We mean an environment with clean water, air, and soil that are free from toxins or hazards that threaten human health. An environment dependent on renewable energy, one not polluted by the use of fossil fuels, one that supports all species, and one where wetlands, forests and wild areas are protected.

Building strong sustainable local communities is the answer to governments and corporations stealing our future. There is historic evidence that strong cohesive communities with little internal discord can remain unaffected by central suppressive authority.

A community with low internal discord and high solidarity can withstand external threats. This holds as true today as it did centuries ago.

Although a visit by the Spanish Inquisition could strike fear into the hearts of the bravest citizens, Henry Kamen, in his History of the Inquisition, reports that:

In many communities throughout Spain where internal discord was low and public solidarity high, fear of the Inquisition was virtually absent. Catalonia was an outstanding example of a community that held the Inquisition in contempt and despised its methods. A typical attitude was that of the parish priest of Taus (Urgell) who asserted in 1632 that “he didn’t recognize the Inquisition and didn’t give a fig for it.” Significantly, the Inquisition was never able to take any action against him, nor indeed was it ever able to impose its authority on the people of that diocese.

This inherent strength of community solidarity supports the economist Douthwaite’s view that we need to focus on strengthening independent communities

The above is quoted from: From a World of Madness to a World of Sanity: Guides for Action by Dr. George R. Marshall--page 68.

Then over the course of one year I discovered several prominent thinkers who supported the importance of strong, sustainable, local communities capable of relating to the global economy from a position of self-reliance and independence. This list consists of Richard Douthwaite, Paul Hawken, Catherine Austin Fitts, Bernard Leitaer, John McKnight, Michael H. Shuman, and David Suzuki.