1 Block - 1 Block

In the early 80's in Chicago, I went to see a debate between Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin moderated by Bobby Seale. Imagine that. The debate was pretty contrived but before it began, we could take a class with either of the participants. Needless to say, I chose Abbie. I don't remember a lot about what he said, but one thing stuck with me to this day. He was asked about how he had wanted to change the world in the 1960's and what had happened. He responded that he indeed wanted to change the world but realized that it was a difficult quest on such a grand scale. When he disappeared into the area of Upstate New York where he lived, he became determined that he would do everything he could to protect the St. Lawrence River which ran nearby. What Abbie Hoffman learned after years in battles for the soul of our Nation was that it was not easy to change the world as whole, but if you could take care of your community and others theirs, eventually we could change the world by working together.

I think that this may be the best approach now given the state of our country and our politics. It is time for each of us to take control of and make better our own neighborhood one by one so that we can change the country. I am going to call this new idea "1 Block: Changing the World One Piece at a Time." It is a simple concept really. Each of us can work with our neighbors to make our piece of this country a better place by helping each other out and growing a strong sense of community and responsibility. I will start a website as soon as possible which can act as a resource for common citizens looking for solutions and ideas that might help them in making a change. This can also be a site where we can hear real stories of people who are truly making a difference. By doing this, maybe slowly at first we can show the rest of the country how we can truly affect change in all our lives.

If we each work together to bring about these kind of changes in our own communities, the ideas will hopefully spread to the next city and across the country. These actions are not going to stop the wars we are hopelessly mired in or solve the economic disaster around us, but if we can all get back to the true ideals that make this country great, we might be able to find solutions to the truly monumental problems we face and we will once again live in a country where the citizens set the agenda and demand the best of our government to create a land where all citizens are free and equal.

If you are interested in joining the beginning of this crusade, let me know and send me your ideas and pass this along to others. I will work on getting the website going and hopefully together we can start something that is truly American.

David Weiss
Founder