This blog is one of the primary ways we share core ideas and new developments in the Building A New Reality movement.
America’s Addiction to Voting
By Kerra L. Bolton Americans are addicted to the idea of voting. Voting represents ownership of the public policy and lawmaking processes. It denotes exclusive (citizen) membership in the American…
How Circle Rituals Can Build Community Resilience
“It started as a way of surviving, but then it became the most precious, human thing you can do at such moments,” she said. “We sat down…in a circle just to come back to ourselves, to try to find the words for what we were feeling and try to make sense of it.”
Seeking Truth…And Finding It
I feel that my journey so far has been one long proof of the concept proposed by Ted Wachtel in his blog post, Revolution By Conversation: that We, The People can take back our peaceful, convivial way of life, but only if we are willing to do the difficult work of taking back our democracy through working toward True Representation. And that begins with having civil, respectful dialogue with each other.
How to Spend $20 Billion: A True Representative Approach to Crafting State Budgets
The future of democracy – whether we live in Baltimore or Brussels – depends on citizen assemblies coming together, putting their differences aside, and working toward common sense solutions that benefit everyone. Without True Representation, we’ll continue to live in societies in which fear is allowed to place barbed-wire fences on our borders and in our hearts.
Revolution by Conversation
There is a plethora of ideas among those of us who are interested in building a new reality, using strategies with different names and in different settings, but all with a common thread—an emphasis on opportunities for people to talk to each other.
In Case You Doubt That School Really Is Optional
If you’ve been following this latest series about Kenneth Danford’s upcoming book, Learning Is Natural, School Is Optional, and had serious doubts about that whole concept…welcome to the club.
School is Optional – Part 5
North Star Self-Directed Learning for Teens program is neither an alternative school, nor a private progressive school, nor a homeschooling resource program. As Kenneth Danford recounts in this excerpt from his book, Learning is Natural, School is Optional, until recently North Star was unique. That is, until others wanted to emulate it and he created a way to do that — he calls it “Liberated Learners.”
School is Optional – Part 4
North Star coaches teens to leave school and embark on a self-directed path. It turns out that for 82% of our members, the first activity after North Star is: school.
School is Optional – Part 3
Editor’s Comments by Ted Wachtel Just because young people don’t want to go to high school doesn’t mean they don’t want to go to school. Many North Star members go…
School is Optional – Part 2
Editor’s Comments by Ted Wachtel Kenneth Danford’s new book, Learning is Natural, School is Optional, shares his more than two decades of experience in providing an alternative to school. Made…
