Building Community

Some Reflections on ‘The Big Society’….

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A few people have asked me what my thoughts are on the whole ‘Big Society’ concept being promoted by the new British government. I have attended a couple of events over the last week that have given me space to think about it all, so here I am with a few reflections…So, for those new to the idea, the ‘Big Society’ idea is David Cameron’s big idea, focusing on localism, returning power to local communities, making central government smaller and shifting its role to the devolution of power wherever possible, calling for “a massive, radical redistribution of power”.

Independence Day: With beauty and fecundity for all

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What does it mean to be a patriotic American in this day and age? If we shop at Wal-Mart, we may be under the impression it means buying red, white, and blue plastic crap—extruded petroleum from China, of course. Newspapers suggest that being patriotic means supporting the wars du jour, rooting for the home team and providing support for “our boys over there” by forking over streams of taxed money while our infrastructure at home crumbles beneath our feet. For many of us, the Decline of the American Empire has removed any meaning of these words.

Pink petunias in the snow: The basics of fall and winter gardening

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Every year it happens to some folks – for whatever reason, the garden either doesn’t get in early enough or doesn’t do well. We get to the beginning of July and we’re left with a sense of frustration that it is too late to do anything about it. Or maybe you are having a good year, and what you mostly want is to keep that going as long as possible – sure, you are preserving and ready to root cellar, but your favorite foods are the ones that come fresh from the garden and you want to know how long you can keep that going.

Michelle Long: How locally owned businesses are starting to change the world

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Michelle Long, executive director of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), explains how BALLE communities are using locally owned businesses to create a safe space outside the dominant system for the next economy to develop. She spoke at Shelburne Farms on June 11 at the Inspired by Slow Money conference.

Celebrating independence

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On this Independence Day, I’m celebrating the ways my family’s lifestyle is becoming more independent from the mainstream.  This means our lifestyle is becoming more independent from oil for long-distance transport of goods, more independent from carbon emissions, more independent from the Industrial Growth Paradigm, demanding less earth resources, and thus much more resilient.

Giving care

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For a whole host of reasons – demographic, economic, energy-linked and environmental, giving care is going to be a more important job in the future. More of us will have to care for one another, where institutions could once do so. More of us will have to rely on people we know, rather than our savings. More of us face the terrible fragility of those questions – who will care for me, how will I manage to care for them?

Back to our roots

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Last September I attended the Prairie Festival at The Land Institute in Salinas, Kansas. At the institute, Wes Jackson and his colleagues are undertaking one of the most important agricultural research projects in the world. They have gone back to first principles and are breeding new grain crops that are perennials rather than annuals…They have taken the long view.