At first, Aulintans thought of themselves like a pebble dropped into a pond, the influence of their way of life spreading outward in ripples. But with the teaching component, the outreach, the knowledge exchanges and internships and partner cities, we started to realize that we are, indeed, more than a pebble. More like a group of swimmers, making constant small waves that reach out. Also, our way of life has to have a context, and in a state that both formed us and increasingly seeks to be like us, and a nation that increasingly sees it must become like us, and a world we strive to be like and that actively strives to be like us, our ideas of communication, transportation, economic systems, collective action, consensus process, and play are starting to look like we the swimmers are in fact becoming the whole damn pond.

We are working towards the day when that finally happens, when the world is a total Aulinta.