There has been quite a bit of discussion lately on what is wrong with the system and what needs to be changed. Liz Berry has suggested in her current blog that the problem is political, that both political parties are indistinguishable and that a third party would fix this.  I agree with her assessment but have serious doubts about the cure.  Jeffroby  has suggested organization of the poor and middle class for some political muscle.  And I agree with the organization part though I do not agree with the political part.  And OhioGringo sites Robert Reich on the WPA and CCC - government spending.

All of these posts are good as far as they go but in my opinion they do not go far enough or do they address to root problem.  First some unpleasant data.  48 percent of Americans believe that we will be in another Great Depression within a year, if we are not already.  SOURCE

Another financial crisis is inevitable. SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE That real unemployment is getting worse and not better. SOURCE. The housing market is still in free fall. SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE

And to expect anyone in the federal or even the state governments to do anything to change this, is unrealistic at best. No one has in the last 4 years, why should they now ? And the Law of the Land ? Well it should be obvious that nobody in Washington or Wall Street gives a wet slap about the law of the land. It they did, they would be in Leavenworth right now. Have you heard of anybody in DC or Wall Street going to Leavenworth lately ?

What I feel is necessary is organization on a community basis. Local among those of us in the lower strata for those of us in the lower strata. I get my cues and ideas not from some some ideological theories like Marxist communism but from situations that worked in the past. Like the tribal communities of the Native Americans and the Amish but updated to our current situation. It's already being done but not in a collective manner but could be. Things like community gardens and food and medical cooperatives and free clinics. With organizations build around a truly democratic model where leaders and guidance are based on ones wisdom and creative skill.  A system where everyone's ability to contribute in some manner is valued and basic necessities are provided for. But small and flexible enough to move with any changing conditions.  To be able to take what works and use it and to discard what doesn't. A new value system based not on personal loss or gain but on respect and need.

Yes I know sounds pie in the sky.  But I see it as a choice between this or and eventual decline into some Neolithic anarchy. We have the technology to do this what it takes is commitment and the will to get ourselves out of this mode of feeling dependent on a system that see us only as article to be used and then tossed aside.  We are interdependent and we all share the same needs and wants. That is what binds us.

So what DO we do ? Well here is a an introduction to alternative community base economies.

The Community Economies Collective is an ongoing collaboration between academic and community researchers and activists in Australia, North America, Europe and South East Asia.

The goal of the Collective is to theorize, discuss, represent and ultimately enact new visions of economy. By making multiple forms of economic life viable options for action, the Collective aims to open the economy to ethical debate and provide a space within which to explore different economic practices and pathways.

The project grew out of J.K. Gibson-Graham's feminist critique of political economy that focused upon the limiting effects of representing economies as dominantly capitalist. Central to the project is the idea that economies are always diverse and always in the process of becoming. This project developed as a way of documenting the multiple ways in which people are making economies of difference and in the process realizing their interdependence with others.

Our work aims to

• produce a more inclusive understanding of economy
• highlight the extent and contribution of hidden and alternative economies
• theorize economy and community as sites of becoming
• build sustainable non-capitalist economic alternatives
• foster ethical economic experimentation
• engender collaborations between activists, academics and communities

This website includes information on who we are, how we are rethinking the economy outside of a capitalocentric discourse, and on our research projects that are enacting diverse and ethical economies.

And even some ways to set up you own currencies. Even computer based as well. http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/local.html

This in my view is where we should be putting our time and effort into.