I question the idea of helping out for free. While I think there is a place in everybody's life for volunteer work, why should we not get some kind of compensation in kind for work we do. It does not have to be in Euro, it can be in trade. On a simple level it would go like this: A builder is not getting enough work to afford child care. A person who has the time to look after a child need work done on their house. These people could be brought together and negotiate some sort of exchange.

In a more sophisticated scenario, a website is put together advertising both services provided and services needed. There would be a medium of exchange for services. Perhaps time units maintained and recorded, and usable as exchange for services and/or goods. The Swiss WIR system is perhaps the most successful example of this, but there are many.

Our efforts and talents and intelligence are valuable. Let's not give it away for free when trading goods and exchanging services in this alternative way can bring energy and movement to a stagnant economy.

It's good to know there are so many people out there who value the things that are most important and are always free - empathy, sharing, helping, a commitment to the common good, ethics... This first idea will could foster a framework to allow people to put those things into action. Surely that is basis for better living ? TO BE OF SERVICE are important words to be actioned. There are many people who try to work and live like this (for fair reward) but who grew despondent in the last decade at the seemingly mammoth task of trying to swim in the opposite direction of the tide.

Audrey

Appreciate your update and your explanation of where you are coming from. Whilst I have nothing against individuals empowering themselves in a positive way that provides for stronger community ethos I cannot accept that societal change is possible without a direct link to political and thus economical change that not only redistibrutes the wealth equally but ensures that this is always the case because in exercising wealth distribution properly it does away with the wealthy! What I am worried about is that simply concentrating on how we behave with/to one another people will think that we can deliver a changed society. We can't. We need to encourage real participative democracy that tackles where we want society to be, how we are going to get there and curtail those that oppose the same by drawing them into the process whereby they have to accept ownership of the same. I do not want to make representations to the current political elite who are socially protected by their educationally and financially powerful comrades - the bankers, the developers, the accountants, the legal system and the rich. I want to get rid of the very system that provides their position and power. To do so requires replacing it with a true democracy which when operational will ensure that central and key to how we do our business as individuals is for the collective good. Sorry folks but I cannot attend the Dublin but I sincerely wish it the best and really hope that a social activist movement willing to politically educate and drive a socialist agenda on our people will result. Adh mhor.

This year i grew peppers from seed and i was reassured when i saw them develop and mature as programmed by their nature.All i had to do was provide the conditions i.e. basic nutrients and enjoy watching them fulfill their potential.The scientific knowledge underpinning how Human Beings grow and develop and in particular the conditions required to achieve their full potential are well known and documented but sadly to date have not permeated our Policy Makers.There may be a Deafness or Blindness within our society / culture / species caused by an' addiction' / obsession / preoccupation with money,power,status and transitory fascination with material objects to the detriment of our Mental Health.Our genetic make up is driving us towards a greater evolution of conciousness but we are being held back by the current structures of society.Neuroscience and some models of Psychotherapy can inform us and are being applied in realigning dysfunctional behaviours. The emotions underlying dysfunctional behaviours in the mentally ill are similar to those that inhabit the Great and the Good and differ only in degree.Managing these emotions through education at pre school stage can transform our lives and therefore our society / culture / species.

Ciaran I hope I meet you at 'Claiming our Future' as Everything I read fro you makes so much sense. I am not against volunteering one's time and expertise but only where it is for ones personal satisfaction. I am full time unpaid Project Director of ALa Community Theatre. I get great personal satisfaction from doing it and hope that people benefit from involvement in it. What I disagree with is the replacement, due to cutbacks, of paid staff in many organisations by voluneers. Many of these volunteers have themselves lost their jobs. I wonder how many of the 1% who own over 35% of the wealth of the nation volunteer their services.
Radical for me means to demand the equal distribution of the wealth of the nation not giving ones time and expertise for nothing. Along with the re-enactment of Keatings legislation and it being applied to all our natural resources the Community Platform have it right in calling on Minister Lenihan to:

1. Reduce tax breaks for the wealthy to EU levels

2. Introduce a Property Wealth Tax for high earners with assets worth more than €1million

3. End Tax Exile loopholes by making citizenship the basis for taxation for high earners

4. Apply PRSI and income levies to all income, regardless of source

Jim

Appreciate the underlying motive and humanistic message but it clearly does not go far enough in terms of actual societal change. Whilst it might radicalise us in terms of how we treat each other and our individual needs, it does nothing to actually radicalise our governance which despite all that we might think requires a certain amount of economic analyses and vision. In fact I feel your suggestions are potentially contradictory in that you state 'energy back into the system'. The system - the capitalist economy - has crashed, tumbled!!! It doesn't need fixed by admirable volunteering. It needs to be smashed and in its place put a real people driven society where its economy is based on human needs - health, education, leisure, culture and above all employment that provides for society's good, not the individual greed. This is what I feared about 'Claiming our Future'! We should be about more than a vehicle for maintaining the politcal and thus the societal status quo by appealing to our inherent goodwill and good nature. We need to radicalise how we think politically, how we behave socially and how we plan and spend economically. All three go together. I also feel that your penumltimate paragraph (STEP TWO) - whilst laudable and well intentioned - could be misinterpreted as patronising and condescending to the point of being a lecture. All in all I just get the impression your suggestions are too individualistic and simplistic. As for being radical - I am not too sure either. They seem to suggest a return to what previous Irish society was like where appcraibly there was a stronger community ethos and for which I personally have no problem with but...there is a lack of policital dimension. That said it is top of the charts in terms of votes. Well done. As for me I pine where we are going with where we want to be with this lack of political development!

Beautiful idea! I am always wondering why with so many unemployed at the moment can we not organize collective action, volunteering, community development etc

I'm sure their are a lot of people who having worked most of their lives are now feeling underutilised, bored and frustrated. By giving up some of their time to help neighbors and benefit the community, they will not only bring structure back to their lives, feel needed, feel a sense of accomplishment and as well as everything I'm sure future employers would look favorably on someone who has utilised their skills and knowledge base!