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Opening conversations with Others

There’s a massive cultural divide in the US. Bridging or crossing that divide is difficult. Proselytizing doesn’t really work. Straight-up arguments are lousy ways to open a trusted conversation.

This interview offers great advice on building trust and making progress.

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+100! on this article. A good example of “all politics are local”. And as my anthropologist wife reminds me “all knowledge is local, as well.”

So our Open Global Mind, itself, has go local. Which seems like a whole lotta fun, not to mention the other, maybe not so much fun experiences.

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Completely agree, Bill.

The crispest, most convincing analyses and visualizations won’t work without human levels of connection and care.

The “consumerization” of politics and government runs exactly contrary to that, and it’s eaten both political parties.

Hamilton who is also on Team #2 connected me with Imaginal Labs, and I wrote the proposal below, which seems to fit into this discussion:

*Thank you Hamilton for the introduction. *

*Hello Rob, *

Hamilton is referring to a workshop we had on OGM, and an idea was born that keeps growing into something more substantial.

For background, since my retirement in 2012 from corporate life I have worked with NGOs focused on food and agriculture. Today I’m sector leader agriculture for Citizen Climate Lobby / Business Climate Leaders, and core team member for the Sierra Club Food and Ag Grassroots Action Team. I also represent all 3 groups with the 4p1000 initiative, which in turn links with a network of NGOs.

*The ‘why’ is best summarized in this EAT Lancet lecture ‘What is a healthy and sustainable diet?’ There is consensus in science that we will not be able to stay within the remaining carbon budget without shifting the food system into regenerative organic practices. The implications up and down the entire supply chain are significant, and as disruptive as what must happen in the energy sector. *

*The idea we discussed in the OGM meeting was focused specifically on low income and marginalized communities struggling with access to healthy nutrition, a situation now aggravated by an economy deeply impacted not just by a pandemic, but also permanent job dislocations and losses due to automation and AI. *

A proposal:

*Create an infrastructure to bring people together in Intentional Communities, with a particular focus on Rural Intentional Communities. This farmer explains what this means and how it could work in ‘One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts’. *

*There are 2 NGOs who might be interested to partner, Intentional Communities listed above, and Sustainable Harvest. I’m sure others will join in if such a plan gets developed and resourced. *

*It appears unlikely that government will be able to orchestrate the rejuvenation of small business focused local economies, yet here is the core reason for increasing levels of social disturbance and unrest. Would you be interested to explore this further? *

Thank you so much for your time and attention, and thanks again to Hamilton for making the connection.

The embedded links are an important component of the story, in particular the One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts linked above.

This video also offers some helpful guidelines for keeping things civil and productive: