Common Sense: It Takes a Village

We all have dreams. This is mine. 

Herbal Tea

A few years ago, I experimented with sober, raw veganism, which led to the most curious dreams of my life. There were previews of days coming, flight lessons, and messages that carried great impact for me. Some messages, even, seemed to be for sharing.

Around dawn on April 9, 2008, I had a marvelous dream. In it, there was a boy with cancer. His face was swollen with tumor and his mother distraught. And there was a cure. It was a tea, made from cannabis, steeped long and slow. The boy drank it, and he said, “I noticed the witness part of me expand, and its voice move up to the ceiling.”

When I awoke, a recipe was floating in my head: 1 gram of cannabis to 1 cup of pure water, steeped in a glass jar in a sunny spot outdoors, beginning at dawn and continuing for 36 hours. Drink 1 cup per day.

I thought it was interesting, given what I've read about folks juicing cannabis as cancer treatment. That takes a plant a day. I wonder if this is an efficient alternative. Certainly raw vegetable juice has its own set of beneficial, nutritious properties, and food as medicine is simply brilliant. Medicinal tea infusions, however, offer active components that stimulate immune response. Plus, the sun tea method means it's still raw.

Rebuilding the Local Economy

Here is how I envision a global network of thriving villages and cities. To promote sustainability, each neighborhood community has the features of a village: 

            · Town hall

            · Agricultural center/edible gardens/farm market

            · Shops where skilled people provide goods and services, and offer apprenticeships

            · Schoolhouse

This structure supports a healthy culture and self-sufficient economy at the local level.

It translates well to the scale of a city. A city, surrounded by villages, has a marketplace where people of the region exchange ideas to encourage progress. It is a hub for the import/export of regional specialties, as well as coordination of utilities and transport. A town hall forum hears the people’s demands and answers for the market’s supply. Associations elect members who speak for collective interests. Cooperative projects balance input/output between communities.

Technologies that use a global framework are implemented according to this template. Local associations send elected members to represent different aspects of the proposal. Transparent self-governance, equal opportunity, and a network of open communication secure public and private interests.

There is always work to be done within a community, and each person has a service to share. A jobs center maintains a list of the openings and coordinates with other locales as needed. A person who visits a jobs center is interviewed on talents and interests, and then matched with an opening.

Children rotate through courses in school according to individual development and aptitude. Exposure to local and global trade associations gives children the ability to find fulfilling work. When school studies are complete, a child enters an appropriate apprenticeship. Upon mastery of the trade skill, an apprentice may move to another location in need of that skill. Serving the community as either an apprentice or skilled practitioner earns a living wage.

Within each region we have the main resources to thrive as a people. The village/city network utilizes resources responsibly and supplements local offerings through trade with other regions.