[CLUE-Talk] [OT] A Call to Action

[Matt Gushee]

Hi, Folks--

This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Linux, but since I
know many of you are concerned about the state of the economy, I thought
it might be of some interest.


Dear Friends--

As America's economic malaise drags on with no end in sight, it is becoming
increasingly apparent that our traditional economic institutions are not going
to help us out of this mess. Indeed, they have no intention of doing so: 
political and corporate leaders are far too busy trying to save themselves
and their nest eggs to worry about anyone else. In short, THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.
Most people I know are responding to the situation in one of two ways:

 1. Sitting around waiting for the system to fix itself. Or complaining.
    It doesn't matter: one or the other might feel better, depending on
    your personality, but neither version is likely to be effective.

 2. Grabbing table scraps for themselves and their families. While I can't
    fault anyone for taking this approach, I also get the very strong
    impression that there just plain isn't enough to go around.

But wait. Are those the only choices we have?

I say no, they are not. I propose to you that we--you and I and our neighbors
--have vast resources at our disposal, if we only knew how to tap them. That
with cooperation and creativity, we can realize new opportunities, here and now.
I believe that if we can look away even for a moment from the dried-up spigot
of corporate money, we can begin to see that there is wealth right here in
our community: it is us. And that by working together locally, we can begin
to reap the benefits of that wealth.

How can we make this happen? I don't pretend to have all the answers, but as
a first step I have created a discussion forum called Front Range Economic
Alternatives (FREA), which I hope will let us quickly focus on promising 
strategies and move to action within the next few weeks. For now, the field
is wide open, but there are two ideas that I am particularly interested in 
discussing:

  * LETS or a local currency system

    LETS stands for either Local Exchange Trading System or the word "let's,"
    or something else, depending who you ask. It is a kind of virtual currency
    system, operated by and for people and businesses in a given community. In
    essence, LETS and other local currency systems increase people's buying
    power by increasing the local money supply. Beginning in the mid-70s,
    successful LETS systems and local currencies have been established in
    dozens of communities throughout the industrialized world.

  * Community-supported Agriculture

    CSA is a scheme where urban residents and other non-farmers make a
    financial commitment to a particular farm, sharing in the risks, rewards,
    and often the labor of growing food. I don't know how much there is
    to discuss about this, since there are already several CSA farms in the
    region, but maybe it would be worthwhile to promote the concept in some
    way.

If this sounds good, join the forum today! You'll find it at:

   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/frea/

Whether you join the group or not, I've found a number of good resources on the web, and I'd encourage you to check them out. Have a look at the Bookmarks 
section of the Yahoo group.

Finally, please pass this message along to any friends or relatives who might
be interested.

Onward!

-- 
Matt Gushee
Englewood, Colorado, USA
mgushee at havenrock.com
http://www.havenrock.com/