| Action without Borders | 2002-02-06 02:27 7 comments |
 by Flemming FunchThis evening I went with Jane Jeffries to one of the many meetings that Action without Borders called into happening today. 136 different meetings in lots of different countries, including many in Africa. In a weird way, part of what attracted me was that the premise seemed even more vague than what NCN came together around. But also that their site at idealist.org is great for networking people and resources, and it all seems very like-minded to NCN in many ways. Like, this is their mission statement: "Action Without Borders is a global network of individuals and organizations working to build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives. Action Without Borders is independent of any government, political ideology or religious creed. Its work is guided by the common desire of its members and supporters to find practical solutions to social and environmental problems, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect. " Anyway, nice meeting. A group of people who weren't quite sure why they were there, other than that they somehow were attracted to it. Different kinds of non-profit people, activists, etc. The facilitator tried to manage it with a system of consensus. Which in principle was a good idea, but the group got a bit lost in trying to come up with a common statement about what we all believed in. Well, the guidelines for the meeting suggested that we might start with a simple statement about why we were there, but it got off track in trying to construct a mission statement. Which isn't easy with a group of people who weren't quite sure why they were there in the first place, even if we keep things very general. So, rather than having a consensus about the wording of such a statement, we ended up with a consensus about leaving the details to be figured out later, and that it was enough of an accomplishment for the moment that a group like that came together, and that it might connect with a network of other groups like that in other places. What I usually come back to is that we need to grow a better global brain amongst us. And I perceived that as being part of the purpose there. Specifically to develop a network of small groups or centers that can help people figure out what resources are available, particularly in their local area. Like, who to contact for what. What kinds of community or activist or environmental groups are active locally, etc. I know lots and lots of people that I somehow consider to belong to the same network, even though they do different things, in different ways, under different banners. But all are the kinds of people who work on making the world a better place in one way or another. Cultural creatives. It is very hard to get them all to agree on any particular agenda or statement or project. And I'll always insist that it isn't necessary to do so. But it might be a good idea to have some infra-structure. Some more neurons need to develop between these cells of humanity. To the point where the network actually becomes intelligent. |