Written for people who want to do good in the world, but sometimes go about it misguidedly, Blosser’s book aims to show how activists — alone or often in church groups — can do more than “swoop in” and then quickly back out again, which is often a way to cause more harm than good.
Blosser discusses how to help build sustainable neighborhoods, how to build capacities within communities to better themselves, how to build ecological sustainability, and how to build justice systems where they don’t currently exist. In other words, this is a book about building — as the best form of trying to help.
For example, chapter 4, “Building an Economy of Enough,” begins: “Neighborhoods are complicated places. We may know the people who live around us, but we may not understand the larger systems that affect their lives. Until we understand how larger structures such as race, sexuality, ability, and more affect people, it makes it hard to stand in solidarity with others. Similarly, economic systems, wealth, income, and class also affect our attempts at solidarity and neighbor love.”
He goes on to raise questions rarely considered by people doing easy things to love their neighbors. For example: “An act as simple as giving clothes that your child has outgrown to a neighbor can be fraught with complexity. Are the clothes culturally appropriate? If the neighbor is lower income and the clothes are expensive, will they be received in gratitude or as a paternalistic gesture?”
Blosser wants do-gooders to do better good. “Good intentions are only a start,” he says, and then sets out to explain to activists how to move beyond easy gestures and quick volunteerism in favor of appropriate empathy, learning, and true solidarity.
