James Howard Kunstler has restated his responses to what he calls "The Long Emergency." Kunstler often ruffles feathers with his harsh critiques of our nation's suburban wasteland and dependence on the automobile, and many label him a loon for his dire predictions on the world's oil supply. That said, Kunstler is a reactionary, and he longs for a "small" America--a country where localism reigns. Though he does not say it here, I find his course of action to be rather hopeful. It is a call to community and the "little way," where we buy our food from local farmers, work down the street from our homes, and care for one another. A few notable suggestions: read more »

Joseph Pearce has started the discussion of his new book, Small Is Still Beautiful with this insight into the ideas driving his work:

What do we mean by economics? Or, perhaps, what do we not mean by it?

We do not mean “economics” as it is defined in the Collins English Dictionary as being merely “the social science concerned with the production and consumption of goods and services and the analysis of the commercial activities of a society”. True, this is the conventional definition, hence its appearance in the dictionary, but it is not its original meaning. The word “economics” comes from the Greek, oikonomia, a combination of oikos (house) and nomos or nemo (manage). It is, therefore, in its root or radical meaning, the managing of a home. And this brings us to the family, and to the sub-title of my book: Economics as if Families Mattered. If we forget the family we forget to live economically. We begin to live hedonistically.

Allow me to elaborate. read more »

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has recently published Joseph Pearce's Small Is Still Beautiful, a re-examination of E.F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful. Schumacher's book was a call for human-scale, decentralized economies and convivial (to borrow Illich's term) technologies. From the book's website: read more »

Neille Ilel, writing on Reason Online, examines the work of nontraditional, de-centralized relief organizations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Both the government and the Red Cross have struggled and failed to meet the needs of the victims in and around New Orleans. Ilel admits that these private groups have not necessarily scored a victory, but they have, generally, been more effective in helping the victims recover because they can quickly adapt their methods. read more »

To pick up on the discussion that Mr. Kidd started, I'll add this post by the urban homesteaders over at Hen Waller which highlights a New York Times Small Business section article entitled "Why Roots Matter More." What is most interesting about the Times article is that it highlights the dilution of organically-raised food as it becomes more mainstream. As consumers are learning that the organic label does not necessarily mean "local" or even "safe" (as discovered during the outbreak of E. coli found in bagged spinach), they are seeking out food grown locally with sustainable methods, and they are even willing to pay more for it. And, even better perhaps, regional and national producers and suppliers are looking for ways to localize their businesses. I'll let Holly at Hen Waller describe this: read more »