Code of Ethics

Center of Economic and Social Justice Code of Ethics

http://www.cesj.org/about/codeofethics.htm

1. Courage. 

Overcome fear to test your ideas with others or to raise questions about ideas you don't fully understand.


2. Competition of Ideas. 

Nobody has a monopoly on the Truth. Resist the feeling that your ego or dignity is being attacked if others severely challenge the ideas you bring to the table. Ideas are meant to be challenged, so that bad or defective ideas can be replaced with better ideas that will advance Truth, Beauty, Love and Justice for the good of all. Challenge will also sharpen our ability to communicate our ideas.


3. Dignity of the Person. 

In challenging someone else's ideas, don't attack or insult the person who advances the idea. Separate the message from the messenger.


4. Tradition. 

Don't lightly discard ideas accepted in the past. The burden of persuasion is on the person challenging old traditions or decisions previously debated and agreed upon, not only to point out the errors of the past, but also to offer a better alternative.


5. Inquisitiveness. 

There may be bad, ignorant or even absurd ideas, but there are no bad, ignorant or absurd questions. Treat every question as a good teacher should, with respect for the person who is seeking to understand the Truth.


6. Enthusiasm. 

Fear not the heat, excitement or intensity of debate. This passion is healthy and natural for those committed to the pursuit of the Truth. Don't throw cold water on the normal exhilaration and emotions people feel when they are reaching out to the borders of reason and new ideas.


7. Compassion. 

If you have problems with the personality or behavior of any member of CESJ, avoid even subtle criticisms of that person with others. This breeds distrust and divisiveness. Take him or her aside privately and discuss your observations and concerns on a one-to-one basis in an atmosphere of mutual respect, solidarity and compassion.


8. Charity. 

Everyone... is human and therefore imperfect. To strengthen the unity of the movement, it's better to strengthen all our members and help them become more effective in reaching out to others, than to exclude or pull anyone down.


9. Solidarity.

We should continue to perfect ourselves and our organization as models for those pursuing Truth, Beauty, Love and Justice for all. This means we need everyone pulling together to attract the rest of humanity to these core values and new vision for a more just and humane future for all.


10. Humility. 

No one is an expert on how to gain widespread acceptance of a truly revolutionary advance in moral philosophy, as represented by CESJ's core values. We are all amateurs in the process of communicating revolutionary social thought.


11. Patience. 

As an advocate of new and revolutionary ideas, discipline yourself to the fact that acceptance and implementation of our ideas will necessarily be evolutionary, somewhat unpredictable and highly experimental.


12. Tolerance. 

Without losing your enthusiasm and passionate commitment to our core values and principles of justice, be patient, friendly and tolerant of others who have not yet internalized these ideas.


13. Maturity. 

In the "war of ideas," adjust your level of expectations in our moral crusade to each distinct phase in CESJ's evolutionary development-- the "guerilla war" phase, the "beachhead" phase, the "victory" phase and the "institution building" phase--and to the realities of who and what are committed to carrying out that phase.


14. Commitment.

Presume that every other person in our core group is 100% committed spiritually and intellectually to the principles of CESJ. But also acknowledge that each of us must be the sole judge of how to allocate his or her limited time and resources to CESJ, as well as to family and other commitments. Therefore, accept graciously whatever anyone has contributed in the past or is willing to contribute in the future.


15. Initiative. 

If you are ready to propose a new initiative, be prepared to assume responsibility to carry it out, if no one else volunteers.


16. Integrity. 

Don't promise what you can't deliver. If you do commit yourself and then discover that you can't deliver, ask for help. If you're uncertain, don't promise but try your best.


17. Persistence. 

There are three keys to gaining acceptance of revolutionary ideas: Persistence, Persistence and Persistence.

Principles for Building Social Capital

http://www.bettertogether.org/thereport.htm

Throughout this report, we offer principles of social capital building to guide institutional leaders. Some of these principles are specially tailored to specific types of institutions, and they are discussed in the next five chapters. Here we suggest four principles that are broadly applicable across categories of organizations: the Social Capital Impact Principle; the Recycling Principle; the Bridging Principle; and the C2C Principle.

The Social Capital Impact Principle. The frame of “social capital” helps us to see the world afresh. Social capital is not only a resource, but it is also a lens for evaluating institutions, programs, and individual behavior. Looking through a social capital lens, for example, we see front porches not as an architectural frill, but as an effective strategy for building strong, safe, friendly neighborhoods. Consistent use of the social capital lens can both prevent civically harmful decisions and guide us toward civically beneficial choices.
Much in the way America is developing “diversity” as a lens for judging the performance of employers in recruiting and retaining workers, and “environmental impact” is factored in judging the wisdom of economic development projects, we will become a better place when the “social capital impact” becomes a standard part of institutional and individual decision-making.

The Recycling Principle. Unlike financial capital, social capital has an interesting and valuable property: It is not expended when it is drawn upon. Instead, drawing upon our stocks of social capital usually generates even more. Therefore, as individuals and institutional decision-makers, we must imagine innovative ways to “recycle” existing stocks of social capital to create new stocks of different forms. For example, the political movement for women’s suffrage emerged, in part, from non-political literary circles.

The Bridging Principle. Social capital may be categorized in many ways. One important way is the degree to which the connections reinforce similarities among individuals, or span differences. Alliances between people who are more alike than they are different are called “bonding” social capital. Connections between people who are different along some important dimension – such as race, socioeconomic status, or gender – are referred to as “bridging” social capital. Although both bonding and bridging networks are valuable, we believe that Americans should put a special emphasis on creating “bridging” social capital. Research shows that building connections across groups is especially valuable for everything from getting a job to securing important social and political rights. For example, a recent study concluded that decent wages and working conditions for immigrant farmworkers were secured only after organizers brought together an ethnically, religiously, and socio-economically diverse group of people to work on the issue.
Creating bridging social capital will become even more critical as the nation grows more crowded and diverse and seeks to maintain social harmony and prosperity.

The “C2C” Principle. The cultural disempowerment of citizens is a cause of the decline in individual willingness to assume leadership roles in civic life. In the emerging language of the “dot com” world, C2C refers to communications that occur “consumer to consumer.” We expand that definition to mean “citizen to citizen” and “community to community.” Vertical communication between “experts” and “laymen” has come to characterize too much of our interactions and has legitimized the illegitimate notion that regular folks don’t have much to offer one another. Efforts to build social capital must strengthen horizontal communication and reciprocity among peers. Self-help groups are founded on this principle and have used it successfully to fight alcoholism and help people cope with traumatic events in their lives.

Service in Your Community

http://www.serve.gov/toolkits/general/index-started.asp

Getting Started

While no two projects will be the same, successful projects will share a few common practices. We encourage you to incorporate the following elements into your service project:

• Create a team with your friends and neighbors to share the effort
• Set outcome-based goals and track your progress to those goals
• Celebrate your successes together

The Challenge: Many community-based organizations do not have enough capacity to manage a large number of volunteers, so they need you to organize yourself in coordination with them. This tool kit is designed to either help you organize a group and be a positive addition to a community-based organization, or, if such an organization does not exist, to be a well-organized independently-run group that fills a needed gap in the community.

A step by step guide to getting started and executing service activities follows. Please let us know how your project goes and what you learn by telling your story at Serve.gov

Step One: IDENTIFY LOCAL NEEDS

No one knows your community better than you and your neighbors do. This summer, take proactive steps to address the challenges you see daily and generate solutions that work in your neighborhood. Whether you and your team decide to partner with the local library to refurbish reading rooms or to organize meal distribution at a community center, you already have the resources you need to get started.

• Search Serve.gov and find out what’s already happening in your community. If you see a service gap, consider creating your own project.
• Brainstorm with friends and local leaders about what your community most needs.
• Conduct a needs assessment by mapping resources, holding focus groups, or distributing a survey.
• Visit the Corporation for National and Community Service for in depth guides to identifying local needs.
• Visit the Corporation for National and Community Service website for suggested service activities.

Step Two: Build a Team

Teams can help share the work, motivate members, and hold each other accountable. Teams build community. Ask your family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and faith group members to serve with you.

• Host a house meeting or pot luck to choose a project, set goals, recruit volunteers, and plan next steps.
• Get a guide for hosting a house meeting.
• Post your service activity on Serve.gov to recruit new volunteers.

Step Three: Set a Goal

Set a service goal and hold yourself accountable. Commit as individuals and as a team to making a measurable impact. Set your goals high to stretch yourself. Then keep track of how you are doing and designate someone to be responsible for updating the group on how you are progressing toward your goals. You’ll be surprised at how much you can do when you commit, focus, and follow through.

• Get a guide for setting goals.

Step Four: Serve Your Community

The key to effective service is planning. Organize your materials, make confirmation calls and, if you have time, read supplemental materials before you volunteer.

• Get a tip sheet for your service activity.
• Visit the Hands on Network website for in depth guides on running volunteer activities.

Step Five: Report and Celebrate Successes

Your team members, the community, and the President want to know about your successes and hear your stories. Share your accomplishments by reporting your results. We will highlight the best stories throughout the year. Tell us about your successes and what you have learned, or just tell your story of service at Serve.gov.

6 principles of a healthy democracy

developed by AmericaSpeaks (www.americaspeaks.org):

• Democracy occurs in communities.

While the citizen is the fundamental unit of a democracy and the family is the core of our society, democracy exists and thrives only within the interactions among citizens. While individual expression is essential, democracy is not really about solitary processes such as voting—whether via the internet or within a curtained voting booth. Citizens in dialogue, articulating the values they share and understanding their differences, reaching conclusions which art acted upon—that is the core democratic image we must nurture.

• Shared responsibilities.

Each community member must recognize the part he or she plays in the health of the community's democratic condition. Rather than becoming involved to fight a "not in my backyard" issue, participation can be motivated by an understanding that we sink or swim together. This awareness that our society is the sum of each of our actions moves the community beyond fractionary interest politics.

• Public trust.

The only way a healthy democracy can be sustained is through public trust. Trust depends upon inclusive processes overseen by leaders acting as stewards, who articulate and deliberate citizen concerns and bring all views to the table. It is such processes—managed by leaders serving as stewards, not as career politicians—which evoke the public's trust and are the foundation of the true authority of leaders in a democratic polity.

• Healthy struggle.

We believe that creative tensions are imbedded in society's most contentious issues. These tensions are the heart of democratic struggle and are the wellspring of a vibrant, vigorous society; they must be worked out in public, in direct processes that engage citizens and leaders in open dialogue.

• "Both-and" relationships.

The capacity to find common ground amongst, and incorporation of, diverse solutions must be restored, sanctioned, and preserved. The processes that yield to accommodation and integration must be strengthened and pushed to meet the healthy challenges of diversity in America.

• Thoughtful deliberation.

Supporting the five foregoing principles is the capacity for thoughtful deliberation. The necessary skills include listening, inclusion, mediation, dialogue, reflection, and closure, each of which is recognized as a fundamental tool for strong and effective governance.

3P:

The Patriotic People's Project

to provoke

positive political protest

to promote

pro-active progressive policy

to produce

peace, power and prosperity