Building Community

Independence Days Challenge

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Many of us need nothing in the world so much as more time. Adding new projects is exhausting – and stressful. And yet, we know that there are things we want to change – for example, most of us would like to grow a garden with our kids, or make sure that we know where our food comes from. We’d like to live in communities with a greater measure of food security, we’d like to know more about what we’re eating. We’d like to have more contact with nature, we’d like to be more self-sufficient. We’d like to have better food at lower cost, we’d like to have a reserve for an emergency or to share. We’d like to do more in our community and to eat with one another. We’d like to sit down to a home cooked meal more often.

Elinor Ostrom Wins Nobel for Common(s) Sense

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Elinor Ostrom was an unusual choice for the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. For one thing, she is the first woman to receive the prize. Her Ph.D. is in political science, not economics (though she minored in economics, collaborates with many economists, and considers herself a political economist). But what makes this award particularly special is that her work is about cooperation, while standard economics focuses on competition.

Peak Moment 163: Economy, Ecology, Social Equity — Empowering Future Leaders

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What if future leaders became sensitive to local environmental and social issues before stepping into leadership roles? Tanya Narath describes nine day-long events in the Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy’s program: Students visit a watershed for ecological context; tour an organic farm (sustainable agriculture); take a walking tour from which students’ urban design ideas are presented to the mayor; explore social issues like racial injustice, homelessness, and poverty; consider water ecology, local economy, transportation and land use. (www.ecoleader.org).

The importance of envisioning “community” (part 3)

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We cannot build what we cannot envision. Our imagination, along with our ability to form our images into words to communicate to others, are perhaps the most powerful tools that humans possess. This article in a 4-part series gives a short history of “community” — how humankind lost it, and how we might regain it.

People power trumps corporate power: R.I.P. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant

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Last week I had the honor of speaking with Kathleen Krevetski of Rutland, Vermont who has worked hard to publicize the adverse effects of radiation from nuclear power plants on people’s health, especially on women and children who are the most vulnerable…Thanks to these dedicated activists, the Vermont Senate voted to close Yankee on February 24.

Tim Kasser on Consumerism, Psychology, Transition and Resilience. Part Two

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Here is Part Two of an interview I did with Tim Kasser a couple of weeks ago while he was at Schumacher College. He is a psychologist, author of the seminal High Price of Materialism, as well as other useful writings such as a great chapter in the State of the World Report 2009 about consumerism and climate change. The interview raises some fascinating areas for research and thoughts about Transition and psychology, and I think you’re going to enjoy this one….

Playing to Win Universal School Gardens

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When I started volunteering this winter as a garden science teacher with Washington Youth Garden, entering one 3rd-grade classroom every week to help instill knowledge and enthusiasm by the children for the wonders of nature, I had no idea that this experience would inspire me to initiate a national call for Universal School Gardens.

Toward the Collapse: Growth-Economy = Climate Disaster (interview with Keith Farnish)

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…The Culture of Maximum Harm tries to achieve its journey by taking as much as it possibly can, and by doing as much damage as it possibly can. And the reason it does this is because it has one primary goal, which is achieve continuous growth – and that’s economic growth, in terms of the word “growth” – and economic growth cannot be sustainable. So, this culture, which I believe is unique in human history, is doing something that is uniquely destructive. In other words, it is the Culture of Maximum Harm – it is the most harmful way that humans can exist.

Economics, civil unrest, and more reasons for banking disgust – Feb 25

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-Rehearsals for a Civil War
-Athens: The First Domino?
-Our world balances on a sea of debt
-Joseph Stiglitz: Bankers Made Reckless Bets on the Economy, Knowing Taxpayers Were Going to Pick up the Tab
-Finger on the Scale
-Secret AIG Document Shows Goldman Sachs Minted Most Toxic CDOs