We All Need Good Food

Family-farm agriculture is flourishing; living more harmoniously with each other and the earth is nourishing.



Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young, Clinton, WA

Traditions Lighting Our Way Forward

November Traditions for 2008, from LIGHT TRAVELS II
by Veita Jo Hampton

We plea to All Sacred Universal Entities
For strength, relief, truth,
Courage, confidence, compassion.
We acknowledge our differences.
We celebrate our common goals.
We seek patience, tolerance, and endurance.
Grateful for laughter, beauty, surprise,
Wonders we cannot explain,
We celebrate love.
We are thankful for homes, space, place,
People gathered with us, those alive, and
Those who grace us with their spirits.
We acknowledge our quaint place in the universe.
We are grateful to be free to choose how we gather, for
Whom we vote, to whom we pray, where we share opinion,
We are thankful for the Constitution of these United States.

Photograph by Scott Charles Clarkson, California State Democratic Convention, April 2008.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

My dream is that more people will finally feel empowered to act on their own dreams, to act as their own best selves in shaping any of the the worlds they live in. A long-time activist in my tiny community, I've found that an attitude of hope--grounded with some degree of common sense--will take you a long way toward your goal. This is no time to be an Eeyore. Dream little, dream big, but take that dream into the real world for a test drive too.

One of my dreams for health care is working in my own community right now. Given our current and future economic circumstances, I wish more and more communities would start something like our Friends of Friends Medical Support Fund. It began more than a decade ago when I asked 75 acquaintances if they'd give me $100 a year to help people in our community with uncovered medical expenses. That first year--while I was just piloting the program on a small scale--$7,500 came in, and 11 people were helped with doctor, hospital, prescription, and medical-travel expenses. It's a very simple, low-red-tape program that doesn't even have an office, but last year Friends of Friends helped more than 200 people with more than $75,000 in medical bills. It wasn't a grandiose dream, to be sure, but it has provided a measure of emotional and financial relief to more than a thousand people over the years now.

Something like Friends of Friends can be adapted to the needs of your own community, no matter how you define it--your town, your neighborhood, your block, your congregation, your affinity group. Neighbors helping neighbors: It's what America has always been about.

Lynn W, Whidbey Island WA

"Oui, On Peut - Yes, We Can"

Obama ZYDECO from Louisiana 2008 - A lilting tune that will keep your spirits bright and your feet dancing.

A Wealthy and Wise America

I have a vision in which outdated beliefs, attitudes and old money paradigms have shifted into a new conscious prosperity. It is a world where wealth is used with wisdom for the good of each person, where individuals thrive. Money is simply a window into the soul -– a metaphor for how you are living your life –- with dignity and respect for your self, your money and for others. My vision is of unlimited thriving with money used for good, as the rudder that drives each American's vision ship.

I have a personal vision (one I have no idea of how to accomplish) of giving my book FREE to each and every person who wants to change their relationship to money to thrive with wealth and wisdom. They read it and are inspired to take action towards their prosperous future.

This is my work, my mission and vision that gets me up in the morning.

Marilyn August

Thriving Malls

Shopping malls are among America's most well-used public spaces, but do they really serve our needs? In the future I see them thriving by integrating more fully into our lives in two important ways. First, they will broaden their spectrums of activity by adding residential space above the shops. Second, they will join with the surrounding neighborhoods by adding transit centers and replacing swathes of parking lot with open green space. With these basic changes, and the new patterns that will inevitably emerge from them, our malls will truly become centers of community.

See also: The Future of Shopping Malls: An Image Essay at Worldchanging.

- Ian G, 37, Seattle

Vote 4 Hope

Passionate and poetic hip-hop video. Look who knows a brighter day will come.