relationship skills and parenting support
In tandem with our Youth Project, we can become more organized in our efforts to help each other become better at building great relationships, particularly between children and their parents. As of now, this effort is expressed in our book club and our book recommendations, as well as the philosophy of our youth project.
conflict solutions
A general category for projects includes creating services to help people resolve conflicts and threats. The most pressing conflicts are those that may lead to unjustified or unproductive violence or property damage. We take inspiration from the work and philosophy of Dale Brown, and his company for community safety and security. Perhaps we could create a similar company to operate in Oakland. We also see a great need for mediation and de-escalation of tensions that can lead to violence. For instance, the political atmosphere has become more and more tense and violent lately. We could work on projects to peacefully and safely release the tension and keep people safe while not reinforcing injustice. We could also add our voices to the public conversation through (YouTube) videos online, in an attempt at mediation and de-escalation. The wider idea would be to create a whole set of activities for solutions facilitation — conflict prevention, reduction, intervention, and resolution; and harmony promotion.
human flaw remediation
Tragedies can sometimes arise out of seemingly innocuous or justifiable human behavior and judgement. An individual may unthinkingly adopt irrational behavior of a surrounding group. A stampede can occur in a crowd of people. A group may get swept up in a mob-mentality to do something they later regret. Or a society can get swept up in a movement that leads to death and destruction. We should realize, for instance, that we are very much like the people of inter-war Germany, and susceptible to the same sorts of pathological behaviors that they were. Maybe we can learn how to address our flaws by confronting them in controlled scenarios, to face some of our darker impulses and inclinations, and to internalize a wider perspective and wiser temperament so we can avert tragedy in our lives and in society.