Use Your Imagination. If you've read this far here, you are likely already using your imagination, whether consciously or not. Continue to do so. Imagine a society where the manifold problems of the present money-and-profit based system are simply no longer anywhere to be seen; where simply gone are deleterious phenomenon such as war, greed, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, stress, addiction, illness, egotism, and all manner of conflict and oppression between people, whether individual or in groups, and whether these groups are called cities, states, regions, provinces, countries, or companies. Imagine a society and world where, instead, cooperation and indeed, love, characterize all relations and relationships at work, in the community, the neighborhood, at home, at the mall, the bus station, and indeed every place on the planet. A society where, finally, all men and women see themselves, and can see themselves, as brothers and sisters in one human family.
To assist you in this imagining, visit the official web site for the fictional Cooperative nation of Bergonia. And though the particulars of this created country do not necessarily comport to those advocated by One Human Family, it remains an absolutely unique and fascinating site with tremendous breadth and depth, describing one man's vision of what a cooperative society could look like.
- Start developing your personal potential to be powerful, intelligent, and knowledgeable. The easiest way to start doing this is by educating yourself. Turn off the television--start reading, start learning, start thinking, start talking to others, start really understanding how our world works--by "our world" we're talking about several things, including capitalism (very important, since it has such a powerful grip on our lives), the principles of democracy, and even human nature. If we're going to take control of our world--as our present democratic system and a future cooperative society both require--we have to educate ourselves. Thomas Jefferson knew this well, and counseled us to be mindful of it.
What to begin reading and exploring? Start with materials and resources from each general political category. Here are some examples:
Conservative (little or no change)
Moderate (a small amount of change)
Liberal, sometimes called "progressive" (a moderate amount of change)
Cooperative Society (a dramatic change)
Web Site: One Human Family (BOMA) (this website).
As you likely already know, BOMA advocates a moneyless society based on cooperation, love, and free access to goods and services, allocated according to need (and in same cases, want); referring to this new system as a "cooperative society."
Web Site: World Socialism
This is the parent website for a group of affiliated organizations sharing the same fundamental political perspective and analysis as each other, and in significant measure as BOMA. By "socialism" they refer to genuine, as-yet untried democratic socialism, seen as replacing capitalism such that our economy would be governed and managed by all of us, collectively, to meet human need instead of to produce profit for a tiny stratum of capitalist owners. This latter mission, that of profitmaking, is, of course, the basic point of economic activity now under capitalism, and is the source of innumerable personal, social, and economic problems.
By "socialism," then, these organizations don't refer to the autocratic systems erroneously called "socialism" as existed in the former USSR, and exist today in China, Cuba, North Korea, and elsewhere, but refer instead to a theorized, but as-yet untried kind of system and society that has yet to exist or even find expression as an organized and proper attempt at any point in history, anywhere in the world.
Web Page: The BOMA page of Resources & Links ("Advanced" section) can point you in further directions.
Books: The Sane Society and To Have or To Be by Erich Fromm.
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You must also begin learning how to think "critically"; in other words, how to think deeply and analytically, such that you can understand complex ideas, and can see through specious or disingenuous argumentation. Americans are notorious for their inability to do this.
Here are some web resources to get you started.
Remember--if you don't use your mind, someone else will.
Begin to acquire a knowledge of how the money-and-profit system of capitalism under which we live actually works, as alluded to, above. This is one of the best ways to begin.
Though this system has an utterly profound effect on every aspect of our lives, on our every waking moment, most of us have little or no real knowledge of how it works, of the details of its operation. Indeed, most of us have only a primitive and stereotyped understanding of how this system actually works. We may not be in the habit of paying attention to business or financial news because it can seem boring or irrelevant, but the system of capitalism, and the relatively small group who control it, control us, so it is essential that we begin to know what they know.
One of the best ways to acquire this knowledge is to become acquainted with the kinds of information they are acquainted with, whether written or broadcast. This includes print periodicals like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Barrons, Business Week, or the business section of the New York Times, and television programs like Wall Street Week or Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street. Over time, you will be amazed (and angry) as you learn the "inner workings" of capitalism, and how they actually do affect you and your life in very real ways--concretely, directly, and all the time.
- Start learning about Agape, the principle of love. Begin practicing it, if you can. The foundational dictum...
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
...which embodies and expresses the moral principle upon which the cooperative society is based, implies the presence of the love ethic within each citizen, and the cultivation of loving attitudes by each, toward each. It is our active love for each other that will really put the sheen on a new cooperative society!
And of course, until then our practice of love will improve our present society.
Form a BOMA Chapter in your area.This will provide a forum for learning and discussion, and keep interested persons organized and in regular touch with each other.
If you find the BOMA program compelling, you might want to simply start a BOMA chapter. Recall that existing organizations advocating some form of a cooperative system, though worthwhile in certain respects, do not incorporate the concept of the love ethic into their political programs. One Human Family is the first to do that. Neither do most of them feature the Cooperative Industrial Framework, which is a workable, concrete blueprint for the way a Cooperative Society can be structured, and can actually work.
Tell people. Spread the word to everyone and anyone who will listen. If you put your antenna up, you'll begin to notice that there are frequent opportunities to engage people in conversation about things they care about, and the problems they are having, and to relate their problems to our money-and-profit driven society.
- Distribute our two-page BOMA leaflets!
Become a "mini-expert" on an issue that interests you, whether health care, poverty, womens' rights, hunger, or anything else. You can then begin working within that movement, using your presence and influence to help awaken the consciousness of others. You can explain to them how, in fact, it is the normal operation of our money-and-profit-based economic system that actually causes or exacerbates that particular problem, and thus, how only a transition to a Cooperative system would eradicate the problem, or dramatically improve it. Once we have an "army" of experts in the field educating on every conceivable issue, our efficacy as a movement should increase dramatically!
What social or reform issue interests you?
Become an Affiliate of One Human Family! Affiliate status reinforces your commitment to yourself to the idea of a Cooperative Society, to continue studying and learning about it, and to actively spread the word. It also signifies to other people the excellence of your social, political, and personal belief system, and the commitment you have made. Affiliation is free; all required is a genuine and considered agreement with the six core principles of BOMA.
- Make a financial contribution to BOMA. Everything takes money, and this below-shoestring organization is no exception.