What to Do?

OK, you read Ishmael, or some of Daniel Quinns other books.  You seem to be looking at things differently, almost like you just woke up and found yourself living a way that didn't really make sense.  You want to know "What do I do now?"

First, don't feel alone.  Asking "what to do" is the most common reaction.  In fact it is so common, Daniel Quinn has a whole page dedicated to this question. If you haven't read this, I suggest you start there.

Beyond the wisdom you may find there, here are some other ideas:  First, Become B.  Once you understand the message, Spread the Message of B.  At the same time, work to Live Harmlessly.  More on these below.

DANGER - WARNING - DANGER - WARNING - DANGER

The danger of a list like this is that it may become nothing more than a program. The world will not be saved by old minds with new programs, but by new minds with no programs. We must create a new story or vision to live in. We must invent a New Renaissance.  It is far more effective to change minds and have people change their own lives, than to force programs on them in an attempt to force them to live a different way. The other danger of a list like this is that less important things might take on disproportionate importance. You don't have to give up anything or sacrifice happiness to live less harmfully or make a difference. What is required is a trade of unsustainable practices that create unhappiness for sustainable practices that create happiness. You could think of life in civilization as a prison -- the kind that denies you the freedom to live harmlessly -- and your quest is to seek out the cracks in the walls. So, figure out your own priorities. Enjoy your life. Read a little, bookmark this page and come back often.  Additional suggestions are welcome.

Become B

1. Read Daniel Quinn's Books 2. Read Daniel Quinn's Essays and Speeches 3. Read Daniel Quinn's Questions and Answers                         (by topic or keyword or browse through all of them) 4. Read Ishmael's Teacher's Guides. 5. Read news and essays at other Ishmael resource sites, such as:     IshCon                                 Moonwatcher's Friends of Ishmael                               Cat's Place     No One Right Way                Friends of Ishmael Society 6. Discuss Ishmael ideas on online forums such as:     IshCon                                 Delphi     EZ Board                              Yahoo (Ishmael Discussion is the largest)     (some of the archives on these forums are storehouses of discussion about some of the very questions you may have now.  If you have time, search the archives.  Many have come before you.) 7. Meet up with others like you in your local area.  You can find existing groups at:     Friends of Ishmael                  Meetup 8. If you can't find a local group, organize your own by finding others in you area on the Ishmael Network or IshCon. 9. Read books from Daniel Quinn's recommended reading list or the network's recommended reading list. 10. Know the facts. The Science of Ishmael contains a lot of useful information, as well as the Union of Concerned Scientists. Also, read books about or search the internet for information about:

Overpopulation Sustainable Living Voluntary Simplicity Deep Ecology Hunter Gatherers Foraging

Modern Tribal Living Homeless Gangs Circuses Pollution Global Warming

Intentional Communities Cohabitation Global Economy Local Economy Socially Responsible Investing

Spread the Message of B

1. Recommend Quinn's books to friends, relatives, and coworkers. Talk about them, note them as influences, and leave them lying around.  Read Ishmael is a great introductory website to Quinn's works.   No need to push people.  Just tell them the effect it had on you, and that they may want to read it.  Don't expect others to have the same reaction as you did.  If Ishmael doesn't have a big effect on them, talk to them about it.  Not to convince them, but simply to understand their point of view. 2. Give Ishmael and related books away to friends, family, coworkers, and libraries. Children, idealist teenagers and college students tend to be most receptive. Try Book Crossing or Outreach Books. 3. Distribute Quinn's speeches in pamphlet form. Such pamphlets, as well as reviews of the books, could be enclosed with letters or cards as items of interest. Coffee shops are great places for counter-culture material to be dropped off or displayed. See Friends of Ishmael for flyers and more. 4. Communicate and commune with friends of Ishmael. See Friends of Ishmael and Meetup. Advertise your group with flyers at coffee shops, libraries, bookstores, colleges, and Laundromats. Put a small advertisement of your group inside copies of Ishmael and related books in your bookstores or inside copies at your local library. 5. Devote a website or part of one to Quinn's ideas and books. Condense, expand on, and describe in your own words the message of B. Write your own articles, essays and parables and publish or distribute them. 6. Wear New Tribal Ventures' T-shirts and caps, wear buttons, have bumper stickers, carry books, and explain them to anyone who asks.

7. Create art, literature, music, and films based on the ideas of B. Here are some examples:      "Do the Evolution" a song by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam     The Bison Band Stories, by the Bison Band (include offensive content) 8. Enter philosophy/book club chat rooms specifically to suggest the books and describe their ideas. 9. Keep books on your waiting room table or pamphlets on your desk so others may ask about it. 10. Encourage debate about Quinn's ideas. The more intelligent debate we provoke, the better we will understand the truth and the more these ideas will be spread. However, do not waste time trying to convince an illogical, stubborn, or simply unready person; concentrate on convincing people who are open and interested. Keep an open mind. Remain polite and tolerant. 11. Express the message of B in your own way. Be inventive!

Live Harmlessly (Like a Shark, Rattlesnake, or Butterfly)

1. Change minds. Create a new story to live in. A new vision is needed for civilization besides what Mother Culture has been telling us. There is more than one right way to live, particularly in the case of totalitarian agriculture and civilization. The Earth was not created for humanity to do as it pleases.   With civilization, Mankind has broken the law of limited competition by waging war against, or having disregard for, non-edible life on Earth. Mankind is not separate from nature and humans will still suffer the same consequences for breaking the laws of biology (see the rest of the community of life for examples of these laws). 2. Think about population.  We need to reinvent our agriculture practices because Totalitarian Agriculture is destroying our neighbors in the community of life.. Overpopulation is probably the gravest damage caused by civilization. See Die Off and Population Connection. Increasing food production causes an increase in population, which then demands civilization to convert the Earth's biomass (for example, rainforest) to human-edible biomass. This cycle leads to the increased destruction of the diversity of the web of life that is necessary to support large mammals (such as humans). So the greatest solution is to find a way to halt the expansion of food production.

3. Think about population.  Consider having no and/or fewer children. See Voluntary Human Extinction Movement for a controversial view. The more people who voluntarily limit the size of their families, the easier it will be achieve zero population growth (ZPG) or even negative population growth (NPG), but the population problem will not be solved in this way alone. Consider using redundant birth control, becoming sterilized, adopting a child, holding one in foster care, baby-sitting, running a daycare (perhaps a tribal one), spending time with relatives', friends', or neighbors' kids, joining a "Big Brothers" or "Big Sisters" group, working with kids, or even getting a pet, instead of having children of your own. However, these options will not work for all families.   Don't spend your life childless if you will be unhappy, but consider your options.

4. Review your consumption patterns.  Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  Buy recycled and recyclable materials.  Buy and sell at garage sales and thrift stores.  Freecycle.  Use less utilities .  Hang-dry your clothes.  Buy energy-efficient appliances, Swap out you lightbulbs with energy saving fluorescent light bulbs.  Incorporate renewable energy sources into your home.  Conserve and reuse water. (Turn it off while you brush your teeth)  Look at "voluntary simplicity" GET OUT OF DEBT!  Think about where everything you buy comes from, and how much resources it took to get to you.  Buy locally from co-ops, . local farms, and credit unions. Try growing some fresh vegetables in you own yard.  The really DO taste better than store bought.  In particular, try to buy things from Real People who are taking a risk, starting their own business to do something they love -- the more we buy from Real People, the more Real People there will be out there.   Support green businesses. Purchase goods from sustainable and non-polluting businesses found on databases such as Sustainable Business, Green Pages, The Green Guide, and Gaiam.  In short, don't give more energy to the civilization machine, but drain it away from it like a parasite.   5. Think about how you get around, how much resources it consumes, and how much it pollutes.  You CAN find a job closer to home.  If you must drive, combine your trips, carpool, car share, or consider trading your car in on a hybrid.  You can get a smaller, more fuel efficient car for your everyday trips, and rent an SUV to go skiing, a pickup to haul stuff, or a van to drive your inlaws around.  This is far more efficient (and less expensive) than owning a single car that can do it all.  Better yet, sell the car (along with gas, registration, and insurance ??expenses) and ride a bike or mass transit instead.  Don't you deserve a few peaceful moments to read, listen to music, or just to unwind, while someone else does the driving?  Don't think of it as a bus, but a shared limo ride.

6. Revolutionize your office or even the industry you work in.  Ray C. Anderson drastically changed the carpet industry. Don't feel frustrated if you can't find a way to make an impact as strong as his. Do what you can to make the business cleaner and more ethical. There is no need to quit your job if it's part of a polluting industry; in fact, that's where you're needed most! The agriculture industry in particular needs to be re-invented. 7. Evaluate how you make your living.  Work less.  See Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery.  Develop a way to make your living tribally. (Find some partners, start a business, share the profits, and leave the hierarchy out of it.  The point is to continue to make a living, not to grow larger.)  The old circuses did this, and today's gangs and even many homeless make their living tribally. It is the social organization humans are best adapted to (see the past 300,000 years) and optimal for egalitarian relationships, economic security, and lends itself towards sustainable living practices. This can be accomplished in the many urban niches available; there is no need to leave the city and join a commune or similar (unless you want to); besides, there are too many people in the city for everyone to do that and changed minds are needed in the city too.  You can find others for tribal businesses at Ishmael Network or IshCon.  Participate in alternative money systems and/or bartering (see New Civilization)

8. Support activism groups in protests, demonstrations, communicating with companies, boycotts, and petitions. Vote, lobby, and contribute to candidates who represent the best interests of the world. Write, call, fax, and email governments and businesses (US House, US Senate), encouraging environmental protection. 9. Utilize socially responsible investing (SRI) by investing in SRI companies and funds.  See: I Share Owner                               Natural Investing                                     Social Funds 10. Participate in culture jamming. See: Adbusters                                      The Culture Jammer's Encyclopedia Subvertise                                      Carcinogenz

11. Volunteer or teach at a Sudbury Valley model school or work in other ways to "unschool" children.  See also: Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto                           Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith                      Books by John Holt Raise your children and/or treat other children by the principles in The Continuum Concept, also referred to as "attachment parenting". 12. Adopt the "intentional community" vision to your neighborhood or city (see Department of Energy) and Intentional Communities, co-housing projects at Co-housing and Intentional Communities, or work/live at an ecovillage. 8. Donate your time or money to charities and programs that you feel will reduce your harm, or allow others to live less harmful.  Programs won't save the world, but they are not worthless. Donate or volunteer for ecological organizations such as:

Amazon Watch The Nature Conservancy Earth First New American Dream Green Peace Environmental Defense Friends of the Earth League of Conservation of Voters

National Wildlife Foundation Sierra Club World Wildlife Fund Cultural Survival Friends of People Close to Nature Survival International Society for Threatened Peoples Indigenous Environmental Network International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)

There are many, many more groups out there. Idealist can help you find the organization of your choice. Beware of the organization's percent of financing that goes towards fundraising and volunteer compensation (should be no more than 25%). Give donations in other people's names on birthdays and holidays instead of buying material gifts. Also give the same to children on Halloween (with or without candy). Again, this is an open ended list.  If you have a changed mind as a result of reading Daniel Quinn's books, and have chosen to take action in you life, feel free to let us know so we can update the list. Most of this text was borrowed from Cat's Place: But What Can I DO?, modified by aristotle334 of Northern California Friends of Ishmael, and further modified by Jim Linder.