“The tremendous changes we now need and yearn for in our daily lives and in the direction of our country cannot come from those in power or from putting pressure on those in power. We ourselves have to foreshadow or prefigure them from the ground up.”
— Grace Lee Boggs
It has become all too common these days to believe that changing society is impossible. That everything is in the hands of the powerful politicians and business leaders at the very top; and that the rest of us can only sit around anxiously and watch, or complain, as things come apart.
But contributists disagree, because we’ve noticed something. We’ve noticed that nobody is actually just sitting around and watching. In fact, if you really pay attention, everybody seems very busy. Busy working jobs that we sometimes love and sometimes hate. Busy raising children, or caring for our parents, our partners, or our friends. Busy trying to gain new skills or knowledge so that we can have an impact on the world.
It is the combination of these efforts — the endless business of ordinary people — that makes up the whole power of a society, and of each community within it. And it is the orientation of this business — what we give our time and effort to — which truly decides the character and trajectory of a society.
Being a contributist simply means taking this truth seriously, and wielding it for good.
“I run a monthly coffee event that gets people in my community together."
“I help lead my neighborhood running group."
“I try to think carefully about where I spend my money. I want my dollars to support good causes and the people in my community, not business that are exploitative or bad for the environment."
“I work as a software engineer at a company that helps people find jobs."
But being truly contributist means more than just asserting your own right to give — it also means working together to extend that right to others.
To start, we recommend taking two quick steps.
First, check out our guidance on how to be a contributist consumer; an easy and impactful way to start being a contributist in your everyday life.
Then, RSVP to a meetup, where you can get connected to a community of like-minded people, learn more about contributism, and reflect on your own impact on the world around you.
Finally, visit our Get Involved page to learn more about how you can join us in giving our time and effort to the sorts of things that strengthen communities — and change societies.