Community. Some say and believe deeply that it is the key to a better way forward–a means of renewed and improved modes of care, responsibility, governance, and sustainability. In our unsteady culture, the politics of identity and the emphasis on the atomized individual has eroded the subtle art and stable foundation of community: cooperation, communication, and caring cohabitation with those around us. I know I have plenty of work yet to do to shed those influences and improve my own community engagement.
The Movement of the Unified Voice (MOTUV) out of Kansas City, Missouri, has helped me do some of that work, and they recently launched their new website. Check it out here. Among the many involved, our friend Dane Zahorsky has worked tirelessly to help foster a true community of people dedicated to a better way. It sounds as if it suffers from high-minded fuzziness, but it doesn’t. These folks regularly share food, stories, art, interests, and skills through a concept of “Value Exchange” in which they seek to equalize the value of teaching and learning and to emphasize reciprocal relationships between people. In short, they are creating, preserving, and disseminating cultural knowledge.
If you live in or around KC and haven’t checked them out, you should drop MOTUV a line and say BLS recommended you do so. MOTUV’s Sustainability Sundays are a great way to get involved, to eat some great food, and to learn a bit about what sustainability looks like on the ground. If you are living in some other city and have thoughts about following through on your dreams of improved community, you should drop MOTUV a line. Dane’s got a model and is a wonderful resource for community activists.
Here’s to some of the most authentic and valuable work being done to foster better people, better communities, and a better way.
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