1 in 400 (Two Five Zero 017)
(I accidentally skipped 17, so even though the last was 021 this one is 017)
I’ve been working on Chapter 8: Themes of Here’s What We’ll Do: The Our Better Future book.
“The Themes” are an early articulation of my methodology. I’m very fond of them. They are powerful lenses through which to perceive the world and formulate strategies and tactics. There’s a quite handsome brochure somewhere, (downstairs in the black filing cabinet?) that explains everything.
They include: “Connectivity,” making connections between people; “Under-Utilized Resources,” everything that could be repurposed to help build our better future — unemployed young people, retired people, church kitchens, open source programmers, etc.; “Whole Person,” creating opportunities for people to work from more of their aspirations and strengths. And the one I was working on today: “1 in 400.”
1 in 400 is, I’m guessing, the proportion of people who are constitutionally predisposed to have devotional relationships to transformation work and deviant points of view. Every community some. Some are unheard Cassandras, lapsed into dormancy. Often, though, they’re active and visible — they’re artists, organizers, they’re protesting, guerrilla educators, building alternative spaces, oh a thousand other things. You probably know a few.
One Our Better Future project: build a Misfit Army: find the 1 in 400 in every zip code and recruit them as local organizers. Support them: provide resources, counseling, reading lists, mentors. Since they’re the most valuable resources on the globe, we’ll treat them that way. imagine the latent energy just waiting to be released. It’ll be like Revenge of the Nerds except, like, 450 times better.
