The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge et al - Part 4

The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge
and others

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 59

 February 28, 2017 

Book 17 - The Necessary Revolution:
How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
by Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley (2008)
 Part 4 - pages 179-221
Reading Time - 60 minutes

I'm learning a lot about how some of the big multi-national corporations are actually leading in the way in sustainability. Alcoa (formerly Alcan) for instance, has made a big step in reducing waste water and landfill waste. They recognized that water shortages would severely hamper their business and made a commitment to recycle their water back through their smelters.

Nike is another great example of a company that ran afoul back in the 1990s of bad publicity when a lot of their overseas manufacturers were exposed for bad labour practices. Today, Nike is a a leader in the industry. Essentially, companies can comply and try to stay out of trouble, or they can become leaders in their industry. It's all about short term fixes vs long term fundamental solutions.

There is also a recognition that a lot of waste is actually a gold mine of materials. Think aluminum cans which, as we know, are infinitely recyclable. Plus, reusing old aluminum is a huge energy savings - cause it uses 95% less energy than making aluminum from scratch. And yet... only about half of all aluminum cans are recycled. Crazy...

On a sadder note... in terms of recycling in general, the US has a deplorable rate. In 1992, the recycling rate in the US was 68%. Not bad, eh. In 2012, though, the rate was 34%. Meanwhile, Japan has a 92% rate and Brazil has a 95% rate.

Where does Canada fit in recycling?? We are at a miserly 28% recycling rate. Not surprising given some provinces still don't have a bottle return deposit program. Think of all those aluminum cans being left by the roadside... crazy! (Winnipeg, for example, is sending more than $1,000,000 worth of aluminum cans to the landfill each year).

On a happier note... our city has some pretty good numbers... Food waste goes to a composting program... so we have a recycling rate of 64%... not bad... could be better.

The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge et al - Part 3

The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge
and others

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 58

 February 27, 2017 

Book 17 - The Necessary Revolution:
How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
by Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley (2008)
 Part 3 - pages 119-178
Reading Time - 70 minutes

This book seems to be written for people who are working in government, corporations or NGOs, people who can begin to make a difference in the world. It leaves me wondering, what one little person can do? I know that we do have a voice... and we have power. Everything that I'm reading in this books suggests that our power lies in us demanding something different from government and companies. If we want green products... then we will get green products.


The authors did refer to a neat diagram which shows how change can begin. It looks at Today vs. Future and Internal vs. External. Most companies start with changes in the lower left quadrant - the internal changes today - things like reducing waste and emissions. This works because companies see tangible benefits in increased profitability. "See... sustainability isn't that hard!"

They refer to a couple of neat case studies, one being DuPont - that big chemical company that was the bad guy in the world. DuPont turned themselves around to the point that sustainability is now their core corporate mission. They are turning away from petroleum based products to sustainable bio-products.

A big part of this section deals with how to get people engaged and how to build the case for change. I know this is hard to believe, but advocacy doesn't work very well. Telling people that you have the answer and know the way doesn't land very well. The trick is to be people to explore ideas together and to get them to alter their thinking. Asking questions, inquiry, works way better than advocacy. Particularly when you ask people about their underlying assumptions. That gets them thinking about the bigger picture and can lead them in the direction of altering their thinking. Most of us aren't even aware of our underlying assumptions...

In making changes in an organization: 1 person trying to change an organization will get killed (not literally), 2 people will commiserate, 3 people can start a revolution. It's all about finding like-minded folk.

On a rather amusing note, the authors talked about a fisheries game that has been in use for about 20 years. It's a board game, kind of like Monopoly, except the players get boats and nets and can go fishing and make a profit. Almost every group of players that has played the game has over-fished and the fisheries have collapsed. People get caught up in the profits thing - bigger boats, better nets, get more fish, out-compete the other players. One group actually managed the fisheries without collapsing it... a group from Harley-Davidson! They played the game so that they would let each other know how many fish they were catching and they could all see when the stocks started to decline and adjust accordingly. The least profitable player in the Harley-Davidson game made more money than the most profitable players who were in the overfishing gigs. Moral of the story... collaboration and competition can work together.

The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge et al - Part 2

The Necessary Revolution
- Peter Senge et al.

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 57

 February 26, 2017 

Book 17 - The Necessary Revolution:
How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
by Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley (2008)
 Part 2 - pages 55-118
Reading Time - 70 minutes

Several of the chapters in this section look at some specific case studies. One focused on a Swedish car dealership owner (Ford) and how he was the catalyst for bringing ethanol powered vehicles to Sweden. He worked with people who were already on board, which is a key insight. Don't try to convert people... find the people who are like-minded and work with them.

Another case study looked at the green building codes and how they are spreading throughout the world. It all started as a collaboration and has moved in the direction of creating buildings that produce more energy and more clean water than they use. Buildings are a key issue because developers want to build something for cheap, but that isn't necessarily efficient, and the future owners absorb those costs. Why not build something efficient from the get-go? Because 40% of greenhouse cases come from the "built environment" - that means heating, air conditioning and electricity.

The case study between Coca Cola and the World Wildlife Federation was interesting. They have united along a common concern for watersheds and the sustainability of water. While this might seem like an odd partnership, these are going to be key if we are going to move things forward. No one organization has sufficient resources to tackle the crisis.

Cause the truth is... society is moving in the direction of sustainability and environmentalism. Companies are beginning to recognize this and realize that they either need to be ahead of the curve or get left behind. In fact, if companies can move beyond grudging compliance to government guidelines, they actually move into a space where profits are increased and they are leaders in sustainability. I know I'd rather support a company that is environmentally conscious than one that does not. Our votes, our buying habits, do have power.

The Necessary Revolution - Peter Senge et al - Part 1

The Necessary Revolution
- Peter Senge et al.

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 56

 February 25, 2017 

Book 17 - The Necessary Revolution:
How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
by Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley (2008)
 Part 1 - pages 3-54
Reading Time - 1 hour

This book ties in nicely with several of the other ones that I have been reading: The Spirit Level, Silent Spring and The Upcycle. Here's the premise of this one: the Industrial Revolution gave us a lot of things but... it has taken us as far as it can. We are now on the downside of the Industrial Revolution. The resources we have are finite and we need to look at sustainability if we are to survive. The side effects of the Industrial Revolution are unsustainable.

Think about it... the 200 richest people in the world have a greater combined income than the poorest 2,500,000,000 people in the world. Crazy. The authors present some guiding ideas for the future:

• There is no viable path forward that does not take into account the needs of future generations,
• Institutions matter - whether they are NGOs, corporations or governments,
• All real change is grounded in new ways of thinking and perceiving.

Essentially, we need to work together differently and see things differently. The Industrial Revolution wasn't planned, it was innovated, and it is our combined creativity and innovation that will generate the next revolution. And we're going to need all the creativity we can get. Did you know 90% of plastics end up as solid waste? That 90% of raw materials end up as waste? We are not a sustainable ecosystem, are we? This brings to mind The Upcycle... the idea that waste from one industry process, is fuel for another. That we can make the water cleaner after it comes out of a factory than before it went in.

But how are we going to get there? The authors note that short-term lobbying isn't going to get us there... what we need is long term changes and that requires us to look at systems thinking and see the patterns. See how everything is connected, rather than trying to fix things individually.

There is also the idea, and a rather scary one, that we are living in an Industrial Revolution bubble. Outside the bubble is Nature. We have tended to see the economy as most important and forgotten that the economy lives within Society and Society lives within Nature. Our economy is unsustainable. We, in the developed world, use a ridiculous amount of the world's resources, and that can't continue. That's the bubble... Because in the global village, there is only one boat, and a hole will sink us all.

And there's the rub... we have acted as if the economy and money are the most important thing. That Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the true measure of our worth as a society. Interestingly... Bhutan, a tiny little kingdom country squished between India and Tibet doesn't use GDP... they use GNH - Gross National Happiness. They measure things like forest cover, children nutrition, education levels and health of the elderly. Isn't that cool?

It's kind of crazy that our average pound of food travels 2000 miles to reach our plate. Or that 1 glass of orange juice needs two litres of oil to transport. Here's the ticket:

• See the Larger System - none of us countries are islands
• Collaborate Across Boundaries - national, corporate, whatever
• Creating Futures We Truly Deserve - not reacting to things

I like this book - it gives me some hope for the future.

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett - Part 5

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson
and Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 55

 February 24, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 5 - 215-265
Reading Time - 45 minutes

Finally... we come to some of the crux points. As you might guess, inequality heightens competitive consumption. Basically, social and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand. Societies with raging income inequality tend to suck up more than their fare share of the earth's resources. Could we maybe improve our lives by lowering our levels of consumption? In terms of human well-being and sustainability... only 1 country has a good balance... Cuba (go figure).

We are addicted to shopping and our lifestyle is unsustainable. We have this idea that we need to buy first class goods or else people will see us as second class people. So we spend and spend and spend without saving for the future. We only have to look at the news to hear that savings rates are down and consumer debt is way up. Our spending lifestyle is unsustainable, not only for the earth, but for ourselves as well.

What if we shifted away from economic growth to a more sociable society. Studies show we might actually be higher, given that increasing economic growth has actually flat-lined in terms of increasing our happiness.

The authors suggest that a bunch of small changes are going to make the difference,. We could use taxes and benefits to redistribute income. We could narrow the differences in gross income. It will require cooperation and collaboration on a grand scale - between NGOs, community development corporations, credit unions, corporations and governments. One concrete option they suggest is democratic employee ownership - where the employees own the company. It might seem like a small thing, but it is a step in the right direction.

On a happier note, the authors note that humanity has been on a historic trend toward greater equality... we might be having a down-dip right now, but ultimately, we are improving. We just need to know where we want to go... even if it takes decades.

All in all, a good book, if a bit heavy on the graphs and charts! Ties in well with the next book...

Next Book

The Necessary Revolution

Peter Senge et al

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett - Part 4

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson
and Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 54

 February 23, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 4 -157-214
Reading Time - 1 hour

As you might suspect, social mobility in inequal societies is much lower than in societies with better income equality. Education is one of the main drivers of social mobility and given that inequal societies tend to have poor educational performance, it's not surprising. In general, the middle and upper classes tend to discriminate against the lower classes. Given that social mobility is a hallmark of democracies, one is left wondering how a country like the USA could have a decreasing rate of social mobility? Although the authors don't really touch on the role of the military in this study... they do admit that:
in more unequal societies, more people are oriented towards dominance while in more egalitarian societies, more people are oriented towards inclusiveness and empathy.

Sooo... having looked at some of those key areas, we now know that countries like Japan and those in Scandinavia are much more healthy, while countries like the USA, UK and Portugal are more unhealthy. At least for the developed countries. Canada is in the middle of the pack. Given that there are countries like Japan which function quite well, we'd do well to perhaps examine their methods and see if we could incorporate some of their techniques. Because the vast majority of the population is harmed by greater inequality, not just the poor. One way to redistribute the wealth is by tinkering with gross income. The other way is through taxes and benefits.

Ultimately, we are looking at two ways of living in a society. One society is based in dominance hierarchies which are all about self-advancement and status competition. The other society is based on mutual interdependence and cooperation. I know which one I'd rather live in!

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett - Part 3

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson and
Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 53

 February 22, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 3 -103-156
Reading Time - 1 hour

Not surprisingly, the authors of this book suggest that income inequality also influence educational performance, teenage births, violence and imprisonment.

Educational performance isn't just what happens at school, family life has a huge impact on a child's ability to learn. Since income inequality affects parents and social perceptions, children suffer.

The violence piece was interesting. Most of us have a rising fear of violence, even though the actual rates of violence are decreasing in some areas. Poor young men are more likely to be violent or victims of violence. In part, this is an attempt to fend off shame and humiliation. Social status for young men is linked with sexual competition - and if they are already at the bottom of the social totem pole because they are poor, violence is seen as a way of raising their status.

In terms of imprisonment... we aren't actually experiencing more crimes... but there are more sentences and longer ones. In 2004, in California, 360 people were serving life sentences for shoplifting. Crazy, no? As you would expect, countries with a higher level of income inequality (like the USA) imprison more of their citizens. Some states in the USA are actually spending more money on building new prisons than they are on education. Studies have shown, however, that prisons actually increase violence (the USA would seem to be a case in point). More unequal societies tend to divert money away from welfare and education and direct it towards prisons. Not that it's very effective in the long run. But in the short term (which is the timeline of most politicians), the government can show that they are "tough on crime". Never mind that imprisoning people will actually increase violence...

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett - Part 2

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson
and Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 52

 February 21, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 2 - 49-102
Reading Time - 1 hour

Now we're into the meat of it! There are some conclusions in this section which, when you think about it, make perfect sense in hindsight.

For example... in societies were social inequality is great, people are less trusting. We tend to hang out with people who are our equals. We also tend to be less trusting of people we don't hang out with. Sooo... if you get a lot of people who are inequal... you get less trust. On a happier note... Canada is more equal than America (yay!) but not as equal as Japan (sad face). Essentially, inequality increases social distance between people - we end up being an us vs. them society.

Inequality also affects mental health. The authors define mental health as accepting and valuing yourself. It is then rather scary to learn than 1 in 10 British children are mentally ill. Affluenza increases our vulnerability and our emotional distress. Whether we have a lot of income or whether we don't... the effects of addiction to income are the same. Because no matter how much we have (whether it is 100,000 or 1 million or 10 million)... we never think it is enough. This makes us profoundly unhappy and... as you might guess... that leads to more drug use.

It then follows that inequality affects physical health as well. Our psychological health has a direct effect on our physical health. Stress affects our bodies physically, which increases disease and weakens our immune system. We get into a chronic fight/flight mode which affects everything. When we are stressed, our body packs away fat much more efficiently. And we tend to crave comfort foods and drinks more. Obesity, as it turns out, is not a class issue. It is, however, an epidemic. In the USA (with an inequal society), 30% of adults are obese. In Japan, (with a more equal society), 2.4% of adults are obese. Yes, genes play a role, but when you run it out over time, the USA has seen a marked increase in obesity which is not gene related (our genes don't change that quickly).

It makes sense, in a weird way. The whole "keeping up with the Joneses"... people buy more than they can afford to keep up with a consumeristic society... but then run into financial problems... and get stressed... and eat more... and exercise less... and the vicious cycle continues.

The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett - Part 1

The Spirit Level
- Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 51

 February 20, 2017 

Book 16 - The Spirit Level:
Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger
by Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett (2010)
 Part 1 - v-xv, 3-48
Reading Time - 1 hour

The authors of this book think they have cracked the nugget of truth... why are some countries, like the USA experiencing increasingly negative social effects (violence, mental illness, obesity, imprisonment rates)? Is it because the US is so rich? Nope. It's because there is such a great inequality. And the disparity between rich and poor is only growing greater, which means no end of social deterioration.

That's it in a nutshell... inequality undermines trust, solidarity and mutuality... the foundations of a democratic society. Kind of worrisome. The authors do say that it can be reversed... but I'm only in the first few chapters... so that will likely come with time.

They like to use a lot of graphs so here's one of them... Social inequality is worst at the far right of the graph. Health and Social problems are worst at the top of the graph...

Now a caveat, they are only looking at the richest countries in the world, where increasing wealth really doesn't increases happiness, health or well-being. They're not looking at the poorer countries in the world, where increased wealth has a measurable impact on happiness, longevity and health, etc. We're looking at ourselves here... and why, since we are so well off... we are increasingly unhappy. It's a good question...

The social problems that tend to show an increase with rising income inequality are: level of trust, mental illness (including addictions), life expectancy & infant mortality, obesity, children's educational performance, teenage births, homicides, imprisonment rates and social mobility. Essentially, the bigger the disparity between rich and poor in our countries, the more social problems there are. Scary stuff.

They also noted that we are way more anxious and depressed than we used to be. We are more insecure and more concerned with social esteem and status. They call it the social evaluative threat - we are always looking around us to see if we fit in, or how we can fit in. This seems to be a result of the breakdown of settled communities back in the mid 20th century. No longer are we surrounded by friends and family but rather strangers. And we are always looking to see how we fit in. This sort of thing then has an effect on the rising inequality gap. Greater inequality just makes our social anxieties worse. One example of this is how in the U.S., self-promotion is the name of the game, whereas in Japan, self-deprecation is still the name of the game.

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger - Part 4

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 50

 February 19, 2017 

Book 15 - The Sacred Six: The Simple
Step-by-Step Process for Focusing Your Attention
and Recovering your Dreams
by J.B. Glossinger (2016)
 Part 4 - Pages 131-200
Reading Time - 40 minutes

"Don't let anyone steal your dreams." That's a pretty good vision to keep in mind. The other thing that struck me is that we need to let go of some things in order to create space for our dreams to show up. That can be a challenge... but I know from experience, that it is very true.

This section dealt more with methods of supporting the Sacred Six. The author recommended the following tools:

• to-do list
• notes
• calendar
• journal
• contact list

It's a good list... but, as the author himself admits, some people might be turned off by the seeming complexity of this method. Identify your Mission, then your Values and Goals. Prioritize your Golas and then from the top 5 or 10, identify Projects. Choose the top 6 of those and identify Sacred Tasks that you can complete. And review things every few months or weeks or days... depending. Tasks should be reviewed daily, Projects can be reviewed monthly and goals can be reviewed every few months.

I see the value in this...It really is about narrowing our focus down to a few Goals and moving ahead in those areas. Stirring 5 or 10 pots instead of 100s. Rather than moving forward incrementally in many different areas, and not really getting a sense of accomplishment, we can move forward more rapidly in a few areas and build up our confidence and satisfaction. It makes sense... and I can see how this would be useful in an organization as well.

I would recommend this book, although I think it requires a second reading and a bit more time withe the exercises.

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger - Part 3

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 49

 February 18, 2017 

Book 15 - The Sacred Six: The Simple
Step-by-Step Process for Focusing Your Attention
and Recovering your Dreams
by J.B. Glossinger (2016)
 Part 3 - Pages 91-130
Reading Time - 40 minutes

This is where it gets a bit complicated. We move on to the Sacred Six Goal Projects. Sooo... out of the dozens or 100s of goals we have in life, we need to identify the ones that are aligned with our mission. Out of those, choose 5 to 10 that are our top projects. Excellent.

Now... for each of those goals, we list the projects for each. For example, one of my goals is to Write a Book. That goal can be divided up into a variety of projects:

• Write book
• Edit book
• Find a publisher
• Get Feedback
• Marketing plan
• etc.

So... we do that for our 5-10 Goals that we identified, which could give us a list of 50 or 60 projects. Now the tricky part, prioritize all those projects and identify the top Sacred Six projects that you want to focus on. I might, for example, choose Write Book as one of my Sacred Six projects. Once that project is complete, I might move on to Edit Book or something else.

Within each project, we then need to identify individual tasks that will move that project to completion. So, for Write Book, I might make one of my Sacred Daily Tasks to be "write for 60 minutes a day". I keep doing that every day, until the Project called Write Book is done. Now... life does get in the way, and the author acknowledges that working on all Sacred Six Projects every day with daily tasks might not be feasible. Even if we just work on two Sacred Tasks every day, that is a step in the right direction.

One of the key messages in this section is that Productivity is NOT about time management... it is about focus management. If we could simply focus exclusively on a few of our Sacred Tasks each day, we could make amazing things happen. He recommends a style in which we work on a Sacred Task for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break to handle distractions, and then move on to another Sacred Task.
Each of those 

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger - Part 2

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 48

 February 17, 2017 

Book 15 - The Sacred Six: The Simple
Step-by-Step Process for Focusing Your Attention
and Recovering your Dreams
by J.B. Glossinger (2016)
 Part 2 - Pages 55-90
Reading Time - 60 minutes

The next step in this book, after identifying Mission, is to look at Values and Goals. The author gives a long (really long) list of possible values to choose from. You choose all the ones that resonate for you and then narrow it down to the top 10. Then get them down to the top 6 and prioritize them...

My own Top Ten are:

• Freedom
• Excellence
• Nature
• Health
• Independence
• Making a Difference
• Discovery
• Simplicity
• Environmentalism
• Travel 

At least, that's what they are right now... they might change. Values are key to life. Cause the truth is if we are only motivated by externals, our motivation will fizzle. Motivation has to come from the inside, from our values - it'll be more lasting. It's all about finding the passion in our life and living from that, on an ongoing basis.

The second part of this section deals with Goals. These are Mission Goals, what do we need to do to get to our mission? The author suggests having a maximum of six goals that we can pursue at any given time. Which makes sense. We can ultimately have innumerable goals, but we can only handle a relatively small number at any given time.

Now... to put all of this together... coming up in the next section.

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger - Part 1

The Sacred Six - J.B. Glossinger

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 47

 February 16, 2017 

Book 15 - The Sacred Six: The Simple
Step-by-Step Process for Focusing Your Attention
and Recovering your Dreams
by J.B. Glossinger (2016)
 Part 1 - Pages 1-54
Reading Time - 60 minutes

I started this book back in December, I think and got off track with it. It's very much an experiential book and I think I just didn't have the oomph to do the exercises.

Essentially, the idea is that we, personally, did to be in Alignment in order to move forward in life. We need to look at our Mission, Values and Goals and ensure that they are aligned. There are different exercises, in this first section, that help you to get clear on what your Mission is:

• make a list of people who live the way I want to live
• envision my funeral and what people will say about me
• when am I in the Zone - what am I doing when I am in the Zone
• revisit my childhood - what did I want to be, what did I enjoy doing

Essentially... you're trying to answer the Big Picture "why" question of life. "Why do I want to do what I tell myself I want to do?"

It was kind of a neat experience... next up is Values.

The No Spend Year - Michelle McGagh - Part 4

The No Spend Year - How I Spent Less
and Lived More - Michelle McGagh

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 46

 February 15, 2017 

Book 14 - The No Spend Year
by Michelle McGagh (2017)
 Part 4 - Pages 153-200
Reading Time - 45 minutes

The author touched on some of the challenges during her No Spend Year. It was OK... She finished off the book with a quiz - What Sort of Shopper Are You? I did the quiz and ended up being a Sensible Saver - the description of which began with - "Do you really need this book? You know your way around a budget and are careful with your money."

Maybe that's the key here... I didn't really need to read this book, which is a basic testament to the benefits of spending less. I applaud the author for saving 23,000 pounds and tossing that at her mortgage. Those are some impressive numbers. We are doing the same thing, in a different way. And maybe that's the key message here - each of us needs to find our own way to manage our finances in a way that makes sense for us.

I know some other blog authors that have done a no-spend year. But there are other options. Decide not to buy a particular item for a month or a year (like books!). I did a no-book-buying challenge last year and it worked pretty well. Got me back into the habit of going to the library. In a weird twist of fate, I did buy this book The No Spend Year online (via a used bookstore) and that feels kinda weird. But my library didn't have it and I wanted to read it. I coulda saved my money. If anyone wants to read it... let me know and I'll ship it over to you!

The No Spend Year - Michelle McGagh - Part 3

The No Spend Year: How I Spent Less
and Lived More - Michelle McGagh

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 45

 February 14, 2017 

Book 14 - The No Spend Year
by Michelle McGagh (2017)
 Part 3 - Pages 112-152
Reading Time - 45 minutes

Can't say that this part really grabbed me. A chapter on how to get free money - employer-matching pension plans - which seems to be a relatively new invention in the UK.

A chapter on how to spend less on beauty products and how horrible it was to go without moisturizer. Followed by a chapter on investing tips. This is pretty UK-centric so not as interesting to me.

The No Spend Year - Michelle McGagh - Part 2

The No Spend Year: How I Spent Less
and Lived More - Michelle McGagh

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 44

 February 13, 2017 

Book 14 - The No Spend Year
by Michelle McGagh (2017)
 Part 2 - Pages 47-111
Reading Time - 1.5 hours

I rather liked this section. The author gives some tips on ways to have fun that don't cost anything... or at least not a lot. Given that she lives in London, England, there are way more "free" or "low cost" options than over here.

One neat idea (which I think we have already discovered) is "wild swimming". Instead of going to the pool, head for the stream or the lake or the ocean to go swimming. Crazy concept!

She admits that one thing she wished she had kept in her budget was bus transportation. During her No Spend Year, she was limited to either walking or riding her bike. While bike riding can be fun in the spring, summer and fall, it is less so in the winter time.

She intersperses her experiential chapters with ones on financial advice. These seem a bit skimpy to me. Watching your credit rating and the different types of mortgages. Meh.

I thoroughly enjoyed her chapter on Pedal-Powered Adventures - how they went on a 6 day bike tour with their tents (wild tenting!). It sounded like a hoot and they actually got to relax (cause she couldn't buy admission tickets to any of the sights).

My take-away from this is... it's really worth while to check and see what events are on around town that are free (EventBrite is a great place to start).

The No Spend Year - Michelle McGagh - Part 1

The No Spend Year: How I Spent Less
and Lived More - Michelle McGagh

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 43

 February 12, 2017 

Book 14 - The No Spend Year
by Michelle McGagh (2017)
 Part 1 - Pages 1-46
Reading Time - 1 hour

Confession time: I am reading Aldo Leopold's The Sand County Almanac and am a bit stuck in it. So, I've jumped to another book... which happens to me quite a bit sometimes. I end up reading 4 or 5 books on once. I figured this new book, which actually isn't on my reading list, is a quicker read and I can keep up with the blog posts.

Sooo... I came across The No Spend Year on a news site and thought it sounded interesting, so I ordered it. It's written by a British author so some of the details are more relevant to UK readers, but the overall idea still works here, across the pond.

The Friday after American Thanksgiving has become known as Black Friday - the biggest shopping day of the year. In some minimalist and anti-consumerism circles, it is also known as No Spend Day, sort of a counter-balance to the crazy shopping that usually takes place. The author thought that it required more than just one day and toyed with a week, a month, and then decided on a year.

Other than the necessities, she couldn't spend money on eating out, coffee shops, car or bus transportation, no gifts, no holidays. Basically, she could spend money on groceries and toiletries. Her husband, who wasn't bound by the no spend challenge, did join her for the grocery challenge.

This first section looks at how to save money when shopping for groceries: buy no-name brand, shop the discount grocery stores, don't shop while hungry, plan your meals ahead of time, etc. A lot of this stuff isn't new to me so I can't say there were any ah-hah moments in there.

She also touched on the issue of saving. Pay down your consumer debt and make sure you have an emergency fund. Yup, got those covered.

I'm hoping there might be some better tidbits of wisdom in upcoming chapters.

History Thieves - Ian Cobain - Part 1

The History Thieves - Ian Cobain

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 42

 February 11, 2017 

Book 13 - The History Thieves
by Ian Cobain (2016)
 Part 1 - Pages 1-320
Reading Time - 4 hours

Another book not on my official reading list. This one came more from a personal, research interest. I had read Cobain's other book, Cruel Britannia (how Britain has used rendition and torture) a few years ago.

This book was disturbing. To learn that the United Kingdom is one of the most secretive democracies in the world. The UK has a long-standing culture of secrecy, rooted in the class system. The upper classes, who generally rule the country, have always had that sort of gentleman's code. Don't talk about stuff. The thing is... "nothing is more carefully concealed than the extent to which concealment is being practiced".

Secret archives that are denied to exist... until they are revealed.

Colonial archives that document torture as the UK empire collapsed in the 1950s and 60s. Archives that were either weeded and destroyed or shipped to the UK to reside in the aforementioned secret archives.

Secret trials that are becoming more and more commonplace.

Declassified files that are released to the National Archives, until they cause a commotion and then are quietly removed back into a government department.

I didn't know that the UK lacks a right to "Freedom of Speech". I didn't know that all official documents are automatically considered secret. But I will say this... having just read 1984 by George Orwell, I now have a better understanding of what he could see coming in the mid 1940s when he wrote the book. What is happening in the UK today is Orwellian.

Cutting Your Car Use - Randall Ghent - Part 1

Cutting Your Car Use -
Randall Ghent & Ana Semlyen

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 41

 February 10, 2017 

Book 12 - Cutting Your Car Uses
by Randall Ghent with Anna Semlyen (2009)
 Part 1 - Pages 1-128
Reading Time - 1 hour

I saw this book on the New Non-Fiction shelf at the library and couldn't resist. It's a tiny little book and a quick read.

Did you know 25% of all car trips in America (I presume North America) are less than 1 mile? I know we are culprits ourselves... the corner store is just down the hill, 6 houses away and... well... we often jump in the truck and drive! Mea culpa!!

We all know this... walking and biking are healthier for us... and better for the environment. Better for our pocket books too. When I read this book last week, I was all psyched to get my bike out of the shed, pump up the tires and take it for a spin but... we got smacked with a winter storm and 25 cm of snow. So much for snow biking.

Part of the problem, I realize... is that we do not live in a very walkable neighbourhood. Houses in our neighbourhood have a Walk Score of 11, which means, "Almost all errands require a car". Oh pooh. (Mind you... the house I grew up in back home, has a Walk Score of 3, so I guess things could be worse!)

You can check your Walk Score for your house on www.walkscore.com. Just enter your address and see what pops up. After that, you can use the Travel Time Map to map out how far you can get with 20 minutes of walking, 20 minutes of biking, etc.

The city in which we live has an average walk score of 45, which is not great... Just out of curiosity, I entered my sister's address. She and her family live in Kitsilano, Vancouver... Yeah... her place has a Walk Score of 97!!! (A Walker's Paradise). Ugh.

Down by the waterfront, here at home, you can get a condo with a Walk Score of 86. Not bad...

The thing is... I know that if I jump on my bike, I can be in most places I need to get to in 10-15 minutes. That doesn't include Superstore, Costco, Home Depot or any of those Big Box Stores that we frequent in the name of affordability. Would we save money if we shopped at Country Grocer and Home Hardware? Possibly... I'd sure get a work out if I rode my bike home with a backpack full of groceries. Maybe it's not all or nothing... but a compromise.

And... I know... I haven't mentioned transit at all... cause I've never tried it. Although I do use it all the time in Vancouver. Anyhow, this book got me thinking... about how we use the car. And about our alternatives... given our Walk Score of 10.

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer - Part 4

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 40

 February 9, 2017 

Book 11 - Eating Animals
by Safran Foer (2009)
 Part 4 - Pages 203-267
Reading Time - 1 hour

This is where the shit hits the fan. Or maybe the rubber hits the road. What to do?

Look, we all know factory farms are horror shows. The very term "factory farm" is an oxymoron. Factory and Farm would have been considered two complete opposites 100 years ago.

Factory - urban, mechanized, hectic, efficiency
Farm - rural, pastoral, peaceful, patience

Animal husbandry (taking care of animals) has been replaced by something else... And we are the driving force. We look for shampoo that hasn't been tested on animals but.. we buy meat that is produced in exceedingly cruel systems. All so we can have some cheap meat... or meat every day.

Does the pleasure justify the means?

The thing is... factory farms have succeeded because they have divorced us from our food. We don't know where our meat comes from anymore. We can't go and visit the farms and learn where our sirloin steak comes from.

The author makes a case for vegetarianism. I get that. It's his personal decision. I don't know that I can make that same choice. I still want to eat eggs and cheese and meat. But... I don't want to eat any of it if it has suffered the way factory animals suffer.

Sooo... we are researching local farms. There's a bison farm somewhere near here. There are small-scale chicken operations. There are sheep farms. I want to support the real farmer - the 1% of farmers who are NOT factory farmers. So...

• Eat Local
• Eat less meat - maybe 3 times a week or less
• Shop at Farmer's Markets
• Raise our own chickens/ducks for eggs

It's a start. We know it will likely cost more. But if we eat less meat, it should balance out.

Ultimately... it comes back to my experience in Vietnam. Seeing dogs and cats in misery as they went to a miserable death before ending up on someone's plate. It's the same with pigs, chickens, cows, sheep. Misery is misery. I don't want to eat flesh that has had a miserable existence. The only way the system will change is if we vote... with our feet... with our wallets... with our shopping carts.

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer - Part 3

Eating Animals -
Jonathan Safran Foer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 39

 February 8, 2017 

Book 11 - Eating Animals
by Safran Foer (2009)
 Part 3 - Pages 123-202
Reading Time - 1.5 hours

I can't even begin to describe this section of the book. Let's just say... the 1918 Spanish Flu (you know, the one that killed millions) started as a bird flu. You've heard of H1N1 too? Another bird flu with a bit of a pig flu strain in there. Sick birds are more likely to create another pandemic bird flu... and guess what factory farms create? Yup, sick birds. Scary stuff.

The author describes the slaughter process for chickens. It's not pretty. What's more concerning though is that 95% of chickens are infected with E. coli. And that 39-75% of chickens in retail stores are still infected. That's due to the contamination with fecal matter (chicken poo). And let's not enough talk about the botched executions. Bottom line... our sustenance, our cheap meat comes from misery.

The other thing... well, there are many other things... but this one other thing... the environmental problem of what to do with the 1000s of tonnes of shit that get produced by chickens, pigs and cows. It wasn't always a problem. Farmers would take the poo and turn it into manure (which takes time) and then spread it on their fields as fertilizer. A nice cycle. But nowadays, because we eat more meat than any culture in the entire history of the world, factory farms are producing shit faster than anyone can use it. So what happens? It leaks into the ground water and the surface water and causes health problems in surrounding and downstream communities.

The American Public Health Association has urged a moratorium on factory farming, citing health concerns. But will we give up our cheap meat? Cause the only thing that will make a difference is if WE demand a change.

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer - Part 2

Eating Animals -
Jonathan Safran Foer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 38

 February 7, 2017 

Book 11 - Eating Animals
by Safran Foer (2009)
 Part 2 - Pages 45-122
Reading Time - 1.5 hours

Animal Agriculture is THE leading cause of Climate Change. Yup, you read that right. More than all the vehicles in the world. In the name of meat and eggs and milk... we are cooking the earth. Yup... omnivores contribute 7 times the volume of greenhouse gases than vegans.

We have demanded cheap meat and the farmers and fishermen have obliged us. The thing is... we don't see the cost for our vanity. Kinda like The Hunger Games trilogy. We're living the Capitol, demanding our cheap meat but we don't see where it comes from. We don't see the suffering.

Every time we open a can of tuna, we don't see the 145 species that are regularly killed during a tuna catch - fish, sharks, birds, turtles, dolphins and whales. Every time we thaw out a shrimp ring, we don't see the 26 lbs of other sea animals that died for every 1 lb of shrimp.

The factory farmer (and the author has a letter from one) argues that we created this. We demanded more meat, cheap meat, and they came up with ways to produce it faster, quicker and cheaper. On the other hand, they know that their business model depends on consumers not being able to see (or hear about) what they do. Their business model revolves around how quickly animals can be made to grow, how tightly they can be packed, how much or how little they can eat, how sick can they get without dying.

The agricultural industry figured out that they don't need healthy animals to make a profit. Sick animals are more profitable. The dead and dying are simply incinerated. I read this part and I saw a mirror image... a society that turned a blind eye to the suffering that was going on under their noses. The transport trains. The sickly millions in sheds and behind fences. The dead and dying tossed into incinerators. Except those were humans.

I wonder... a few decades hence... if we will look back on this time with horror. At what we are doing to billions of animals... suffering and sacrificed on the altar of our craving for meat. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a carnivore... I still want meat... but I don't want to eat some poor chicken that had a hellish life. If I'm going to eat meat... I want to know that the chicken I eat had a happy life.

Which leads us back to us eating sick animals... is it any wonder that we are finding all sorts of new diseases popping up - autoimmune illnesses, childhood leukemia. When our food, whether animal or vegetable, is injected, sprayed, fed: pesticides, insecticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc.... is it any wonder?

All this makes me realize... going back to a few of the other books I've read recently... that we are out of relationship with our food sources. We don't know the butcher or the farmer who provides us with our food. We have sacrificed relationships for convenience and affordability. Naturally there is a trade-off. But is it a bargain we are willing to continue to make?

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer - Part 1

Eating Animals -
Jonathan Safran Foer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 37

 February 6, 2017 

Book 11 - Eating Animals
by Safran Foer (2009)
 Part 1 - Pages 3-44
Reading Time - 1 hour

I'm writing this before I've even cracked the cover on this book. I'm not sure how it ended up on my list but... there it is. A confession... I am a hard-core carnivore. I love meat of any sort... and seafood and chicken. I've eaten one live cricket (but not a second one!). I love steak tartare (raw ground meat). I love my steaks blue (barely warmed through).

I do draw a few lines though. I don't eat dog or cat and the very thought of it... when we traveled through northern Vietnam... made my stomach turn. I saw how the dogs and cats were held and caged and had an epiphany. This is what we do to our cows, pigs, chickens. Not ours personally... but the ones that come to us all neatly packaged in the grocery stores as steaks and breasts and fillets. Coming back from Vietnam, I tried going the vegetarian route but... only lasted a half a year... maybe.


My philosophy on meat would be something along these lines. I don't think it's wrong to eat meat. I think how we raise and slaughter meat is the problem. We have lost our connection with the creature that gives its life so that we might live. It used to be a farmer would kill his own chicken and his wife would serve it for dinner. There was a connection to the animal, a gratitude to the animal. That has been lost. Could I eat a chicken that I've raised? Mmmm... don't know. Haven't ever tried it. Can I eat a fish that I've hooked, caught and killed. Absolutely. Done that. No issues. Anyhow... there's my preamble... now... into the book.

*******

Right... we start off with a discussion of the pros and cons of eating dogs. Why not? We euthanize 3,000,000-4,000,000 dogs and cats every year? Why not harvest them as a local and sustainable source of meat? Well... duh... cause dogs and cats are our pets. And they're smart... cats, naturally are smarter than dogs. But what about pigs... who like to play with toys and are easily as smart as dogs? What about chickens? What about fish who apparently have a very sophisticated society under the water? Why is it OK to smack a gaff hook into the head of a fish and not into the head of a dog?

Well... cause we tend to care most about what's close to us. We don't live cheek-a-jowl with cows, pigs or chickens. And over the last few decades, a conversation about eating meat has generally devolved into two polar opposites: eat animals... don't eat animals. Although there are shades of grey in there. Don't eat mammals but eat birds. Don't eat mammals or birds but fish are OK. Don't eat anything that sucks in oxygen (air or water-based) but OK to eat honey, cheese, milk, eggs. The author argues that we need a better way to talk about eating animals.

Because it's not just about eating animals... it's about how our society breeds, raises, transports and slaughters animals. Over 99% of all animals and milk/eggs are factory farmed. That means they are genetically engineered to grow faster on less food, even if that means they can't walk or fly or live longer than 6 weeks. This is not the happy barnyard pictures we envision from our childhood. This is a Factory... with animals as the raw parts and meat as the product. Descartes said we should treat animals as machines. We have taken that to heart with a vengeance. Except... they are not machines.

The author suggests that we struggle with a deep shame... and that shame is the work of memory against forgetting.

The thing is... factory farming is not just limited to "farms"... it happens in the oceans where technology and science can harvest fish far more efficiently than our quaint notion of a fishing trawler. It used to be that hunting or fishing was relatively "fair". One guy with a fishing rod trying to catch a fish. We have turned it into something else. And why?? All because we enjoy meat and we like our meat to be cheap.

"In the name of affordability, we treat food animals with cruelty so extreme, it would be illegal if inflicted upon a dog".

I buy 3 kg boxes of flash-frozen chicken breasts at Save-on-Foods. They're usually $40 but I only buy them when they go on sale for $20. We get 14 or so breasts in a box. That means 7 chickens were slaughtered for that box. Do I want to know what life those chickens had? Do I??

Already, I am going online and researching local sources of eggs and milk and cheese. F*@k the cost. I'm looking at ways in which we can rejig our eating habits. Ditch the grocery store meat/fish. Incorporate more protein-alternatives - legumes, quinoa, happy eggs...

For centuries, meat was a luxury... maybe it's time to consider it that once again.

Tattoos on the Heart - Gregory Boyle - Part 3

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of
Boundless Compassion
Gregory Boyle

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 36

 February 5, 2017 

Book 10 - Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
by Gregory Boyle (2010)
 Part 3 - Pages 109-206
Reading Time - 2 hours

We really are very hard on ourselves. Whether we are gang members or priests or just regular folk. Somewhere deep inside of us is a deep woundedness that doubts our sacredness. That doubts whether we are lovable. That questions how anyone could love us if we are not perfect/good enough.

But then we take that woundedness and turn it outwards, demanding that others measure up to some exacting standard that we say comes from the divine. We judge ourselves so harshly that we then find it comforting in some weird way to judge others. "See... there's someone out there who is even worse than I am!" As if that means we move further up the line of salvation and are assured an entrance ticket. Crazy really. I know... I know... there are some who believe that there are only so many tickets being sold for heaven. And that when the tickets run out... that's it... and if you didn't qualify, didn't make the cut... then you're cast into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

All I got to say is... if some fallible human priest working in a gang-infested neighbourhood can find it in is heart to "love kids who are killing kids I love"... then God has to be even MORE loving than that. Soo... my thoughts... there aren't any tickets to heaven... And what we think of as the front of the line might actually be the back of the line. Wouldn't that be just turn-about!

Anyhow... back to the book... here's a few quotes...

"it becomes impossible to demonize someone you know"

"all things are inventions of holiness... some more rascally than others"

This Catholic priest even (gasp) quotes Buddhism! And it's a good one - "we can begin to change the world by first changing how we look at the world". It's all a matter of perspective. That's the thing we don't really get. If we look at the world with eyes of judgement... well, heck... we'll see a gob load of things to judge. If we look at the world with eyes of compassion... we'll find tonnes of opportunities to engage with people from a place of kinship.

For Boyle... that's ultimately what it boils down to... Who are we standing with? Jesus stood with the outcasts. He didn't overthrow the government. He stood with the most marginalized. Because change isn't from the top down... it's from the ground up. We need to be the change we want to see in the world (to paraphrase Gandhi). If we stand with those who have been endlessly excluded... that is an act of visible protest".

Boyle would say kinship is our goal. If we stand with the marginalized... peace and justice will naturally follow. If we are one with the Other (not serving the Other)... we can change the world. And for me... this ties in with the Saved book by Ben Hewitt. Totally different topic... but ultimately the same message. We are social beings... we are most human when we are in relationship with others. Real, intimate, personal relationships. Not just on Facebook. But in the world. Standing with the oppressed. Standing with our neighbours. Standing with...

Next Book:

Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer

(oh dear... and I am a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore... gulp)

Tattoos on the Heart - Gregory Boyle - Part 2

Tattoos on the Heart: the Power of
Boundless Compassion
Gregory Boyle

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 35

 February 4, 2017 

Book 10 - Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
by Gregory Boyle (2010)
 Part 2 - Pages 61-108
Reading Time - 60 minutes

This is really quite a radical book. Radical as in it really gets back to the heart of Jesus' teaching. The author, a Jesuit priest, works in the most gang-infested area of LA and everyday sees "kids I love killing kids I love". He doesn't love the killers any less than the victims. Loving only those we like isn't what Jesus taught.

This section opens with a discussion between "homies" (gang-members) and Boyle about the distinction between sympathy, empathy and compassion. The first two are easy... for the third, the homies can only shrug and say "compassion... that's like Jesus". Boyle would say... compassion is not a relationship between healer and wounded... it is a covenant between equals. Being with others... not for others.

It's kind of a mind-blowing concept in society today, where we so often want to "help the less-fortunate". Already, we have judged them as "less" than ourselves who are "more fortunate". We walk around through life with blinders of judgement on... judging where others live, how they live, what they own, how old they are, what gender they are, what colour there skin is.

The good news is... God doesn't have those blinders on... God sees "people I love hurting people I love". But we... we just can't wrap our tiny, judgemental, finite brains around that concept. And so we continue to go around judging people... including ourselves. Sad, really.

Tattoos on the Heart - Gregory Boyle - Part 1

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of
Boundless Compassion
Gregory Boyle

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 34

 February 3, 2017 

Book 10 - Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
by Gregory Boyle (2010)
 Part 1 - Pages xi-xv, 1-60
Reading Time - 70 minutes

Not sure how this book came to be on my reading list for 2017 but there it is. Gregory Boyle is a Jesuit priest who, in the mid 1980s, was assigned to Dolores Mission parish in Los Angeles. If LA is the gang-capital of the US... then the Dolores Mission area is the gang-capital of LA!

Working with gang members who want to get out... Boyle takes the opportunity to reflect on the boundless compassion of love. Most particularly that of God. Boyle is pretty clear that God is far bigger than we think God is, or rather, in his own words - "How much greater is the God we have, than the one we think we have."

I rather liked this quote too - "It is only because we have such an overactive disapproval gland ourselves that we tend to create God in our own image". If only we could all really get that. God isn't disappointed in us. God isn't standing over us whipping us to get up and do better. We are perfect, just the way we are.

What Boyle recognized early on was that the principal suffering of the poor is not poverty but shame and disgrace. The shame comes from an utter failure of self-love. And yet, so often, the Church doesn't promote our own self-love but rather urges us to "do better". If only we could love ourselves the way that God loves us... the world would be a very different place. For really... our own lack of self-love is what drives the evil in the world. Love really is the answer.

Saved - Ben Hewitt - Part 1

Saved: How I Quit Worrying about
Money and Became the Richest Guy
in the World
Ben Hewitt

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 33

 February 2, 2017 

Book 9 - Saved: How I Stopped Worrying About Money and
Became the Richest Guy in the World
by Ben Hewitt (2016)
 Part 1 - Pages 1-224
Reading Time - 4 Hours

I think I came across this book on the library shelf as I was randomly browsing. It looked interesting so I grabbed it. That is part of the problem with my Reading Challenge... I keep getting side-tracked by interesting books that are not on my "official" reading list. Argh.

Anyhow... this book was interesting. The author takes a look at what he calls the unconscious economy (what we live in right now) and makes a pretty convincing argument for how unstable and unsustainable it really is. He makes a case for something called the conscious economy. Along the way, he examines how our monetary policy works (it doesn't), what is money (debt) and the unsustainable expansion of our commodified society (the earth is finite, not infinite).

His argument essentially lies along these lines. We have traded relationships for commodities. We just go to the Big Box Store and buy what we need. This really tears at the fabric of our communities. We could, for example, share things with our neighbours. I've heard of this before... the idea that we don't all need to own a hedge-trimmer but that we could borrow things like that from each other. That we could make an investment in our neighbourhood relationships. Instead of hiring someone to build a fence or fix our toilet, we draw on our "savings" by seeing if friends or neighbours can help us. These sorts of relationships strengthen our community and feed our own souls.

This isn't really a book on minimalism but... it does crop up. To be happy with what we have... to buy things that have meaning and are not simply cookie-cutter particle board things from IKEA. He argues that money is really a representation of trust. In which case, our real wealth does not lie in our bank accounts (as virtual numbers) but exists in the real world as our relationships with others. Cause, ultimately, if the whole economy goes in the toilet... money and even gold will be worthless... what will have worth is the deposits we have with others... the trust, the community, the relationships.

It's an interesting vision of a new world.