Contributing to a better world
We do not live in the best of all possible worlds. We operate in a world, which for many, is a difficult place, one of hardship, deprivation and injustice. Is this a consequence of a Darwinian survival of the fittest in which the most talented and energetic progress and prosper and the feckless fall by the way side? Or are the dice loaded against the most in favour of the few?
Human progress is a collection of biographies of individuals who have set out to make a difference; individuals who, rather than accept the status quo, have fought for social improvement, through advances in the arts, in education, in social administration and political life.
This challenge isn’t overcome simply through charitable giving, social campaigning or political action, important as they may be. The life task is much bigger: to rise above our personal concerns to connect fully with others, to engage in their problems and to provide practical support to those needing our help. A worthwhile challenge with the potential to make our lives richer and more fulfilling, but when caught up in our own personal desires and ambitions, one that is easily neglected.
Meeting and overcoming this life challenge:
Making a Personal and Immediate Difference |
Becoming Involved in your Community |
Engaging Politically |
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Making a Personal and Immediate Difference
We can make a difference for the better in many ways. And the most
obvious way is to operate as a positive force within our immediate
world, the world of our family and neighbours, where we can make
a personal and direct impact.
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
Leo Buscaglia
Bringing up Children
The experts are keen to tell us what to do and not do. But as we know
advice on bringing up children has over the years been subject to
fad, fashion and bad science. Is there any sensible guidance, advice
with the practical insight to help navigate a life phase that is
rewarding and exasperating in equal measure?
“Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”
Robert Fulghum
“Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying. I don't know why parents don't do this more often. Usually it makes the kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If you're a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until the kid is a teenager and he definitely won't have his friends hanging around your house all the time.”
P.J. O'Rourke
http://www.nspcc.org.uk: 40 Ways to Bring Up Happy Children
http://www.bbc.co.uk: strategies and tactics for good parenting
http://www.buzzle.com: parenting advice and good parenting tips, articles on parenting, parents and children, list of parenting websites, child guidance information and parent resources
Being a Good Neighbour
Social improvement happens when we take an interest in who lives next
door. Our communities prosper when we each individually take personal
responsibility to help those we work and live with.
“It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbour.”
Eric Hoffer
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.“
Seneca
http://www.direct.gov.uk: articles and links about your neighbourhood and community
http://www.carm.org: the parable of the Good Samaritan
Being a Full Time Carer
Not a glamorous activity, but given societal changes and demographics,
an increasingly important theme. Sites to manage the vagaries of
the welfare system and some practical advice.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk: guide to the Carer’s Allowance – good luck!
http://www.direct.gov.uk: organisations and charities providing support for carers
Becoming Involved in your Community
The vitality of your community may be the result of government intervention
and funding. But if your community is flourishing then in all likelihood,
it is an outcome of a few motivated individuals who have galvanised
others’ energies and coordinated activity with a vision of
how life might be better.
“The influence of a beautiful, helpful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.”
Collier Graham
Becoming a Volunteer
Voluntary work can be cynically dismissed as a cheap way of doing what
the government should do. Alternatively, it is the force that always
has and always will catalyse effort towards those in need, a force
that is far more responsive to suffering and injustice than any central
government initiative.
“Volunteering is an act of heroism on a grand scale. And it matters profoundly. It does more than help people beat the odds; it changes the odds.”
Bill Clinton
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
Booker T. Washington
www.givingglobal.org: a non-profit social entrepreneurship dedicated to increasing international giving and volunteering. This service ensures that donors and volunteers find the right opportunity, in the right country
http://www.volunteer.org.nz:volunteer opportunities in community projects throughout the world.
http://www.redcross.org.uk: useful site on voluntary work
Campaigning for a Cause
Campaigning can be the noise of agitation, achieving short-term attention
in the media. Or it can be a well-coordinated set of tactics to achieve
meaningful and sustainable change.
“The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.”
Adlai E. Stevenson
http://www.politics.co.uk: links to opinion formers and pressure groups
http://www.journalismuk.co.uk: links to media resource, newspapers, magazines and links to the way the media thinks
Standing for Office
Tired of parent governors who aren’t making a difference in your
school? Or local councillors who more interested in property development
schemes than representing the needs of your town? Then stand for office.
http://www.politics.co.uk:
links to parliament, government, political parties and the media
Engaging Politically
Progress and improvement to make a sustainable impact on the world
cannot simply be based on personal acts of compassion and charity,
important though they are. Progress towards a better world requires
coordinated effort to make shifts in economic and social policy.
This is the kind of effort that requires shifts in government policy
and legislation.
“Politics, n: [Poly "many" + tics "blood-sucking parasites"]
Larry Hardiman
www.opendemocracy.net: a set of useful links with descriptions, background and context to debates on social and political issues.
http://www.g-nation.co.uk: site for young people throughout the UK to show them how they can change the world by giving; links to other sites
Lobbying Government
Government operates as a kind of market place. Established and vested
interests trade with powerful groups – industry, trade unions,
pressure groups, charities, and the media – all keen to advance
their agenda for change. Sites with practical advice to help you
get your voice heard and influence the decision making process:
http://www.hansardsociety.org.uk: independent, non-partisan educational charity, which exists to promote effective parliamentary democracy.
http://www.politics.co.uk: useful links
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk: a research group supporting anti-corporate campaigns
Direct Political Action
You can sign up to one of the mainstream political parties or you can
engage politically through the growing number of direct action movements.
Ranging from the influential and thoughtful to the downright illegal
and violent there is no shortage of political causes:
“No radical change on the plane of history is possible without crime.”
Hermann Keyserling
“When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves.”
George Pataki
“I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”
Charles de Gaulle
http://theactivist.co.uk: links for an active participation in political activity
http://www.anitaroddick.com: hodgepodge of organisations, institutions, media and other Web resources
Starting your Own Political Movement
If you suspect megalomania and a desire to rule the world is your driving
motivation in life, don’t. But if you’re finding it difficult
to relate to the political agenda of mainstream movements and you
are articulating a coherent political position that others can connect
with, why not.