September 10, 2005
We are pleased to announce an Online Auction to Benefit BerkShares—A Local Currency for the Southern Berkshires. Auction Items Include: SPECIALTY ITEMS: Pete Seeger Sing Along; Starling Childs Forestry Consultation; Cook with Chef Danyell; Fly with Richard Stanley; Carriage Ride and Brunch at Blue Hills Restaurant at the Stone Barns. ARTISAN PRODUCTS: Porcelain Dishes by … Continued
August 31, 2005
The Schumacher Center is twenty-five years old, thanks in part to the enduring financial support of our members. Together we have heard and been inspired by visionary Schumacher speakers. Together we raised the funds to beautifully house the Schumacher Center Library on the side of Jug End Mountain. Together we built the SHARE micro-credit program … Continued
July 29, 2005
Those who know me, know of my great love for Russian Literature: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Gogol—trusted sources of insight into the struggle of human beings learning to conduct themselves responsibly on earth and with each other. Among these giants in Russian literature is Peter Kropotkin, known best for his Mutual Aid, describing the Buryat people of … Continued
July 13, 2005
The Schumacher Center has dedicated itself to building sustainable local economies that link people, land, and community. The Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures and resultant publications are a forum for visionary voices in this work. The Library provides a written record of theory and practice for shaping decentralized economies. Our model programs of citizen support … Continued
July 9, 2005
Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, tireless advocate for indigenous rights and sovereignty issues, professor, author, publisher, painter, father, and grandfather, stood before us and shared the insights he had gained as representative of the traditions of his people. The occasion was the Twenty-Fourth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, October 2004 in Stockbridge, … Continued
June 29, 2005
Judy Wick’s Twenty-Fourth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lecture “Good Morning, Beautiful Business” is now in print. Edited by Hildegarde Hannum, the lecture may be read online or ordered in pamphlet form. The lecture is a powerful call for including the word “local” in the definition of socially responsible businesses. It takes a deep commitment to … Continued
June 2, 2005
The May Schumacher Center seminar “Building Sustainable Local Economies” ended with a double rainbow arched over the Schumacher Center Library. It is visible in the concluding picture of the seminar photograph collection developed by Dane Springmeyer. You will also find all of the seminar background documents gathered together and edited by Merrian (Fuller) Borgeson, seminar coordinator. Please … Continued
March 21, 2005
The Schumacher Center has a 25-year history of developing and promoting regional economic institutions that link citizens and producers in the task of shaping their own local economies. The Schumacher seminars, Building Sustainable Local Economies, have provided an opportunity to explore these “tools for change” in depth. We are pleased to announce a series of … Continued
March 10, 2005
Imagine a world where we no longer see ourselves as passive “consumers,” but instead we actively create an economy that supports the life of our community. Not all of us are destined to be entrepreneurs, but we can all participate in supporting the businesses that provide the products and services needed for a sustainable economy. … Continued
February 26, 2005
We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. – Aldo Leopold, “A Sand County Almanac” (1949) If our goal is to create vibrant local economies and the local … Continued
February 23, 2005
We live at the end of the age of oil, an unprecedented era of cheap and abundant fossil energy that has shaped everything from the layout of cities and towns to the military thrust of modern states. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing until his death in 1977, E. F. Schumacher worked to sound the … Continued
January 17, 2005
MANAS is a journal of independent inquiry, concerned with the study of the principles which move world society on its present course, and with searching for contrasting principles–that may be capable of supporting intelligent idealism under the conditions of the twentieth century. – from the MANAS publication statement When we moved to the Berkshires in … Continued