T H E ... S E A R C H ... F O R ... C E N T E R

• Point people to The Search for Center (via links or e-mail or just sharing the URL)
• Print out the Newsletter and make copies available to anyone you feel might be interested.
• Point people to the Beyond Imagination book, and Conversations with God book 2.
• Talk to people about the need for a social contract and a constitutional convention.
• Share your ideas about what cooperative interdependence means to you.

TWO: Get involved by voicing your opinion on the BIG ISSUES.

• Don't be content to be led by government as usual.
• Make your opinions known on the big issues. Some issues that you might want to consider addressing can be found in the Building the Foundations section.
• Inform your representatives that you expect their decision to reflect YOUR priorities. If they don't carry out your wishes, replace them with those who will.
• Force companies to act in a manner that SERVES you rather than enslaves you.
• Don't allow special interests to get undo attention, funding, and resources unless they are truly collective interests that support the COMMON GOOD.

THREE: Volunteer and get involved at the local level on important issues.

• Often, it is individuals volunteering to do things that makes all the difference.
• At the very least, do something to voice your opinion on the matter, or to bring the issue to the attention of someone that can deal with it.
• Force your representatives at all levels to be accountable and responsible. Do not accept mediocrity, indecisiveness, and practices that are not in the best interest of society.

FOUR: Start voting with your pocket book.

• Realize that our spending habits directly impact the nature and quality of services that are available in society.
  
  
• When WE choose to:
  
• pay large amounts of money for entertainment ... music, movies, sports, etc ... so that musicians, actors, and star athletes can earn millions of dollars per year;
• allow CEOs of companies to earn outrageous sums of money [million plus] while paying top government officials on the order of 50 thousand - 200 thousand.
• pay lawyers and doctors far more than teachers, scientists and engineers.
• pay high prices for brand name goods because you allow advertisers to sway your buying decisions.
• pay more for prisons and law enforcement than for education.
• pay $1 for a quarter pound burger that came from a cow raised in a third world country where people are living in poverty under governments that do not even recognize basic humanitarian rights.
• allow companies to sell and make huge profits on products that are known to be major contributers to health problems.

WE invite exactly those problems with the economy, education, and government that pervade society and world today.

Why does it make sense for a top athletes in major sports to make more money in a single year than most people even dream of making in their 50 years of dedicated labor during an entire lifetime? ... in some cases more than what 20-50 people make in their lifetimes!

Was the value to society for Mike Tyson's fight last week truly such that we collectively paid Mike Tyson alone $30 Million? ... that is more than we pay for the YEARLY salaries of 600 quality teachers! Revenues for the fight were probably in excess of $200 Million, or the equivalent yearly salaries of 4000 teachers.

[Clearly something is wrong with the value system that is being demonstrated in such actions.]

Is a top recording artist, actor or actress, or sports superstar really worth 10-50 times more than the President of the US or the Governor of a major state?

Why do we not see breakouts of actual costs of items along with the selling price when we buy goods and services? Would we make the same choices if advertisers could not sway us or if we new the item we were buying was marked up by several hundred percent? Would we feel that we are getting a FAIR deal under those circumstances?

The bottom line is that you get what you pay for, and that those with the major bucks get to influence decisions FAR MORE than than those with limited funds.

FIVE: Take Buckminster Fuller's advice.

• Do the things that you see need to be done that noone else seems to see need to be done. These are the exact things that are meant for YOU to do.
  
  
• You will be amazed by what happens when you do this. Sometimes this requires courage, initiative, and boldness; however, if YOU personally don't choose to get involved, why do you expect that others will? Also, if you don't do your part to make things better for others, then why are you entitled to reap the benefits of what they do?

SIX: Provide comments on the Declaration of Cooperative Interdependence

• What changes would you suggest be made?
• What addition topics should be addressed?