Freeconomy Blog
Sun
04 May
No camping and foraging for me then this weekend…!
| 3 comments |
It woke up this morning all ready to pack my bags to take off camping and foraging for the weekend in the woods with some friends, only to learn that ‘The Times on Sunday’ have written a great article (click link to read) centred around ‘Freeconomy’ and all the ways we can live without using money. Which is amazing, the word itself is only seven months old and already it is being used to describe a way of life that is becoming not only possible, but easier and almost more essential by the day. By next year it may even make the Collins Dictionary!
What is not so great is that it doesn’t look like I am now going to get camping today, or even write the blog I was intending to write! We’ve just been inundated with new members, tonnes of enquiries and hence a mountain of work! It does mean, however, that the message behind this community is getting out there more and more, and that is my life’s goal, so camping is a small price to pay. But having a sing-song around a camp-fire under an old oak tree eating some of the food we foraged along the way was so agonisingly close for me!
On the upside, ‘The Times’ have pretty much done my blog for me today, as the journalist who has written the article has really done her homework and I would really recommend a read of it - there are some great links for you all to check out. Hats off to her, and how refreshing (and revealing) to see such a large newspaper go with such a story. I think we are finally making some real progress, which gives me so much hope for the future.
So the blog I intended to write this morning will have to wait until tomorrow, too much to do!
But for today I will leave you with the words I saw on a poster of a small, ecological bookshop called Seven Generations that has just recently had to close down, due to the pressures of living in a world where people just don’t seem to support the little guy anymore.
It is a take on Pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous poem 'First they came...'. This is something like how it read, and it was written in the tone of a person who no longer wants to stay silent:
“First they came for our local greengrocer,
But I did not speak out because I can park more easily at Tesco.
Then they came for the children who work in factory farms in South-east Asia,
But I did not speak out because my kids love the toys they make.
Then they came for the farm animals,
But I did not speak out because the chicken as ASDA Wal-Mart is only $1.50.
Then they came for our lovely old bookshop
But I did not speak out because the discounts are great at Amazon.
Then they came for our natural environment,
But I did not speak out as I love the cheap flights to Spain.
Then they came for our food security,
But I did not speak out as salad packs from China are much cheaper.
Then they introduced SAT exams for 7 year old kids,
But I did not speak out because my child isn’t seven years old anymore.
Then they went to war with Iraq,
But I did not speak out as I need cheap oil prices to drive to work everyday.
Then they started to introduce compulsory ID cards,
But I did not speak out as I like some of the benefits that the government are offering me.
Then they came for me,
And then I realised there was no one left to speak out for me.” (courtesy of Anton Saxton)
Please speak out and act. And support ‘the little guy’, because we are all little guys. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’, only ‘us’.
Lots of love x
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Comment on this Post:
the fool comments ...
congratulatuons swarse me old mucker, thats great news
vive la revolution ;0)
PurpleHat comments ...
I am impressed by your take on the poem \"First they came...\". My own take on speaking out is from Eisenhower; I am not a fan of his, but in the State of the Union address 1957 he wrote something that I edited and have used to live by for decades:
\"Freedom has been defined as the opportunity for self-discipline..... Should we persistently fail to discipline ourselves, eventually there will be increasing pressure on government to redress the failure. By that process freedom will step by step disappear.\"
Over my lifetime I have seen a loss of many freedoms - so for me it is great reading of people who do think and who do act to preserve freedoms for individuals and communities.
Madam Salami comments ...
It is great that word is getting around.
But was it just e that noticed the author could only go on about what she could get for nothing, no mention of her helping others. Only once did she attempt to do something for someone else and that was with the intention of getting something in return? Ah well at least it seems to have had a positive impact.
Funny that you mention the SAT's for 7 year olds - my son has just done his!. I am now removing him from school to teach him at home. We are going to concentrate on the things that matter to us like environment and art plus he'll have a much wider social network instead of 29 other kids all the same age, colour, background....
So I am supporting my little guy! Not quite what you meant I know, but if I don't do this for him he'll be lost in league tables and rules and one size fits all school systems.
Love and blessings
x x x
