[CitizensTruth] Do you believe me yet? Re-post: It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools

[Kris Knight]

I for one am deeply grateful for this email and how much you're  
pulling together for us.  I have followed most of this and come to  
identical conclusions as you.  I live in a rather protected  
environment, here in Madison, but am paying very close attention to  
the global situation.  We're only behind, not immune...
  I also believe that one of the most difficult challenges for those  
of us who are awake right now, is dealing with just that, and figuring  
out how to keep on keepin' on.  For some of us, watching all this  
unfold is going to be our undoing.  I am also watching some of that  
around me, although not that much just yet.  Balancing out what to  
focus on and for how long before it starts eating one alive and  
rendering one basically useless is very in-our-faces now and it's not  
going to get any less challenging anytime REALLY soon.
Our adrenal glands are taking a major hit with all this relentless  
stress.  When one runs out of adaptation energy, one is f---d, pretty  
much.  But there are stages along the way, and there are things we can  
do to ride through this more in strength than in weakness.  The  
largest picture any of us can wrap our minds around is that we are in  
the midst of possibly the greatest transition the human species has  
ever undergone.  We are now reportedly in the phase where uncovering  
the darkest of the dark figures prominently.  But also, there are some  
rather amazing evidences of amazing LIGHT also.  We must not be so  
caught up in the horrors of the dark, that we cannot recognize the  
LIGHT when it shows itself...
Again, thank you, Daniel.

On Apr 21, 2008, at 2:46 PM, Daniel Stafford wrote:


> I said this first this past January as the foreclosure crisis  

> started dragging on the economy. Dire predictions were flying all  

> about. Now, there are major retailing chains and restaurant chains  

> closing stores or going bankrupt. We've lost 3/4 of the Bakers  

> Square, Joes Crab Shack, and Lonestar Steak Houses in our area  

> already. Wickes Furniture was just built last spring, and they went  

> out of business - it's empty now. Wilson's Leather is going out of  

> business nationally, their entire store, fixtures included, is on  

> clearance.  Food rationing is starting to happen on both coasts. Oil  

> has spiked over $117.00 a barrel and gasoline is looking to head  

> north of $4.00 per gallon this spring, let alone this summer.

>

> Wage erosion cuts deeper in US	America faces food rationing?	Oil  

> spikes to over $117 per barrel

> Average pump price hits $3.50; Fuel panic begins, oil capacity rise  

> on hold.	

> Food prices could harm security	

> US dollar hits record low

> AU drought worsens global rice crisis	States tackle foreclosure	 

> Foreigners sustain NY's economy	Foreclosures up 57% in 12 mos.	AP:  

> More won't be buying home soon

> Ohio town fore- closures up 178%	US housing woes spread globally	 

> Citigroup, Merrill Lynch's $15b loss	'Poor go hungry, rich fill  

> tanks'	Soros sounds world economy alarm

> Middle class hit by debt, econ. woes	'Bleaker hopes' for retirement  

> years	Foreclosures hit McMansions	Delinquent loan payments soar	UN  

> World Food Program struggling

> Corn rationing predicted for 2008	Banks abandoning student loans	 

> Economic downturn hits states hard	Food stamp use nears new high	

> Wave of Bankruptcies Will 'Remake' Shopping Malls Across the  

> Country	"Foreclosures Prompt Cities to Make Plea for Aid :

> The United States Conference of Mayors (usmayors.org)As more than  

> 250 mayors , agreed that the collapse of the subprime market had  

> left a growing problem of vacant houses, depressed property values,  

> tighter credit, and a need to cut services to close municipal budget  

> gaps.

> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/us/24mayors.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "	

>

>

>

> How do we beat this in the absence of help from the federal  

> government?

> It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools

>

>

> It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools -

>

>

> With news like this, and many other stories threatening the  

> possibility of a global Depression, (Based on a repeat of the land  

> speculation mistakes of the 1920's and other factors) it is time to  

> organize volunteer labor pools. Absent any real leadership from the  

> government, the unemployed and bankrupt will increase in numbers  

> dramatically over the next few years. This represents a lot of  

> economically desperate people and a huge pool of idle talent.

>

> Food security is going to become difficult under these  

> circumstances. It will become vital to begin massive vegetable  

> gardening efforts in urban and suburban areas. It is also going to  

> become necessary to build large scale shelters as housing  

> foreclosures continue to skyrocket, driving up the ranks of the  

> homeless.

>

> Grass lawns are a waste of precious crop-growing space. If you add  

> up the aggregate land area of lawns in the USA, that is a large area  

> of "farmable" land. Putting in a home garden now, before it's too  

> late, could help many avoid hunger if the economy collapses as many  

> are predicting. Community garden plots need to rise up, and so do  

> back yard garden plots. "Canning days" for whole neighborhoods could  

> mean the difference between just missing certain food items or going  

> hungry over the next few winters. http://www.seedsavers.org is an  

> excellent source of vegetable seeds and plant seedlings, with over  

> 25,000 varieties of heirloom vegetables that are optimized for  

> different parts of the country.

>

> Why not begin forming the structures of a "citizens' W.P.A." now,  

> before all this happens? Strapped municipalities could use these  

> pools of labor to avoid much of the cost of infrastructure  

> improvements, focusing their dwindling property tax intake on  

> purchasing materials for volunteer workers to use. In return, such  

> municipalities could provide materials and space for shelters and  

> gardening projects to feed the volunteers and their families.

>

> Additionally, judicious use of eminent domain laws could foreclose  

> on the Foreclosers - seizing bank-owned vacant properties and using  

> them to house homeless laborers in return for their labor hours on  

> community projects. They do not need the federal government to solve  

> the problem. This could be a way for rural communities and suburbs  

> to turn the situation around - since such efforts would in effect  

> fall outside the purview of the failing capitalist economy.

>

> Obviously, recycling and local sourcing of materials would be driven  

> higher by such measures. Energy efficiency could also be built into  

> such plans.

>

> Just as the States are taking action on renewable energy and climate  

> change through local initiatives, the States and local communities  

> could begin a national turn-around absent help from the federal  

> government, in a legal and moral manner.

>

> Idle union workers could initiate apprenticeship programs within the  

> volunteer pools, creating a vast pool of skilled workers for when  

> the economy does rebound. Municipal energy projects such as wind,  

> solar, and biomass (not using food grains, but rather agricultural  

> and yard waste) systems could be built also, driving up local  

> renewable power generation.

>

> Local sustainable forestry programs could also be developed and  

> maintained, providing a source of lumber for furniture and interior  

> building structures. Earthen housing using lumber only for floors,  

> windows and roofing could provide highly durable and energy- 

> efficient housing in place of the current lumber-intensive methods  

> of buildings. Existing vacant structures could be tapped for  

> materials and space to build with.

>

> Municipalities that embark on such paths could begin to draw people  

> back out into the small towns and suburbs without the need for long- 

> distance commuting.

>

> Small family-owned farms might even work with such communities,  

> providing much-needed food in return for volunteer labor to help  

> with growing and harvesting. Composting and sustainable farming  

> methods are age-old ways of working farms without the need for  

> petroleum-based fertilization. Natural methods of controlling pests  

> would leave enough production in place, when combined with urban/ 

> suburban gardening efforts, to feed local populations.

>

> I also wonder if milkweed pod fiber and cattail fiber couldn't be  

> used to produce small quantities of local textiles in a manner  

> similar to the way cotton is used today. Does anyone out there know  

> if there are small-scale textile mills that could be used or built  

> to operate with such materials? Milkweed and cattails are ubiquitous  

> in the Midwestern US in my experience.

>

> It's time to think outside the traditional box, and recover some of  

> the skill sets that were our heritage from times when communities  

> had to be much more self-reliant in the past, combined with modern  

> technologies in ways that are harmonious to the natural environment  

> and the natural rhythms of the human body.

>

> There are things we can do to head the worst effects of a severe  

> economic downturn off, while making the lives we lead more  

> sustainable and healthy. More walking, biking, and horsepower in the  

> flesh, more local foods, more local work, shared computers at  

> libraries, community fire brigades, and many other means are  

> available.

>

> Open private schools where laid-off teachers could educate children  

> and recover from the closures of public schools resulting from No  

> Child Left Behind and lack of federal funding.

>

> There are ways to do these things, using non-profit entities and  

> local initiatives that would bypass the failures of national-scale  

> systems. A mixture of the best from the past and present could lead  

> to a more sustainable, stable, and bright future.

>

> It's not necessary to go down in flaming despair at all - if we work  

> together, and start now.

>

> JMHO,

>

> Dan Stafford

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Kris Knight of WellAware Life Enhancement Center
Phone:  1-608-ALL-LIFE
welaware at merr.com





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