Via Treehugger
Note: It is my personal rule of thumb that is not a good idea to read comments on a big blog like Treehugger. This has been especially true of late, with swarms of trolls from the right filling comment threads. LIke YouTube and others - I don't read the comments.
Then I read on another blog, Thriving too . . . the antithesis of selfishness, community building.
Really nice article from Milenko Matanovic in Yes magazine.
Matanovic writes:
"Building strong communities is critical, hard work. I feel it’s one of the most courageous, important things each of us can do every day.
We can speed up the realization of good community building ideas if we live our lives consistent with community priorities. The good news: practically every activity and every moment grants us the opportunity to practice community-minded behavior."
1. Take interest in other people’s passions as much as you want them to be interested in yours.
2. Become a mentor to others less involved in their community.
3. Support a cause with no direct personal benefit.
4. Invite “them” to your meeting.
5. Reject the tendency to blame.
6. Confront internal contradictions.
7. Practice industrial-strength listening.
8. Render unto community… Shrink your home to what is necessary and conduct the rest of your life in the community.
9. Clarify your image of the future.
10. Resist the temptation to choose between the ideal and the reality. 
4 comments:
I have the same personal rule. Most popular sites attract what a friend calls "keyboard cowboys"
Good term. I'm also thinking dudebros these days. I met friends of my sons and sat with the 3 of them on my birthday. I weep.
Re the trolls - there are groups actually paying people to be trolls on sites with information contrary to the group's beliefs. By swarming the comments on those sites with negative comments, they hope to create the illusion that many people disagree with the site's information. Keep in mind also that a fair number of people who do not believe in peak oil, climate change, or other various similar things have gone through the entire educational system, taking classes where the science proves this stuff, solely so that they can get a degree in science and then try to discredit the good science. That's why you can now find more and more "scientists" that do not believe climate change is a result of human activity, for example.
Sorry to go off on a tangent there. Your comment just brought it to mind.
Yes, it is organized. I read something to that effect on Treehugger. I'll go farther. They are buying universities - like Stanford - to support corporate goals. This level of organization has been going on since Heritage Foundation. Because it isn't acknowledged by anyone in schools, government, churches, media, pop culture or the local bar - it has only gotten better organized. Hey, with no resistance anything can grow.
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