Basic rules & guidelines

I have created this blog as a response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which I see as having galvanized many people into a sense of power and purpose, and also see as creating a great deal of polarization, hostility and self-righteous mud slinging.

The purpose of this blog is to provide a safe, respectful space for people of all beliefs, genders and political persuasions to create a socio-economic system based on mutual respect and cooperation, and to take personal action to bring this system into operation.

In order to create a safe and respectful space for this dialog, I am establishing basic ground rules for participation, and will act as moderator for the dialog and keeper of the rules.

Here they are:

1. No name-calling. It's okay to say "President Obama isn't keeping his promise about XXXX", it's not okay to say "President Obama is a @%$!&^ idiot commie traitor" or any variations on this theme, applied either to public personages or participants in this dialog.
   
2. This is not a platform for attacking or defending any ideology(s) or belief(s). It's okay to point out specific things that we see as working or not working, equitable or not equitable in a given system, model or ideology, as long as it is presented in the context of cooperating to create something we believe will work better.

That's pretty much it. There may be additions and/or modifications later, and I welcome feedback on this issue. But for now I want to keep the actual rules (which I reserve the right to enforce by deleting and/or flagging comments I judge to be in violation of them,) as few and simple as possible.

I also propose some guidelines in creating the most open, supportive and respectful space possible for this dialog:

• Use 'I statements' such as "I believe that cooperation is a more effective strategy than competition" rather than ex-cathedra pronouncements like "The truth is, cooperation is always better than competition".
• Find something to agree with or validate about another participant's comment/posting, before moving on to areas of disagreement, questioning or refuting the data presented, etc. Example: "I agree with Peabody's comment about soft drinks being a major contributor to diabetes and therefore to skyrocketing health care costs, and I think that taxing soft drinks and channeling that money into diabetes education and treatment would be a more equitable solution than banning them altogether."
• Cite sources for data, so that everyone can assess for themselves how credible it is, and can do further research if interested.
• Bear in mind always that the purpose of this dialog is creating a system based on cooperation and respect, and acting to bring that system into operation. This will only happen (in my firm and passionate belief,) if and to the degree that we are respectful and cooperative in this dialog.

I am working on another post that outlines some specific issues and ideas that I have gathered under the label of 'Entrepreneurial Humanism', which I hope to have up in the next few days.

I look forward to seeing where this journey leads us!

Blessings to all,

Bob Olofson