Pandora's Box (Without the Hope?)

Things are moving slowly, way too slowly, with respect to efforts to organize in the Eugene/Springfield & Vicinity Region.

Two members, thus far, and very little in the way of real solid interest expressed to me thus far.

Too many special interests, too many diversions, too many special interests, too many myths, too many special interests, too much diffusion and libertarianism and anarchy and entropy, too many special interests, and too many egos.

We live in a genocidal, ecocidal, automobile culture that can't or won't get the message, or just don't care that they are suicidal, as not so well.

So, I'm frustrated.

In response to your note: we can barter with our neighbors, if we know them and each has something to contribute. I'm not a fan of local currencies, and we have left the gold and silver standards far behind.

The key is to dissolve the Federal Government except to have direct access to the Treasury, at least until we have the time to move to a world currency.

Right now, we have pandering businessess: of the businesses, by the businesses, for the businesses and a servile TO business and oppressive FOR business system of Governments that are: of the Businesses and Governments, by the Businesses and Governments, for the Businesses and Governments.

Our tall order is to replace this with a system that is an economic democracy of the people, by the people, for the people.

At this moment, I'm not feeling very hopeful.


Mike Morin

Ecological Economics

I checked out Judi Bari's article.

I wish folks would write more concisely.

Ecology is the study of the home, economics is the management of the home. Mature ecological communities maximize the recycling of resources and outside energy input WITHIN communities.

Immature communities, like Capitalist Economic Systems, maximize short-term yield at the expense of all the players in the ecosystem except the dominant species, then die, yielding eventually to a succession of more mature communities.

That's where we are at.

Stimulus, huh? Another shot of adrenaline to a dying, murderous organism! Another shot of junk to an addicted moribund automobile (culture?)...

We can do better! And if there is going to be a distribution of funds why shouldn't it be directly to should-be popular causes like neighborhood equity unions starting with the poorest communities and merging with the "private sector" own self-funding and help for others efforts to dedicate their ownership resources to environmental improvement (i.e. peace, equity, humanity, sustainability, quality of life).

The vehicle is an equity union with popular facilitation. If the governments can't get hip, then why don't they just dissolve themselves.

Let's work together!


Mike Morin

P.S. I hope that Judi has resolved successfully her problems with the FBI...

Expanded "Community Supported Agriculture"

Expanded "Community Supported Agriculture"

I am really, for the most part, borrowing the name Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) (or maybe I'm lifting it).

Maybe it would be better to come up with a new name like, Locally and Regionally and Inter-regionally Community Supported Agriculture (LARIRCSA) ;-) .

"Conventional" CSAs are well intentioned in that they strive to have community members share the risks associated with farming with the farmers. Fair enough, and my plan shares that objective. However, the problem with CSAs and buying your food by the pound is that early in the season, you'd probably get more strawberries than you can eat (unless you have the luxury time and resources to make jam), there are varieties of tomatoes so those can be stretched out over at least part of the growing season, but most crops tend to come to fruition in relative batches, so the variety in food boxes probably is not optimal. I'm not a farmer, and have limited experience with gardening, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Secondly, mixed cropping implies more labor intensive farming, really extended gardening. While such a system would be much more healthy from many perspectives, it would be difficult for farmers employing such methods to compete with conventional farms.
Third, there are distribution issues. Who is responsible for getting the food box from the farmer to the "member"? It would be uneconomical for the farmer(s) to be responsible for the distribution, and it defeats the purpose of demand-side management relative to "consumer" activity to have the members drive all the way to the farm. Now, if members live in close proximity, then this would not be a concern.

Fourth, in places like Oregon, and even more northern climes, the harvest season is very short. It, like the growing season can be extended slightly, perhaps, by building hot houses, but only slightly.

Fifth, the extra planning involved would probably be too cumbersome for farmers.
I envision, and it may be happening (I don't know), farmers within regions and from different regions forming unions to gain control over the distribution of their products, working with cooperating truckers, warehouse handlers and associated cooperating retail outlets (perhaps incorporating pre-order systems (wouldn't electronic systems be helpful)), in a system of community/worker hybrid cooperative associations.

Similarly, relationships could be built relative to the recycling of organic wastes (of course, the objective would be to minimize such, as it would be to minimize packaging).

Now, the issue of seasonal farm workers needs to be dealt with. Migrant farm-working should be eliminated. Seasonal workers need to be accommodated to their needs during the off-seasons, so that they can have the quality of life of a sedentary community. Again, I don't know the status of such a proposal. Maybe it is already happening... Certainly, a year-round living wage, equity inclusion, and educational programs so that the young can assume more progressively responsible and more highly compensated roles in the food system will need to occur.

Agriculture and Food Issues

Agriculture and Food Issues


Hi Folks,

Since being the catalyst and one of the principal organizers of a four day conference, "Towards Self-Sufficiency", on local, regional and world food issues in 1976 (in the Amherst, MA area), I have had an interest in what you are now calling "food security".

I expand the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to the idea of regional/local community/worker hybrid cooperatives or at very least cooperating independent businesses. We need to vertically and horizontally integrate all down the line and across business sectors, with respect to growing, distribution, recycling organic wastes and educating about the need and benefits of relocalization, including equity and humanity with respect to workers and humanity with respect to animals, and responsibility with respect to the environment, with respect to eating healthily, and with respect to minimizing packaging. We also need to diversify risks relative to other necessities and our overall plans to rebuild our neighborhoods to make them walkable.

If we can't get direct cooperation and friendly participation from Capitalists who can be arrogant, self-serving, and dishonest about their historic and their perception and presumption of continuing "competitive advantage", then we surely need to be aware just how severe the competition will be, and we all better pull together with great solidarity, one way or another.

With regards to rice, are you aware that by flooding and farming wetlands to grow rice, we destroy the areas where FISH, birds and other critters spawn and sometimes make their home? Food for thought (pun intended)!

Also think about the use of planting/harvesting greasy machinery or defecating beasts and the use of any sort of fertilizer and competitive species control, be it non-organic or mythically organic, and their effects on the wetlands and associated riparian and ocean environments.

If you're one of these "back to human power" warners or advocates, think about just how hard that labor is/would be...

I suggest that we advocate the ingestion of "dryland" grasses (e.g. wheat, corn, rye), excluding alcohol products, minimizing processing, and packaging, and IF we make all the other necessary demand side management and transition away from tobacco and alcohol and corn syrup beverages THEN we should consider the use of biofuels as a small part of our supply side energy program.

Let's See What Happens...

Blooger's note: I posted the following here on the day of Obama's inauguration. Let's see if the man who should be known on this day as the USA's "great promise" actually is independent and bold enough to become a real agent of hope and change for the world.

I originally posted the following about a week ago to the Obama.gov "Public Input" website. Whether or not, such is only public realtions and/or the gold can be discerned from among the common rock, remains to be seen.

I refer you also to the other essays on this web log, especially "Updated Reforming Financial Systems" and "Demand Side Management and Transportation Planning".

********************************************************************

Written to Change.Gov – Obama Public Input Website



Let's not rush headlong with a "stimulus" package that would be similar to a shot of adrenaline to a dying organism. Let's give a redevelopment program much more thought and care and transition away from the simplistic Keynesian notions that assume that "the growth imperative" is true, and simply try to pump prime a moribund automobile (culture).

I have specific plans. We need to set the time frame for ecological economic re-development over the span of the next 20 to 50 years. Money spent now, should also be drawn from the funds from the financial bailout fund to begin the planning process and, as soon as possible, get the actual physical work started that will lead to an equitable, sustainable culture rather than another hit of heroin to a fossil fuel and other energy squandering supply side massive centennial and generational blunder, respectively.

You can get more info. on my work at the "Peoples Equity Union" web log, and feel free to contact me directly at (541) 343-3808.


Mike Morin
mlarosamorin@earthlink.net

Education

Education

Basic education and learning skills are fundamental to human progress.

I think as many as possible should be encouraged to be bi-lingual or multi-lingual from an early age.

The educational system should function under the aegis of a neighborhood/community/inter-community/inter-regional/worldwide Ecological Economic Plan based on the principles of peace, humanity, equity, sustainability, and quality of life.

An Equity Union and governments should fund all schools, including higher education. Government participation would be phased down and rearranged to reflect a more meaningful collaboration with a new economic order (an economic democracy) that such a Plan would aspire to and eventually achieve.

The individual path taken should be one that is needed by the larger community and the subject of careful deliberations among student, family, community, and educators.

The insidious nature of corporate dominance in the classroom and research must be eliminated.

George Fox wrote in the 1600's that the best education was not obtained at the Universities. Although I am very thankful for the formal education that I got through the Master's level, I concur. After a life-long student reaches a certain amount of formal education and training, they become the best judge, working with elders and peers in their communities, and combined with their experiential learning, of what is the best path for further individual and community academic and vocational pursuits.

Updated Reforming Financial Systems

Reforming Financial Systems



With respect to the "nature of wealth", I think that the "quality of life" paradigm in lieu of the "standard of living" paradigm needs to be stressed."Quality of life" includes personal happiness for self, family, friends, neighbors, and all others. It includes ownership opportunities for all and everybuddy having the things they need, including health, healthy and loving relations with family, friends, neighbors, and all the people of the world. It includes peace on earth, and it includes a future for all the children of the world.

"Standard of living" implies maximizing the consumption of things.

The current Capitalist dominated system is dysfunctional both from an equity/fairness and economic and natural resource sustainability perspective.The dominant paradigm in Capitalist financial business operations uses something called the discount rate which assumes that money will be worth less (eventually worthless) in the future, thus creating a necessity to extract profits exceeding a "hurdle" rate leading to unfair and unwise exploitation of both workers and natural resources, and to rampant inflation.

The use of credit is not a good business or personal practice. In business, it should be discouraged because creditors have first claims on net revenues and hold liens on real property and capital assets. For "consumers", the use of credit is unwise because the system is set up to extract profits from interest thus assuring that when consumers use credit that they are losing money relative to inflation. Certainly the current foreclosure crisis in the USA is ample evidence of the inflation and the unfairness and unhealthiness of the mortgage lien process.

Credit Unions and Mutual Insurance companies are in theory attempts to institute non-profit economic democracies for their respective industries. However, because of the need to compete for customers, both of these relatively progressive financial service organization types are forced to play the same game that is basically destructive to individuals, families, communities, and the natural environment.

Ideally, credit should only be used as a last resort, much more preferably not at all. We should replace all aspects of the extant financial system with an Equity Union. In some ways, a mutual insurance company is similar to an equity union. However, because such companies are required to realize profits in order to compete for "policy holders" (really investors), the companies that comprise the portfolios of the mutual insurance firms cannot be not-for-profit, can not be mutual organizations themselves.

In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning there would certainly be an important role for financial service workers.

A major impediment to such an Equity Union would be the competitive advantage of the current financial sector and the fear of the friction of change to those individuals and organizations. Dealing with this sector of "the" economy, it would be more feasible with regards to Capitalist resistance and more humane, to orderly and peacefully transition to an Equity Union, coordinated with ecologically sound economic planning.

I am writing and talking about transitioning slowly, methodically, and with the minimum amount of friction and hardship from a dysfunctional financial system, based on self-interest, to one designed to benefit everybuddy.At risk of understatement, it will take a huge amount of work to educate folks to the need and benefits of such change and to communicate the basic Plan. Transition Planning will also be a very difficult process, but I see no alternative to the current, impending and worsening global economic, political, social, and natural environmental collapse.

The Peoples' Equity Union concept is designed to be a grass roots, popular choice "movement". I am organizing with individuals, workers, and shopkeepers in my neighborhood, adjoining neighborhoods, and through the inter-net to whomever I can attract an interest in the concept.

The focus is primarily local, yet global at the same time. It is my dream, not a hope yet, to encourage a critical mass of people to organize locally around a unifying mission, unifying principles, unifying strategies, and unifying tactics in order to minimize the amount of executive administration at the regional and global levels.

The theory is that neighborhood locales, the neighborhood community/worker hybrid association will have maximum autonomy and will be guided only, in their inter-community and inter-economic sector relationships by regional Planning Boards and a Global Policy Committee.

The goal is to be a true economic democracy: of, for, and by the people.

Role of Providers in Health Care Reform

In my mind, based on personal and familiar experience, the jury is still out on the motivation of physicians. I've seen the work of some good ones, but I've seen the disasters caused by probably more of them who were driven by the need to maximize revenues through all aspects of the "medical-industrial complex" ( a term that I coined many years ago).

It is probably quite true that over-treatment also comes from the need to practice "defensive medicine". Again, I concur that computerizing and standardizing, and making universal access to medical records would not only create efficiency in resource use, if the hospital and clinic administrators truely want this (and remember physicians invest in health care facilities), but could also be helpful to physicians in determining "best practices" and could be most useful in medical research. Sometimes, I wonder though, if medical research has not become a self-perpetuating "industry", with largely diminishing returns.

Most hospitals are not-for-profit, but there has been the insidious entry of for-profit corporations onto the scene in the last twenty to thirty years. Certainly, there is no room for profit in any aspect of health care. (I leave room for not-for-profit organizations). Also, the need of non-profits to compete with regards to the latest technologies and the updating of physical amenities has been a huge driver in the escalation of health care costs. There are far too many hospitals and they are far too redundantly equipped with a lot of what could be considered unnecessary technologies. Only by pooling the equity and assets of hospitals, clinics, etc. can we correct this situation and ratchet down the costs of health care. This is the beauty of an equity union and the private sector participation is necessary from not only a payers' perspective (i.e. "double payer" system), but especially with respect to reining in the costs associated with over-utilization, be it from provider abuse and/or defensive medicine.

I paid dues to the Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) for a couple of years. They make some excellent points about the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the current health insurance industry. I agree that great savings could accrue from reforming said businesses (again, a combination of for-profits and non-profits). However, PNHP has yet to acknowledge and speak to the abuses on the Provider side of the equation, except to criticize the pharmaceutical industry.

Let's see more talk and writings from the Provider Community concerning their role in the continuing tragedy and impending disaster of the health care system in the USA.

Then there is all the issues of environmental, and thus public health, a subject of another, very large, discussion.

I'm a Work kin for peace and cooperation.


With much love and care,

Mike Morin

A Note on Health Care Reform

I agree that effectiveness and efficiency in medical records would be one of the goals of health care reform. It has nothing to do with single payer, correct me if I am wrong, it is a provider issue. If we had a United Healthcare Provider Community (ideally worldwide), we would be all that much closer to realizing true health care reform (a more perfect union, if you will). However, the provider community MUST come to grips with over-treatment, over-utilization, and the resulting costs that are contributing to our collective and individual bankruptcies, and reduced quality of lives that result from such.

The provider community and their associated administrators need to start thinking about how they can transition to a more workable health care system. That's the beauty of an Equity Union and my Plan where Equity can be put into trust and assets and employees methodically transitioned into to useful alternative roles.

Appropriate Geographic Entities for Planning

I have serious problems with using the State of Oregon as a focus for intercourse.

States, like Nation-States have arbitrary borders and are mostly irrelevant, military/police entities created often long ago by aristocracies dividing up someone else's land among their friends and military partners.

The neighborhood needs to be the focus of Planning and Economic Re-development, and inter-community relations need to be built, understood, and maintained. The Planning Region should be some combination of metropolitan areas and watersheds, and the largest sphere of consideration, the planet earth.

Currently states and municipalities are important with respect to a most important consideration, education. But, that needs to change, as well.

For Springfield-Eugene & Oregon Residents

A potentially very useful site that will help us organize in Oregon:

http://www.transitionoregon.ning.com/


and in the Eugene-Springfield area:


www.transitionoregon.ning.com/groups


MM

Governing the Peoples' Equity Union

The Peoples' Equity Union concept is designed to be a grass roots, popular choice "movement". I am organizing with individuals, workers, and shopkeepers in my neighborhood, adjoining neighborhoods, and through the inter-net to whomever I can attract an interest in the concept.

The focus is primarily local, yet global at the same time. It is my dream, not a hope yet, to encourage a critical mass of people to organize locally around a unifying mission, unifying principles, unifying strategies, and unifying tactics in order to minimize the amount of executive administration at the regional and global levels.

The theory is that neighborhood locales, the neighborhood community/worker hybrid association will have maximum autonomy and will be guided only, in their inter-community and inter-economic sector relationships by regional Planning Boards and a Global Policy Committee.

The goal is to be a true economic democracy: of, for, and by the people.

Transitioning to an Equity Union

I am writing and talking about transitioning slowly, methodically, and with the minimum amount of friction and hardship from a dysfunctional financial system, based on self-interest, to one designed to benefit everybuddy.

The Mondragon Community Cooperative is very successful, but like all eutopian (according to Lewis Mumford, the word "eutopian" means "good place") experiments it finds itself compromised by the surrounding Capitalist world, which forces it to compete and unfortunately compromise the social and economic values that it is chartered to uphold.

The dominant paradigm in Capitalist financial business operations uses something called the discount rate which assumes that money will be worth less (eventually worthless) in the future, thus creating a necessity to extract profits exceeding a "hurdle" rate leading to unfair and unwise exploitation of both workers and natural resources, and to rampant inflation.

The use of credit is not a good business or personal practice. In business, it should be discouraged because creditors have first claims on net revenues and hold liens on real property and capital assets.

For "consumers", the use of credit is unwise because the system is set up to extract profits from interest thus assuring that when consumers use credit that they are losing money relative to inflation. Certainly the current foreclosure crisis in the USA is ample evidence of the inflation and the unfairness and unhealthiness of the mortgage lien process.

Credit Unions and Mutual Insurance companies are in theory attempts to institute non-profit economic democracies for their respective industries. However, because of the need to compete for customers, both of these relatively progressive financial service organization types are forced to play the same game that is basically destructive to individuals, families, communities, and the natural environment. Ideally, credit should only be used as a last resort, much more preferably not at all.

We should replace all aspects of the extant financial system with an Equity Union. In some ways, a mutual insurance company is similar to an equity union. However, because such companies are required to realize profits in order to compete for "policy holders" (really investors), the companies that comprise the portfolios of the mutual insurance firms can not be not-for-profit, can not be mutual organizations themselves.

In a not-for profit Equity Union financial services system based on principles of mutuality working in concert with ethical, wise, knowledgeable, and intelligent community, inter-community, inter-regional, and worldwide planning there would certainly be an important role for financial service workers.

A major impediment to such an Equity Union would be the competitive advantage of the current financial sector and the fear of the friction of change to those individuals and organizations. Dealing with this sector of "the" economy, it would be more feasible with regards to Capitalist resistance and more humane, to orderly and peacefully transition to an Equity Union, coordinated with ecologically sound economic planning.

At risk of understatement, it will take a huge amount of work to educate folks to the need and benefits of such change and to communicate the basic Plan. Transition Planning will also be a very difficult process, but I see no alternative to the current, impending and worsening global economic, political, social, and natural environmental collapse.

I'm a Work kin for peace and cooperation,


With much love and care,

Mike Morin

Markets

Under my cooperative commnunitarian plan, there will still be markets. They will be localized to the greatest extent possible. The differences between the proposed, and the status quo is that the means of production and distribution will be owned by an association of cooperating inter-community locally based community/worker cooperatives.

I envison a "double payer system " where an Equity Union replaces the current for-profit equity trading and investing paradigm and lending institutions, with a not-for-profit (business entities make profit, but the profits are ear-marked for the start-up of new community/worker hybrid cooperatives.

The other payer, besides the Equity Union, would be the government which would make direct payments from the treasury to poor folk for work, including the supplementing of funds for the worker equity contributions to community/worker hybrid cooperatives.

My philosophy on labor goes back to the French Physiocrats of the 1600's who postulated that natural resources were the basis of all wealth, which is consistent with Marx's "Labor Theory of Value" in that human labor is a natural resource. All productive work is done by people and machines built by people. (Draft animals are a natural resource as well). What my system eliminates is money begets money. Allocation of financial resources will be a job for workers in the new system, but their compensation will be wages and equity participation in the new system, not personal profits.

I am not Suggesting State Socialism, which was really more closely akin to State Capitalism except that surpluses (in the Capitalist world called profits) were earmarked as I have suggested.

Few of the Soviet era economic systems approached the cooperative communitarian ideal (local, and syndicalist control) that I am proposing. Perhaps Yugoslavia came the closest.

The Mondragon Cooperative Community system in the Basque region of Spain is a worthwhile, currently functioning model.

Housing Ownership

Concurrent with financial systems reform, discussed in a previous essay where equity sharing and not-for-profit equity investing would replace the current financial paradigm of for-profit equity investing and usurious credit arrangements, we need to evolve to a different system with respect to residential and other real property occupation arrangements.

In lieu of rent or leases, people should be allowed to acquire equity in their abodes and business properties. For example, in the case of an apartment, if one paid $500 per month to a property management firm, let's say $50 per month would go to property maintenence, and another $40 to administration fees, insurance, etc. This would leave the resident with $410 of accumulated equity added to their account each month. If we had a large cooperative housing organization (preferably world-wide, and preferably the only form of property ownership) then when someone had to move or wanted to move, they could take their equity with them to the new property.

With regards to mortgages, they are horribly usurious and should be banned. The scenario related above would also replace the current system of financing "home ownership loans".

A huge problem that we are facing now is the terrible inflation in the market values of real property (and capital assets, for that matter). If we pooled our equity, pooled our assets, and collectively wrote off our liabilities, then we could significantly write down the market values of real and capital assets.

MAXIMIZING Solar Hot Water

Let's think big.

Some years ago, in the USA, Bill Clinton proposed a "million solar roofs" promotion. I guess what he had in mind was the government stimulating the solar industry. At the time, I said, "Why stop at a million"? The potential for installations of solar water heating systems world-wide is SO MUCH more than that.

I envision a solar collector that employs concave/magnifying glass/concentrators and simple programmable software that allows the collector to track the sun.

I also envision an inter-national (public sector) and world-wide (private sector) NASA type program to develop the most effective and efficient solar collectors not only in terms of utilization of the solar resource, but with respect to natural resources and materials fabrication, production facilities, and distribution strategies.

With respect to production facilities, they should be regional, to minimize the shipping costs of inputs and finished product. See my essays regarding "demand-side management" and "relocalization" (among other pertinent essays) at this web log site.

I envision almost every building in the world employing solar hot water systems in the next 20 to 50 years.

Do you see a role for yourself in such a plan?


Workin' for peace and cooperation,

Mike Morin

Get Together

Get Together
(updated by Mike Morin)


Love is more than a song we sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Make the people cry
Though the doves are on the wing
You may all know why

Come on people, now
Smile on your brother
Everybuddy get together
Try to love one another, right now

All will come and all will go
Our lives will surely end
In our lives the light of love
Is for us to send
We are just a lifetime’s sunlight
With the love of earth and men

Come on people, now
Smile on your brother
Everybuddy get together
Try to love one another, right now

If you hear the song we sing
You will understand
We hold the keys to love and fear
In our hearts, our minds, our hands
Yes those keys unlock our love
It’s there at our command

Come on people, now
Smile on your brother
Everybuddy get together
Try to love one another, right now

Right now
Right now
Right now

Oil Junkies

Oil Junkies
By Mike Morin


What’s the matter with me
I’ve got too much to say
I used to be out there yellin’ at the top of my lungs
and no one was listenin’, anyway
Think I’ll go down by the river, by the highway
Via the busy streets
Where the cars and trucks are rollin’ fast
And say, “do you know how much noise you make
And that we’re runnin’ out of gas”?

Because we’re
Oil junkies, oil junkies
Waitin’ for our next oil change
Yes we’re a thirty weight wonder
Slowly goin’ under
I think it’s time we rearrange

Well, those drillin’ men
Blackening their seas and lands
They’ve got them over a barrel
And Chevron, Gulf, Shell, Aramco, BP and the rest
Those oligopolies over here in the west
They’ve all got us over a barrel

Because we’re
Oil junkies, oil junkies
Waitin’ for our next oil change
Yes we’re a heavyweight blunder
Slowly goin’ under
It’s well past time we rearrange

Now, you’re drivin’ here
You’re flyin’ there
You’re shippin’ everything every which way
And where
You’re ruinin’ he soil, the water, and the air
There’s only so much oil
Left underground
Very soon there will be none around
But we don’t seem to even care



Because we’re
Oil junkies, oil junkies
Waitin’ for our next oil change
Yes we’re an overweight blunder
Slowly goin’ under
It’s well past time we rearrange

It’s well past time we reassess
It’s well past time that we reform
It’s well past time that we reimagine
It’s well past time we reorganize
It’s well past time we restructure
It’s well past time that we reallocate
It's well past time we relocalize
It’s well past time that we rebuild
It’s well past time that we reduce
It’s well past time that we reuse
It’s well past time that we recycle

It's well past ime we rearrange.

Current Status of Local Efforts

I work by walking around my neighborhood, downtown, and beyond and talking to people about matters of concern and interest to them and how what we are trying to do relates, then giving them contact information, including my web log. I distribute flyers, and talk with and/or write to businesses who are more immediate potential cooperators, like local artisan bakeries, neighborhood food stores, a solar energy installer, and my credit union. I also, as you may know, try to maximize outreach on the inter-net.

From a structural point of view, I am considering forming a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, (the PEU), to start receiving funds for neighborhood equity unions (NEUs). One of my plans is to work with local and hopefully national and world musicians, for them to form a not-for-profit corporation to present revenue producing musical productions that will optimize meeting the needs of talented local musicians/lyricists and any, if not many, of the great old and not-so-old national and world musicians, some of who who may have fallen upon hard times. Negotiated amounts of the profits will be donated to the NEUs. Of course, donations will also be accepted by the NEUs. Money dedicated or donated to the NEUs will be held in trust in local credit unions.

The NEUs will work together in a common mission based on shared principles and strategies. Once a NEU has enough funds to begin work, they will become not-for-profit community/worker hybrid cooperatives.

On the regional and global scale, I envision transitioning all current Capitalist financial systems to a World-wide Peoples' Equity Union (WPEU), which would have regional and neighborhood Planning Boards with mission and strategies consistent with what I have laid out heretofore.


Peace,

Mike Morin
mlarosamorin@earthlink.net
(541)343-3808