Forget the political parties, the Tea Party, the Coffee Party. We can do better, and many of us improve our own communities. Let's publicize that, and let's determine how to solve problems nationwide. We’ll create our own Can Do Party.
I believe what Tip O’Neill said - “All politics is local”. Problems are universal, and solutions are local. We all want clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, access to good healthcare, education, jobs, business opportunities; but the solutions that might work in densely populated urban areas probably won’t in sparsely populated areas, and vice versa.
- A rural farming community needs to be concerned with overuse of fertilizers, soil erosion, draining of groundwater; coastal urban communities need to be concerned about beach erosion, rising sea levels, loss of green space, strained infrastructures.
- For a sparsely populated area, healthcare access could mean increased use of telemedicine, mobile healthcare clinics, skilled healthcare professionals other than doctors, and programs enabling healthcare professionals to work off their student loan debt in exchange for relocating to the community. In urban areas mobility may not be as critical as the implementation of preventive wellness programs, including grocery stores carrying items for healthy diets and cooking lessons to help shoppers use them.
Add your thoughts to this list! There are solutions, and many of you are already doing them. Among my small group of Facebook friends -
- many have rescued pets and some actively work against instances of animal abuse;
- some participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and they and others completed races and other athletic events benefitting local charities, and a couple directed such events;
- one cooks and serves meals for homeless;
- one leads efforts to create affordable housing;
- one serves on her local School Board;
- one participated in a medical mission to Tanzania;
- one has travelled the world promoting peace through sports.
Forgive me for not mentioning some of your efforts; please make this your space. Email me directly with your thoughts - I promise I’ll edit them only for spelling and grammar - or I can set you up as a guest author and you can post yourself. My posts are likely to run the gamut from international to national to local; please factcheck and comment on those. Let’s get this Can Do Party started!
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