From the Preface:
 
This is a book about taking back responsibility.  Responsibility, by a kind of natural right, always belongs first to individuals.  But it is heavy, so when the pretender-god Economy offers to relieve us of it for a price, many are willing to deal.  What It demands in exchange are, after all, seeming trifles:  faith, independence, community, conscience, the Earth -- ephemeral things all.

We have been slow to realize that this pretender-god, to whose gaudy shines nearly all make obeisance and unto whose eager hands we have offered virtually everything, is a spirit of destruction.  Still, some have wondered whether surrender to Its Worshipfulness is really such a bargain.  A few have actually attempted to find their own ways, though that entails shouldering burdens.  Yet even burdens have advantages; there is virtue in a strong back.

It is to those few that this book is addressed.  The devotees of the pretender-god will not understand it.  Not that they are irretrievably lost, but we must set our own houses in order before they can see what we are talking about.  What we are talking about is regaining control of the sources of our lives.  Let us begin, then, with our houses!
 
 
 

All proceeds from the sale of this book support the work of Narrow Ridge Center, a non-profit organization devoted to exemplifying and promoting sustainable living.

For ordering information, contact Earth Knows Publications at 423-497-2753 or narrowr@korrnet.org.  See also listing at www.pidwanger.com.