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Friday, February 6, 2009

This week's quote comes from Kevin Corbett:

My encouragement comes from a Dr. Seuss quote, from “The Lorax” … “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

VISTAs are the grassroots that everybody talks about in their campaign speeches. Our roots connect, nourish, and revitalize the apathetic nation. It takes a lot of energy to care.
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1 comment:

From the desks of: One Economy VISTAS said...

I love how quotes from President Obama to Dr. Seuss are applicable to our projects.

For those who don't remember, I found this little summary online about the Lorax:

"A character called the “Once-ler” discovers land rich with Trufula Trees, a resource that can be made into almost anything – at least when the Once-ler applies his ingenuity to creating the things his customers value. However, wildlife like brown bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans depend on the Trufula Trees for food and habitat. Once the Once-ler gets started harvesting the trufula trees for his lucrative enterprises (whose biggering seems never to end), the bar-ba-loots and the Swomee-Swans rapidly begin losing habitat. There is pollution, too (Gluppity Glupp and Shloppity Shlopp). Our protagonist, the Lorax, appears and begins trying to shame the Once-ler. But the profits roll in and the Once-ler ignores the Lorax’s warnings."

The story has a somewhat happy ending:

"The story ends with the Once-ler giving a young boy the last truffula seed. He tells him to plant it and treat it with care, and then maybe the Lorax will come back from there."

The story's relevance to our projects through the One Economy VISTA program may not be obvious. After all, we are working for digital inclusion, not for environmental efforts. However, we have a piece of each character in our projects. We are the Lorax, who creates awareness around issues - we speak for those who do have a voice. Each VISTA is also the young boy, who must protect their digital inclusion project and make it sustainable. And, believe it or not, we also hold a piece of the Once-ler, seeing the resources in our communities and building our project upon them.

The book ends on a note of hope:

The Once-ler: "You're in charge of the last of the truffula seeds. And truffula trees are what everyone needs! Plant a new truffula. Treat it with care. Give it clean water, and feed it fresh air. Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax, and all of his friends may... come back."

Have a great weekend!

February 6, 2009 at 9:24 AM

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