Resilient Citizens Building Their Own Economic Security

Americans are facing a troubling reality. The economic recovery
they were promised has not materialized. There's growing talk about
a "new normal" -- a new way of life to take us through a long period
of failed recoveries.

There are, indeed, good reasons to believe we won't go back to
the old ways. But this new normal doesn't have to be a time of
chaos and decline.

Instead, many Americans are building stronger families and
communities, rejecting the waste and greed that made our economy
implode, and turning instead to self-reliance and the sort of
neighborliness that embraces diversities of all sorts.

Why not go back to the consumer ideal that was the foundation of
the American Dream? Many who live paycheck to paycheck have lost
jobs, homes and hopes for an education, retirement security and
belief in a more prosperous future. CEO pay is on the uptick, as
are corporate profits. But the anti-tax, anti-regulation fever that
enriched some undermined the real wealth of our country: our
education system, infrastructure, communities and natural
resources. And much of our economy has been outsourced, making it
difficult for stimulus spending to get growth going again.

But it's not only a stalled economy that is threatening our
future. Leading scientists now say that climate disruption is
behind the massive flooding in Pakistan and the record-breaking
fires in Russia. Shortages of food, water and energy -- with
attendant price spikes -- along with displacement and migration, are
likely, not just abroad, but here in the United States.

As if that wasn't enough, the Gulf oil disaster is showing the
limitations of another sort of security we once took for granted:
cheap oil. As the easy-to-exploit oil is used up, oil companies are
turning to increasingly difficult-to-reach sources of oil. This
means we are likely to see still more expensive disasters
associated with oil, whether caused by human error -- as in the Gulf
-- or just part of the extraction process, as seen in the
communities devastated by mountain-top removal or tar sands
exploitation. Analyst and author Michael Klare says we have reached
the "Age of Tough Oil," and every barrel of oil we extract will be
more difficult and expensive to get than the last one.

That brings us back to the prospects for an economic recovery.
With cheap oil a thing of the past, an economic recovery that
increases demand for energy will drive prices even higher. That
energy price increase would stall any recovery.

So what are Americans doing about these very real threats to our
security?

Some are exploiting citizens' fears for their own political
ends, blaming President Obama, immigrants or climate scientists for
the bad news. These strategies not only distract us from the real
threats, they divide our country while offering nothing that can
help solve our challenges.

Others are choosing to ignore or deny the depth of these
challenges.

But there are people across the political spectrum, in every
part of the country, gathering with friends and neighbors to build
sources of security close to home.

These folks are turning lawns into vegetable gardens and
organizing their neighbors to start pea patches and farmers'
markets. They're getting together with neighbors to swap preserves
and skills, and to relearn the skills their grandparents had. They
are protecting local resources -- water, land, forests and fisheries
-- that can offer sustenance into the future, and they are starting
up energy and weatherization cooperatives.

They're paying off their debt, moving their money out of big
corporate banks to local banks and credit unions, and supporting
local businesses. As they do, they are freeing themselves from the
global corporate economy that moved jobs overseas and fueled the
speculation that undermined the real economy of jobs, goods and
services. These folks have chosen instead to use their resources to
strengthen local economies and the small and medium-sized
businesses that are most likely to create the new jobs of the next
economy.

These are the pioneers of the new normal, and you can find them
building the foundations of a hopeful future in urban centers,
small towns and suburbs. Maybe you're one of them.