Out here in the Hollows folks sometimes label themselves for their political viewpoints. Some consider themselves right wing Libertarians because they want less Government interference in their lives, want to keep their guns, and to pay less in taxes. Others consider themselves Lefties because they want less Corporate interference in their lives, want to keep their guns, and want more tangible benefits for their taxes.

I hesitate to use labels such as left and right, as they inappropriately pigeon hole people, and also tend to close minds and dialogue to viewpoints that do not fully mesh with ones own. In reality, we all, as hard working American citizens, want the same basic things: a safe, peaceful, prosperous environment in which to live our lives and raise our families, appropriate use of our tax dollars for services that benefit the majority, and a basic safety net for the weakest citizens. It is in the definition of words like “appropriate” and “basic” that dialogue often begins to break down.

In the last 100 years we have built a prosperous and successful lifestyle for the majority of our own citizens, such as the world has seldom known. It is a basic premise of the socially responsible business movement that unfortunately we have done so in a profoundly unsustainable manner, and with little regard for future generations of humans, and especially, for the future of other species. The roots of this are deeply philosophical, and invisible to most citizens. First, there is a sense of disconnect from “the environment” in most Americans, (though less so here in rural Vermont, and other areas on the fringe of civilization). This causes us to devalue life and biological processes in favor of short-term economic growth. We seek to tame the planet. We cut down our forests, pave over our plains, and dump medical waste into the Gulf of Mexico. We say we value human life above all else—except in war, political sanctions, genocide and for very poor people who do not vote; yet show even less regard for the myriad species we share the globe with, and whose life cycles are intimately connected to our own.

The house I grew up in had the “me and mine” perspective, as in; “I look after me and mine, I don’t have time to think about the rest. That is what Jane Fonda does.” Being a “Jane Fonda” was a bad word in our conservative household, and meant being a professional, chronic do-gooder. Over time I began to see that we all need to pay more attention to the impact of our daily actions on our surroundings. One human is hugely impacting on the world, if only through our choices in eating and moving around.

This realization came to many thinking people, and with it, the idea that Society must become sustainable if it is to continue. This is the key tenet of New Business. The initial change is internal—it is a perspective change—along with the understanding that very little current human activity qualifies as sustainable. Being that so much is “out of compliance” with the sustainable society goal, we must work incrementally, and on many fronts to become more “in compliance.”

The initial results of this are to create less harm, and buy us more time. This is the work of conservation. There is only one ultimate goal—the survival of the human species at a civilization level substantially above the Iron Age. To do this, we must rethink the basic premises that our economy is based on: continuous growth and unabated consuming.

We must rethink our energy sources and the efficiencies of the devices that run on them. We must rethink our diets and our food sources, our transportation systems, the size and construction of our homes. We must rethink our educational priorities: What kind of tomorrow’s citizens do we want to produce? Curriculum regurgitators, or free thinkers?

New thinking will have to emerge regarding family size and planning, as well as “death rights.”

If we work smarter and think smaller, if we quit squabbling over resources and opinions, if we tax the rich and feed the poor, maybe, maybe we can create a sustainable society and insure the fairly comfortable survival of our kind. Alternatively, we can keep on keeping on, maybe do a little tinkering around the edges, until it all stops working. At that point we will have so spoiled our air, water, sea, soil, food, children’s minds and airwaves that we will have forgotten what is really important about being human. But of course there is no chance of that ever happening here in the States.

These essays were written for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Vermont Soap, its employees, board of directors, our Web host, Web designer, the neighbors who live up the road; or any of the thousands of people who use our stuff. Originally published in edited form by Comic News. Many thanks to Seasoned Books, without which, life in the Holler may never have become a reality.