These folks are turning lawns into vegetable gardens and organizing their neighbors to start pea patches and farmers markets. They're getting together with neighbors to swap preserves and skills, and to relearn the skills their grandparents had. They are protecting local resources--water, land, forests, and fisheries--that can offer sustenance into the future, and they are starting up energy and weatherization cooperatives.
They're paying off their debt, moving their money out of big corporate banks to local banks and credit unions, and supporting local businesses. As they do, they are freeing themselves from the global corporate economy that moved jobs overseas and fueled the speculation that undermined the real economy of jobs, goods, and services. These folks have chosen instead to use their resources to strengthen local economies and the small and medium-sized businesses that are most likely to create the new jobs of the next economy.
These are the pioneers of the new normal, and you can find them building the foundations of a hopeful future in urban centers, small towns and suburbs. Maybe you're one of them.
Related posts
Culturenet
I used to take 'Yes' magazine but their constant optimism was a problem for me. I still like gawking at the godawful greed and ignorance of my fellow humans a little too much. But getting busy with solutions is an evolutionary necessity.
ReplyDeleteI just subscribed... figured it was worth $17 to see if it had content we could use.
ReplyDelete