When it comes to economic matters, I believe we can learn a great deal from the writings of Wendell Berry.
Referred to as the “poet of responsibility,” Berry straddles diverse worlds. He is a man of letters, deep ecologist, activist and Kentucky farmer. At the heart of his economic philosophy is the notion that in addition to understanding and valuing the land that sustains us, we must also value the people who work it if we are to create a healthy economy. He believes that economies must be locally based if they are to deal responsibly with the complex needs of any given place: ‘meet local needs first, then trade the surpluses.’ He also continually stresses the importance of affection in our work and relationship to place. If we don’t feel genuine affection for where we are and what we are doing, we will be led hopelessly and destructively astray.
Finally, he is a powerful advocate of practicing the discipline of nonviolence: “What leads to peace is not violence but peaceableness, which is not passivity, but an alert, informed, practiced, and active state of being. We should recognize that while we have extravagantly subsidized the means of war, we have almost totally neglected the ways of peaceableness.”
Be sure to check out his 17 Rules for a Sustainable Economy.
Other online essays:
Thoughts in the Presence of Fear (a response to the 9/11 attacks and their relationship to globalization)
Compromise, Hell! (Economic WMDs are being used against our own people in a version of “freedom” that makes greed the dominant economic virtue)
In Distrust of Movements (I add this one for Ray’s benefit—and for anyone who understands how easily the most well-intentioned movement can get corrupted)
Books:
The Art of the Commonplace (a collection of his agrarian essays. This is a good introduction—but any of his books will prove to be great reading.)
Lorel,
Since September 29, at least 700,000 Americans have moved their money out of big banks and into credit unions.
The big banks are so freaked out by what’s happening that some have locked their doors and even called the police on customers who tried to close their accounts.
Click here for ten amazing stories about big banks desperately trying to stop customers from closing their accounts.
Please share these stories with a friend, too. Everyone needs to know we have the big banks on the run.
Keep fighting,
Markos Moulitsas
Founder, Daily Kos
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