Respect, Rights & Responsibility

If 2011 brought knowledge of the relationship between respect, rights & responsibility, 2012 will bring the action necessary to ensure fairness between upholding responsibilities, fighting for rights and the respect that comes with the correlation between the two. With so many goals this year, I have already begun listing and scheduling what I will do for myself (M3), but my community (my circl3) and global society (th3 world) have more difficult challenges to coming up with tangible solutions to problems and pathways to change. Ideas please!

One discrepancy in rights & responsibilities that plagues Toronto: the Tenancy Act.

After living in two pest-infested buildings in the St. Paul's area of Toronto, each with their own lazy superintendent and completely inefficient landlord, I realized there are many holes in the document that is supposed to protect rent-paying tenants' rights. Especially with all the cuts in affordable housing, the residency rights of those that have managed to find affordable housing should be particularly important to uphold, as there is little to no potential to move or change, and this will only add to the mounting homelessness and affordable housing issues.

To put it simply: Tenants, Superintendents & Landlords each have their own set of rights & responsibilities:

Tenant's Responsibilities: pay rent / take care of unit / nonegative impact on others
Tenant's Rights: maintained apartment / cleanlypublic space / no negative impact by others

Superintendent's Responsibilities: collect rent / maintain public space / no negative impact on others
Superintendent's Rights: living quarters / income / nonegative impact by others

Landlord's Responsibilities: pay super / ensure super & tenants uphold mutual responsibilities
Landlord's Rights: collect rent / ensure superintendent& tenants maintain building

If the Tenants, the Superintendent and the Landlord each uphold their responsibilities and in return receive their rights, there is a system of fairness and justice that maintains mutual respect between all parties.

However, when the Tenant upholds all their responsibilities for months, and has all their rights infringed upon, this system of respect no longer works. All the Tenant can theoretically do to level the playing field is stop upholding their own responsibilities a.k.a. stop paying rent. Unfortunately this is not a viable solution: it's illegal for the Tenant to not maintain their responsibilities of paying rent. Meanwhile when a Superintendent or Landlord does not maintain their responsibilities of maintenance or otherwise, thereby violating the Tenant's rights, the illegality of their actions are often barely addressed, despite the fact that we have a justice system built just for this.

The Landlord and Tenancy Board is supposed to ensure that when Tenants have their rights violated, the Superintendent and Landlord are held responsible, and a method of delivering fairness to all parties is developed. Unfortunately, when I filed a free T2 for having the enjoyment of my home severely interfered with, being coerced to move out, being threatened with eviction, and being yelled and sworn at for insisting the Landlord and Superintendent uphold their responsibilities, the response two months later was less than appealing. As much as I did receive some (less than 1/4 of what was asked for) funding for damages, the severe pest-control issues and violation of Tenancy rights were barely addressed. Ten months after first reporting an infestation of ants and mice, the building has had a pest control professional come in only three times, once for the building as a whole. Apparently other apartments in this building have bed bugs, cockroaches and continue to suffer with mice - this continued ant infestation (along with rude, loud yelling, running, barking and playing in the hallway by the Superintendent and her family) is enough to coerce my household to move out before other pests and problems spread too.

Considering my personal experiences with Toronto Superintendents and Landlords, as well as the Tenancy Act and the Landlord and Tenancy Board, I can clearly see where the problems are and potential avenues for change. I contacted both the prompt MP of St. Paul's the Hon. Carolyn Bennett and the M.I.A. MPP Dr. Eric Hoskins and will work with the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations to ensure that the issues for Toronto Tenants are addressed. Rights and Responsibility will create Respect!

My first goal for my circl3 is well underway: by utilizing community services, I want to ensure Tenants know how to fight for their rights, have resources clearly advertised, support clearly available, and that Landlords and Superintendents are actually held accountable for their violations of rights and failure of upholding responsibilities. Creating changes to the currently slightly-inefficient Tenancy Act, particularly in terms of assurance that addressed concerns are actually implemented, is a rather big project, but with a bit of knowledge on Tenancy laws and action in terms of raising awareness, getting legal advice and lobbying the government, maybe some small change for the better can be achieved.

8 Daze of Change

Change is a surprisingly hard thing to do: especially positive change.

And when you realize your individuality barely matters in this social system, that the big picture is much more important than your overall existence,
its ever harder to figure out how to create positive change
that will better your community
or even further,
the world.

But before you can change much out there, you must look in the psychological and theoretical mirror, and change yourself.

What is harder, changing yourself or changing the world?

Considering changing the world, or even changing your community or circle takes more than just your own enthusiasm, cooperation and effort, it takes the combined force of many... well, at least changing your own habits is all you.

With the lessons of 2011 in hand, I have come up with 10 ways of change for myself in 2012. The most important things in my life are health, happiness, & pride.

By changing the way I use my money, I can be more conscious of how I feed into the social system: why should we constantly buy poisonous food, or cheaply-developed clothing and shoes, or unnecessary products for entertainment and stress relief? If everything starts and ends with money, I want to be in control of it.

My eating habits are especially important considering everything I put into my body will have an influence over my pain levels and ability to handle stress. By watching my body while going through a vegetarian and then vegan diet, I can hopefully come up with the best diet for myself.

Everyone plays games, meets with friends, keeps up with responsibilities... very few people can be in one particular moment with a clear head and actually know how to relax the mind and body. By learning to redirect my energy, through practicing meditation, reiki and possibly even yoga at least once a month, I hope to positively change my habits, my levels of stress and my overall lifestyle.

Spreading factual, evidence-based knowledge is the only way to change the social system and my place within it. By challenging myself to quit my harmful medication for a month and document the process of the pain, relief and obstacles, I hope to raise awareness on the medicinal marijuana issue, personal freedom and other important social problems. Ignorance, which seems to run rampant in a society based on fulfilling commercial wants, also ties into my goal of changing the system. The challenge of compiling evidence, analysis and developing prospective positive change through research and potential implementation is an important part of bettering this social system and my place in it.

My other personal goals of learning Italian, properly training my dog and coming out with some hiphop music over 2012 will help better my life and will transfer to those I interact with in my circle. I still need to come up with 4 more goals to better myself!

My circl3 goals are harder to come up with: I only have 5 of the necessary 14 so far. This week I started with the Toronto Tenancy issues: by next post I will have an action plan set in place so keep posted on developments! My other community goals are mostly business and lobby oriented, but with some planning I can come up with working ways of change.

Th3 world goals are even more complicated and difficult to reach. Only a few reachable goals have come up so far, but through BookTrollz Publishing Company, I have started a plan to organize efforts to address global issues like bullying, disabilities and sustainability. 11 more ideas needed, got any?

Change cannot be created through sole one-person efforts - not for m3, my circl3 or th3 world - I need to recruit minds, hands and bodies to make almost any of my goals happen. Thankfully most of my buds are green tree-huggers, happy to offer a little help to high places for their friends.

So let me pass this on to you - got any ideas to help mys3lf, my circl3 or th3 world?

puff, puff, peace.

42.0 Weeks of Change

2011 created the ideology behind A Joint 3ffort: puff, puff, pass.

All you have is yourself, your circle and the world.

Succeed yourself,

create success for your circle,

and pass on that success to your world: this is what creates peace :)

Actually, that's kind of what creates happiness, a functional society, a sustainable world.

2011 was a realization of the important things in life: an understanding of friendship, of health, of loss, of values and experience, knowledge and wisdom, of opportunity and creation,

of how

thoughts become words

words become actions and actions become habits

which develop into character and character becomes destiny.

Everybody seems to agree that 2012 is going to be a year of change: whether it brings WW3, the rapture, environmental disaster, male feminization, widespread economic collapse, the golden/enlightenment/aquarius age or any other form of change, few seem to be thinking or talking or acting on changing whatever is wrong in themselves, their circle or the world or even know how to.

Charles Darwin, author of On the Origin of Species, said: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change."

2012 calls for change.

A Joint 3ffort will create and document 42.0 steps towards a better world throughout 2012.

Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, said: "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."

In 2012 I will create and document 14 positive changes in my personal life.

I have some ideas of what and how and when.

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement, said: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

In 2012 I hope to see my home, meaning Toronto, Ontario and Canada as a whole, become a better place.

Francis Bacon said: "He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator."

I will not wait for time to create new evils, we need remedies, we need change for the better in a number of different ways. In 2012 I will help create and document 14 positive changes to my circle.

Arnold Bennett said: "Any change, even a change for the better is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."

In expecting that it will not be easy, that the changes I want to see will be a struggle and will require effort, it can be planned for. Regardless, change in myself, in my circle and in my world is necessary to create the success we strive for.

Lisa Taylor said: "We must learn to view change as a natural phenomenon - to anticipate it and to plan for it. The future is ours to channel in the direction we want to go... we must continually ask ourselves, 'what will happen if...' or better still, 'how can we make it happen?'"

2012 will create the changes deemed necessary throughout 2011. Positive changes, changes for the better. Real, tangible changes. A Joint 3ffort will help create and document 14 weeks of changes in the world throughout 2012.

As Bruce Barton said: "Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of over-confidence fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress."

A Joint 3ffort has a plan for 2012, an idea to create change in positive ways, in ourselves, our circles, our world: progress.

42.0 weeks of change: starting with me, leading to you, and passed onto the world.

What's your plan for 2012?

puff, puff, peace.

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