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  • From: Laura C Frazier <lauracfrazier@earthlink.net>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] The Long Emergency and Financial Planning
  • Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 15:42:43 -0500

Sean and Lawrence,
Thank you for the wonderful systemic examples!!! I can see there is a lot of work to be done here in the Central Piedmont and I will want to get in touch with you, Lawrence.

I'm also wondering more specifically how folks are thinking about their money: retirement funds, stock market investments and such. Part of me just wants to take everything out of those traditional investments and bury it in a jar in the woods. And what about health care? As you can tell, my husband and I are standing on the precipice looking over and not seeing any familiar nets. I'm one of those kinds who had rather die happy in my 60's than throw $1200.00 a year at the insurance industry. My first thoughts are that health care would be part of the CoOp that is established.

Thoughts, musings, experiences...?

Thank you So much!

Laura

FarmGirl Arts & Consulting
Laura C Frazier, M.A., M.Div.
Kernersville, NC 27284
(336) 971-3834
http://my.care2.com/farmgirl4nature


------------------------------

Laura C Frazier wrote:

Hello folks,
I've been reading the entries for 8 months or so with great interest
and have learned a lot. Now, it's time for me to post a question. My
husband and I are shaping our future homestead via permaculture
principles as a result of our reading _The Long Emergency_, _Power
Down_ and other peak oil literature. We also bring to our adventure a
deep love of the land, farming and a commitment to sustainable
practices. Our biggest conundrum right now is how to approach
financial planning including investing and subsistence living in the
face of a "long emergency." We live in the Southeastern USA: North
Carolina. I wonder how others are shaping their financial futures at
this time. What kind of trends do people foresee?

Problem locating marketing opportunities for sustainably grown produce.
I have 4 acres worth and have no idea where I will be able to sell,
at any price, most of what I can grow. This has a lot to do with long term financial security.

The answer is to develop a local and regional production and services marketing and exchange network
and coop and CoOp CSA(community supported agriculture)/CSS(community supported services)/CSP(community supported
production), owned and operated by the participants. A true support network. I would like to be involved in starting
one of these in our area, Central Piedmont NC.

LL
-- Lawrence F. London, Jr.
Venaura Farm
Chapel Hill, N.C., 27516
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://market-farming.com/venaurafarm
http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com/
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 06:57:11 -0800 (PST)
From: Sean Maley <semaley@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] The Long Emergency and Financial Planning
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <20070105145711.79951.qmail@web52805.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ascii

----- Original Message ----
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr."
<lfl@intrex.net>
To: permaculture
<permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2007
3:59:35 PM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] The Long Emergency and Financial
Planning

Problem locating marketing opportunities for sustainably
grown produce.

Laura C Frazier wrote:

Hello folks,

Our biggest conundrum right now is how to approach
financial planning
including investing and subsistence living in the
face of a "long
emergency." We live in the Southeastern USA: North
Carolina. I wonder
how others are shaping their financial futures at
this time. What kind
of trends do people foresee?


I know my neighborhood wouldn't be
typical, but the concept would be the same. There are hundreds of families per
block who all have poor food choices from sources they don't really know much
about. The CSA locked out new members at 80 last year (it was a favor to accommodate
more than 50), so it wouldn't be outrageous to have hundreds of familiesto start another CSA with proper promotion (deliver to the park and be on your way, as
neighborhood volunteers organize the rest).

Rural areas have food, but
poor economics. Urban areas have money, but poor food choices. You'd think the
two would get together. If only I had the time to do the website to facilitate
this. With an 8 million person population, it isn't hard to find volunteers here.
North Carolina may not have a city of this size, but the dynamics should be the
same. All you need is one poorly served high density neighborhood to package
100 families paying $400 up front in May and then bring them a week of seasonal
veggies. Would $40,000 make it worth driving into the nearest city once a week during the summer and some of the fall? Our CSA already comes in for the farmers markets, so this is just money in their pockets before the seeds finish sprouting.

Another thought:

http://potluck.com/media/the-unsustainability-and-origins-of- socioeconomic-increase.pdf

Form
a small steady-state economy. One can start with the CSA model and slowly pool
funding into this "small economy".

Example collection of 100 families
we'll call a rhizome:
1. Each family contributes $100 every month
($10,000/mo or



$120,000/yr).
2. By
lottery or whatever makes sense, pay off each families debt with
each
still paying that debt, but back into the rhizome (rhizome
now
grows ~10% beyond monthly contributions). (+$12,000 year 1,
+$25,200 year 2, +$38,520 year 3, etc actually more, but for
conveying the point of compound growth
$400,000 after 3 years)
3. While a
target savings approaches, hold monthly potlucks, learn cottage

industry skills, and have fund raisers (sell off your consumer economy

bobbles like the TV, Stereo, record/CD collections, etc).
4. If rhizome
funds exceed debts, consider starting businesses that lead
towards
self-reliance, allow members to leave conventional jobs, or raise

funds for the rhizome. Use the funds to support these ventures. The
idea
will be to take the urban dwellers disproportionately higher
salary and
siphon it from the global economy to secure a network of
private

economies.
5. A first
major rhizome purchase will secure a food producing land base,
if a
CSA farm hasn't already become a part of the rhizome through

partnership (buy out the farm in this case). While not recommended,
the $10,000/mo contributions will support a $1M mortgage if you feel
like we are really close to the edge of the cliff.
6. Work towards transitioning the urban
dwellers $600/mo food budget

into the
rhizome economy.
7. As funds become available, secure homes/pay off member
mortgages
8. Members never charge each other money/time from within the
rhizome
9. Help other rhizomes form and work towards a rhizome
network
10. As the network matures, the labor pool will shrink. A defense
plan will
be needed for the network to prevent conscription by the
global economy.
The race is between a shrinking labor pool, fresh water
supplies, energy
productive capacity, natural disasters, and hierarchy
just plain collapsing.





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