 |
www.hopedance.org
|
| <back | home GLocal: We are not a local paper To borrow a term from Hazel Henderson, “Glocal” is basically a combination of local and global, or as some people have referred to it: “Think globally, act locally,” or we can play with it by saying, “Think locally, act globally.” The point being that there is an interdependence of our actions since we are interdependent beings. It has come to my attention that some people dislike the HopeDance magazine solely for the reason that it is not simply LOCAL. I would like to comment. Local papers are your dailies and weeklies and newsletters that feature specific topics, whether it’s about horses, farming, antiques or the environment. Also there are more and more local blogs and listservs flowering that satisfy the immense diversity of the LOCAL population. HopeDance is a different beast all together. It focuses on positive, hopeful, sometimes disturbing stories — if the mainstream doesn’t do its job of reporting them — inspiring stories and usually radical stories in the sense that they often go to the root of the problem so the solutions are more broad and long-standing rather than sentimental and short-term. HopeDance could not possibly survive within one county, since there’s usually not enough good radical news to fill 48 pages every other month. I hope there eventually will be, and lately I’ve been getting a sense that because of the urgency getting more critical, we will be seeing more and more radical solutions bubbling to the surface. But right now, suffice it to say that four counties are represented in this issue, and the hope is that people will cross-pollinate with their stories, activities, projects, policies. For example, if one sees a cool solution or important creative policy in Sebastopol, why not try it in Ojai, or vice versa. For example, we have reprinted an article about Petaluma’s waste pond system. We do this in the hopes that people in Los Osos will reprint it widely so they can halt their seemingly civil war strife and learn from other communities for affordable and environmentaly friend solutions. City Repair intersections were not to be found in these four counties, so some of us traveled to Portland to see for ourselves and reported on their “radical” activities, so hopefully the seeds of solutions will be nurtured and grown in our areas. The idea is to seed communities with ideas and practical solutions, combining articles, book reviews and films that complement this seedling. If you see a film advertised in this issue (not in your local area), rather than toss the paper into the recycling bin, why not try to find out how to locate that film for a houseparty or screen it in your local neighborhood bar, wall, library or church basement? Some ads may not pertain to your specific local area. When one picks up a New Yorker or LA Times or the Village Voice, does one toss it because there are no local ads? The reason we have more ads emanating from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo is because we have been here longer. The main difference between HopeDance and other publications is that we are free, and distributed by local people rather than by the inefficient magazine distribution system (which acts much like our food system: dependent on cheap oil to get the product to the consumer). However, as you can see from reading the publication, we have two counties for which we prepare a page or two that represents that county in terms of some ads, some announcements, some stories. If that particular county section blossoms, then we can see it growing into 2-3 pages or perhaps eventually into a LOCAL paper. What we are doing is following the local enthusiasm and energy of LOCAL people. If people wish to put energy into distributing the publication and screening films and collecting stories and announcements that may or may not get much attention in “normal” local papers, then we are providing a service. If there is no local energy happening, then it won’t happen. If there are groups out there that may wish to have a bundle or so of HopeDances to experiment with in your specific area, then please contact us. Bob Banner publishes HopeDance, www.hopedance.org, 805 544 9663, info@hopedance.org. <back | top^ |