We’d all like to see OUR world improve, right?

Here are 10 suggestions for improvement:

1. Less religious intolerance

I am no fan of fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalism breeds intolerance. When folks think they have all the answers to the riddles of life they tend to condemn others who might have different ones. I am all for faith, but have little tolerance for an intolerant faith.

2. More consensus and movement towards solving global warming

To say that global warming is a hoax is ignorant. It’s kind of like Jim Inhofe suggesting, with a snowball, that there’s a snowball’s chance of over 90% of the scientific community being collectively wrong on this one. The science is in. What’s more, the consequences are HERE. It may be too late to do anything about them. I hope not. But it is never too late to at least try.

3. Less consumerism and more environmentalism

For too long we have sacrificed the environment in order to appease our insatiable desire to consume. Now we are feeling the effects. It’s high time we reversed that trend. We could all get along with less stuff and more sustainable selflessness.

4. Less prejudicial hate

I hate the word and almost every usage of the word, hate. Except in this context. I hate prejudice. Hate it with every core of my being. I don’t hate people who harbor it, but I do think that they are suffering from a brand of ignorance that puts their mentality (at least with respect to this issue) on par with, say, the lizard. That’s it, prejudicial people are cold blooded reptiles. That’s the way I see it.

5. Stop the labeling and bickering over labels

Democrat, Republican, Left, Right, Socialist, Capitalist, yada, yada, yada. Unless and until we can get rid of these labels that tend to create distance between us, there will never be consensus and nothing good will ever get done. Everything that miraculously does get done will be done to bring power to the label, and take it away from the opposing view. And that’s just about power, not about bringing real and honest good into the world.

6. Less people in poverty and societal indifference to their plight

Why does poverty exist? Here is a fact for you. The world’s 100 richest people could end global poverty in the world 4 times over. So, why don’t they? Of course, those are the ones who if they lost everything, have the talent and drive to get it all back, right? Well, maybe not all of it, but at least enough for them not to be in…poverty. Go figure.

7. More art and less competitive commerce

It amuses me to constantly receive these inane emails that promise to increase my web site traffic, or sell me some ridiculous email list to use in perpetuating the spam cycle. Probably some of these are coming from “successful” businesses that make a lot more money than I do. As for me? I will stick to trying to produce art. And make a positive difference for someone other than me.

8. Less corporate mega-farming (and more individual farming)

We are sick and getting sicker, fat and getting fatter. Obesity is on the increase and so is cancer. Why? Because we killed the small farmer and replaced him with the corporate mega-farm. The result? More and bigger stuff to fill the aisles of the mega-big-box stores and McDonald’s Big Mack burgers. I am all for bringing back the small farmer. In fact, the micro-farmer, which could be Sally the suburbanite with a hydroponic garden in her backyard.

9. The end to all stupid and needless wars and armed conflicts

Isn’t this the top answer in most beauty pageants to the question “if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?” Well, I certainly ain’t winning any beauty contests, but world peace actually is a pretty good answer?

10. Widespread impact mindfulness

I challenge you to take one day and be mindful throughout that day of all the things you do (or don’t do) and all the potential impacts of them. What if everyone was mindful of their impacts and sought to make sure they were positive ones? How that would change the world!

What you do matters.

How about you? What are your 10 ways our world could improve (or five, or three, or even one)?

And, better yet, what can you do to bring about those improvements?