A compassionate economy makes you want to cherish others: It begins by helping them to succeed in this economy. It means helping people find sustainable work and supporting local farmers.

How do we create a compassionate economy in a very capitalistic economy? We volunteer, we meet people who are not like us and make a wish to help them.

This can be students and professors, rich and poor, and all races and religions, and especially people with and without mental illness.

It makes you wonder: why are there not more minorities at the farmers markets?

A compassionate economic asks questions: like how does the economy operate? the distribution of resources? the nature of jobs? what sort of work gets paid for? and the costs of goods and services?

Spiritual quotes:

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” — Dalai Lama

“Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.” — Bhagavad Gita

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” 1 Chronicles 29:14, NIV

And among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind. This voluntary sharing is greater than equality, and consists in this, that man should not prefer himself to others, but rather should sacrifice his life and property for others. But this should not be introduced by coercion so that it becomes a law and man is compelled to follow it. Nay, rather, man should voluntarily and of his own choice sacrifice his property and life for others, and spend willingly for the poor, just as is done in Persia among the Bahá’ís. – Abdul Baha

Unity is when people with and without mental illness come together. It’s when people of different races come together. It’s when all different types of people come together.

When we bring people together it creates unity … .and with unity we take care of each other better… there is more reciprocity and more sharing. Unity means that we have more compassion for one another, we feel united in this mission to save the environment…and because of this connection we don’t let the stressors of the economy bother one another as much.

“United we stand, together we fall”

Spiritual Quotes

In reality all are members of one human family — children of one Heavenly Father. Humanity may be likened unto the vari-colored flowers of one garden. There is unity in diversity. Each sets off and enhances the other’s beauty.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 25-26

“Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth. . . . This is the real message of love.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

If we are going to heal people that live on our farms we are going to need a lot of volunteers. We need to be united in this environmental movement. We can’t shy away from people with mental illnesses, we need volunteers and those who may have mental illness to embrace one another.

If we are going to pull together and save the environment we need the culture of growing our own food. This is where people of all walks of life can share resources. Right now we don’t have many community gardens and fast food is where a lot of our food comes from.

As we cultivate the earth, we cultivate an attitude of care towards the world.’ 

Sue Stuart-Smith

Spiritual Quotes

The earth is one country and mankind it’s citizens.

-Abdul Baha

A volunteer hub is a place in which anyone can sign up to find a garden to volunteer at. Volunteers might be drawn to work at a garden with a specific community or a specific crop. People from different walks of life can be assigned to work together, help one another, and grow together They can bring many people together. Like for instance, old and young together, black or white together, men and women together, and people from all spectrums of mental health. We need to be united to save the environment. This can create community.

sign up to volunteer, send email to: gardensforearth@gmail.com

Volunteering is an important part of many organizations, providing valuable skills, services, and support. But managing volunteers can be a challenge. That’s why having a volunteer handbook is so important.

Spiritual Quotes

Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms”. 

Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship…”
Abdu’l Baha

So many people go to the psych ward and when they get out they have to cope with the same problems as before. Imagine if people go to entirely new environments: they won’t have to face the same stressors, and they have more room to grow. Healing people at our organic farms and state parks may be the answer.

People really might need a change in scenery. You could make new friends. And you can learn to garden with your family or go on a hike together.

If we start to heal people and help them to volunteer at farms and community gardens it will start to have amazing effects on the environment, and peoples lives. Don’t treat people like their bad, treat the environment and make it good.

Sierra Club 

Find Refuge in Nature 

“Nature is my medicine. It is one of the few ways that I can ground myself and get out of my head when I find myself spiraling. Sometimes all I need is to walk away from my normal routine and go pull weeds from the garden, stick my hands in the cool dirt, observe the pollinators flying around from flower to flower gathering nectar, and pretty quickly my anxiety melts away. I realize I am just one person on this planet, with all of this beauty existing around me that continues to thrive whether or not my stress and worry are present. It is a constant in my life, something I know will always be there for me, to remind me that despite whatever it is I am going through, I will get through it.” -Lauren T.  (Sierra Club)

“We need to live as the Buddha taught us to live, in peace and harmony with nature, but this must start with ourselves. If we are going to save this planet we need to seek a new ecological order, to look at the life we lead and then work together for the benefit of all; unless we work together no solution can be found. By moving away from self-centeredness, sharing wealth more, being more responsible for ourselves, and agreeing to live more simply, we can help decrease much of the suffering in the world,” from the Buddhist Statement on Ecology 1996.

http://www.arcworld.org/faiths5629.html?pageID=129

We need to protect the rainforests and workers rights. Workers need fair pay, they need access to nature, and they need to sell local food that doesn’t come from the rainforests.

Similarly fast food workers are being exploited and also loggers are being exploited. Imagine if we started a farm and gave these two groups paid work experiences, on organic farms growing healthy food? It would create ripples of energy knowing that there are ways out of this economy.

That’s what One Union For the Whole World means. It means protecting the environment of the world and that means helping out all the low wage workers and giving them a better choice.

One idea may be to invite rain forests workers from other countries to plant communities gardens for us in the US. And when they are finished learning with us they can return home to start gardens and plant trees at their home countries.

Climate Initiative

The Peace Corps has always been responsive to the challenges posed by a rapidly changing global environment. In 2024, we released a new strategy that aligns with a range of federal and international initiatives that ensure a resilient, healthy and sustainable future for us all. Take a look at the principles, objectives, and goals that define our commitment.

Small Project Assistance (SPA) Program

Since 1983, the Peace Corps has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Small Project Assistance (SPA) Program to build capacity and empower local communities to lead in their own development.

The SPA Program supports small community-driven projects through grant projects, training activities, and in-field program support that addresses local needs across many sectors and approximately 40 countries we work in per year.

Global Food Security and Feed the Future

The Peace Corps along with eleven other U.S. government partners are supporting the Global Food Security Strategy/Feed the Future Peace Corps Volunteers promote sustainable, climate smart practices for local people to assure their own food security through increased agricultural productivity, improved economic opportunity, and improved health and nutrition.

Spiritual Quotes

Baha’i quote

The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. – Baha’u’llah

Christian Quote

Christian Quotes

And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. – Jeremiah 2:7

We need to get away from processed food.

For each restaurant that we flip, we can create a farm that heals people as they come together. A series of healing centers is what we need.

Many people are being deprived of work…and this goes for young people who didn’t go to college and also people with undiagnosed and diagnosed mental illness.

It is where people who have money volunteer and where people who need money work. We have so many people that could be healing people who suffer. These people are a resource that we have to use. Local food is not all about making money but it’s where people can meet one another. Environmental healthy food may cost more money but it is worth it, especially if it creates local community. Having volunteers may actually help to offset some of the costs.

Because that is how it is right now. Do we want our women and men to go back to an economy based on drinking and drugs?

We can change this. It will take time and that means forgiving people who have mental illness and cannot find work. This whole economy is based on oppression and we get mad at people who are mentally ill, without giving them any options. We need to start healing people one by one. Once we heal one, they will heal others. 

Unfortunately we have to start small but we can plan to create these farms one by one or two by two or three by three…each year we should decide to create more….one healing farm to heal 

all the people who might need help.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” Muir

This is where people go when they get out of the mental hospital. Then they actually meet people who are sober. If you are struggling in the world without any work, the last place that you should end up is in cheap housing..this is where ALL the other people who have problems are. It is a disgrace but at these housing developments there are no people who are sober to be found. 

Where are all the people who might have compassion for these people getting out of the mental hospital?

They are at home…wondering what is wrong with the world.

These two types of people should come together to create a bottom of society that heals all of us. Together we can find work in a greenhouse, on a farm, in the kitchen, watering plants, everyone has a task that they can do.

Helping to heal the mentally ill starts with changing the environment in a compassionate way. Volunteering is great for the mind, body and spirit. Through volunteer work people with and without mental illness can come together and heal one another. This means having healthy people at the bottom and top of a compassionate society where everyone is cared for. Having a bottom that heals us all is all the more reason for people from all walks of life to come together to do environmentally friendly work.

To conclude:  I will leave you with a spiritual quote from the Baha’i tradition. It says ‘be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age you live in.’ -Baha’u’llah.    

We need to start to solve these problems now!