On Dec. 12, 2016, more than 60 callers listened to Peter Block and John McKnight reflect on their long history of working to building communities by focusing on gifts and connecting people. They discuss what ideas have endured and what questions remain.

Some samples:

Peter:

“Wherever I am, I know that we if we don’t break into small groups, nothing really shifts.”

“What we measure declares the narrative we are living into. If we measure income, that defines a human being as a consumer. The result is that we see people with low income as inferior.”

John:

“Isolation is the top concern about the state of our world today.”

“Our work ahead above all else is to focus on transforming ourselves from being alone to being connected again, with the capacity to produce.”

John is working to identify neighborhoods that are interested in discovering what all of the adults and young people know that they could teach each other, The Educating Community. To learn more, visit abcdinstitute.org.

Peter is leading an effort called the Neighborhood Economic Vitality Index, which is designed to create a world, and therefore a language, of making visible the productive capacity of residents. Watch for more here, on the Restore Commons site, restorecommons.com.

Listen to their conversation: