Among our discoveries

Study update information

If you have been following the line of our Possible Human, Possible Society Study adventure you, no doubt, are aware that the baseline objective of the study is:

To discover to what extent various individuals and sub-groups within a given locale (presently focusing on residents living within the one hundred mile radius of the Washington, D.C. White House) embody the characteristics necessary to be active agents of community unity in the U.S.A.

Anastasia,
Super Sleuth
 

In other words:

To discover who is really walking the walk for unity in the U.S.A.!

With this goal in mind, to date we have identified two basic citizen modes which we are becoming accustomed to categorizing as:

• “Real Deal Peace Buddies”
• “Pretender Peace Buddies.”

You can find some descriptive details about these by checking the links above. And, further details on our Peace Buddy Project at this link.

So far it appears to our “doing our best to be objective” analysis that “Real Deal Peace Buddies” have one major identifying characteristic in common:

They are informed and actively engaged participants in the “what’s happening now” activities in their local communities as well as concerned -- and possibly involved with -- national and global village matters.

Pretender Peace Buddies, on the other hand are characterized by the following types of behaviors, (each without accompanying, active problem solving involvement of some type):

• Intellectualizing and/or debating issues;
• “Spiritual bypassing” earth plane concerns (i.e. pray and give it up to God);
• Book club discussions;
• Anger;
• Complaining;
• Criticizing the actions of others;
• Arrogance and/or elitism;
• Detachment and/or disinterest or apathy.

Of course, please remember that our Possible Human, Possible Society Study adventure is still only just begun. We have a lot to learn and must be certain, ourselves, to remain a part of solutions rather than instigating problems. So we will hold our final, official assessments until we have found out more.

In the meantime, look for our “Real Deal Peace Buddy” Profiles, beginning soon, hopefully, by the end of next week with (again hopefully) at least one profile each month in the near future. But, who can possibly know what the distant future will bring.

Anastasia

Today up in the mountains, now being inundated by stink bugs on the holiest of Jewish holidays, the Day of Atonement, to which I wish these awful bugs would take heed.

The Possible Human, Possible Society

Study update information

Just after Barak Obama was inaugerated in January, 2009, I (Anastasia) set out to discover, by way of a study, the Possible Human, Possible Society Study, to what extent American citizens were intent on following the “activate the grassroots” agenda this new president seemed to be promoting.


Anastasia,
Super Sleuth

The study, temporarily shelved between early 2009 until the 2011 debt ceiling debate crisis, was then launched as a New Horizons’ test project  on August 1, 2011.  Following that, the interview time span was officially set at January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2015, allowing for preliminaries and start up testing of interviews strategies.

Since the launching date, the study has been quite an adenture; intriguing,  thought provoking and fun!  Once announced, with preliminaries barely set, the study  immediately took off like a fast moving hurricane.  Designed to center around the interviews of four hundred individuals in four different categories (Twelve Step participants, spiritually identified people outside of the Twelve Step model, mainstream individuals and close to the White House people), living within the one hundred mile radius of the Washington D.C. White House, the study thus was set in motion.

To date we have now interviewed close to  seventy-five people, some briefly, others more indepth –and – have uncovered  some fascinating findings. Presently, following a lull and some necessary down time for assessments, we are  moving into another high gear round. (As Sue noted in our recent New Horizons board minutes, study momentum depends on me, Anastasia, as the architect of the study and chief investigator. As a result there have been times of intense involvement with the study on my part, as well as necessary evaluations of progess by board members, reorganization and related down times.)

Now we are buiding up to another round of high gear momentum. So look for more and more study reports and articles on study-related projects and programs.

More to come.

Imagine.....

In your mind’s eye imagine that New Horizons Small “Zones of Peace” Project is like a bubble, lifting you up (and anyone else who wishes to join us) to the higher realms of human consciousness and collective unity, peace and harmony, built upon strong, reliable foundations that ensure durability. Not pie in the sky, but "real deal" action ways .

Remember those words from John Lennon’s song, ”Imagine” The ones that went like this – “Imagine all the people living life in peace...”  

I offer you these thoughts for today, on the heels of yesterday’s Annual New Horizons Board Meeting, wherein our board agreed on many items, aligned with our intent, to systematically pave our way to collective cooperation (and assist you in doing that too).

Not the least of these items being that simplifying the message of what we are about and succinctly articulating all that we do is a challenging endeavor.

Our model offers a multi-faceted, multi-layered and complex approach to community unity building, as simple as the A, B, Cs, if you experience it with us. Not so easy to describe.

We are challenged with our words, but not with our actions. What more can I say?

But --- just imagine those words of John Lennon and allow yourself to dream, on the eve of another September 11th, of ”all the people living life in peace.” Then make up your mind to travel with New Horizons specially trained tour guides, Anastasia and Sue, to destinations where dreams can come true.

New Horizons brings you opportunities to imagine, along with concrete community development methods for turning dreams into realities, over time, slowly but surely, if you are up for the effort.

All of this backed up with data that suggests the best possible pathways to travel on your road to your dreams.  Imagine that!

More American Dreams

Stories behind our Possible Human, Possible Society Study

See Anastasia The Storyteller,

"Here I Stand"



"Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,"

The Personal Story Behind Our Study

See "American Dreams" at Anastasia The Storyteller.



My immigrant grandpa
came here to America
for freedon and the "streets paved
with gold."



One Thing We Discovered

The mission of the Possible Human, Possible Society Study is, amongst other things, a treasure hunt. Though I didn’t think this when I originally designed the format, this is truly where the study has led us. One cannot ask, sometimes intimate, questions of others and not find treasure. This is where the seeking can lead.

We asked and we found some well-spoken values that, to us, seem to represent the most likely pathways for best possible humans on the road to the best possible society. Of course, as our Abkhazian Dinner brought us to note, we entered the arena of our study process with a few biases of our own. Such are the limitations of humans on the journey of, collectively, being human.

We hope you will forgive us our imperfections and find in our discoveries, albeit they still are somewhat minimal, with only (approximately) seventy interviewees, thus far out of an intended four hundred. Nonetheless, today we offer a selection of responses from the following Possible Human, Possible Society Study question offered below.

(Soon to follow: What responses to this question showed us about the main types of citizen attitudes from our collective possible society in motion project, at this time from a small cross section of study participants.)

Note: Anonymous quotes below are from the type we have identified as “actively engaged participants.” From this type, several of our study participants have been selected by New Horizons Board of Directors to be profiled in coming months as (“Real Deal’) Peace Buddies. Look for the first of this feature by the end of September.

Possible Human, Possible Society interview question re: “Role of U.S.A. citizens”

What in your view should be the primary roles and responsibilities of U.S. citizens in running this county?

Jim French: “Participation, voting, contributing thoughts, engaging with fellow citizens in conversant ways that encourage fruitful dialogue and expansive thinking.”

Anonymous 2, pending permission to attribute quote: “Participation such as attending town meetings, listening carefully to others, having exposure to multiple cultures, exercising voting rights.”

Anonymous 3, pending permission to attribute quote: “Participate, communicate, pay attention and grow up to the responsibilities of being an actively, engaged citizen of this democracy!”

Question: Do these views represent your own? Not only the talking, but, indeed, also the walking? Please let us know with your comments, agreeing or disagreeing or??

We, at New Horizons, hadn’t yet put our own biases into words until our Abkhazian Dinner “Turning Point,” but they did turn out to include that we are --

“… about ideas put into action by how one handles oneself day by day, instance by instance that presents itself as teachable moments.”

Ah, the treasures of our teachable moments! Always they are teaching us, anew, and “turning” us to spiral upwards to the next higher level of ascending the evolutionary planes of growth, even in times of an ouch.