The Point

I came across this interesting website because someone had shamelessly used Bono's name to garner publicity. The ruse is completely unrelated to the website, but it has brought The Point.com some nice attention. I will profile the website in a second but first I would like to address this person's efforts on making the world a better place and how it in fact just added to what is already wrong in the world.

The so called 'campaign' was started to raise money to get Bono to stop doing his philanthropic activities with the funds raised going to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The argument the person (and you can see his/her name if you log onto the website)is that the RED campaign that Bono created has spent more on advertising and marketing than it has donated to the Global Fund.

The ignorance is deplorable. If, and I hope you choose to do better things with your time, you decide to put something or someone else down for their efforts to make the world a better place, then please make sure you understand what you are saying negative things about. The fact that this person could not understand the business model that RED supports just makes him look bad but also brings unnecessary negative publicity and criticism from others who also know no better and do not take the time to find out the truth. The world needs more positive actions, not negative.

On that note, I just finished reading The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama and near the end of the book one passage stuck out to me;

I wonder if Sasha will remember that moment when she is grown. Probably not; it seems as if I can retrieve only the barest fragments of memory from when I was five. But I suspect that the happiness she felt on that parachute registers permanently in her; that such moments accumulate and embed themselves in a child's character, becoming a part of their soul.

I think that this passage and the 'campaign' have something in common that we should all take heed of. Our lives are an accumulation of thoughts, feelings, and events. The more we can add positives to the equation the more that the answer will also be positive. The world is filled with negatives, every where we turn, so start outputting some positives and watch the world change for the better.

As promised I wanted to talk briefly about the website The Point. Here is what The Point has to say about its purpose:

What is The Point? The Point is a website where anyone can start a campaign to organize group action or raise money. We help people congregate around the issues they care about and combine forces to make things happen. Here’s The Point’s big idea: campaign members only act when the conditions exist for them to have the greatest possible impact. For example, donating one dollar toward a one-thousand dollar goal is a waste of a dollar if you’re the only one. But if 999 others are willing, then the goal is reached and that dollar makes sense. The Point allows communities to use the Web to do more than talk it helps them coordinate each person’s small contribution to make big things happen. It’s an entirely new approach to collective action.

How does it work? You can start a campaign on The Point to do anything a group of people might do: gather enough people for a softball game; raise money for a charity; or boycott a company to force change, to name a few. All you need to know is your goal, and what you want people to do to reach it.

Another great spot to explore and share your social conscious. There are lots of great campaigns currently going on (one's with a positive purpose) that you can check out and join. You can even start your own if you feel so inclined.

Remember, do what you do for the better and worry about yourself and how you can contribute to a better world. Focus your energy on the positives that you can share and let the rest take care of itself. There is a time and a place to speak out against the things that make the world worse off, but make a greater effort to understand the subject of your efforts or else risk doing the opposite of what you hope to achieve.

Dreambank

One of the readers of this blog passed along this great website and I thought I would share it. It is called Dreambank and it is exactly what it sounds like. Dreamers post their dreams and Supporters help them realize these dreams. It has a bunch of other interesting tid bits and this is the run down according to the website.

What We Do
Dreams are inspiring! Just imagine how much happier the world would be if more of our dreams could come true. That’s why we created DreamBank. We want to help you fulfil dreams in a way that also cares for the planet and contributes to important social causes.

Here’s How We Do It.
First, we provide a fun, easy way for you to fund your dreams. By posting a dream on www.dreambank.org, friends, family and fans can contribute to your dream fund. Each contribution brings your dream closer to reality. Funding dreams is important, but so is support. DreamBank is also built as a community so you can connect and communicate with fellow Dreamers to: follow their progress, share ideas and resources, or just cheer them on.

Second, DreamBank is about helping the planet. By contributing to a dream, you spare the planet some of the nasty side effects of manufacturing, packaging and shipping gifts that, although we appreciate, we often don’t really need or want. Did you know that 83% of Americans[1] received unwanted gifts during the 2006 holiday season? All that ‘stuff’ puts a strain on the environment.

Last but not least, every time a contributor supports a dream, life gets a little better for someone else on the planet. That’s because DreamBank contributions are pooled into one big fund and the interest it generates is distributed to international charities and non profit organizations. Dreamers are given a choice of organizations to associate with their dream. This acts as a vote and tells us how to divvy up the charity pot according to our Dreamers' wishes.

At DreamBank everyone wins. Dreamers get a chance to fulfil their dreams; friends and family get to play a role in making dreams come true for the people they care about; the planet is spared needless environmental damage; and people in need get more help.

Give Dreams. Not Stuff.

A great idea that might be handy come holidays or birthdays instead of receiving gifts from a bevy of people you could post your dream (in some cases a gift you could never afford) and your friends and family can put a little towards the dream to help you realize it. Not only that but a not-for-profit will see something from it as well!

Avaaz.org

Here is another website some of you may be interested in. It is called Avaaz.org: The World In Action. Their mission is:

Avaaz.org is a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want. Across the world, most people want stronger protections for the environment, greater respect for human rights, and concerted efforts to end poverty, corruption and war. Yet globalization faces a huge democratic deficit as international decisions are shaped by political elites and unaccountable corporations -- not the views and values of the world’s people.

Technology and the internet have allowed citizens to connect and mobilize like never before. The rise of a new model of internet-driven, people-powered politics is changing countries from Australia to the Philippines to the United States. Avaaz takes this model global, connecting people across borders to bring people powered politics to international decision-making.

“Avaaz” means “Voice” in many Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages, according to the website.

Furthermore it is described as, "a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. The aim of Avaaz.org is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decisions. Avaaz.org members act for a more just and peaceful world and a globalisation with a human face."

Take a look and let me know what you think. There are so many different places now for global citizens to congregate, many of which I have written about, that it would be nice to know what people think about each of them and for what purpose each one could be used. They are certainly all valuable resources, but each has a different reason for using.