Catalysts of HOPEHealing
Our People & Earth
Bike4Peace
Bike4Peace
Look at the Sky
Studies have shown lower incidence of mental illness among people who regularly look up. Invite your neighbors to join you outside for an hour every Sunday beginning one hour after sunset. Turn off all your lights and go outside to look at the sky. If you see artificial lights, resolve to invite the person with the switch to turn it off and join you next week. If we all continue, eventually we'll have complete darkness to enjoy the stars.
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Rotating Potluck
Walk around your neighborhood and knock on every door to invite everybody to your house for a potluck. When your neighbors arrive and enjoy each other, suggest you get together once a week or once a month. You can rotate to a different home each time. For an added twist you might suggest that each dish in the potluck be made from food raised within 100 miles.
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Multiparty Democracy
Pass a petition to change your local form of government and meet with officials until your changes are implemented. Winner-takes-all elections create a two-party system, which encourages a competitive division of the community. Preportional representation or ranked preference voting systems create a multiparty system, which encourages collaboration among diverse points of view. Ask Vernon for details.
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Permaculture in the Parks
Plant edible perennials in your common areas. Work toward a locally appropriate ecosystem that is self sustaining and very friendly to humans. Engage those who will benefit most - poor and homeless people - in the work of planning and planting. Encourage land owners to follow suit and save energy wasted on mowing lawns.
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Teach Peace
Arrange for the people most likely to be exposed to violence - police, prosecutors, and others - to be trained in effective nonviolent conflict resolution. We know it is useful to de-escalate threatening situations, listen to all parties, and establish common ground. When everybody understands the needs of every participant, we can often find creative solutions that satisfy all needs. This is much more effective than 'winning' and risking retaliation or revenge.
