It is clear to me that the next big trend is to use the internet as a way to leverage community and re-establish accountability. It’s both a beautiful and scary time because the traditional definitions of community have changed. The problem is that most people online are involved only in quasi-community and they seldom build real relationships with the people in their lives.
We are more accessible due to technology but often less real. Living on he west coast I have found myself falling into this trap. I’ve been focused on what is important to me and sometimes forget to stop and have a conversation with someone without an agenda. Willing to listen. Open to new ideas. Able to change. Engaged in the moment.
In a world where people have been taught not to trust each other… where it’s just as easy to create a fake world that is built on lies so you can take and never give back… you can obtain a distinctive brand and corporate good will from talking the hard road. By admitting when you’re wrong or when you don’t know enough. By saying, I’m sorry and actually meaning it.
We forget that corporations and movements are made up of people. In a world where employees are doing the wrong thing in the name of ‘corporate policies’ it is important to ask, why? If you were held personally responsible for your actions would you still act in the same way?
It used to be much harder to obtain limited-liability protection. Today, it just requires filing a few forms, paying some fees, and maybe using an attorney. Maybe that should change. Maybe we should revoke corporate charters if they don’t act in the public good. Maybe we shouldn’t bail out corporations who took big risks, but because they are so large, have no accountability.
When people used to look their customers in the face, and knew their names, it was much harder to take advantage of them. If you did, they would tell their friends in the community and your available customer base would decrease. We should do that again.Technology can be used as a tool to make our world more transparent, and therefore, a better place to live.
I am blessed to work along side a few of the many people who are helping to redevelop community. People like:
- Kurt Daradics at FreedomSpeaks.com :: Their goal is to facilitate transparency in our government by empowering the community to hold elected officials accountable for their actions.
- Paul Mobley (NYC) of American Farmer :: By documenting the hard working Americans who keep our country feed and reconnecting urban society with powerful images and stories of real people.
- Dane Sanders of Fast Track Photographer :: Who is leading a group of photographers, not by showing them the latest tricks with the camera, but rather by helping them identify their true potential as people with resources such as the pDNA.
All three of these people have one thing in common. When they identified a way that they could make a positive impact, then they cast aside the fear, and took action. None of these stories was accomplished by them alone. If they had not been supported along the way and encouraged to continue you would never know their story. They found great people to partner with and created excitement about their vision, not themselves.
I’m taking action in community redevelopment. Are you?
