Beyond Good and Evil

I love this article by Marshall Rosenberg and am curious what people think about how we can create environments that serve to meet people's deeper needs in alternative ways to violence and resulting moralistic judgment. How can we connect to youth that are choosing gangs or violence as a strategy to meet their needs? What are those needs? How can we connect at that level? Who has had success connecting at this deeper level and co-creating strategies that are less costly for others?

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Permalink Reply by CaptainSweep on July 25, 2007 at 12:11am
I had a building for a year where I was trying to put together a "Dreamspace". What I see missing is a place for youth to hang out that is not government controlled and allows a different form of creativity. The idea was to create a grassroots web-tv network, a project incubator, an event center, an activist headquarters and a community communication headquarters. I also wanted to use some of the communication tools I have been developing around conflict resolution and consensus decision making.

What I found that there is a huge vacuum in the community (I am in Victoria, BC) for a place for homeless and 'crazy' artists to get a step up and back into a place of balance. So these groups of people became attracted to 'Dreamspace'. The spaces in our communities are very limited in the scope of what a person can do in them. When you go into a bank, you know you are there to do something with money. When you go into a restaurant, you are there to eat. But if you are creating a new space, Dreamspace, one that allows many things to happen, people don't even know how to use it.

I learned an incredible amount and the pace lacked the resources to be what it could have been. I witnessed pieces of the puzzle and wondered what would happen if a real 'Dreamspace' was made. What i did see is that the youth need a space of their own that they can organize to be their own, and if you had a music studio, dance studio and other such creative outlets you would see something amazing.

I just think that society is missing some essential elements that are not found in any of the normal spaces...

I've studied NVC and its wonderful....I have my own conscious communication model which is similar but quite different...
Permalink Reply by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on August 6, 2007 at 10:39am
dreamspace sounds wonderful! i'd love to see that manifest in all communities..thanks for sharing

and kristin, just reread the MR article..there is so much there to discuss....hummm...ill try to get to it later cause that is something i would enjoy but gotta run off to my second life meditation now!
Permalink Reply by Kristin Bodiford on August 6, 2007 at 11:27am
Will do! There is so much in there. Would love to have a discussion around it. My father is involved in statewide policy and part of the commission wants to demonize the legislature for not passing the legislation they were proposing. I love the options we have to work/advocate in alternative ways. There are so many applications and opportunities for creating peace in our world.
Permalink Reply by Kristin Bodiford on August 6, 2007 at 11:25am
Hey Captain Sweep!

Thanks so much for your post! I would love to learn more about the Dreamspace you created and how you incorporated the communication tools. I find it interesting your note on when you create a new space - people don't know how to use it and am curious about discussing that further - ways that folks have had success in creating the norms and structure for a community to develop. Have you read Ray Oldenburg's work about Third Place Spaces? It seems what you are creating is a place - a third place space -for people to also develop relationship with each other. And in a new way it creates challenges around how to make this happen.

I would also like to hear about your own conscious communication model. How it is similar - how it is different and what your experience has been in relation to incorporating it into your life in this conscious way.

We are looking at ways of increasing social capital in 'marginalized' communities and it seems to me that you have direct experience with creating space that supports the creation of social capital. I would love to learn more from your experience!
Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Levy on August 28, 2007 at 11:51pm
David Loy's article entitled "How to Reform a Serial Killer" is the standard academic presentation of
restorative justice approached from a traditional Buddhist perspective.

The paper is available online from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics website and is reprinted in Loy's book
entitled The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory.

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