Can 'Critical Mass' change the world?

[Mark Trotter]

Stand on any street corner and just look up, wait to see how many people join you. You will be supprised! Similarly I found something interesting this week, I was working with a group of redundant people and they asked me what I do with my time, because part of what we were discussing was putting positive things on CV's.

So I started pointing at my object in the sky and found that many in the room felt the same they just didn't know how they and their family could change the world they live in. I asked what they had tried and the response was just the same as the street corner incidents, they tried to explore the problems without appearing to, they looked up in passing and then got on with what they were doing.

So I asked them what I could do to help them see what came next because I couldn't take the steps for them and I didn't want to tell them how to take that step. The group all said that they wanted to feel comfortable about taking the time to find the space to to learn about beating poverty. It isn't enough to give money they want to be involved.

So I suggested the following things

Read blogs on poverty irradication

Pick one country and find out what stops people from benefiting from the hard work we knows goes and millions spent by governments

Change shopping habits for 5% of their purchases a year and grow that %

Get involved in a group in the UK that does something practical (sponsor a fishing boat in Sri Lanka or a school in Uganda)

Is there anything else you would add, they don't want to get into politics they want to make a difference.

Thanks for reading

Mark T