As always, with thanks to visionary writer, Wendell Berry who wrote these provocative "Rules for a Sustainable Community" that are presented here as excerpted from the poster of the "Rules" published by Yes! Magazine:
"A sustainable rural economy will be dependent on urban consumers loyal to local products. Therefore, we are talking about an economy that will always be more cooperative than competitive."
So, we come to the end of the 17 rules. With this last one, I see that Mr. Berry is stressing the connection between different communities and different people in a region. It is the rare person or family that can make it completely on their own. I, for one, wouldn't want to. I like people (usually!) and I like the idea of an economy that is based on things that can be grown, raised or made in rural areas supporting people in cities and suburbs while those people engage in activities that create value-added enhancements to the rural lifestyle. Regional micro-financing of small businesses, will depend, in the future, on everyone re-investing in their own communities and not so much on the global mega-corporations.
Explore sustainable investing through mutual funds such as credit unions like the Permaculture Credit Union (www.pcuonline.org) which will provide capital for small projects such as solar systems, energy efficiency upgrades or rainwater catchment systems. Or check out Green Century Funds, a mutual fund which considers the actions and ethics of companies selected for the fund.
PLEASE NOTE, I am not a financial planner and cannot specifically recommend any particular fund or credit union. My objective here is to raise the IDEA of sustainable financing and investment and NOT to give a financial recommendation.
In this final Rule #17, we see that a sustainable community cannot operate in a vacuum. A sustainable economy must be one where we are interdependent on one another, our neighbors and our neighboring communities, first, before become dependent on other parts of the world.
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