Ideas for America Discussion Guide

IDEAS FOR AMERICA DISCUSSION GUIDE

Although the book contains hundreds of ideas, all of them are united under one front; to improve quality of life for all living things. How to study these goals is up to you, but one thing is for sure; we’re going to need many, many different voices to be heard for this work to have a chance to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

You might ask what’s the most important idea or principle of the book? Above all, we need to love and respect one other. The ideas in this book are great, but they mean little without our commitment to treating each other and those who can’t defend themselves well.

What do we need; new authors, participation in college classrooms and Local Papers. It will take hundreds of writers to explore the relatively unexplored themes in this book. I believe there are easily enough themes here for hundreds of full books, if only folks take the time to find and develop them. College classrooms can contribute to the productive debate by doing problem solving and policy analysis in the classroom. The hearts and minds of college students can contribute to elevate the quality and spirit of analysis. Local newspapers can reestablish a new role for themselves by engaging in greater analysis; by helping readers understand how a rapidly changing world affects them. To achieve this, journalists will need a system to continue to develop their knowledge. 

What did you think about the 7 key concerns in the Discussion Guide from the book? What did you think were the biggest points of the book were? Did you disagree with anything I covered? What would be a better approach? Let us know, this is your forum!

Every Life Matters

“When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

– John F. Kennedy

The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the strangling death of Eric Garner brought out a great deal of anger that had previously only simmered below the surface. The mantra “black lives matter” that came out of the events was a great mantra and articulates a new, better attitude that I (and I’m sure many others) feel needs to pervade our culture. That mantra was turned in to “All Lives Matter” here, which is the essence of the spirit of this book; to improve quality of life for the black, Latin and white poor. At the same time, there is a focus on taking the pressure off the police, because it they that have to bear the burden of bad policy. Yes, there is such thing as good policy that benefits everyone.

1. Which idea in this chapter do you think is the best response to the current crisis?
2. What do you think about the potential benefits of “Citizen’s Books” and annual government reports? Do you have any thoughts on their ideal format?
3. What are some existing models of approaches to transparency?
4. Can make the summer facilities model outlined here happen?
5. Do you think the proposed goal for world peace is an important part of this chapter? What do you think would be a good first step for its implementation?
6. What are four benefits of a national energy policy?
7. How can we work toward animals being treated with decency and respect?
8. Are there any other ideas from elsewhere in the book that belong here?
9. What is the role of community newspapers in the twenty-first century?
10. How are the walking paths and rail trails near you? How can the rail trail, Safe Routes or pedbikeinfo.org ideas be applied to your hometown?

Tell us how you feel about these thoughts. Share them with your friends and family and get your community involved in the solutions to our world.