"Campbell Cash" ideas
Assuming I will be able to actually change my address after my recent move (have you ever been to the Province of BC's website? not very user friendly) I, like every other BC resident as of December 31, 2007, will receive $100 Climate Action Dividend.
Now, we could have a big ole debate about how that money could have been spent differently, or what a humongous impact it could have done if it were pooled. We could see it as yet another opportunity to blather on about how faulty our government is for making yet another irresponsible decision. I mean really, letting such a large resource go into the hands of the people, what were they thinking? People might spend it on what is important to 'them' and that might not be what is important to 'you'... and then what? And on and on.... but I don't want to do that. Frankly I am bored of complaining about how everything isn't working. In order to always be judging, I would have to keep myself in a perpetual state of cynicism and you know what? I'm over it.
Many groups are sprouting up all over the place with plans to pool their resources. And if people have thought about it for themselves (as opposed to submitting to activist peer pressure) and decided that is how they want to spend this money, power to them! I personally decided, after much mulling it over, that I am going to keep my money all to myself.
You see, I feel that there was a tremendous wisdom in the decision that put the money in the hands of the people and let us decide on our own how we want to spend it. It is, at the end of the day, our money, isn't it? In fact I am sort of amazed in a wonderful way, that the decision to spread out this money was even made. It seems downright democratic, or something! It empowers people to actually make our own decisions and take our own
actions, which is a step away from sitting on the sidelines, booing and shouting judgemental comments as poor victims of faulty government after faulty government.
Each one of us gets to do our own unique individual thing with this money. Sure, the whole exercise itself will likely not be the one big thing that fixes climate change, but I want to be clear about two things 1) the more I look around the more it seems clear that it isn't going to be one big idea, campaign or change that fixes everything - it is a series of interconnected changes and shifts that add up to a result greater than the sum of its many, many parts. And 2) from here, it seems there is absolutely no question that this Action Dividend is one of those many things ; it has already begun to do something so very important by spreading a light of awareness on the issue of Climate Change in a way that allows each and every one of us to be exactly where we are at with the whole thing. Acceptance is the ground from which change grows. Shining a
little $100 light in the dark corners where unconscious patterns and behaviours live, can't help but wake things up - even if it is just a little.
I recently moved into a new home with a large, sunny yard. Before I even unpacked I was digging up two plots in the sun to plant my very first garden. As soon as my little radishes, beets, snowpeas and carrots started poking their little shiny, green faces up out of the soil I had turned with my own hands, I felt connected to the circle of life in a way I had not yet experienced in this life. I will not use my $100 to pool into some project that I am completely disconnected with, I want to get my hands dirty! I will use my $100 to purchase organic plantfood, garden tools and seeds to deepen my experience of gardening and learn even more about how to work with the earth in a way that sustains us both.
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I've decided to do
I've decided to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time - buy a shredder- so I can easily recycle ALL of those pieces of paperwith my address and personal information on them, rather than having to take the time to carefully rip out the address, credit card numbers and account numbers that are on so many pieces of mail.
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I'd like to add one more
I'd like to add one more thing... I actually disagree with you, Kate about the the 100$ empowering the public and demonstrating true democracy. I actually think most people are going to drop the 100$ into their bank account and never take the time to seriously think about how that 100$ can contribute towards fighting climate change. 100$ or not, I am doing as much as I can in my life to reduce my impact on the planet and the climate. I would rather have seen the government take some real leadership and provide direct rebates to help people increase the energy efficiency of their homes or businesses - something to ensure that this money is infact going to fulfill it's purpose. There are so many gains to be made through efficiency, making it an excellent investment at the moment. Perhaps a micro-loan program for people or business to increase efficiency would have been better. When I lived in Victoria, Australia, the state government would pay the upfront fees for a homeowner to install a solar panel for their house. The homeowner would continue to pay power bills at the full average monthly cost with the energy savings from solar panel going back to the government until the panel was paid off (I think about a 2-3 year payback period). After that time, the homeowner's power bills would go down to what they were actually consuming off the normal grid, and the solar panel power was free! There are lots of great ideas like this. To me, Campbell copped out by just mailing cash back to people to decide on their own. Life is what you make it
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@feeltheflow i hear
@feeltheflow
i hear you.
and...it strikes me that the most kind, inclusive way to inspire change is to allow people to be exactly where they are at, not dictating to them about what changes to make and how to go about them while at the same time shining a little light of awareness on the habit or behaviour we may be intuiting is unhealthy. like if someone is wearing a blanket of denial and because you love them so much, you want to help them realize they don't need it, or that it could actually be preventing them from being happy, it seems far more likely that they will relinquish it on their own when you start to notice with them, how warm it is in the room as opposed to trying to rip it from them in which case they will probably hold onto it even more tightly.
and if we are not willing to let go of some of our own stories about how we see others, we run the risk of missing the good things people do because we are so used to seeing them through the lens we created for them. it happens in relationships all the time, one person thinks they know the other and almost pigeon holes them by habitually referring to an old story of who they thought the person is, it prevents the changes the other has made from being truly seen. suspend your story about it for a moment and play with me... is it possible the Gordon Campbells decision was well intentioned? Is it possible that there was some wisdom in there? Just how sure are you that it was a cop out? Would you bet your life on it? change is fed and nourished by possibility itself.
i am okay with us disagreeing about this. i respect your opinion and am grateful for the opportunity to be in a conversation with you about it.
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Well, I suppose we could
Well, I suppose we could extend that reasoning all the way; why pay taxes at all?
nancy (aka money coach)
http://www.nancyzimmerman.com
http://www.yourmoneybydesign.com
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@Nancy you are missing the
@Nancy
you are missing the spirit of what i am pointing to. i am not suggesting that governments are pointless and we should never pool our money. i am suggesting that we take a closer look at how much of our own creativity, responsibility we give up by always demanding that someone ELSE fix things for us. part of the pain and suffering we are currently feeling as a society is because somewhere along the lines we started to want to feel numb rather than truly participate in LIFE so we started giving up our Selves. this show ups in epidural rates, drug addiction rates, obesity, even our addiction to gas.
what i am calling for is not a fundamentalist, anarchist movement. but simply that we experiment with participating a little bit more in the world we have, for the past little while, been co-creating largely with unconscious behaviours that are informed by fear.
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Thanks for your thoughts on
Thanks for your thoughts on this, Kate. I have decided to put my 100$ towards my new little garden too!
Growing your own food is a fun, effective and beautiful way of reducing our carbon footprint.
Eventhough it's been a cold spring, there is still lots of time to grow, grow, grow. And people really seem to be into it. There's something that feels so innately right about growing your own food.
If any organic gardeners out there are interested, check out the "David Suzuki digs my Garden" campaign. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/GardenContest/
Life is what you make it