For those who love life in the Mountains.
The Cosby Plan-A Call For Leadership
OK, things are bad and getting worse. That means that we have a wonderful opportunity before us if we only grasp it firmly.
The economy of the United States, as well as most of the Globe is on a downslope that is taking on some of the aspects of an avalanche, and it is becoming nakedly obvious that the Kleptocracy of the Federal Government and Wall Street are scrambling to finish looting the treasury before the lights go out. 36 million honest Citizens are on food stamps with no recourse in the event that the program should cease.
What to do?
Well, we can sit on our cans and wait for someone else to fix it...
But I am talking to those of you who don't like that approach.
Below, in outline form, is what I like to call "The Cosby Plan." It is taken almost whole cloth from a new national movement called "Transition USA." Meaning of course the transition of the economy from one that is dependent on the flow of raw materials and manufactured goods across the globe to one where the majority of necessities are produced locally. It has become glaringly obvious that this is the future of our great nation and those who undertake to build it will be the leaders of our communities in the very near future.
What is needed to implement this plan is people. By myself I haven't a clue how to implement this plan. People who know other people, people who know how to build things, people who know how to motivate people, people who can get things done. That is why this is a call for leadership.
I. Local Trade; The online Community Cosby Co-operative is designed to provide an efficient and low cost means of "Lateral Communication" that is not in the hands of some representative of the current "Power Structure." This is because it is the people who live here (I mean Sevier and Cocke Counties by "Here,") who actually know what their needs are and how to supply them. Trading of goods between neighbors is good because it keeps the value of the trades circulating locally and doesn't bleed off a percentage for shipping/profits/packaging and what have you. When a significant percentage of the local population becomes active members of the Co-op the Co-op will wield economic clout in the millions. Barter makes it possible to do business without cash or liquidity. This will encourage...
II. Local Manufacture; Local food production in particular is the only truly cost effective means of hardening community resilience in the face of national and global shocks to the infrastructure. Given that just in these two counties alone the market is in the hundreds of millions on a yearly basis we are talking about thousands of new jobs. Add all the basic tools required to keep civilization running and the sky is the limit. Americans will have to start making things again, we can no longer make a living serving fries or folding sheets. Again Cosby Co-operative is designed to provide an efficient means of co-ordinating this activity among Peers.
III. Local Currency; Communities across the globe are leveraging local business by issuing a local currency. This can be as simple as providing coupons tradeable at local businesses that can be purchased at the rate of ten for nine dollars. With enough local businesspeople on board this becomes a "money multiplier" mechanism that encourages the circulation of value within the community and cushions us from economic shocks from outside the community.
IV. Open Source Economics; By pooling crops agricultural Co-operatives massed sufficient quantities of a given harvest to command a profitable price for all their members. Cosby Co-operative offers this kind of leverage across the board for all economic activity. By pooling markets and sharing information about "best practices" across the board we can create an economy that addresses actual needs efficiently and is capable of reacting to developments rapidly.
V. Open Source Democracy; By sharing information and opinions laterally among the constituency we can provide an open door to the hearts and minds of the citizens of the region for local officials and legislators to tap into. We can also provide a check against the performance of local officials for the voters. The Vox Populi section of Cosby Co-op provides a place for all with an interest to be heard on record, and a place to organize true grass roots initiatives.
VI. Community Disaster Preparation; A flat tire is only a disaster if you haven't brought a spare. Disaster preparation and neighborhood security are clearly the individual householder's responsibility. Preparing in advance by organizing and practicing with your neighbors is simple common sense. Cosby Co-operative is designed to make sharing information with each other and learning from the experts a simple task.
VII. Skill Pool; The new economy is going to require a massive retooling of everyone's skill set. The necessary skills already exist out there and Cosby Co-operative Open University makes it simple and efficient to share those vital skills generally. Do you know how to raise a successful garden? Fix a car? Skin a deer and preserve the meat? Consider sharing those skills for free or a small per student fee on The Free University.
IX. Community Of Help Everybody falls down from time to time and needs help. Everybody. Trustworthy neighbors are worth more than a million dollar insurance policy. Our ancestors laughed at early insurance salesmen because they knew they could depend on the compassion of the community. They "paid into" this insurance policy by being themselves trustworthy and dependable in an emergency.
It really boils down to what sort of community you want to live in. Americans have lost a lot over the last few decades. We have lost that community cohesiveness that made our ancestors lives full and rich with the poetry of human interaction. I know most of you yearn for some return to that way of life, and we can do it, if we have enough leaders among us to be the first one's to reach out.
This is my call to you to make it happen. I've heard plenty of griping about how things should be, well do any of you have the grit to make it happen? Weigh in on the various discussion boards and make a serious effort to pull new people in for membership. Above all let's hear creative new ways to make money locally!
See you at the Co-op!
Personal disclaimer; What you may ask, is my secret agenda for proposing these projects? Do I want to set myself up as a local warlord ruling the mountain fastnesses with an iron fist? Well that sounds like a lot of fun, but no. I'm just a Cartoonist and all I want is to make a decent living plying my craft. Despite oodles of talent and decades of hard work the current economy has failed me miserably. I dream of a cohesive local economy leveraged by digital information exchange that will make it possible for me to find a supportive global audience. And that is all I seek.
The economy of the United States, as well as most of the Globe is on a downslope that is taking on some of the aspects of an avalanche, and it is becoming nakedly obvious that the Kleptocracy of the Federal Government and Wall Street are scrambling to finish looting the treasury before the lights go out. 36 million honest Citizens are on food stamps with no recourse in the event that the program should cease.
What to do?
Well, we can sit on our cans and wait for someone else to fix it...
But I am talking to those of you who don't like that approach.
Below, in outline form, is what I like to call "The Cosby Plan." It is taken almost whole cloth from a new national movement called "Transition USA." Meaning of course the transition of the economy from one that is dependent on the flow of raw materials and manufactured goods across the globe to one where the majority of necessities are produced locally. It has become glaringly obvious that this is the future of our great nation and those who undertake to build it will be the leaders of our communities in the very near future.
What is needed to implement this plan is people. By myself I haven't a clue how to implement this plan. People who know other people, people who know how to build things, people who know how to motivate people, people who can get things done. That is why this is a call for leadership.
I. Local Trade; The online Community Cosby Co-operative is designed to provide an efficient and low cost means of "Lateral Communication" that is not in the hands of some representative of the current "Power Structure." This is because it is the people who live here (I mean Sevier and Cocke Counties by "Here,") who actually know what their needs are and how to supply them. Trading of goods between neighbors is good because it keeps the value of the trades circulating locally and doesn't bleed off a percentage for shipping/profits/packaging and what have you. When a significant percentage of the local population becomes active members of the Co-op the Co-op will wield economic clout in the millions. Barter makes it possible to do business without cash or liquidity. This will encourage...
II. Local Manufacture; Local food production in particular is the only truly cost effective means of hardening community resilience in the face of national and global shocks to the infrastructure. Given that just in these two counties alone the market is in the hundreds of millions on a yearly basis we are talking about thousands of new jobs. Add all the basic tools required to keep civilization running and the sky is the limit. Americans will have to start making things again, we can no longer make a living serving fries or folding sheets. Again Cosby Co-operative is designed to provide an efficient means of co-ordinating this activity among Peers.
III. Local Currency; Communities across the globe are leveraging local business by issuing a local currency. This can be as simple as providing coupons tradeable at local businesses that can be purchased at the rate of ten for nine dollars. With enough local businesspeople on board this becomes a "money multiplier" mechanism that encourages the circulation of value within the community and cushions us from economic shocks from outside the community.
IV. Open Source Economics; By pooling crops agricultural Co-operatives massed sufficient quantities of a given harvest to command a profitable price for all their members. Cosby Co-operative offers this kind of leverage across the board for all economic activity. By pooling markets and sharing information about "best practices" across the board we can create an economy that addresses actual needs efficiently and is capable of reacting to developments rapidly.
V. Open Source Democracy; By sharing information and opinions laterally among the constituency we can provide an open door to the hearts and minds of the citizens of the region for local officials and legislators to tap into. We can also provide a check against the performance of local officials for the voters. The Vox Populi section of Cosby Co-op provides a place for all with an interest to be heard on record, and a place to organize true grass roots initiatives.
VI. Community Disaster Preparation; A flat tire is only a disaster if you haven't brought a spare. Disaster preparation and neighborhood security are clearly the individual householder's responsibility. Preparing in advance by organizing and practicing with your neighbors is simple common sense. Cosby Co-operative is designed to make sharing information with each other and learning from the experts a simple task.
VII. Skill Pool; The new economy is going to require a massive retooling of everyone's skill set. The necessary skills already exist out there and Cosby Co-operative Open University makes it simple and efficient to share those vital skills generally. Do you know how to raise a successful garden? Fix a car? Skin a deer and preserve the meat? Consider sharing those skills for free or a small per student fee on The Free University.
IX. Community Of Help Everybody falls down from time to time and needs help. Everybody. Trustworthy neighbors are worth more than a million dollar insurance policy. Our ancestors laughed at early insurance salesmen because they knew they could depend on the compassion of the community. They "paid into" this insurance policy by being themselves trustworthy and dependable in an emergency.
It really boils down to what sort of community you want to live in. Americans have lost a lot over the last few decades. We have lost that community cohesiveness that made our ancestors lives full and rich with the poetry of human interaction. I know most of you yearn for some return to that way of life, and we can do it, if we have enough leaders among us to be the first one's to reach out.
This is my call to you to make it happen. I've heard plenty of griping about how things should be, well do any of you have the grit to make it happen? Weigh in on the various discussion boards and make a serious effort to pull new people in for membership. Above all let's hear creative new ways to make money locally!
See you at the Co-op!
Personal disclaimer; What you may ask, is my secret agenda for proposing these projects? Do I want to set myself up as a local warlord ruling the mountain fastnesses with an iron fist? Well that sounds like a lot of fun, but no. I'm just a Cartoonist and all I want is to make a decent living plying my craft. Despite oodles of talent and decades of hard work the current economy has failed me miserably. I dream of a cohesive local economy leveraged by digital information exchange that will make it possible for me to find a supportive global audience. And that is all I seek.
Comment
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Comment by rytrwanab on November 6, 2009 at 10:17am -
I agree that feeding ourselves is something we need to focus on.....toward that end two things I would like to see
1) An heirloom seed swapping network locally - I have some things I would be willing to trade - circa 1800 heirloom white okra for example...
2) A community garden cooperative - i.e. everyone's land is different - some can grow corn and others can't and so on...so, participants would plant their normal garden for their own use but also agree to set aside an area to grow say, a large cabbage patch which would be put into the collective harvest to be shared with others in the co-op.....and of course individuals with any excess could offer it in trade to others for excesses they may have or cash or whatever.....we could also look at a group effort at the local Farmer's Market....there are a lot of possibilities.....one thing we are doing at Sol-Lunaover the winter is building a permanent greenhouse....I plan on having starts of heirloom veggies and such this spring and I would barter for those as well.....just a couple of things to chew on.....
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