# Changing the world?



## yillt (Jan 10, 2016)

Hello everyone. The title is a but dramatic but hopefully it's caught your attention as I'm looking for input. I am involved in a project which is supposed to be confidential so I can't give you the details unfortunately as much as I'd love to. But I'll explain it a bit. It's for teens. We form groups and come up with things the world needs. For example 'more fresh water pumps in Africa.' Then I'm our groups we research that topic and plan it. The project funds our trip and we will go to Africa and help build water tanks. I'm not looking for ideas to copy bit It would be interesting to know what you think the world needs.


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## johnandjade (Jan 10, 2016)

yillt said:


> Hello everyone. The title is a but dramatic but hopefully it's caught your attention as I'm looking for input. I am involved in a project which is supposed to be confidential so I can't give you the details unfortunately as much as I'd love to. But I'll explain it a bit. It's for teens. We form groups and come up with things the world needs. For example 'more fresh water pumps in Africa.' Then I'm our groups we research that topic and plan it. The project funds our trip and we will go to Africa and help build water tanks. I'm not looking for ideas to copy bit It would be interesting to know what you think the world needs.




go you  I think the world needs more people like you!


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## Tom (Jan 10, 2016)

The world needs American Politicians to be held accountable for their crimes.

The world needs to see an end to political correctness, "Newspeak", "Double Talk", and the thought police. You've read "1984" by George Orwell, right? How about "Animal Farm"?

The world needs to see and end to any religion that tells its followers that they must kill any person of any other religion who will not convert.

The people of the world need the means to fight back against tyranny, be it foreign in or domestic.


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## ArcT (Jan 11, 2016)

My 2 cents: Start simple. Find someplace with a problem such as Malaria spreading or dirty drinking water. Figure out how to provide better mosquito nets or drink filtering devices. 

Any change that provides long term improvement for a part of society that is lacking will make the world a better place. 

"Great acts are made up of small deeds."

-Lao Tzu


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## W Shaw (Jan 11, 2016)

The Swami Beyondananda says people waste too much energy in changing the world. He suggests that we just toilet train the world so that we never have to change it again. I love the Swami!

More seriously, are you aware of the Roots and Shoots program? It was started by Jane Goodall. Might be worth having a gander at, for your kids. The way they work is, the kids commit to 3 projects, which must all be local to your area. One must benefit animals (nonhuman ones), one must benefit humans, and the 3rd must benefit the environment. They're definitely of the "Think globally, act locally" mindset.

I think the world needs more respect for nonhuman critters. Not just the ones who benefit humans directly, but all critters. Even people who claim to be "animal lovers" often don't think twice about crushing a spider to death or using cuttlebones in tortoise enclosures, because those animals aren't on their list of animals whose lives matter.


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## ArcT (Jan 11, 2016)

One more suggestion: Permaculture.

Lots of little projects that can make a big impact. 
It doesnt change the world all at once but if you have families everywhere that can provide for themselves basic necessities, you will end up with a group of people that focuses their thoughts outward instead of only on where the next drink or meal is coming from.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 11, 2016)

Population control by empowering women to take/have more control of their life in regards to many things but mostly family planning. This can be education or access to learning tools. It's very 'place' dependent. I don't think you will find a 'new' thing that changing the world could use, but a new "way" to act or implement is what a younger POV is all about.

All crisis in the world precipitate from populations of humans overwhelming _______ (fill in the blank).


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## Razan (Jan 11, 2016)

The world needs us to treat everyone the way we would like them to treat us.

How can we do this ? One person at a time. Try it. It is contagious.


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## dmmj (Jan 11, 2016)

I never tried to dampen enthusiasm towards trying to change the world. But I've never believed in just giving
people stuff. One of my favorite program to come out in a very long time deals with doing micro loans to people to help set themselves up in businesses around the world. Great ideas truly start out small but don't try to change the world try to help one person at a time better themselves through hard work and you will probably see a big change later on. don't get discouraged a lot of people and I mean a lot of people will tell you you are foolish or wrong or naive or any other word you can think of. I also agree with @Will about population control it sounds a little facist but I truly believe there are too many people how do you go about that I really don't know. Just change one person's life @a time I think you will see a bigger and better result that way honestly.


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## wellington (Jan 11, 2016)

dmmj said:


> I never tried to dampen enthusiasm towards trying to change the world. But I've never believed in just giving
> people stuff. One of my favorite program to come out in a very long time deals with doing micro loans to people to help set themselves up in businesses around the world. Great ideas truly start out small but don't try to change the world try to help one person at a time better themselves through hard work and you will probably see a big change later on. don't get discouraged a lot of people and I mean a lot of people will tell you you are foolish or wrong or naive or any other word you can think of. I also agree with @Will about population control it sounds a little facist but I truly believe there are too many people how do you go about that I really don't know. Just change one person's life @a time I think you will see a bigger and better result that way honestly.


In some countries, the population is over ran with mouths they can't afford to feed because of the high numbers of rape.The way to help those countries is castration. In the USA, don't support the poor if they keep having kids.
As for changing the world, I believe in changing the country you live in first. When there is no more homeless and starving kids, then go beyond the borders.


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## dmmj (Jan 11, 2016)

wellington said:


> In some countries, the population is over ran with mouths they can't afford to feed because of the high numbers of rape.The way to help those countries is castration. In the USA, don't support the poor if they keep having kids.
> As for changing the world, I believe in changing the country you live in first. When there is no more homeless and starving kids, then go beyond the borders.


you feel free to go to other countries and start castrating the men &  see how far you get ok?


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## W Shaw (Jan 11, 2016)

dmmj said:


> I never tried to dampen enthusiasm towards trying to change the world. But I've never believed in just giving
> people stuff. One of my favorite program to come out in a very long time deals with doing micro loans to people to help set themselves up in businesses around the world. Great ideas truly start out small but don't try to change the world try to help one person at a time better themselves through hard work and you will probably see a big change later on. don't get discouraged a lot of people and I mean a lot of people will tell you you are foolish or wrong or naive or any other word you can think of. I also agree with @Will about population control it sounds a little facist but I truly believe there are too many people how do you go about that I really don't know. Just change one person's life @a time I think you will see a bigger and better result that way honestly.



Population control generally happens naturally when poverty and infant mortality are addressed. In affluent countries, where parents aren't so dependent on children to care for them in their later years, and education and birth control are readily available, people tend to have fewer children. Even in affluent countries like the US, the wealthy and well educated generally have fewer children than the impoverished and uneducated. So, if we can address those issues there would be no need to enforce limits.


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## dmmj (Jan 11, 2016)

W Shaw said:


> Population control generally happens naturally when poverty and infant mortality are addressed. In affluent countries, where parents aren't so dependent on children to care for them in their later years, and education and birth control are readily available, people tend to have fewer children. Even in affluent countries like the US, the wealthy and well educated generally have fewer children than the impoverished and uneducated. So, if we can address those issues there would be no need to enforce limits.


how you go about doing that in other countries?


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## wellington (Jan 11, 2016)

dmmj said:


> you feel free to go to other countries and start castrating the men &  see how far you get ok?


No thanks. They should be taking care of it themselves. It would be nice if they did something. I am talking about the rapist, not just any/all men. They don't do anything to the rapist, it's so common, no one turns them in either. Castration would make the next rapist reconsider.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 11, 2016)

wellington said:


> In some countries, the population is over ran with mouths they can't afford to feed because of the high numbers of rape.The way to help those countries is castration. In the USA, don't support the poor if they keep having kids.
> As for changing the world, I believe in changing the country you live in first. When there is no more homeless and starving kids, then go beyond the borders.


Tie tubes, same result for population control, but violence can still occur, yes, I think we can agree on that. But the same with castration, violence can still occur.

Educating people is a good move, but in most places where some kinds of this violence occurs, is as much the woman as the man for lack of education. The bigger deficit in education is with woman. Not intelligence, education.

Rare, an NGO, did a series of soap opera like radio shows that sought to make men better understand treating women in a way that was not just a baby factory. It had modest success. When they focused on women the saturation of message went much higher. Birth rate actually dropped. No Orwellian effort, just education aimed towards women that they were not in fact 'baby factories'.

In short women who say yes to husbands and boyfriend are not treated as meat, and fewer babies result. Not a TFO topic for the most part, but women have much more control than they seem to acknowledge, and that is an education based issue. 

I am parroting what the woman who set this into implementation said at a speaker engagement. This is what a woman sorted out for island nations in the Caribbean. This overall plan and implementation has been published. 

My suggestion for this OP is that this is a worthy goal to change the world is not Orwellian, and takes new methods or strategies to implement.

The guy who wrote "Three Cups of Tea" did a similar thing in a very different part of the world.

China recently stopped there one couple one child policy, as they have redirected the culture and it seems to now be self regulating. China;s method was a bit closer to Orwellian.

If you can think of one issue that is more basic than human population, please do share. No need for mutilation Barb, unless you seek to tie your own tubes first. Telling comment though.


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## wellington (Jan 11, 2016)

I think you are wrong Will. Rape is of no fault of the women. Making a women not able to have children does not stop rape. It will stop her from populating, which she may have choosen to do anyway if she wasn't raped, but she can still be raped. My method, will stop both. Luckily in this country, most of the time, it is legal to end a pregnancy of rape. In the places I am more referring to, it's not done, unless they mutilate themselves, which is another sick practice in these same places, and not really for the forum.
However, totally agree on the education end of it. Education is always a plus, in many places it would in itself be a big world changer.


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## W Shaw (Jan 11, 2016)

dmmj said:


> how you go about doing that in other countries?



By bringing in organizations that can educate children (A friend of mine has built several schools), organizations like Doctors Without Borders to facilitate medical care, and educate mothers. By the microloans spoken of in an earlier post, that help people in developing countries to start small businesses. One company has created a microscope that only costs 12 cents to make, because Malaria is easily diagnosed with a microscope, but microscopes are often not available to clinics in developing countries. There is no one magic bullet. But there are things that can be done over time to give developing nations a hand up (which is not the same as a handout). Of course, the irony is not entirely lost on me when I watch Doctors Without Borders providing free medical care in so many countries, while I, in the most affluent nation in the world , have no access to medical care, other than my small stash of outdated antibiotics in case of a major emergency.


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## Moozillion (Jan 12, 2016)

Will said:


> Population control by empowering women to take/have more control of their life in regards to many things but mostly family planning. This can be education or access to learning tools. It's very 'place' dependent. I don't think you will find a 'new' thing that changing the world could use, but a new "way" to act or implement is what a younger POV is all about.
> 
> All crisis in the world precipitate from populations of humans overwhelming _______ (fill in the blank).


YESSSS!!!!


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 12, 2016)

wellington said:


> I think you are wrong Will. Rape is of no fault of the women. Making a women not able to have children does not stop rape. It will stop her from populating, which she may have choosen to do anyway if she wasn't raped, but she can still be raped. My method, will stop both. Luckily in this country, most of the time, it is legal to end a pregnancy of rape. In the places I am more referring to, it's not done, unless they mutilate themselves, which is another sick practice in these same places, and not really for the forum.
> However, totally agree on the education end of it. Education is always a plus, in many places it would in itself be a big world changer.


Everyone in a 'situation' has a role. There is no getting out of it. Until you accept that everyone has a role, there is no moving forward. Making a man not able to have children does not stop violence. Empowering women is a best response. Castrated men can rape. Maybe you mean penis removal?


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## yillt (Jan 12, 2016)

Hello everyone
Thanks for the wonderful ideas and keep them coming. I may just add that as much as I love the 'originality' I don't think I will be able to go round 'castrating' people. I'm on saying that the ideas aren't welcome because they most certainly are but I'm just stating that as a 13 year old, I don't think I could put that idea forward. But all the ideas are wonderful. Thank you.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 12, 2016)

On a lighter note, but still capturing the heaviness of the topic.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/chancesoftheworld/

This is a not so short PBS show regarding Richard Ogust and one or two iterations of his turtle collection and how he was looking at changing the world in regards to turtles. I built one of four phases of his giant facilities. He actually spent several hundred thousand $$ on his collection and was an early supporter of the conservation program that I ran for 10 years. He lead with his heart and that did not get him a result he wanted, he was somewhat depressed after several years of battles with different ways of going about conservation and what role he played in it.

@yillt a new thing to do may be very difficult to come up with, even if it feels like you have. A new way or method to implement an idea already out there is every bit as good and may lead to results that can be compared to past methods and their relative success. 

Figuring out if you made a difference is an important part of a program/project. There are many ways to do this, and they are project dependent. Usually there is a pre-implementation of the project phase where the people who will get the benefit of your project are surveyed for their awareness of the types of things that you intend to change. Then a post project survey that is essentially the same survey. The success of the project/program can sometimes be measured by the change in responses to the two surveys. The surveys can be very informal with a the help of a local that may be a un-realized central figure in a community, like a postal worker, or vendor where everyone passes through in one day. 

If you did a turtle conservation project, the pre test might be a group of images of turtles from the area on the wall. One would be a species not from the area. The postal worker or cafe server would never prompt conversation, just record people comments. Then the group of pictures is removed. You do your awareness project. Then some time later the groups of images are returned and the change in awareness/attitude is recorded. This is a cryptic thing done all the time all over the place.

A formal question directed before and after can be done too. 

Then your result will be based on a quantitative change in awareness (education), as well as some actual thing that is done.

The man who invented segways, now co-opted as hover boards. He invented a device to deliver clean water to anywhere in the world, as clean water is the number one health issue in the world. After much work and finding a funder the field tests were not inspiring. People would bring dirty water to the device, run it through and collect the clean water into the container that the dirty water had been collected in, re-soiling the clean water. This is an example of a halfway technology. An educational component was required, and clean water containers. Many simple ways for really good things to fail. An on the ground collaborator is often needed so you can see the nature of the problem in the eyes of someone experiencing the problem. Your new fresh look also has to understand the problem from the eyes of someone in the issue. 

There is a good chance you will have success where more experienced people have failed, as you are not mired in past solutions, good ones or bad.


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## Turtlepete (Jan 12, 2016)

Tom said:


> The world needs American Politicians to be held accountable for their crimes.
> 
> The world needs to see an end to political correctness, "Newspeak", "Double Talk", and the thought police. You've read "1984" by George Orwell, right? How about "Animal Farm"?
> 
> ...



Lets not forget corporate crimes either. I'd like to see the corporate heads of Chevron put to whatever justice the tribes of the Amazon see fit...


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## wellington (Jan 12, 2016)

Will said:


> Everyone in a 'situation' has a role. There is no getting out of it. Until you accept that everyone has a role, there is no moving forward. Making a man not able to have children does not stop violence. Empowering women is a best response. Castrated men can rape. Maybe you mean penis removal?


Yes, sorry, exactly what I mean, total removal.


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## W Shaw (Jan 12, 2016)

Tom said:


> The world needs American Politicians to be held accountable for their crimes.
> 
> The world needs to see an end to political correctness, "Newspeak", "Double Talk", and the thought police. You've read "1984" by George Orwell, right? How about "Animal Farm"?
> 
> ...



Not just the American politicians. I have friends who were beaten, tortured and killed in an internment camp by British ones. American politicians are certainly guilty of being corrupted by power, but they're not alone.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 12, 2016)

wellington said:


> Yes, sorry, exactly what I mean, total removal.


Well, if you think about it, women can rape other women, so it's not the act with the specific organ, but rather the act as violence or dominance. That can't be cut off. It's educating women to best take control of situations. Rape is an extreme moment, the overall point is there are many 'next day regrets' and those can be greatly reduced through education. 

Check it out, what education can do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Cups_of_Tea as one example.


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## W Shaw (Jan 12, 2016)

Part of the problem with real change is that it's not a fast process and there are always setbacks. You have a victory over here and you lose one over there. You just have to keep picking yourself up and walking forward, knowing all the while that it may not be yourself but your children or even your grandchildren who finally see the victory. As one of my favorite musicians says, "You can fall, but you must not lie down." This is where I think a lot of Americans get discouraged, because we're a people accustomed to instant gratification and movies with happy endings. I played a role in a really big change, but in the course of making that change, I saw a lot of Americans come and go. They'd latch on to one case or another, and if that case was lost, so were 2/3 of the Americans, because they went into it thinking they were going to be heroes. Never occurred to them that there was a high probability that that case would be lost, so when it happened they would just give up. The rest of us would take a deep breath, maybe take a day to deal with it, and then pick ourselves up and get back to work.

Here's the musician if you're interested


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## johnandjade (Jan 12, 2016)

W Shaw said:


> Part of the problem with real change is that it's not a fast process and there are always setbacks. You have a victory over here and you lose one over there. You just have to keep picking yourself up and walking forward, knowing all the while that it may not be yourself but your children or even your grandchildren who finally see the victory. As one of my favorite musicians says, "You can fall, but you must not lie down." This is where I think a lot of Americans get discouraged, because we're a people accustomed to instant gratification and movies with happy endings. I played a role in a really big change, but in the course of making that change, I saw a lot of Americans come and go. They'd latch on to one case or another, and if that case was lost, so were 2/3 of the Americans, because they went into it thinking they were going to be heroes. Never occurred to them that there was a high probability that that case would be lost, so when it happened they would just give up. The rest of us would take a deep breath, maybe take a day to deal with it, and then pick ourselves up and get back to work.
> 
> Here's the musician if you're interested



well put!!! it's not all about us, 'be the change in the world you want to see'


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## Yvonne G (Jan 12, 2016)

I'm putting on my moderator hat now. I haven't been following this thread, but just now read the whole thing. Can we please take this in another direction? No more rape please? And try to make your political responses be less riot-inciting. This is a thread that may soon be closed.


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## johnandjade (Jan 12, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> I'm putting on my moderator hat now. I haven't been following this thread, but just now read the whole thing. Can we please take this in another direction? No more rape please? And try to make your political responses be less riot-inciting. This is a thread that may soon be closed.




well said miss yvonnee! more joy in the world, focus on the good


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## W Shaw (Jan 12, 2016)

johnandjade said:


> well said miss yvonnee! more joy in the world, focus on the good



Yep, like Dougie just said in the link in my last post "Try to be kind... for there's no grace in doing wrong."


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## Turtlepete (Jan 12, 2016)

wellington said:


> I think you are wrong Will. Rape is of no fault of the women. Making a women not able to have children does not stop rape. It will stop her from populating, which she may have choosen to do anyway if she wasn't raped, but she can still be raped. My method, will stop both. Luckily in this country, most of the time, it is legal to end a pregnancy of rape. In the places I am more referring to, it's not done, unless they mutilate themselves, which is another sick practice in these same places, and not really for the forum.
> However, totally agree on the education end of it. Education is always a plus, in many places it would in itself be a big world changer.



You are aware rape happens to men as well, right…? Domestic violence, rape, mutilation of the *ahem* "nether regions"…all of these are crimes that are carried out against men just as much as women. What do you suggest we do to women in these scenarios?

Education is indeed a plus.

If you sincerely want to change the world, educate and properly raise your children, and your children's children. Foster a generation that once again believes the way to achievement is getting off the couch and doing what needs done, not whining and complaining about how their lack of "privilege" or anatomical features are their main setback in life. I am terrified of a world controlled by people who were raised to think that whatever they don't have in life is the fault of someone else.
Talking about stuff is great, if your goal is to set out a plan and act upon it. If you plan to merely talk about it and wait for someone else to do it, then save your breath. We American's have this incredible way of telling other countries how to do things, countries that we have almost unanimously never set foot in and are massively ignorant of the actual events taking place in the region.


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## johnandjade (Jan 12, 2016)

... and now for something completely different.....


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 12, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> I'm putting on my moderator hat now. I haven't been following this thread, but just now read the whole thing. Can we please take this in another direction? No more rape please? And try to make your political responses be less riot-inciting. This is a thread that may soon be closed.


I shouldn't have taken this thread as a place to educate Wellington, sorry about that. But then again she did sorta lead us that way, as a Moderator no-less. Good thing we have many Mods. Mods moderating Mods. Your the internal mod's mod today. Good job. Yeah, opps. I love you Yvonne.

Wholly self monitoring Batman, what was that? 

Just to many people, no fair way to eliminate all already here, so we ought to stop having so many.


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## wellington (Jan 12, 2016)

Will said:


> I shouldn't have taken this thread as a place to educate Wellington, sorry about that. But then again she did sorta lead us that way, as a Moderator no-less. Good thing we have many Mods. Mods moderating Mods. Your the internal mod's mod today. Good job. Yeah, opps. I love you Yvonne.
> 
> Wholly self monitoring Batman, what was that?
> 
> Just to many people, no fair way to eliminate all already here, so we ought to stop having so many.


Just so you know, I stated my post and because you didn't pick up what I was putting down, you lead it into a rape thing. So let's get it straight, who ran thIs off. Not the mod no less. My point that I was making and answering had to do with over populating!


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## Turtlepete (Jan 12, 2016)

wellington said:


> In some countries, the population is over ran with mouths they can't afford to feed because of the high numbers of rape.The way to help those countries is castration. In the USA, don't support the poor if they keep having kids.
> As for changing the world, I believe in changing the country you live in first. When there is no more homeless and starving kids, then go beyond the borders.





wellington said:


> No thanks. They should be taking care of it themselves. It would be nice if they did something. I am talking about the rapist, not just any/all men. They don't do anything to the rapist, it's so common, no one turns them in either. Castration would make the next rapist reconsider.





wellington said:


> Just so you know, I stated my post and because you didn't pick up what I was putting down, you lead it into a rape thing. So let's get it straight, who ran thIs off. Not the mod no less. My point that I was making and answering had to do with over populating!



While Will did absolutely explore the topic in detail, which might not necessarily have its place on this forum, he only expanded on a topic that you brought up with your ideas of castration in foreign countries. I don't believe he was attacking you, simply trying to educate and further explore a topic, an appropriate response to an idea as radical as castration.


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## dmmj (Jan 12, 2016)

this is why we can't have nice things. :-(


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## Turtlepete (Jan 12, 2016)

dmmj said:


> this is why we can't have nice things. :-(



We're mostly adults here, we should be able to discuss varying ideas without feeling insulted by another's beliefs or reacting overly emotionally to someone else's response.


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## dmmj (Jan 12, 2016)

whether or not we're adult is not the point this is a family forum discussions about rape I don't think belong on a Family Forum.


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## Momof4 (Jan 12, 2016)

Turtlepete said:


> We're mostly adults here, we should be able to discuss varying ideas without feeling insulted by another's beliefs or reacting overly emotionally to someone else's response.




Most of us are adults but the original poster is only 13. 

I wish there was a symbol on each minors avatar pic so we would know who the young ones are.


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## Cowboy_Ken (Jan 13, 2016)

Momof4 said:


> I wish there was a symbol on each minors avatar pic so we would know who the young ones are.


Wouldn't that create age clashes?


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## lisa127 (Jan 13, 2016)

wellington said:


> In some countries, the population is over ran with mouths they can't afford to feed because of the high numbers of rape.The way to help those countries is castration. In the USA, don't support the poor if they keep having kids.
> As for changing the world, I believe in changing the country you live in first. When there is no more homeless and starving kids, then go beyond the borders.


Children all over the world should be cared for, not just ours. The entire world....we are all one.

The world needs us to stop separating everyone. Take care of our children but not all the children of the world. That's not how I want it. We are one planet. They are all our children.


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