Welcome ...
Welcome to the inaugural issue of dig.ni.fy magazine, a
magazine whose purpose is to promote human dignity and
living a dignified existence.
Why dig.ni.fy, and why now?
It is our contention that people around the globe are in crisis, that our world itself is in crisis; and, we believe until we finally address, define, and understand what human dignity means to all peoples and cultures across the globe we will never be able to find the common ground that will acknowledge, respect, protect, and promote both peoples and places. In other words, until we find what is common amongst us as multiple peoples occupying one planet, we will not find our way into developing a reasonable global framework for climate protection, not be able to address through reasonable and rational tax policies the increasing power derived from further entrenchment of the one percent, not be able to ensure social safety nets such as health care and unemployment are not compromised, not be able to reveal the underpinning hypocrisy of people who wish to promote their own belief systems at the expense of others’ lives and rights, and not be able to dispel the fear of science–and the good intention of the scientific community–that could well save the lives of hundreds if not billions of people regardless of their ideological or religious beliefs and persuasions.
This is why we chose the title, dig.ni.fy. It is not a noun by which to promote or justify our own bias; it is a verb–a call for engagement and action–by which to actively reach out and engage with others and the “Other” to build a better world. Born from a concern about a world in which people were and are willing to endure and embrace isolationism and authoritarianism if not totalitarianism, we at dig.ni.fy set as a goal developing a platform to give voice to peoples and cultures from around the world in a timely and relevant manner. Moreover, we want these people to speak from their perspectives and experiences through their voices and/or through voices of people they trust, without requiring academic credentialling, suffering the bias that can arise in editing, or first receiving the approval of their peers. Our hope is that putting such diverse subjects as politics and community, economics and trade, arts and culture, environment and commerce, and markets and marketing next to each other in one publication we can create portals into worlds of which we may be unfamiliar and/or peoples and subjects of which we might otherwise never know.
And so we start. At the end of the day, this issue would not have been possible without the many contributions made by the authors, photographers, makers, and leaders who believed in our cause. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of them. I also want to thank you, the reader, for giving our publication a chance by taking the time to hear what we have to say. We hope you enjoy the issue, and we would welcome not only your feedback but any proposals you might have for us moving forward. It is from this foundation we hope to build an ongoing presence. And it just may be that, as we continue on this journey together, we end up changing the world for the better.
Wil
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