Skyrocketing rents. Job loss. Stagnant wages. FEMA being cut. Cost of food doubling. Medical system failing... The list goes on.
It is getting harder and harder just to get by in this world. While we, as a society, sort through these issues and build solutions, we must find a way to stay safe in the meantime.
RINGs is a neighborhood-based, community support network where small groups of neighbors meet regularly, share skills, and support each other using a community time-bank currency instead of money. The goal is simple: to rebuild local trust and resilience by making sure that no one faces life’s challenges alone. In just a sentence, it’s a free, structured way to turn neighbors into a safety net.
For millennia, humans have taken care of each other in groups; but in modern society, we have all become extremely isolated. Our isolation makes us vulnerable to exploitation. Most of us sense this, and we all feel the pain of separation, but it is difficult to fix it, since society is so segmented and atomized.
RINGS provide a structured, guided path to break the awkwardness that we all feel about reconnecting with each other. We will match you up with people close to you, so you don’t have to go out and try to find likeminded people and break the ice. We will provide some practical training and point you in the right direction. Your natural human social instincts will do the rest.
No. RINGs are not political groups. Your neighbors probably hold a wide variety of political beliefs. Disagreeing with someone is no reason not to help them. Political discussions are great, but they should happen outside the RING.
Joining a RING is not a replacement for political involvement. We need to change society’s problems, and that requires engaging with politics! But RINGs can help us more securely partake in civic engagement, knowing our needs will be met in the meantime. Some of our neighbors may be on strike, or attending protests, or running for office, or engaging in any other form of political involvement. And some of our neighbors may simply be needing refuge from a struggling economy. Everyone is welcome to join a RING, whatever their level of comfort with political involvement.