Photo by moren hsu on Unsplash
Do the right thing. Just start. That’s what matters.
It always looks the same. It always looks like it’s the bad guys versus the good guys-and the bad guys always seem to be winning.
That’s wrong. There are just people. Sometimes people are behaving lovingly and other times they are behaving hatefully. Sometimes they are kind and intelligent, and other times they are cruel and stupid.
These qualities exist in the same person, and they are capacities of nearly every person. The only question is which attitude and behaviors will YOU exhibit and embody? Or at least, which will you exhibit right now.
We should each focus on that, not on what the other guy is doing or will do. The other guy is a distraction. When you DO something kind and thoughtful and positive, YOU make the world better and lead by example and inspire others to become their better selves.
This isn’t deterministic. You don’t control anyone. But you can make a positive influence. And leading by example is far more powerful than arguing with people. It’s also a better use of your time.
Others Are Imperfect, and Sometimes Foolish—Just Like You and Me
When we focus on, worry about, and despair over what others do, we devalue and disempower ourselves. When we focus on the “other”, we tend to either react, or give up.
Both are losing strategies.
We need to take the initiative. We need to ACT and not merely react. What do you want? What do you want to be? What do you want to see in the world?
Try to create THAT. Try to BE that. Make the attempt.
Power Is In the Doing
Ordinary people, people like you-like us-have nearly all the power. Because there are more ordinary people, far more, than authorities or leaders or influencers or ultra-wealthy moguls. Those allegedly powerful people are few in number and they do little. But they DO get others to do what THEY want.
They have obedience from zillions of people, of ordinary people, of the people who DO THINGS. And they have us doing the wrong things, doing destructive or foolish or hateful things.
We need to stop. When WE stop, the problem diminishes. When even ONE of us stops and says, openly and clearly, “this is stupid and I won’t do it” then this plants the seeds of change. What you say and do—speaking out against cruelty, rejecting it, refusing to contribute to it—THIS makes sense to many people, and opens their eyes to something they already know.
Almost everyone disapproves of hatred, of violence, of cruelty, and of obedience to evil. But nobody wants to go first. Nobody wants to openly speak out. Nobody wants to reject evil until they see someone else go first.
Often, the sensible and kind person is shouted down, is ridiculed, is dismissed. But WE won’t do that. WE will embrace kindness, and guts, and laudable values. WE will join together. Better yet, some of us will boldly go first.
An Invitation
We are forming local communities, and a worldwide community. This group is a band of people motivated by care for humanity, care for the Earth, care for human decency and human rights. We are informed by thoughtful and sensitive activists of the past—Gandhi, King, others—and have learned from history how to make an effective movement.
We will harness the most effective version of people power—nonviolent noncooperation—to achieve our aims.
What are our aims? To save the Earth from the worst of climate collapse (sadly some serious permanent damage is already done), and to replace our failing civilization with one based on caring, on love, on cooperation and on valuing LIFE and OUR PLANET.
This is a sharp u-turn for our civilization. It is currently (still) based on selfishness, on greed, on abusing both people and our planet as mere resources. These fatally flawed values (and the resulting systems and leaders) have brought us to the precipice at which we now stand.
Our movement and community, The Saners, will not be led over the edge. We are drawing a line and we will not destroy ourselves. We will defy the authorities. We will stop the collapse and refuse to take part in the stupidity and destruction.
And because WE, and not the leaders or authorities or billionaires, do everything…when WE stop, the destruction stops.
We will build something beautiful, a civilization that is worthy of human potential. We invite you to join us. We have begun. We are taking those early yet crucial first steps.
Learn about us and consider joining at WeAreSaners.org.
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