Our generation needs to learn how to educate themselves and how to self-correct. We need to learn how to effectively question authority, while still learning from experience.
We need to learn how to be responsible and self-sufficient so that we are able to contribute to our community and be interdependent. Our goal at Red Cedar is to teach habits that will enable members to become social, economic and ecological leaders in the future.
For years now, western nations have been living as though theirs was the final generation. They could do as the please, and damn the consequences. Now the consequences are becoming visible and frightening. Positive change in this world will depend upon the actions of today's youth. Those of us under thirty will be deciding on things that will affect our lives for years to come, just by how we live. Most activism seeks to sway those people in power, those with everything to lose and little to gain from a change in the status quo. The leaders of today are not where we should be looking.
We should be looking at the leaders of tomorrow.
Imagine learning skills that will make you able to stand alone, not merely more employable. Imagine learning how to care for yourself and your family, not how to pay others to do this. Imagine learning how to think for yourself and analyze what the experts tell you, instead of being forced to react to them on gut instinct. Imagine being in charge of your own life, instead of feeling as though it is crawling along on automatic along a route you never chose.
Make self-reliance skills widespread. Enable the current generation through enhancing what they are able to do. Because we believe that with this, we be able and proud to stand up and make the world a better place.
Growing up basically boils down to five things.
First, as an adult you must take responsibility for yourself.
Second, you must think for yourself.
Third, you must provide for yourself.
Fourth, you must be able and willing to defend yourself.
Fifth, you must leave something of value behind.
We are going to deal with these in a slightly skewed order. We will begin here by telling you that you must take responsibility for yourself, but we won't go heavily that step right away. We are going to focus on several others steps first, so that by the time we get to that step in detail.
For the moment, we ask you to provisionally accept the idea that you must take responsibility for yourself. It isn't a hard idea to accept. If you are not responsible for yourself then somebody else is responsible for you. if that is the case, then you are not free. If that is the case then what are you? Certainly not an adult, and certainly not a citizen. you are a child or a slave. We'll get into this in more detail later, but mull this over.
We don't like to admit responsibility. We equate it to guilt. We don't want to be blamed, and we don't want to admit that we are at fault. But look at things from this angle. If things are not our fault, then how can we fix things? To admit fault, to claim responsibility is to take power and say "I will do something about this." To pass the blame, or claim no responsibility is to say "I can't do anything about this." One gives power, one gives power away.
So for the moment, just trust us on the responsibility thing.
The first section is going to deal with thinking for yourself. The second section will deal with providing for yourself. The third section is going to deal with defending yourself. The fourth section will come back and re address taking responsibility for yourself. The fifth element of growing up, will be dealt with in the fourth Section as well. We refer to the sections respectively as "Speak Out", "Start Fires", "Fight Back", and "Grow Up". This order is for a reason. By starting with the ability to think for yourself, you will be better able to examine the other sections. By ending with taking responsibility and leaving something of value behind you will have a better sense of perspective on the whole process of becoming and remaining an adult.
Keep that in mind- not only can you become an adult by choice, you can cease to be an adult in the same way.
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