Making A Change 101

Saving the world has never been so easy and fun to do! There's no more need to join movements that get stuck in dogmas or corrupted by megalomaniac party leaders. It's the time of individuals, and individuals are changing the world.

We all knew about Citizen Journalism and the ocean of bloggers observing and discussing the world. Stations like RadioZamaneh are all about it. One single blogger, Salam Pax, gave the people of Iraq a voice and a human face during the early period of the war.

Now the new hip thing is Citizen Diplomacy. No trust in your elected leader Bush, Brown or Balkenende to make things right or open dialogue with the actual people of a country? Check out initiatives like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAZAIybiFWM&eurl=http://willward.wordpress.com/

My friend Doug who's previously lived in Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands is involved in new missions going to Iran from the US. I'll keep you guys posted on how that goes.

(by the way, if the vatican is a country does this also count as Citizen Diplomacy?)

And then there is Citizen Financial Aid: people in developing countries present to you their projects, you decide whom to support (all projects that can be done with a few hundred dollars), and once they have an income to provide for themselves and their families they pay you back the money they owe you. Take a look at: http://www.kiva.org/

---

Yay, world saved! Let's celebrate by listening to some music. Kiosk is a huge band in Iran, yet rarely gets airplay outside of the country.

"Ey Dad az Eshq"



Soheil Nafisi - a brilliant musician who uses the poetry of contemporary Iranian poets in his work.

"... a thousand happy larks in your eyes,
a thousand quiets canaries in my throat..."