On January 1st of this year, the Richmond Times Dispatch printed an Op/Ed piece by Dr. John Moeser titled “Will Good Ship Richmond Sink or Sail?” Dr. Moeser eloquently compared the Richmond Region to a ship, a quite magnificent ship that has been sitting idly in the harbor for decades under the command of multiple captains disagreeing on everything, except that it is safer if the ship remains at port. Dr. Moeser calls for a mutiny by the good citizens of Richmond, exhorting them to take over the ship called the Richmond Region and together make it the most magnificent ship of all time.
Dr. Moeser is right – every organized element of our Regional Community, from government to business to the non-profits, is busy trying to protect what they have instead of sharing and prospering together. The citizens of the Richmond Region must take over the direction of this ship and a mutiny is our only viable course of action. Therefore, on February 22, 2009, on George Washington’s birthday, leader of the greatest mutiny in the history of mankind, I officially declared Mutiny on the Richmond Region, and further declared 2009 is the Year of Richmond! I invite all Richmonders to join this mutiny by becoming more intentionally involved in building a Proud, Unified Richmond Regional Community.
Why a mutiny? Certainly, this mutiny intends to change the lack of cooperation and collaboration in the Richmond Region, but that is much more than a jurisdictional problem; our regional issues are simply one small example of a larger societal dysfunction – the rampant attention to ME at the expense of WE, most recently evidenced by the forces of ME that created our global financial crisis. This mutiny intends to replace the ME forces that currently drive our local, national and global social systems with WE forces that will create a better quality of life for all mankind. This mutiny intends to change the ME society that places a higher value on sports figures than teachers, a higher value on consumer goods than the human rights of the workers making those goods. This mutiny intends to reverse course on a ME society that would destroy its own natural environment, a society that would dare mortgage its children’s future. And this mutiny intends to fix once and for all the ME society that proclaims liberty for all while enslaving and devaluing certain citizens.
A mutiny demands rapid change and this mutiny intends for Richmond to lead that charge. The timing is right for regionalism to transform the Richmond Region, and for the Richmond Region to then transform the nation and the world. The Richmond Region has been so instrumental and influential in the development of the United States that it can truly be called the Birthplace of our Nation. More importantly, the Richmond Region has the exact right combination of community resources – financial, intellectual, spiritual, physical and historical – to become the Re-birthplace of our Nation and a shining example and leader for the Virginia Community, the American Community, and the Global Community.
This mutiny intends to inspire all citizens of the region, Richmonders, to become more involved in the their home, Richmond, whether they live in the Brandermill part of Richmond or the Charles City part of Richmond or the Church Hill part of Richmond. When the 1.2 million Richmonders in the Region stand together and develop the positive powers of cooperation and collaboration, WE can do anything. This mutiny is about developing those powers and then sharing them with the Commonwealth, the Nation and the world. This mutiny is about creating an overarching vision for the Region that all Richmonders can look to for guidance in their day to day lives – a vision that secures the individual prosperity of all citizens through collaborative attention to the greater community. WE will do it in Richmond, and then share it with the world!
A mutiny is not to be taken lightly. It is a very proactive, very intentional, last resort action. Just like Washington’s revolution, this mutiny, starting in Richmond, intends to create a better life for ourselves, for our family and friends, and eventually for all mankind. News of our mutiny will soon spread, fanning the flames of mutiny in communities across the country and around the world, starting with the 80 communities named Richmond. Ultimately, history will once again repeat itself – Richmond is the Birthplace of our Nation, and Richmond will become the Re-birthplace of our Nation, and the Global Community of Richmond.
I invite all Richmonders to join our Mutiny – celebrate the power of WE and celebrate 2009, the Year of Richmond!
