CHALLENGE MET/New audio, video, blog
March 21, 2008
The E. F. Schumacher Society has a significant impact for an organization
its size. Part of the reason for its broad influence is the combination of
rich content and practical action developed over its twenty-eight years.
Fritz Schumacher's ideas about appropriate scale and the importance of
producing locally for local consumption seemed contrarian when he presented
them forty years ago, but are now proving a solid basis for a new economics
that is accountable to people, land, and community.
The renowned E. F. Schumacher lecture series draws speakers who are
providing innovative solutions for building just and sustainable economies.
Finely edited, published in pamphlet form, and posted at the Society's web
site, these lectures circulate broadly, inspiring new citizen initiatives.
Majora Carter's 2007 lecture, "Sustainable South Bronx: A Model for
Environmental Justice" is a wonderful example of this tradition. Excerpts
from her lecture are included below.
However the youngest member of our board of directors, Merrian Fuller, was
not satisfied with the Society's outreach, not satisfied that our website
averages 7,800 hits per day. She argued that we must expand our use of
communication technologies to include audio and video posting on the
internet and the creation of a blog for more informal discussion with
members.
As staff members of the E. F. Schumacher Society we are proud to say we have
met Merrian's challenge! A selection of audio recordings from the lectures
is available by searching for the E. F. Schumacher Society at:
http://www.archive.org
You can watch videos of recent BerkShares local currency press coverage from
ABC, CBS, BBC, French TV, and Russian TV; 1991 footage of the Deli Dollars
and Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes programs, which helped launch the current
interest in local currencies; and, most exciting for us, 1977 video footage
of Fritz Schumacher, converted from old umatic tapes stewarded at the E. F.
Schumacher Library at:
http://www.youtube.com/efssociety
The new online blog completes the list:
http://efssociety.blogspot.com
Please enjoy all the new content and check back often as we continue placing
important items online. Links are located on the front page of the
Society's website. Your financial support keeps us innovating.
Sincerely,
Staff and Interns of the E. F. Schumacher Society
140 Jug End Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org
* * * * * * * *
Founded in 2001 by Dr. Majora Carter, Sustainable South Bronx
(http://www.ssbx.org) addresses land-use, energy, transportation, water and
waste policy, and education to advance the environmental and economic
rebirth of the South Bronx. Her 2007 E. F. Schumacher Lecture describes a
rebuilding process for the South Bronx fueled by the creative capacity
within the community. Sustainable South Bronx has given community members a
seat at the table, resulting in a new model for sustainable development.
Excerpts from "Sustainable South Bronx: A Model for Environmental Justice"
demonstrate
"I entered [the environmental justice] field because I was not satisfied
with the way things were happening in my community. We were not willing to
be the repository for all the things that wealthier, usually whiter
communities could afford to avoid. I believed that our dreams for the
beautiful future we wanted were the right dreams for anyone, and I did not
fear that others might consider us fools for having the audacity to hope.
Van Jones and I started a project called Green for All because we believe
that this transitional Green Economy should be used to move people out of
poverty because you shouldn’t need to have a ton of green in order to be
green and because 'green' should be more than some niche thing that only the
wealthy can afford."
"Opposing bad things with positive alternatives is the model that we’ve
applied to all our efforts ever since. Oppose destruction with creation. It
wasn’t the 'not in my backyard' argument at all. We didn’t just say, 'No
more garbage, period'; we said, 'not garbage because what we need are parks
and developments that improve our quality of life'; we said, 'not garbage
because what we need is equitable solid-waste handling that doesn’t continue
to overburden the most vulnerable in the city.'"
"I have noticed that many people, government, and businesses, in their quest
to 'fix' the problems of the world, forget that nearly all of those problems
affect other people. We see ourselves as more than just problems. We are
people with our own ideas, dreams, and hopes for our future. Please remember
that what we bring to the table may not be high in monetary value, but it is
our investment. Don’t we all want others to see value in our contributions?
To be respected and honored for the contribution we make? Everyone needs
someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. Now, think
about it. If you feel that you don’t have anything to offer or anything to
gain by being a part of the community and there is no predictable connection
between the effort you exert and the outcome, violence will happen."
" All of our solutions must incorporate poverty alleviation through policies
that acknowledge and then mitigate the environmental inequities that poor
communities have traditionally experienced. We need to create green-collar
jobs so that poor people can see themselves as having both a personal and
financial stake in the betterment of the environment. If our old, highly
inefficient buildings are big emitters of greenhouse gases, then they need
to be retrofitted. If we know that climate change can become a business
opportunity, then we need to develop ways for clean-tech industries to
flourish here at home and abroad. Instead of outsourcing our production to
countries that engage in slave and child labor, that do not share our values
in terms of human rights or the environment, we must stand strong on the
moral and economic high ground without fearing those forces that will
distort, cheat, and lie to protect the portfolios of a very few at the
expense of you, your neighbors, and future generations."
"Strong communities that understand and value the benefits and cost across
the production and consumption cycle are the basis of strong nations filled
with strong people who will be natural leaders because they will be happy,
they will be bountiful, and will be able to afford to be generous.
Environmental justice for all is civil rights in the twenty-first century.
This moment of change that we find ourselves in together on this day is the
mountaintop, and Martin Luther King was not alone up there, looking out at
the promised land. We are still building tributes to our collective
failures, but wouldn’t you rather join me in building monuments to hope and
possibility?"
"Displacement and gentrification are certainly two of the issues everybody
talks about, but what we’re trying to do is create more opportunities for
people to move out of poverty so they don’t have to leave, because when
people feel they are not part of what’s going on in the community, it is
real easy to push them out. The moment you start empowering them to believe
they have a right to talk about what they want—and that includes the ability
to stay and enjoy the benefits that are accruing to that community, often
because of their own efforts—it becomes harder and harder to force them to
leave."
The full edited text of this lecture may be viewed or purchased in pamphlet
form at http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/publications.html
Back to Newsletters
