Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The SuperForest Humanifesto

What is going to save the human race?

Please.
Thank you.

Three words that will totally change this planet.
More than solar power. More than recycling. More than wind energy.

Why?

Because if we all started treating the people and things that we interact with every day with respect and compassion, the effects would ripple through every aspect of our lives, transforming society.

Our parents taught us the manners “rule-sets” that we use every day, and as a result, we feel that we have (through years of introspection) begun walking the path towards enlightenment. Our manners dictate the way we treat the external world, the Environment. We feel that it is primarily our manners that dictate our success as humans.

Folks talk about wanting to save the “Environment”, and that conjures up images of bubbling brooks and unspoiled forests. But “the Environment” isn’t just greenery and pretty scenery. It’s our slums, our airports, our houses, our supermarkets.
The Environment is everything that disappears when you close your eyes.

If you want to improve it, you must begin with what you see and encounter every single day of your life.

Before we can set about elevating our present society from a carbon-based one to a solar-electric one, knowing full well that solar-electric decentralized power means a higher quality of life for all, we must first pause and ask ourselves: Why? What is worth saving?

Human Consciousness.

Our gift and curse as humans is our incredible consciousness. We are aware, and that is the greatest and worst thing we’ve got going for us. Because we can clearly see how well we could be living, how politely we could be treating one another, how incredible life could be; we feel it is our duty to delight and inform our fellow humans in the hopes of a better world.

There is no reason every human on Earth could not have access to:
Clean Water
Nutruitious Un-modified Food
Shelter
Education
Open Source Communication
Freedom from Oppression and Fascism

But, as is painfully obvious, most humans don’t have those things.
Most humans don’t have two of the six!

They could, but they don’t.

Why?

Bad Manners.

Nearly every religion this planet has yet produced has as one of its tenets the idea that to be happy, you must treat others as you yourself would hope to be treated.
A failure in this respect is simply bad form.

When a company decides to dump its waste into a river that others downstream use for drinking water, that is bad manners.

When a society chooses to isolate its citizenry in prisons and not offer any chance at rehabilitation, that is bad manners.

When a person decides to walk into a school and open fire on their classmates, that is extremely bad manners.

That is why we MUST START NOW.

All new generations must be schooled in the art of good manners if we are to survive, let alone flourish, as a species.

Try your hardest to treat others as you hope they would treat you, and actively look for ways to help the people around you. Do this from a pure place within you and watch the effects ripple outward!

Why?

Because so few are doing it.

Good manners make you stand out like a struck match in a dark room.

Three Essentials:

Make eye contact with anyone you interact with. Smiling is optional but highly encouraged.
Use the words “Please” and “Thank You” as often as you can.
Seek out ways to improve the lives of others. This can be as small as carrying someones bag up a flight of stairs, or holding a door open.

Do these three things and your life will change immeasurably. And you will begin to change the lives of those who come into contact with you in a measurable and positive way.

We are filled with optimism and hope.

Thank you for reading this.


Team SuperForest

Jackson, Niki, Andrew, Alex, Taylor, Jaell, Julius, April, Jordan, Spoon, Carla, & Iman

7 comments:

onesilentwinter said...

I stumbled onto your blog-glad I did it made smile
funny, smart and refreshing.

thank you

fmosley said...

Hey Jackson --

Kismet-ically enough, I had just written to a colleague thanking him for thanking me when I was directed to Superforest and your piece on manners (by an email from your mom).

I'm a voice actor in L.A. A couple days ago I did a V.O. for a movie trailer. Today, I found a note of thanks and many nice compliments from the film's producer in my email box. Believe me -- this is unusual.
This is what I wrote back to him:

"To my chum, Steve
You are truly a mensch. In a business that, as per the rest of our culture, has become increasingly coarse, inconsiderate and mean, your "attaboy" note to me is as refreshing as it is prized. For a good demonstration of our sorry state, you need look no further than what has become of closing credits on movies and shows on TV -- compressed, sped-up, split screened; any- and everything possible to squeeze in a few seconds more of promo or commercial. These practices don't come out of thin air or from the amorphous "they." People make these decisions. The same people, no doubt, who would never think of saying "excuse me" when passing oafishly in front you at the market. I'm afraid this "new inconsideration" is quite contagious and its proponents seem to have become frighteningly many. But, there are some who refuse to be sucked in by the Clod Squad ----- and you are most definitely one of this increasingly exclusive club. And the best part is I get to work with you and call you my friend."

Russ

I thought you might like this little glimpse into "manners in practice." His note and your piece made my day.

Very good job on the blog,

Russ Buchanan

Unknown said...

i love bumper stickers, sometimes, nearly ran into one today that was great......RECKLESS COMPASSION

p.j. said...

"The Environment is everything that disappears when you close your eyes."

simply powerful words.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this Humanifesto. I will adopt these words now and live them!

thank you for putting them out there. :0)

Alan Halsted said...

Hi Jackson

Thank you for reminding me that every action starts now...

A brilliant website!

Cheers

Alan

Iman said...

A million thanks for posting. The world needs to hear this.

Big Red Dawg said...

You have my attention. Was just punching "Next Blog" and came upon yours. Will be back.
Please continue.
Thank you.