It was only a matter of time after we started eating local food and Buying Local from main street stores that we'd start hearing about local money. It started with local currencies in such places as inflation-wracked Argentina and the wealthy Berkshires of western Massachusetts. These experiments in modern complementary currency spawned dozens of scrips around the world from … [Read more...]
Chinese billionaire crushes perfectly good Mercedes to protest driving
To prepare for peak oil, I've argued that nations need to rely less on imports and bring their manufacturing back home. But here's an import from China that I'd like to see come to the West. In advance of China's National Car-Free Day in September, Chen Guangbiao, a flamboyant but green-friendly billionaire, staged a publicity stunt where he had a Mercedes-Benz sedan … [Read more...]
Wall Street lawyer risks career to join protesters
"Do you work on Wall Street?" asks the interviewer with MoveOn.org. "I do," answers a man in a suit, his face blurred out by the camera. It turns out that he's a lawyer. If he's doing political stunts like this then he may wish to look into how to get a 10 Avvo rating to mitigate the risks he's taking by taking a stand like this. That way, he will still receive interest in … [Read more...]
A “Gospel of Wealth” for the 21st century
Andrew Carnegie once wrote that there is nothing more debasing than the worship of money: "The amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry." Later in life, Carnegie developed this notion more fully in Gospel of Wealth. Published in 1901, this essay became a touchstone of the great American philanthropic tradition. Carnegie's position on the "duty of the man of … [Read more...]
Making utopia practical
In nearly a half century fighting abuses of power, Ralph Nader has seen the worst in people, from venality in politicians to arrogance in corporate executives. And Nader knows as well as anyone that corporate control of Washington has kept the US from implementing the policy we need to fight climate change and prepare for peak oil. Now, Nader's written his first novel, "Only … [Read more...]