Don’t Live in the Past!
From the editor…
I’ve now read “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” cover to cover, and I’ve got to say, it has really hit me in the gut. The author could have been talking about our village in pretty much any one of the chapters!
This little book is an eye opening collection of the real life observations and experiences of the author, Alberta MLA Doug Griffiths. Doug has visited hundreds of small rural communities over the course of his career. Thousands of people have begged him to help them to make their communities flourish, even as they continued to sabotage themselves from within.
Pretty sobering stuff, and some of the shenanigans he describes would be funny if they weren’t so true and so utterly destructive to the fabric of the communities involved.
Several of the most effective ways to kill your community are to live in the past, reject everything new, and to not cooperate with each other.
Right now, our village needs all the cooperation and new ideas it can get in order to survive! We’ve been torn apart quite literally as the entire village has been physically destroyed or moved.
And, we’re being torn apart from within by bickering, squabbling and general weenie waggling. And, seriously, I have heard umpteen times since I moved here 17 years ago that the reason we don’t have anything in Perth is because “they” wouldn’t let McCain’s build a plant here some 50 years ago.
If we want to survive at all we need to move on, and if we want to actually thrive we really need to embrace some new ideas!
Some people think having a great big corporation coming in to build some kind of processing plant is the only way to provide local employment. Or, to have more public service jobs.
But communities that truly thrive and succeed take the bull by the horns and rebuild themselves from within. There are some absolutely brilliant examples out there, that have already worked for other communities.
Rather than waiting on big biz or government to save us like we’re some pitiful damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armour to ride in and carry us off, how about we save ourselves?
We’ll be publishing articles in the Blackfly about the success stories of other communities in future issues. Every idea has merit, even if we don’t see it right off the bat. Even if an idea seems crazy at first, it can spark a whole whack of new visions and ideas for our village! If you have ideas, share them, or write us and we’ll spread the word.
It’s funny, but people are more willing to criticize and laugh at new ideas than they are to accept them. It’s like there’s some kind of social safety and acceptance in being part of the pack that laughs at others.
And even more disturbing, people seem to get more enjoyment out of watching someone else fail than succeed.
There’s a joke that captures this perfectly: A Russian peasant named Ivan has worked hard all his life, but he barely squeaks by. He struggles every day. He has a neighbour who owns a cow who is far more successful, and has much more because of that cow. The cow provides milk, and he makes cheese and butter and so on.
One day God looks down and tells Ivan that he has been a good son, and that he, God, would like to reward Ivan for this. Tell me, my son, God says to Ivan, what gift can I give you that would make your life better?
Ivan replies: Kill my neighbour’s cow.
So sad but so true! Why can’t Ivan ask for a cow for himself? Why not ask for 2 cows while he’s at it, since God is in such a generous mood?
As a community, let’s start asking what we can have, instead of dwelling on what we don’t have. If someone has an idea or wants to start a new business, that’s a good thing! Don’t tell them why they’ll fail, instead think of the possibilities! New businesses attract more people who attract more businesses. More businesses mean more jobs….and so it goes.
What if we had, for instance, a bakery, a distillery, local food production, permaculture, edible landscaping, orchards…the list is only limited by our imaginations.
Stephanie Kelley
