:

Small ways to make a big difference

Originally Posted by Andrew Gubb

Mariana started a cool thread about making the world better, but it turned mostly into a discussion about changing laws.

I wanted to make a more practical discussion. Let's talk about ways that WE can make the world better. It could be ideas which you're interested in implementing, or not, but you should be within a reasonable stretch ABLE to implement them.

It's possible to change laws by lobbying, of course, but given the effort involved it might not sound like such a great idea anymore.

Or maybe it might. You're allowed to suggest that. But let's avoid the "I'm the government I can change any law I want" perspective and get grounded.

How could YOU make the world better?

P.S. It's believeable enough that someone with enough determination can either earn or solicit money for their projects. So it's okay for your project to need monetary funding which you don't currently have.

[Franco904]

you want to make the world better, really? You are sure????

OK .... one thing I need to know?


Do you love yourself? Are you kind to yourself? Do you feel you are unique? Are you happy? Are you satisfied with yourself?

I hope you are getting my point

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by ZephyrusX

CoolBee posted a thread similar to this awhile back. She links to a website that lists ways that individual people can make a small difference in their lives. For the record, I agree with Brutha's opinion in her thread. I don't think making small changes at the individual level will make a significant difference.

I think if everybody makes small changes at the individual level, it will make a HUGE difference And for everybody to do that, you (me) need to do it as well... therefor, making small changes at the individual level will make a HUGE difference

[ZephyrusX]

What specifically did you have in mind? You brought up coaching and building rapport in your last post, but I think institutionalizing mentorship programs can be even more effective. For example, the sex education programs in high school could put more emphasis on empowering men and women by giving them the tools to take ownership of their sexuality and reproduction. The problem with individual coaching is that not everyone is necessarily going to receive that mentorship. Especially if there is a financial cost and a class component at play.

On the other hand, there are obviously some institutional problems. The teacher to student ratio is usually too large to warrent individual attention in a lot of cases. And it is not as if individual motivation plays no factor in all of this. The professor that had the most influence on my understanding of sexuality and reproduction was highly motivated to connect with her students and often took the time to speak to us in small groups or individually out of class.

It is not a 'either/or' answer, but I tend to favour structual changes over individual efforts.

Originally Posted by ssandra

I think if everybody makes small changes at the individual level, it will make a HUGE difference And for everybody to do that, you (me) need to do it as well... therefor, making small changes at the individual level will make a HUGE difference

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by ZephyrusX

It is not a 'either/or' answer, but I tend to favour structual changes over individual efforts.

Me too. I like to think of it as an "and" situation.

What happens most of the time when people say "individual action won't do any good" is that therefor they don't do anything... Whereas I say the smallest change will have a ripple effect on the world, so always do your best to be the change you want to see!

I saw this a lot with people throwing trash on the streets. They would say "but it is just one paper, that won't make any difference" or "everybody does it, so why shouldn't I?"

And if everybody thinks that way, nothing will ever change. But if you change, and don't do it, others might do the same thing. Or not. But at least YOU are not part of the problem, but part of the solution

[Peterw]

I like the idea of moving to solar powered internet and cloud computing datacentres based in places with lots of sun (like Africa) and training up the local populations to run them. Maybe they could do more than just support the infrastructure but could develop service industries like they have in India (talking myself out of a job here..).

The datacentres around the world would replicate the server instances and data and route them to whichever centres are facing the sun at the time. Perhaps the excess power generated could charge batteries for backup with traditional power sources in place for failover purposes only

I feel a Visio diagram coming on.. I can see the strapline now:

"Responsible innovation - how green is your website and IT insfrastructure?"

[Brutha]

I feel a Visio diagram coming on.. I can see the strapline now:

"Responsible innovation - how green is your website and IT insfrastructure?"

The demand for green IT already exists. There are a bunch of hosting companies that advertise the fact that they run on green IT.

I like the idea of moving to solar powered internet and cloud computing datacentres based in places with lots of sun (like Africa) and training up the local populations to run them.

The case of Egypt shows why it's a bad idea to host in Africa.
You don't want to have your servers go offline because the population decides that it wants a different government.
If you talk about Subsahran Africa there's also a huge problem with latency.

[Peterw]

Originally Posted by Brutha

The case of Egypt shows why it's a bad idea to host in Africa.
You don't want to have your servers go offline because the population decides that it wants a different government.
If you talk about Subsahran Africa there's also a huge problem with latency.

Funnily enough it was Egypt that made me think about this because aside from their tourism industry they could do with developing a service based industry like India.

I don't think they'll have another Arab spring for a while, I'm ready to invest in Egypt (I'm an Egyptologyophile)