Susu: A Time-Honored Tradition of Community Lending
In the modern economic landscape, one where credit scores and bank loans are the go-to ways to get financial help, there’s a system that has been around…
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The Man Who Didn’t Starve
The man knew how to fix a roof. Not beautifully, but well enough it didn’t leak. He could wire a house without burning it down. He could…
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The Question of a Life Unshackled
I have often wondered why a man, when given the choice, so often chooses to be a beast of burden. It is not that he delights in…
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The Tower of Babel and the Rebellion of the Clever
We read in the book of Genesis a brief, almost cryptic story about a tower reaching toward heaven. Traditionally, it has been taken as a fable about…
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The Fire Between the Sparks
Creativity is more than making something, it is sharing the act of becoming. Creativity is not a thing. Nor is it the making of a thing. It…
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Let’s Get Back to Our Roots
In the years since World War II, a slow but deliberate shift has taken place. Once, Americans prided themselves on self-sufficiency. They built their own homes, repaired…
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The Case for a Moral Economy
There was a time, not so long ago, when the economy wore a human face. When you bought your vegetables from a man whose name you knew,…
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“Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez – a review
Few personal finance books transcend the genre to become something larger than a ledger of savings strategies and investment tips. Your Money or Your Life is one…
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The Weight of Need: On Helplessness and the Crushing of the Soul
To be chronically needy is not simply to lack; it is to be placed in a position of spiritual collapse. It is not merely hunger, nor solely…
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Peter Kropotkin’s “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution” – a summary
In the modern study of evolution, much has been made of the doctrine of competition as the primary force shaping the natural world. Influenced by interpretations of…