The Vision

Local people, local effort. Garden Zone Community Management is a program that on the surface appears to have an exclusively parochial focus. If you take a look at the guidebook, you will see that it reports on a small community

located in an obscure neighborhood of suburban Washington, DC. Everything that took place in that neighborhood – the patrolling, the newsletters, the community outreach – all of that activity was undertaken for the sole purpose of improving the quality of life in that one tiny region of the planet. There doesn't seem to be anything visionary about it at all. It's basically local folks dealing with local problems. Yet there is something quite profound going on in this. The idea of ordinary people coming together where they live and applying themselves cooperatively towards a positive goal, towards something that benefits all – that simple notion is hugely important for the welfare of society. Not only for the society of one particular community, but the national society, and the global society.

Spiritual component. The problems of the world are daunting. They seem way beyond the reach of you or I, or of any one person, no matter what powers he or she may possess. The only way to get a handle on these problems is to bring them back home; to take responsibility for the world right outside your door. Those of us who are fortunate enough to enjoy the prosperity of the Western lifestyle are in a perfect position to do this. Not only can we maintain our own material comfort, but we can share our collective wealth with the world at large. Yet it's not the sharing of material wealth that is so important, but something completely different. There is a spiritual component of prosperity that must be shared. And currently that commodity is in rather short supply. (See The Spiritual Connection.) The good news is that a very small number of people in a community who are connected to the spiritual side of life can make a significant difference in the strength of the community as a whole. Stronger communities in turn make a stronger society and a better world.

Ten-Point Plan ... Viewing the world from a grass-roots perspective, here is how the Garden Zone Community Management vision translates into a practical plan of action.

1. Establish an intelligent presence in the Garden Zone.
2. Fill the leadership gap between government and neighborhood.
3. Promote willing cooperation and voluntary contribution.
4. Develop a truly preventive approach to crime.
5. Point to refinement of awareness as the key to improving the quality of life.
6. Develop the Natural Community in the place where people live.
7. Establish simple trust among neighbors. Eliminate anonymity.
8. Provide a structure through which people can demonstrate grass roots responsibility.
9. Use courtesy as an on-ramp to the path of spiritual growth.
10. Elevate the status of community service. Create a new profession