The Lost Art
“Can she bake a cherry pie?” chants the American folk song. That didn’t mean opening a can of goo from the supermarket and dumping it into a frozen pie shell. It mean knowing when the cherries were sweet and…
Rediscovering Production
To consume means to destroy. That’s why “consumption” was the name given to tuberculosis. – Vandana Shiva[i] Producing food. For the most part, people alive today have lost touch with this most basic of human activities. Instead, we have…
A future that is …
Low-carbon Post-petroleum Socially just More fulfilling … ??? In an article which is unfortunately no longer available online, Don Hall (at one time part of Transition Colorado) wrote that “sustainability” wasn’t exactly an enticing goal; that to him it sounded…
Introduction
About “Economic Resilience” When it comes to change-making, I tend to be the person you’ll find wielding a shovel, either literally or figuratively. Although I spend plenty of time talking in meetings, I feel happiest when I’m out there getting…
Like what we do?
Don’t let it stop here. In keeping with Charles Eisenstein’s gift culture, versions of this booklet are being offered to the public free of charge.Eisenstein reminds us “a gift transaction is open-ended, creating an ongoing tie between the participants.”We have…
Investing for Retirement
Conventional investments: Virtually all conventional investments (money market, 401K, stocks, etc.) are tied to the dependent-upon-growth mainstream economy and are thus fully embroiled in the issues discussed in Part I of this document. The idea of an investment-cash-funded retirement came…
8. Redefine “Success”
In the past, “success” has been defined by things we can count: our bank accounts, accumulated possessions, number of offspring, the square footage of our houses. It has been defined by fame, power, busy-ness and packed calendars. Our conventional economic…
What does this have to do with economics?
Over the past few decades, our society has become experts at specialization. We have sorted life out into distinct categories. Think of the disciplines at school: science, history, math — at first blush they seem quite independent of one another.…
Lietaer’s Shadow Side
The shadow side of the Great Mother archetype Bernard Lietaer, in a brilliant 1997 article, describes the repression of the Great Mother archetype: “The Great Mother archetype was very important in the Western world from the dawn of prehistory throughout…
What might it look like?
What it won’t be If we wait for the governments, it’ll be too little, too lateIf we act as individuals, it’ll be too littleBut if we act as communities, it might just be enough,just in time.– Transition movement, Cheerful Disclaimer…