http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-pqKQ4l_Do

Today, writing from Barcelona I’m filled with joy, inspiration and pride for my home country. I feel compelled to post not just about my excitement for president-elect Obama, but what his presidency and his understanding of technology will mean for our country, and indeed the world.

Tonight, we elected a visionary, transformational new president. Through a near-perfectly executed, grass-roots and high-values campaign, Obama sparked a political revolution that inspired young Americans to get involved in a deeply heartfelt movement for change. What made that near-perfect execution possible was leveraging communication technology and social media to build, and communicate with, an insanely broad base of supporters. In his victory speech tonight, he called on us all to become involved in our government in a manner that reminded me of Kennedy’s “Ask what you can do for your country” edict. Obama will broaden the movement he began in his campaign by providing new ways for us all to participate in a transformational new democracy.

In recent interviews, Obama shared his excitement for expanding the technology innovations his campaign built to involve citizens in his presidential campaign. I’m still astounded at how he broke campaign donation records in tiny $5-$20 increments donated by a broad base of supporters. Obama plans to expand and innovate on that technology during his Presidency– possibly realizing a true idealized version of democracy– enabled through technology. I imagine local ‘meetups’ and volunteer groups, expanded Peace Corps task forces sent overseas to aid in crises, volunteer mentor groups and tutors to help children in disadvantaged areas (see groups like 826 Valencia to see how possible this can be). I envision initiatives set out by President Obama to solve our problems like climate change and energy by working with companies like Google to get our best minds to work on solving problems with our minds, and not our brawn (think of expanding forums like the TED conferences).

Indeed, Obama has pledged to create a new Chief Technology Officer cabinet-level post in his administration. And I do not believe I’m being overly optimistic in believing that with new technology, smart communication and human organization systems, plus an inspired group of participants, yes we can absolutely affect real change and meaningful progress.

Last night I attended an election-night party here in Barcelona filled with excited American expats, local Catalonian politicians, and Obama supporters from all over the world. We partied, we talked excitedly about the results and what a President Obama might mean for our world.

This morning, I’m filled with a sense of pride for my small involvement in Obama’s campaign, and for the first time, inspiration to become actively involved in our democracy. Our new President’s understanding of technology and innovation as the #1 component of increasing the standard of living for all people gives me an overhwelming sense of hope that an Obama administration can affect real, meaningful and progressive change.

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In Buddhism, the term “Samvega” means, a sense of urgency or passion for spiritual or life practice coming from knowing the preciousness of life and the constant nearness of death.

With a powerful sense of Samvega, I’ve decided to join the Obama campaign. I’ve always followed politics closely, but I’ve never been inspired to get involved with a political candidate before. While I write this, there are over 700 wildfires burning in Northern California because of a (mild) drought, a war rages in Iraq while oil companies and commodities traders make record profits on $5/gallon gasoline. Granted, my life, other than the smell of smoke in the air, is relatively unaffected. I can afford the gas…but I wonder how the yard-maintenance man can. I know that it is on his back that those oil executives and futures traders just had a great 2nd quarter.

I believe that climate change is at hand.  That economic and political forces have become grossly corrupt such that the poor are getting much more hopelessly poor while the rich shore up their wealth in a world on the brink of dramatic and alarming change.  I know first-hand how horribly wrong our private health insurance system has become. Health insurance companies pay their employees bonuses to reject claims and I’ve personally had claims for medication, and time in the hospital rejected by Blue Cross for bogus reasons. But oddly, it was the news I heard at an upscale San Francisco restaurant that struck me: I learned that salmon fishing has been stopped for the summer because the fish have all but disappeared from the pacific coast. No one really knows why, but it’s likely overfishing, runoff from logging and pollution of the waterways and ocean.

As Americans, I see us losing touch with the values that made us great and see us cowering in fear while economic forces weaken our dollar, force home foreclosures and make us hopelessly less relevant on the world stage. Our best hope for drastic and lasting change is electing Barack Obama as President. I believe that a President Obama, with a democratically-controlled congress will help our country drastically alter course, develop a new era of world leadership and re-establish goodwill and community contribution as 21st century American values.

Yes we can.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz3tPxUFGbY

Rather than see a problem that we need to feel guilty about, what if we made living sustainably into a game? From that standpoint, my friend Phillipe came up with 7 easy ways to make direct changes to how to live a more environmentally sustainable life:

1. Stop Junk Mail. Check out these two sites: http://www.stopjunkmail.org http://tinyurl.com/5aqxw
2. Buy less (stuff), drive less (with a gasoline engine). Buying less reduces the demands on manufacturing, which is the most direct way for you to reduce your impact on the environment. Driving less causes less emissions, which in turn is easier on the environment. If you need to meet people, consider free conferencing services instead (www.freeconference.com)
3. Buy used (stuff), carpool (with gasoline engines) or use transportation that pollutes less. Buying used means the life of the product will be extended before it find its way into landfill. Check out (real) flea markets, www.Craigslist.Com, www.eBay.Com, and ask your community (email lists, facebook, etc) if anyone wants to sell you the item you’re looking for. Carpooling (http://www.ridenow.org/carpool and http://rideshare.511.org/) or using public transportation (http://511.org/) means more people get moved by the vehicle you’re using, which means less impact than if more people used their own vehicle. Transportation that uses less emission (biking, walking, etc) is even better!
4. Fix or re-use (stuff that you already own) — or find someone who can. Sure you could have something bran-new, but that means both throwing something away and buying something else – a double impact on the environment. Trying to fix something that already exists will get your brain to function at a creative and analytic level to learn how to make this “thing” work. When in doubt, ask your community (lists) for help. Someone WILL likely show up ready to give you a hand.
5. Reduce the amount of packaging. Buy local. Buy in bulk. If you buy something and don’t need the extra bag, tell the cashier and carry it in your hands. Better even, always keep old plastic bags and other canvas bags/old backpacks/paper bags in your car and use them to carry anything you buy. Buy in stores that have lots of bulk food  to reduce the amount of packaging (and use those plastic bags to put the food in it instead of taking new plastic bags in the bulk food section). Buy local to reduce the amount of gasoline that was used to food to you (the more people who do this, the more local food stores will carry). Even better, go to farmer’s markets (Check www.ecologycenter.org for Berkeley Farmer’s Markets). For shipping boxes, find a UPS store that will take them rather than putting them in the recycling
6. Examine closely what you put in the trash. Become conscious of how your choices affect the amount of trash you generate. Turn it into a game! Get creative! How long can you extend the time before you have to empty your kitchen trash can?
7. Recycle as much as you can Ask your city for a flyer telling you what can be recycled. If your city doesn’t recycle some items, find other cities close by that will, collect the items over a few weeks, and then walk/bike/drive over there on recycling pick-up day to put the items in someone else’s recycling box. A great place to look for all this information for the San Francisco Bay Area is www.stopwaste.org!

OtOther fun articles:

• Green special: My trail of trash: http://tinyurl.com/6f2j2o
• www.EcoGeek.Org: Science, technology gadgets and…baby seals. We’re in a bit of an eco-mess, but we’ve got the brains to lick any problem. And that’s why EcoGeek.org publishes up to ten stories daily about innovations that are saving the planet.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvJoc8oEays

A great ad can entertain and inspire by tickling us with its producers’ creativity. Advertising makes some of my favorite things free (pretty much all my favorite sites on the internet, and also radio) but it certainly can be overdone by front-loading $12 per-ticket movies with too many previews. But a worse offense is to launch an advertising campaign devoid of creativity or innovation. A great ad campaign can move us emotionally. It can make us laugh or cry or bring color and humor to an otherwise mundane city bus.

But I learned a new rule of advertising recently that discourages creativity. Turns out that many ad campaigns are purposefully meant to be uncreative and simple in order to persuade the viewer even more effectively. Ever wonder why with all the funny, creative television ads you see, there still seems to be some dumb paper towel or toothpaste ad that makes you groan? Turns out, that groan may be purposeful on the part of the ad agency. According to Malcom Gladwell, in his book Blink, viewers are more likely to “Let their guards down” when viewing an ad that they think is unclever, blatant advertising. According to the theory, when you’re evaluating whether you’re being advertised to or not, you’re less likely to be receptive and persuaded by an advertising message. Your mind is on-guard thinking “Is this an ad? It’s so creative, I like it. But wait, don’t be convinced by it…remember, it’s an ad.” However, when you make a snap-judgement and label advertising as silly and blatant, “Brawny soaks up 10x the amount of moisture as other leading brands!!” you let down your guard, groan, and the message seeps into your brain where it’s far more likely to influence your next purchasing decision. Who knew? Turns out the big brands do…

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Reaching new levels of the ‘spiral’ illustrated in the theory of Spiral Dynamics require greater levels of self-awareness. It’s my belief that the more self-aware the entire population is, the more able we are to make smarter group decisions that push the population’s level of happiness and responsibility forward. To me the practices and resources of personal growth (whether it be a simple Yoga class w/ meditation or a book on reaching your financial goals) is an accessible way to invite a population of people into greater self-awareness. That ‘next level’ of thinking, to me, helps illustrate a basic example of how personal growth can play into the theory of massive leaps in spiral dynamics.

To that end, some friends of mine recently launched a personal development review site, called GrowthPop.com, where users post reviews, rate & comment or discuss their experiences with self improvement & growth resources from books to workshops to spiritual gurus. I feel like this sector has been heating up lately, from mainstream folks like Tony Robbins, to the proliferation of life coaches and Yoga going mainstream. A single source where you can find everything in one place will help more people find resources to become more conscious of their thoughts and actions and play a key role in helping the masses discover new levels of consciousness…and…thereby save the world. =)

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