I just finished a book today called "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future." It is a very new book, just out at the end of 2007, and it poses an interesting perspective on the comming years and what they hold.
The author who doesn't really quite fit into the liberal or conservative box, (though I think both sides of the coin will find the book appealing for different reasons.) posits the theory that for the first time since the industrial revolution people are faced with the choice of choosing between haveing "more" and having "better" two things which we usually associate as always going together. In a time when people like to throw around the phrase "sustainable future" this fellow likes to use the word "durable." I find this refreshing because to sustain something is just to maintain it as it is, but to build a culture that is not only "sustainable" but "enduring" brings to mind things the things in a culture that do endure, which ultimatley have stood the past of time and continue to do so. Exiting stuff.
Anyway this book puts a whole new face on the "dismal science" of economics and even people who run screaming and running at the mention of Global Warming and Peak Oil should find this an interesting read. Because at last it is a book about answers instead of problems. It is ultimatley a book about hope.
I can just see Pope Leo up in heaven nodding approvingly everytime this guy talks about local economies. Also for being written by a person who is as green as this fellow is there is thankfully very little talk of overpopulation. . . (thank goodness.)
In other news today was a very UNproductive day in which I missed a dentist apointment, managed to almost burn down my apartment, and we all five got stuck at CVS with the car battery dead. . . . though in the end all the troubles landed us at the Schnerre's for a wonderful visit and a very enjoyable and delicious dinner in the company of friends. I suppose today "more" and "better" certainly were very very seperate, indeed.
7 comments:
Aw, shucks. If it weren't for the hassle to you- I would wish your car broke down everyday so we could have a nice long visit very often. I'm not sure that Ben could handle it. (Although, I would think that a little battery problem would be a fine trade for six screaming children and David Attenborough.) Bob was sorry he was couldn't visit more but determined to finish the stair project. Hero of my domestic heart! Also, I have Zita's hat full of various things and will swing them by sometime soon.
Yours,
M.
have you read Crunchy Cons? Ryan just got it; it's supposed to be really good.
and even better than crunchy cons is "Third Ways" by Allan Carlson. The subtitle is "How Bulgarian Greens, Swedish Housewives, and Beer-Swilling Englishmen Created Family-Centered Economies—And Why They Disappeared", and you can buy it at:
http://www.isi.org/books/bookdetail.aspx?id=5afd5e0b-5e25-4c61-9ae4-705e3c37e030
and it's really fabulous. I highly recommend it!!!
Oooh! Maggie with the product placement! Do you know if Anna charges for that or is the service "gratis"?
I have to admit, I really didn't like Crunchy Cons -too much "con" and not enough "crunch" but then we all know I'm kind of a hippie.
I've had the pleasure of speaking with Bill McK... in the world of economics he tends to land on the left (um, Vermont [or anyone outside of the way they do it in Chicago] +Environmentalism= Liberal)...
But these days I tend not to trust those running around proclaiming to be conservatives... But I am a big old flamin' Californian after all...
Deep Economy sounds good, I'll try it. If you haven't read Michael Pollan's newest, you should, since you seem to be a lover of things like local food and local economy.
I think the Crunchy Con blog is better than the book.
well, crunchy cons is convincing my very mainstream-"con" fiance that "crunchy" is really a good thing to be, so i will thank it very much for that. he said he is even beginning to understand my hippie ways and, what is more, accept them. we all need a starting point, i suppose.
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