Reading this book and feeling sooooo inspired. This is beyond liberal/conservative--It is NOT about being "subservient" or "less than"--It is about being independent of corporations--of developing SKILLS that have been lost..so that we don't have to be in such a hurry and have to buy (McDonalds or other convieniences)--so we can eat healthy food...and buy less "stuff" and instead spend time together as familiies and community..get to know our neighbors.. And also feel fulfilled/self-actualized---and be responsible to our planet, our animals, and people in 3rd world who sweat blood/starve to make our $5 t-shirts.
page 54
The first sacrice we make to this extractive economy is our time...we attribute little or no value to our time, unless it is used in a process whereby money changes hands..It matters not what the time was used for, so l ong as the trade resulted in the generation of dollars. "It could go to thinking up new ways to seduce children into drinking more cola, or plotting ways to subvert clean air laws," notes Rowe. "So long as the time has flowed into the market and increased the churn of money there, it has been used beneficially where the economic mind is concerned. " Once we have sacrificed our time to the extractive econonmy, there is even more money to be made, because we now must use our hard-earned cash in order to purchase substitues for the time we've traded. We buy take-out and fast food when we don't have time to cook dinner. We buy prescription drugs when we no longer have time to take care of our health and get ample rest. We buy luxury goods for our loved ones as a substitute for spending time together. We throw out our shoes when the soles wear thin, toss our electronics into landfills when they stop working properly, because it takes too much time to repair them. In the long run, we wind up cash-poor and time-destitute, while coporate American
accumulates our wealth."
Page 58 Toward a Life-Serving Econonmy
(Shannon Hayes says that whether we work in the home or outside the home, it is important we follow these 4 tenets in our livelihood)
1. Respect and care for the community life.2. Ecological integrity
3. Social and economic justice
4. Democracy, nonviolence and peac
This is one I've heard mentioned a few times, thanks for going into more detail. Sounds right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading Radical Homemaking. I have some reservations about it, but I do like the anti-consumerist message.
Although I live in the inner city (Portland, Oregon, so not really hardcore inner city!), I've had a vegetable garden for several years, and am also learning to make my own music (learning to play the cello) as you are.
I'm enjoying reading about your journey.