Looking at the headlines these days can easily fill you with anger. There's the news about our elections increasingly being influenced by deep-pocketed secret donors; the news about the latest foreclosure fiasco; the news about poverty in our suburbs increasing at an alarming rate, while the top charities in the country have seen their donations drop by 11 percent, the worst decline in 20 years. And on our two wars, there is the news about massive fraud in the recent Afghan election, and the news that members of the Sunni Awakening, which helped bring some measure of stability to Iraq, are increasingly re-joining the insurgents.
And those are just from the last few days. So, yes, anger is an entirely appropriate response to the ongoing failure of our political and economic institutions. But it isn't the only response. There are plenty of people all across the country seeing these same failures and fiascos and responding with creativity, generosity, passion, and selflessness. But you don't see much about that response in the media.
To help remedy that, we're launching a new feature called HuffPost's Greatest Person of the Day.
As I've criss-crossed America on my book tour, I've been struck by how deep the sense is that our government has not kept faith with the American people. There is the feeling that the people who work hard, play by the rules, pay their taxes and fight our wars, are, well, getting screwed. This time, it's not just about watching the numbers (unemployment, bankruptcies, GDP) and waiting for them to improve. This time, people have lost faith in the process behind the numbers. There is the pervasive sense that the game is rigged and playing by the rules is no longer rewarded.
And yet there are tens of thousands of people who are refusing to let their lives, and the lives of their families and communities, be blighted by the consequences of inept -- or even corrupt -- leadership without doing something about it. They may not be able to fix the system, but they can make the small parts that impact their lives a bit better. And they are doing so in imaginative, ingenious, and very American ways.
That's why we're launching HuffPost's Greatest Person of the Day. We want to counter the idea that anger and resignation are the only options. Sure, there is a lot of macro-failure, but there are also thousands of micro-successes. (See our first two Greatest Person posts here and here.)
The people we feature will range from the superhuman types who have been forming nonprofits since they were in first grade to ordinary Americans who, often after finding themselves in challenging circumstances, had a spark of an idea and ended up making their lives, or the lives of those around them, better. In other words, the "greatness" of our Greatest Persons will be accessible and replicable. How did they take their first steps on the road to being a HuffPost Greatest Person of the Day? How do they manage to do good while still finding time for family, work and friends? These are the sorts of questions we'll be asking.
In our Third World America section, we've already featured dozens of the kinds of people we'll be putting the spotlight on in HuffPost's Greatest Person of the Day. For example, there's Eric Charles Jirgens, a successful interior designer for 25 years. When the recession hit, his big-budget projects ebbed. He was still making a living but wasn't as busy. So he decided to use his extra time redesigning a local women's shelter in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"I just needed to make enough money to pay my bills, and the rest I could spend making other people's lives a bit better," he says. "It's a win-win situation."
It certainly was for the women's shelter. "I wanted to offer some dignity to these women by creating an actual living space, one with furniture that is comfortable, functional and well-suited to their needs," says Jirgens. "These aren't million-dollar makeovers, but a matter of putting in creature comforts to create a warmer home environment."
He now hopes to partner up with some big retail home stores and apply his skills to more women's shelters.
Then there's Andrea McCarren, a TV journalist with 20 years in the business, a Nieman Fellowship and seven Emmy Awards to her credit. In the spring of 2009 she was laid off from a TV station in Washington, D.C. The spark for what followed was provided by her 13-year-old son Blake. "Mom, just because you're not working for [channel] 7 doesn't mean you're not a reporter anymore," he told her.
She soon came up with the idea for something she called "Project Bounceback," in which she packed her family in a RV and set out across the country to document how the recession was affecting people, and the creative ways in which some were using it to reinvent themselves.
A few months into the project, McCarren got another TV job, but the experience had a lasting impact. "Everywhere we went, people offered their homes, they fed us, they smiled at us," she says. "They were so proud to give us books on local history."
Along the way, she used her journalist's skills to shine a light on the continuing effects of the recession. "I'm troubled when I hear things like, 'the recession is over,'" she says. "I know it's not for a lot of the people we met."
We want this feature to be fueled by you. So let us know: Who are the people in your community who have stepped up, refused to give in, decided to make their small corner of the country a little bit better? Whether it's yourself or someone you know, click the "Participate" button below and tell us your stories.
We'll be running one HuffPost's Greatest Person of the Day story every day. And if you want to wake up to a little inspiration before moving on to scandal, outrage, and failure, you can sign up to receive a daily email featuring our Greatest Person of the Day by clicking here.
So submit your nominations for HuffPost's Greatest Person of the Day now. There's plenty of meanness, pettiness, selfishness, and loathsomeness out there; let's focus some attention on the greatness.
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
Leah Finnegan: College Students: Nominate Someone For HuffPost's 'Greatest Person' Series!
Wendy N. Powell: The Career Hangover: What Do You Do?
So I Invite everyone to visit www.cowboysagainstcancer.com and read Margaret Parry's story for yourselves. She is making a difference to thousands of folks in Southern Wyoming, as they fight cancer together. Really an inspiring story.
There are parts of America that have *always* been third world.
I know a lot of people down in the trenches, working at the food pantry, starting a drug treatment center because there weren't enough beds in the area, going into prisons and teaching felons job skills, mentoring, working for social justice, and generally helping people get on their feet. It's a shame that our society offers so many opportunities for truly heroic efforts, but it is heartening to see all the heroes lined up.
I read with great interest the comments concerning the greatest person of the day…you all are so overcome with joy there are people out there like that…ans wouldn’t it be nice if there were more like that… but as is the case on other subject mater on this sight you all want the other person to be like that and you praise them for their behavior… how about you yourself the one that is reading this…how about you being that person…start right in your own home… with your family what ever is consist off… if it is only just you but for simplicity we will assume there are two of you…. Be kind to each other…compliment each other.. Show appreciation for little favors… hug each other… cuddle in bed… kiss on the way out the door…give each other gifts just because….give you (wife) flowers on the 18 day of November just because.. There is always a birthday. Valentines Day every year. But there will only be one 18 day of Nov, 2010 in all of known history… isn’t that a good enough reason…
wives give your husband something special…like a hug and a kiss and tell him how much y ou appreciate what he does for you… you know men live in a world where no news is good news and no one shows appreciation, what was done was expected, what do you want a medal… Pass this on to your children if you have a family….wave to your neighbors even if you don’t know them… smile and recognize those you pass in the store or on the side walk….. This is what you seem to like in others how bout you do it yourself…see the results…. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon … a famous artist… the president of the company… you don’t have to be anyone but the kind person you would like the person to be…wouldn’t it be nice if we did not the highlight the special ones wouldn’t be nice if we were all a little nicer the kind of person some one might smile and wave at you…just because…
Today, on my Living-Textbook, I added a page about Sugata Mitra, a many who discovered that students in all parts of the word can learn independently or in small groups, only using computers. He really has an amazing story, as he shared at a TED convention. Hopefully I've added something to it by asking motivational questions that may drive people to do the kinds of things that Greatest Persons of the Day must do.
Take a look at the post here: http://www.pass-ed.com/ScienceandTechnology1/ChildrenLearningfromChildren.html
We need to give to our community but also the nation. Rosa Parks is a good example of one person inspiring millions. There were plenty of other needy to be dealt with in her community but basic principles of equality needed addressing first. Today we have Oligarchs and Generals controlling Congress and the White House: pushing our nation to indentured servitude. We have a 2 Party system that offers only small differences as they both are for war and for the rich getting richer.
Without real equality. without the unemployed being assured their cash benefits. Without the Oligarch being taxed as much in real terms as their domestic staff we will never have the change our nation needs from top to bottom.
I am sure Rosa's stand was not just limited to sitting at the front of the bus. We need a holistic approach to bring about change or else all the good work we do will be used as a reason to cut budgets for the poor even more. Without politics roads are not repaired, railways are not expanded and schools are not funded. If we took to repairing roads the budget would be cut.
We need to act both on the Macro Political 3rd party level and on the Micro community level.
I've tried to make a comment with the general drift similar to what you expressed here. But for some unknown reasons, couldn't get it printed. The current discussion is focussed almost exclusively on the "micro community level". Yet the national debt growth, the continuation and even expansion of ruinous wars, the collapsing economy (GDP) are exclusively on the "MACRO LEVEL" of the nation and collective people. The two separate and distinct levels interact, for sure, but activate very different parts of the human experience and organization.
"Micro level" has lots to do with individual + small group interaction. "Macro level", on the other hand has to do with power + control. One can succeed admirably at individual + community micro levels, but fail totally at the macro levels of power and control. I tried to get this point of distinction and relative emphasis across, but somehow I failed to get it into print.
There are "holistic approaches" to effectively integrate the two levels of concerns and priorities, and domains of issues and actions. You mentioned it briefly. Perhaps you would expand on that and elaborate on its significance, and expand this discussion. Otherwise, the discussion is concentrated on the micro level to the exclusion of the macro level, and the two would not meet and confront important national issues affecting collective fate + outcome with any effective holistic problem solving approach.
“There is the feeling that the people who work hard, play by the rules, pay their taxes and fight our wars, are, well, getting screwed.”
Generally, there is a mass consciousness, or “mood” that pervades groups, and in this case the largest group is the country.
“There is the pervasive sense that the game is rigged and playing by the rules is no longer rewarded.”
But underlying this are those who do not give in to the mass, those who, as the saying goes, make lemonade after getting smacked with a lemon. There are, as you say, tens of thousands who refuse to let their lives be “blighted.” We are incredibly ingenious; and, pointing out those who are refusing is a marvelous idea.
Thank you so much!
What a great idea!