I'm not a very math minded person... or economically, financially, or any of those either. BUT... I just want to comment on living in a society where everything isn't owned by corporations. We have Tesco 'Lotus', from England, and 7/11... two of which you can't really get away without going to. But everything else I can think of is privately owned or family run. With this structure, I can see how the economy would rise and fall very quickly when people get jobs or loose them. When I arrived, I thought I could only pay for rent... a mere $60 Cad a month. My budget didn't allow for anything luxurious... but now our landlord has my housemate and I teaching 12+ kids English in her front yard for four hours each weekend (I'm not quite sure how that happened). However, with this small added 'income' we can support our community by paying a house cleaner, and for a woman to do the laundry. I can even go and get hot milk more often.. yum. When my 'income' passes to the next hands, they can circulate theirs around the community too. I like this idea. I want to go back to school and learn more about this... I think they're on to something ;).
And... now I don't have to do my wash my own laundry by hand anymore :) hurray!
Brilliant, Nicola. I was thinking about this as I drove home tonight and realized that every store/restaurant I saw was a chain. There are hardly any independently owned places in the suburbs, and they are quickly dying out in the city too. So how do I find a job without selling out to the corporation, who seems to be the only one in a position to hire? How can I choose to invest my money in my community instead of into the pockets of a CEO. How can we be part of or start a revolution of our economy? Ugh. So many questions.
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