That’s highly debatable. It could be that it’s really not working. It could be that the federal stimulus is keeping things from being much, much worse. I’m not sure how you’d measure that.

Regardless of this argument, what is clear to me is that we have to start looking beyond the paradigm of jobs and consumerism. Our current economic system is not sustainable. It’s based on people making more money and buying more stuff, and given our limited resources, that can’t go on forever.

It’s also obviously not working, when the top one percent of earners in the U.S. are receiving 20 percent of all income, controlling 33 percent of the country’s wealth, and paying a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than many in the middle class.

So what’s going to happen? Although I think taking care of people without jobs is the right idea, having the government pour more money into it may not be the right answer.

My husband likes to give a radical answer: Abolish money, and everyone will be forced to take care of each other. Simple and drastic, but I don’t see it happening.

I think that’s part of it, though. Here’s what I think we need:

1. Downshift. Realize that we don’t need so much stuff, and that we can’t base our economy on the stuff. We have to lower our expectations of how we should live and simplify.

2. Community. Yes, we do need to take care of each other, and it’s probably best done on the local level. We can share in making sure everyone has food, clothing, shelter and more — companionship, entertainment, education, etc.

3. Get off the fossil fuels. Not sustainable. Enough said.

This isn’t going to be easy. We will have to either deliberately make sacrifices and change the way we live, or be forced into it by our own actions. Either way will be difficult, and perhaps dangerous. The old ways and old jobs will continue to disappear, and this will hurt. But if we dedicate ourselves to taking care of each other, it will work out. Our lives just won’t be the same as they are today.

President George H.W. Bush once said “The American way of life is not negotiable.”  Well, Mr. Bush, it turns out that the American way of life is not sustainable. It’s time to negotiate for our lives.

RESOURCES

Co-op Villages: The Next Evolution (free PDF book download)

The Simple Living Network

Appropedia: The Sustainability Wiki

Xtracycle

Bicycle-related posts on TechnoEarthMama

Sustainability-related posts on TechnoEarthmama

I also know of several negative issues that lead me not to shop at Wal-Mart. Some of my reasons are personal, and some are more global.

Wal-Mart isn’t very close to where I live. The closest one is 5.3 miles away by car or bike. That’s further than I normally go to shop. I tend to stay within a mile or two of home.

Being inside a Wal-Mart store makes me crazy. They’re crowded, the shelves and excess merchandise tower over you, and the merchandise is often misplaced.  The noise level is high, and the lines are long — even in the express lanes.

Wal-Mart doesn’t pay employees enough. There’s some controversy about this. People in some positions say they are getting paid enough. Others think it’s OK, because these jobs are often filled by students, retirees, and other part-timers anyway.  I do think people deserve to be paid a living wage, but I’m not sure any more how to judge Wal-Mart in this area.  Wal-Mart’s average hourly wage for U.S. workers in 2008 was $10.86.

Wal-Mart sells things too cheaply. What? That’s a problem? But Wal-Mart is providing a service to the community by keeping their prices low.  NO. Sorry. There are several things wrong with this.  How do they get the prices so low? By underpaying employees, by squeezing their suppliers (who are then forced to cut their costs somehow), and by selling merchandise that’s made in other countries where manufacturing and labor are cheaper (even cheaper than Wal-Mart wages).

I’m not OK with getting lower prices on the backs of other people.  Also, people in the U.S. have now gotten the impression that we should always get the lowest possible prices on everything, and that we deserve to have things that are really luxury items at lower prices too.  Remember when some people couldn’t afford TV’s, VCR’s, and video game systems? These things are now almost considered a human right in the U.S.  Give us the lower prices, environment, salaries and human rights be damned! And meanwhile people wonder where all of the good manufacturing jobs have gone.

With all that said, I’m still shopping occasionally at Target (which is closer) for the things I need. Mostly little things, like contact lens solution and laundry detergent.  Because they’re cheaper at Target. I’m told that Target is possibly more unpleasant than Wal-Mart as an employer.  Hypocritical? Yeah. Alternative? I don’t know, is Fred Meyer any better?

SOURCES

Why? I just knew this morning that I really needed it. I haven’t been working 8 hours a day for money this past week, but I have been busy, working on my house, working with my kids on various things, working on my personal health (lots of physical activity!), and doing volunteer work.  I always feel like I’m not getting enough done, so it’s usually not easy to take a day off. But today, I really, really did.

I have two days of paid work this week, and then the rest of the week “off.” I’m now looking forward to a productive week, rather than dreading it.

There will be two more Sunday Parkways events this year, but none of them very close to where we live. You see, I live out east. We’re still within the city limits, mind you. Just so far out that we usually don’t get these kinds of programs.

I know there aren’t quite as many bike riders out here, but there are more and more every week. I see them. So where’s our Sunday Parkways program? Don’t we count, too?

From Ara S.:

In a message from former President Mohammad Khatami, he is inviting every person, along with their children, to walk towards the main Tehran Grand Bazaar every day at 9am. No protesting. No signs. No words. If feeling intimidated, pretend like you are window-shopping. Keep walking towards the Grand Bazaar. If we are not allowed to reach the destination, the Bazaar will be shut down. If phone lines are cut off, the Bazaar will be shut down. If they drop tear gas, the Bazaar will be shut down. No need to hold up hands in a V for victory. Just keep walking while thinking about being victorious. Mr. Mousavi, the nation does not need your martyrdom, they need your leadership.

Since then, I haven’t greened my avatar, I haven’t changed my location and timezone to Tehran, and I haven’t retweeted anything about the election.  Because I don’t know if those are really the right things to do, and, like I said, because I’m not sure who to believe.

Today I did something. I’m not sure what, if anything, the impact might be, but it does come from a trusted source – a friend who’s originally from Iran.  You can do it too.

Please email the UN using the site http://www.un.org/en/contactus/. You need to send two messages since there is a 200 character space limitation. You may use the following format if you like:

1st message – Subject: Iran unrest
Message:
Don’t recognize Ahmadinejad as Iran president.
Sec. Council & Sec. General Ban Ki-Moon must condemn the violence by Iranian gov’t & ask for its immediate and unconditional end.

2nd message – Subject: Iran unrest
Message:
Ask for annulment of vote & demand new election with international monitors.
International reporters must be allowed to report freely from Iran.

10:08 AM: Anxiety and self-questioning FTL.

About 5:00 PM: NERVES.

Nothing I did made it better.  I took my daily meds. I exercised. I completed a few menial tasks. I didn’t stop and do deep breathing exercises, because I didn’t remember that it might help (even though someone did remind me to BREATHE).

But in the end, it was fine. I survived the anxiety and everything else I had to do yesterday. I’m still feeling a little tension in my shoulders, but I made it, and I know I can make it today, too.

I wrote previously about CubeSpace’s financial problems.  While there was strong support (including financial support) from the community for keeping CubeSpace open, owners Eva Schweber and David Kominsky eventually decided it was best to fold the business, since they weren’t sure it would be sustainable in the long run.

Today, several people pitched in to help CubeSpace pack up and get ready to move out of its office space.  I went down to help, too.

CubeSpace has never just been an office space or a meeting venue to me.  It’s been a community center.  I hate to see it go.  And somehow, I needed a poem to express my feelings about that today, even though I don’t write poetry.

Once the comfortable center of bright ideas,
the velvety sofas and chairs and companion tables
are now grouped silently in an empty forum.

Chaos is now the center, where sweaty humans
surrounded by clutches of pens and papers
are coiling and squeezing unruly cords into boxes.

Lift and carry, reach and pull again,
cyborgs share the network of community
even as they pull its plugs and wires.

All signs of life will soon be silenced;
snacks eaten, beer drunk, the stairway dark and empty.
Yet the center will hold, and the crowds still gather to share their light

I told them we’d have to do some cleaning up first.  They were supposed to clean up the family room and empty the dishwasher.  I started on the office/hallway area.  Within a few minutes, the yelling and arguing began.

I can’t please anyone by trying to referee these discussions.  “She won’t help!” “I won’t help unless she apologizes!“  And I just wanted to yell “You kids shut up and get off my lawn!”

I finished my task and sat down to keep my cool by playing Bejeweled 2.  While playing, I had an idea.

They were definitely not going to the market, and I knew why.  It wasn’t just a punishment.  It was because people out there really, really don’t want to be around kids who are acting up, or around kids who can’t be respectful of other people. I’ve read about it on the internets!

So, after giving them time to actually get some cleaning done, I calmly explained it to them.

“I just wanted to let you know that I do appreciate the work you did, but you won’t be going to the farmers’ market today, because people there don’t want to be around kids who can’t be respectful, and you were not being respectful to each other or to me,” I said.

“But she started it, and I tried to ignore her, and I’m not going to talk it out unless she…”

“Well, that’s fine,” I interjected.  “I’m not asking you to talk it out.  You can if you want to. But you won’t be going to the market because you weren’t being respectful, and people don’t want to be around kids who aren’t respectful.”

“Can we do something to make up for it so that we can go?” asked my eldest.

“No, not today, but I’m sure you’ll get another chance sometime,” said I.

And that was that!  No crying or whining, and Steven made a lovely, solitary trip to the market.

Techniques inspired by Parenting With Love and Logic by Jim Fay and Foster Cline

I didn’t bike down to Beer and Blog, which is where I am right now. The pub is 7.26 miles from my house one way, and the timing just wasn’t right today.  I am surrounded by geeks, though, so it seems appropriate to tell you about Real Geeks Ride.

I already knew that real geeks ride bikes.  I am a geek. I ride a bike.  And this is Portland; it’s full of geeks who ride bikes!  But the guys behind Real Geeks Ride are not avid cyclists, and they’re not from Portland.  Joe Philipson and Carlos Urreta are from Hawaii and Texas, respectively, and they’re undertaking a cross-country bike ride with a goal of getting 1000 geeks to bike to work.  They started May 20 in Pennsylvania and plan to end August 2 in Seaside, Oregon.

If these two geeks can make it across the USA, it is foolish to think other geeks can not at least bike to work.

Carlos and Joe are blogging about their ride as they go (using WordPress).  Catch up with them at http://realgeeksride.com.