More Like That

Thank you, Paul Relis, SB Independent, and Sally Warner-Arnett.

I too would love to read more stories on the subject of protecting the holistic health of the place where we live--our local part of the biosphere.

Regarding the broader issue of the important --vital-- environmental movement, allow me to share a big-picture duality, which is not readily talked about because of our confused language. We live in a constant tension between the still-prevailing forces of "chrematistics" and those pulling for "oikonomia". These two terms are clarified below.

"CHREMATISTICS
The branch of political economy relating to the manipulation of property and wealth so as to maximize short-term monetary exchange value to the owner. Despite our use of the word 'economy,' industrial societies currently practice chrematistics, without understanding what it means to manage the household.

"OIKONOMIA
The management of the household so as to increase its value to all members of the household over the long run. If we expand the scope of household to include the larger community of the land, of shared values, resources, biomes*, institutions, language, and history, then we have a good definition of 'economics for community'."

Source: Page 59, The Ecology of Commerce--A Declaration of Sustainability, by Paul Hawken, HarperBusiness (c) 1993

*"Biomes: a major ecological community type (as tropical rain forest, grassland, or desert)." In Merriam-Webster online."