There's seems to be a hunger for a social revolution in the air. Not a violent revolution, but a revolution of values, a call to the corporate world that enough is enough.
With that in mind, I'm reposting something I put up a few years ago along with the text to our “A Life Connected” brochure here. While protest can be powerful and has its place, personal protest (in the form of taking responsibility for the role each of us plays in building the world in which we live) will be the fuel of the revolution. The Nonviolence revolution.
From NonviolenceUnited.org 2007:
Click the image to read Tom Tomorrow's cartoon.
There was a time when a half a million people demonstrating in the streets would have an impact on policy and policy makers. That time seems to have passed.
Traditional Nonviolent tactics have been studied and marginalized by our opponents. Our marches and speeches are ignored by the corporate-owned media. Our letters are ignored and our emails are deleted. We are even forced into “free speech zones” where we can be more easily ignored and controlled.
But Nonviolence isn't just holding up signs in protest on weekends and then going back to life as usual. In order for Nonviolence to work, it must have strategy, planning and a real effect that will bring about change in the opponent or replace the unjust system entirely.
Nonviolence United advocates a form of Nonviolence that is built on strategy and has a direct effect regardless of the opponent's conscience or their willingness to change — Nonviolence as a way of life. We can build a world reflective of our values only when we consume consciously and live our lives consistently with our values. 就这么简单。
We're not saying demonstrations and protests don't have a place. We're simply suggesting more thought to what their place is in a complete strategy. We thought the cover story of the Utne Reader “Protest Is Dead. Long Live Protest.” did a good job explaining this point.
For those of you who want to learn more about taking personal responsibility for the world we, each of us, is helping create, please read our brochure “A Life Connected” available online here or read the text here (below).
>>>>>>>
Live A Life Connected!
A lot of us are asking the question, “What should I do with my life?” Perhaps the answer won't be found in one great thing… but in all the little things. Your everyday choices define who you are, what you stand for, and the world you want to see.
我们的选择建立在过去我们今天生活的世界。 And each of our choices from this moment forward will build the world of tomorrow. If you're not living your values, whose life are you living… and what kind of world are you building?
Every Dollar Is A Vote.
Every dollar you spend or choose not to spend is a vote. You voted yesterday. You'll vote today — maybe hundreds of times. Will you vote for a world that respects human rights, protects the environment, and has compassion for animals? Or will you make choices that build a world you really don't believe in?
Your consumer choices act as the conscience of big business. Businesses have grown so disconnected that they often only respond to money, not to moral principles. They no longer hear our pleas for kindness and ethics. If profits increase even though a company is spewing toxic fumes, enslaving people, or hurting animals, the company still believes it is doing something right.
If your words which plead for humanity are drowned out by the clamor of your coins, you're saying to unthinking businesses, “Yes, keep doing what you're doing… and do it in my name!”
You help build a world reflective of our shared values of justice, kindness, and compassion when your everyday choices are aligned with those values.
就这么简单。
“Talk is cheap… it's how we organize and live our lives that tells what we believe in.”
– Cesar Chavez
Strategy for a Better World.
Traditional Nonviolence tactics have been studied and made less effective by those who control by force, disconnection, and violence. Marches and speeches are ignored by corporate-owned media. Letters from concerned citizens are disregarded and their emails deleted. People are even forced into “free speech zones” where they can be more easily ignored and controlled.
It's time to live smarter. A Life Connected is a method of Active Nonviolence built on strategy. It has a direct effect regardless of an “opponent's” conscience or willingness to change. It cannot be stopped by force. It builds rather than tears down. It replaces hate with love. And it is available to everyone.
All of us and everything are connected. Nonviolence offers you a way to live your life sincerely building, supporting, and defending these connections. Connect to your own values. Connect to other people, to the planet, and to animals. Connect to how your choices impact the world around you.
如何生活的生命连接。
你出生连接你对人类和你生活于其中的世界 - 价值观的正义,善良,和同情的值。 重新连接到你真正是谁。 你的同情,并付诸行动,使我们的世界变得更美好。
1。 与自己进行连接。 成为你的道德价值观重新感知。
2。 与他人建立联系。 了解成为你的日常选择如何影响其他人,地球,动物。
3。 您选择连接到你的价值观。 如果你的选择是真正与你的价值观保持一致,留在这条道路,并找到更多的连接。 如果你的选择是不对齐,使新的,更好,更连接的选择。
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
Mohandas Gandhi
Build A Better World With Connected Choices.
Simplify. Imagine a world of billions of people living exactly as you do. Would it truly be fair and sustainable? Live simply so that others may simply live.
Fair Trade. Fair Trade ensures that farmers, artisans, and other producers get a fair price for their goods. It guarantees a living wage, encourages environmental responsibility, and reinvests in communities. Look for Fair Trade certified products.
有机 ,保护人民,地球,和珍贵的野生动物。 有机产品,确保不喷化学品和倾倒的农场工人,在土地上,在我们的水。 农药是专杀生物体的毒药。 促进健康 - 包括你自己。 并节约能源。 在美国,更多的精力用于生产合成肥料比耕作,培养,收获所有作物。
公平劳动血汗工厂,童工和奴隶劳工,即使在美国日益严重的问题。 服装和其他产品,如咖啡,水果,巧克力和鲜花,往往是残酷的工作条件下产生的。 最便宜的产品往往会以最大的人力成本。 获得了解更多有关如何您购买的产品和最人性化的选择。
可再生能源,战争是争取资源。 要建立一个安全可靠的世界,为子孙后代保护地球,选择太阳能,风能,波浪,地热,生物燃料,以及其他可再生能源的选择。 如果这些选择没有现成的给你,继续节约能源,并考虑购买可再生能源信用。
无车坐公共汽车,乘坐火车或地铁上。 更妙的是步行或骑自行车。 使用自己的能量,到处跑。
“本地”。当地企业的冠军。 购买本地支持小企业,创建本地的就业机会,并保持在您的社区更多的钱。 而当你支持当地的一家公司,你再有机会,以确保他们对待人,地球,动物负责。 与全国零售商巨头,他们是你的社区成员。
素食主义者。素食的食物以植物为基础的,不含任何动物产品(肉,蛋和奶制品)。 越来越多的人选择素食的生活方式的原因包括:高于人类健康,结束了农场工人和工厂工人的剥削,结束工业种族主义,节省了家庭农场,保护环境,结束了气候变化,消除世界饥饿,使用能源和资源的更明智, conserving land, protecting wildlife, preserving our oceans and waterways, and being kind to animals. A Vegan lifestyle expands your circle of compassion to include those who rely entirely on your kindness. Vegan choices are some of the most far-reaching personal, practical, and ethical choices you can make.
Recycled. Remember, when you throw something away, there is no such thing as “away.” Use less, reuse, and recycle. Choose used and recycled products whenever possible.
Tree-Free. Choose recycled lumber and paper products, consume products with less packaging, recycle what you use, and consider tree-free papers like kenaf and hemp.
Cruelty-Free. We have the compassion, intelligence and technology to move beyond hurting animals for the production of food, clothing, cleaning products, and personal products. Industries that make a profit by hurting others do so with the consent and support of those who buy their products. Make the kind choice, buy cruelty-free.
Yes, YOU Make A Difference!
The question isn't whether or not you, one person, can make a difference. You are making a difference. 但什么样的区别是你吗? What kind of difference do you want to make?
The urgent problems that people, the planet and animals are facing stem from people forgetting who they truly are. A Life Connected works as a compass to help you be who you truly are, remember your values, choose your path, and live in a reconnected way.
Being aware and aligned with your values makes you conscious, complete, and more powerful. Millions of people are reconnecting to create a remarkable movement the likes of which the world has never seen — a movement led by the individual, by the people… by YOU!
About NonviolenceUnited.org. Building A Better World.
We envision a world driven by the innate goodness of people and their values of justice, kindness, and compassion for other people, for the planet, and for animals.
Our focus is reminding everyone that we are all connected and encouraging individuals to align their everyday choices with their values — to live A Life Connected.
It's a win-win way of living. Build a better life for you… and a better world for everyone.
Learn more and get connected at NonviolenceUnited.org.
“Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.”
-亨利大卫梭罗
传递它。 Share the joy of living A Life Connected.