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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. <br>
<br>
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<td valign="top"><span class="rss:item"></span><font><font
color="black" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a
set="yes" linkindex="60"
href="http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=12162181"><font
color="black">Wage erosion cuts deeper in US</font></a></font></font></td>
<td valign="top"><span class="rss:item"><font color="black"
face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a set="yes"
linkindex="64" href="http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994"><font
color="black">America faces food rationing?</font></a></font> </span></td>
<td valign="top"><span class="rss:item"><b><font color="#990000"
face="Arial, Helvetica,sans-serif" size="4"><a set="yes" linkindex="54"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Attacks_in_Middle_East_Nigeria_send_04212008.html"><font
color="#990000" face="Arial, Helvetica,sans-serif" size="3"><strong>Oil
spikes to over $117 per barrel</strong></font></a></font></b><br>
<font face="Times New Roman,serif" size="3"><span id="kicker"><u><a
set="yes" linkindex="55"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Drivers_paying_record_pump_prices_04202008.html">Average
pump price hits $3.50</a></u>; Fuel <u><a linkindex="56"
href="http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/latestnews/-The-fuel-panic-begins.4001427.jp">panic</a></u>
begins, oil capacity rise on <u><a linkindex="57"
href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36b36e2a-0efe-11dd-9646-0000779fd2ac.html">hold.</a></u></span></font></span></td>
<td valign="top"><span class="rss:item"><font
face="Times New Roman,serif" size="3"><span id="kicker"><u><br>
</u></span></font></span><span id="money8"><span class="rss:item"></span></span><font><font
color="black" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><a
set="yes" linkindex="120"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Food_price_crisis_could_harm_global_04202008.html"><font
color="black">Food prices could harm security</font></a></b></font></font></td>
<td valign="top"><font><font color="black"
face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><br>
</b></font></font><a set="yes" linkindex="60" class="red"
href="http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080417/oil_prices.html?.v=10">US dollar
hits record low</a></td>
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<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="67" class="red"
href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/17/business/17warm.php">AU
drought worsens global rice crisis</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="52" class="red"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041503157.html?hpid=topnews">States
tackle foreclosure </a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="59" class="red"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/nyregion/16tourism.html?ex=1209009600&en=e2915cf2c501d419&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY">Foreigners
sustain NY's economy</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="48" class="red"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Foreclosures_jump_57_percent_in_las_04152008.html">Foreclosures
up 57% in 12 mos.</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="35" class="red"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/AP_poll_More_avoid_buying_homes_04142008.html">AP:
More won't be buying home soon</a></td>
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<td valign="top"><span class="rss:item"></span><span
class="rss:item"></span><span class="rss:item"><font
face="Times New Roman,serif" size="3"><span id="kicker"></span></font></span><a
set="yes" linkindex="51" class="red"
href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/08/real_estate/radical_city_plan/index.htm?cnn=yes">Ohio
town fore- closures up 178%</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="62" class="red"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/business/worldbusiness/14real.html?ex=1365825600&en=efb802e7d1c88270&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">US
housing woes spread globally</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="25" class="red"
href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article3671568.ece">Citigroup,
Merrill Lynch's $15b loss</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="65" class="red"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/11/worldbank.fooddrinks1">'Poor
go hungry, rich fill tanks'</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="58" class="red"
href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/11/business/11soros.php">Soros
sounds world economy alarm</a></td>
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<tr>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="42" class="red"
href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5BLKr5It2p9VI3sFdwU7d3x3I5QD8VUJV200">Middle
class hit by debt, econ. woes</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="48" class="red"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040903900_pf.html">'Bleaker
hopes' for retirement years</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="72" class="red"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Foreclosures_come_to_McMansion_coun_04072008.html">Foreclosures
hit McMansions</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="31" class="red"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Late_loan_payments_highest_since_19_04032008.html">Delinquent
loan payments soar</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="60" class="red"
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-food1apr01,0,5185698.story">UN
World Food Program struggling</a></td>
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<br>
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<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="65" class="red"
href="http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Analyst_Predicts_Corn_Rationing_in_2008_0401.html">Corn
rationing predicted for 2008</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="49" class="red"
href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3649021.ece">Banks
abandoning student loans</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="61" class="red"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033002138.html?hpid=topnews">Economic
downturn hits states hard</a></td>
<td valign="top"><a set="yes" linkindex="71" class="red"
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/us/31foodstamps.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1206929080-T1nWta1S+xNL5uA16620wA">Food
stamp use nears new high</a></td>
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/30773">Wave
of Bankruptcies Will 'Remake' Shopping Malls Across the Country</a></td>
<td valign="top"><span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>"Foreclosures
Prompt Cities to Make Plea for Aid :</strong> </span>
<div><span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
</span></div>
<span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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.<br>
<a set="yes" linkindex="13"
href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0019LawIGrT8LvriHOGjTheqSvmvfx6QUej1zZg8MxRU3KKWBg8kySqdYXWEbn0P5-3tb7G5KgAG-fmr2b1ab9IzfhmcPz50wtvu6lqz1da01fApB2xE2P03P-CyT0Hka9KbGHM9RC0r5hZv9z9ldOL21Xd5XAKN1xrtRP6CtGtpIABPrkMv6P0tJLP7puRYsei"
target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/us/24mayors.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
</a>"</span></td>
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<a set="yes" linkindex="51" class="red"
href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/08/real_estate/radical_city_plan/index.htm?cnn=yes"></a><br>
<big><big><i><b>How do we beat this in the absence of help from the
federal government? </b></i></big></big><a set="yes" linkindex="61"
class="red"
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033002138.html?hpid=topnews"></a><br>
<h3 class="post-title"> It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools </h3>
<p> </p>
<div><span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong>It's
Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools -<br>
</strong></span></div>
<span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
</span><span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>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.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.seedsavers.org">http://www.seedsavers.org</a> 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.</b></span><span
style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 85%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
Obviously, recycling and local
sourcing of materials would be driven higher by such measures. Energy
efficiency could also be built into such plans.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
It's not necessary to go down in flaming despair at all - if we work
together, and start now.<br>
<br>
JMHO,<br>
<br>
Dan Stafford</span><br>
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