In line with Druidry?

[Twig]

http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/david- ... itleKorten

Seems like a good fit to me.

[celticmodes]

The author has swung the pendulum very far and demonized the existing culture. The ideas are worth looking into but the proposed methods to achieve those are impossible. Attempts have been made in the past and the same corporate thieves change their clothing and warp the new system. Corruption, greed, etc. will always be part of a human culture and can't be legislated away.

[Merlyn]

Family wealth vs commonwealth,
Due to the unstable nature of family as it continues, the attraction to investing ran large, too large and replaced family and local community value, all the way to the state level.
The banksters not only ran away with the family retirement funds, but also blew it all and are now broke.

Lesson learned.
How do we re-enter and reclaim our own values is the question, running large for all. Rather than keep the paid off home of our parents, most splintered families are so desperate and dysfunctional, they fight over it with lawyers, sell it and blow the cash.

Same with the family owned companies too often. The result is a country with no wealth, no industry and no future worth going to college for.
Social security, like a carrot on a stick, moved from 55 to 65 and they are considering even 72 years old before giving it back to the investors who invested in it all their lives.

The medical end of all of this has been put squarely on the backs of business, which frankly has diminished to almost subzero. Big idea with no way to implement it.
Medical insurance and cobra scams with the grand idea of forcing small business to provide medical insurance fails to recognize it is far less expensive to self insure, and
the family cash flow increases by a large number if you self insure. Taking the cash out before the paycheck is written diminishes the over-all income of all Americans. The Government wants to tax medical care highly, and allows insurance to drive the price out of sight for the majority of Americans.

Bottom line is we do it to ourselves by thinking others like insurance companies and government is a legitimate trusted thing.
Truth be known they only care for themselves, as the recent depression examples. Household family economics needs to revive itself in all family, this notion we are all islands able to shun family and local community, is a lie.

Out-sourcing is the ultimate sin of this failed lie, and cuts the entire culture at its roots making our education system moot.
Why learn a trade if all trade work is done by slave labor in other countries and the products are disposable junk?

The resulting impact of all of this on the environment is staggering!

I agree that Druid values would and do help. I was speaking to my son-in-law who thinks he needs to blow his home apart by divorcing his wife and leaving her with the two kids.
Speaking as the druid of the family..... I said NO! This kind of idiot "I can't do it" thinking is in every crack of society, and I for one am giving it a lot of thought.

His wife is doing nothing but thinking about her "Christian obligations" and cannot stand that her husband wants to think for himself as far as what spiritual path he wants.
Old Merlyn is going to and has had a few very pointed long conversations with them, and will not in any way enable or accept this failed and foolish very selfish thinking that would leave two very bright children in a broken home with two failed parents who frankly cannot survive alone.

There is a lot to all of this at every level.
And as I see it, high time to say "NO!"

That goes for the grand Obama "package deals" that borrow our future from our children as well!


Live within our means, recycle, and build to last.

[Aitrus]

I disagree with what the author says. But then, I'm a fan of Ayn Rand, so that's no surprise. To me the only thing Rand missed was that any smart businessman will realize that resources are finite, and so he must shepard his use of them or else he will run out of materials. A good businessman will take steps to limit his abuse of the environment, not out of any sense of "earth-friendliness", but because it's "Good Business" to do so in the long run.

[Merlyn]

Agreed, it is more than just good business, it is the only way.
Taking back our life from the banks is not going to be easy.

Eco-business means doing it right, and heading for ecology based ideals, potential and in a profitable way.
In every thing I see so far, it is more profitable to go eco-friendly than any other way. The ways our country had been doing business was so wasteful, it is also costly.

Fostering local is working.
"Localvore" is replacing carnivore, in a big way. Our small restaurant is getting a big following because vegans can have the entire menu, not just a salad!
Knowing that we grow and produce our foods right here, and prepare it all in our own certified kitchen is getting a lot of attention, already our restaurant and my studio have been covered by the local news, magazines and such for two reasons, the good quality and the ability to survive this recession doing what we do.

Most places people go to eat, have no such thing as "gluten free" on the menu. We have most of our foods gluten free, and with more and more awareness about food quality, it matters.
We were approached by the processed foods companies, even given grand tours, boat rides and all to get our business. We looked at all of it and turned it all down.

Not sure if good food is a part of the OBOD, but I think it is a part of the mind-body relationship and key to staying healthy, avoiding most of the problems in health and a foundation to local community.

From my view as a druid who runs two businesses, a studio and a restaurant, the way to recovery is eco-all-the-way.

Getting back to the basics, get rid of the vulture economy, and live life like it is what matters.
And from what I see, it is working like crazy!

While others complain of no business, we are slammed!

Speculation, the inflation of financial bubbles, risk externalization, the extraction of usury, and the use of creative accounting to create money from nothing, unrelated to the creation of anything of real value, serve no valid social purpose. The Wall Street corporations that engage in these activities are not in the business of contributing to the creation of real community wealth. They are in the business of expropriating it, a polite term for theft. They should be regulated or taxed out of existence.

Totally agree and the only reason I am still in business is bacause I never invested one dime in the wall street scams.

Greed is not a virtue; sharing is not a sin. If your primary business purpose is not to serve the community, you have no business being in business.

Agreed as well, being in business is being part of the community, culture and life of all around you.

A proper money system roots the power to create and allocate money in people and communities in order to facilitate the creation of livelihoods and ecologically balanced community wealth. Money properly serves life, not the reverse. Wall Street uses money to consolidate its power to expropriate the real wealth of the rest of the society. Main Street uses money to connect underutilized resources with unmet needs. Public policy properly favors Main Street.

Family and business "need to know" and stop acting like there is a pot of gold over some rainbow. Invest in local community, stay with local banks, keep in the loop and stay on top of everything. No one is going to do it for you, and that means government as well.

The proper purpose of an economy is to secure just, sustainable, and joyful livelihoods for all. This may come as something of a shock to Wall Street financiers who profit from financial bubbles, securities fraud, low wages, unemployment, foreign sweatshops, tax evasion, public subsidies, and monopoly pricing.

Pretty much what my first post was all about.

[Twig]

So, Merlyn -- any chance your restaurant will expand into a second location in South Texas? It sounds like heaven here in hamburger haven.

Eco-wise business simply has to be the future of this planet. That requires looking far ahead and major planning to preserve the environment -- not the current instant gratification policies running the economic engine in most capitalistic societies. While I would love to see the economy proposed in the article I posted (the essence of which I do think is very pro-Druid), I am too cynical to believe it is possible. The banksters own the USA, and it seems that they will continue to do so, at least during the rest of my lifetime.

So, how to proceed? Does one just ignore the problem, live in one's own little world of backyard gardening and local banking? I see no way to stop what is happening.

And why can't I find a profitable eco-business mutual fund? Until SRI becomes as profitable as Wall Street blue chip index funds, I think we are stuck.

[Merlyn]

The problem is a big one.
I began in the 80's when the 401k was touted to be the big deal for everyone. I declined, as I did not trust the banks, nor any business to be in chrge of my future like that. Instead, I invested in my own future, and my own studio. This eventually led to me being self employed, and then becoming an LLC.

After that, my wife learned how to begin her business while under the wing of mine, and recently we were able to get the restaraunt on its own books.
So in essence we both own both businesses, to be sure they stay in the family.

And yes, the "Stone Feather Farm" West Mex restaraunt is in process of becoming a brand and then a franchise.
It has been a long road, and took a lot of thought to decide way back in the beginning that I would rely on myself and not the banks. The lesson is "one step at a time".
I have had many friends try to build business too fast, living in the red, thinking the banks would carry their load, only to end up loosing everything.

The truth is, do not be afraid to be your own boss, learn how to do it step by step. It is far better to know how all the tax is done, when you give it to an accountant to do. It all began when I graduated from art college, and started as a sole propritor, making my art work my second job. I would work all day and come home in the evenings and do my art job. During the recession of the 80s work at the auto shop began to fall far short, and at the time I was a single parent, dealing with day care and everything myself. I crunched the numbers, and by staying home, and working my own art job, I was way ahead.

[Jake]

So, Merlyn -- any chance your restaurant will expand into a second location in South Texas? It sounds like heaven here in hamburger haven.

While it doesn't begin to compare to the selection available in Austin ( ), San Antonio has its share of vegetarian and health-conscious dining options: http://www.happycow.net/north_america/u ... n_antonio/