Dear Reader – After a stimulating working vacation in Australia I’m bursting with new content. To make up for my silence these past few weeks I will publish on Mondays as well as my usual Thursdays for the next little while. … Read More
Author Archives: Al Etmanski
You can Learn a lot about SociaI Innovation by paying attention to the World of Disability
It is no surprise innovations abound in the world of disability. They comprise the largest minority group in the world, 1.2 Billion. When you factor in parents, siblings, other relatives as well as friends and caring professionals the minority tilts … Read More
Are You a Collector or a Converter?
Are you constantly on the alert for the “next big thing” or “one more thing?” Do you have thousands of names in your data base? Is your bookshelf brimming with the latest books from your chosen field? Do you pride … Read More
Time for a Charter of Human Obligations
I count myself among those Canadians in awe of anything written by Simone Weil, the French philosopher, mystic and political activist. The philosopher/theologian, George Grant (Lament for a Nation) put Weil beside the four gospels as his highest moral authority. … Read More
American Tune
I posted the following piece in September 2012 before the US Presidential election. It was a riff on Paul Simon’s 1973 song American Tune. American Tune was itself a riff on a JS Bach hymn from St. Mathew’s Passion. Simon’s … Read More
Sarah Palin and Naomi Klein have at least One Thing in Common
The belief that caring brings out the best in people. My mother’s stroke was a really formative moment in my life and I think because of it I have been attuned to seeing other expressions of that. When I started … Read More
Words – A Matter of Love and Death
Words are fascinating. They convey both meaning and misunderstanding. The more exact their meaning the more useful they are. The Inuit people who live in Northern Canada, for example, have at least 50 words for snow and ice. They have … Read More
The Face of the “Other”
I wrote recently about the importance of making face-to-face connection a priority if you want to make the world a better place. This shifts the focus of social activism, innovation and entrepreneurship from something abstract or statistically verifiable to something … Read More
Systems Change Won’t Happen Without a Resurrection of the Ordinary
Systems change is code for dealing with root causes, not symptoms. For widespread, as opposed to, piecemeal reform. For transforming our structures of governance and commerce. For dealing with all aspects of a particular challenge – from its origins to … Read More
Don’t Leap so Far Ahead of The Parade You Can’t Hear the Band
Are you a leaper or a grinder? Are you inclined to leap over the day-to-day messes and frustrations of social and environmental challenges, to demonstrate your solution for a better future, and to pull the present towards you? Or do … Read More