Designing Rules as if Community Matters

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) proposes a set of new rules that builds community by supporting humanly scaled politics and economics. The rules call for:

• Decisions made by those impacted
• Communities accepting responsibility for the welfare of their members and the next generation
• Households and communities possessing or owning sufficient productive capacity to generate real wealth

NewRules.org discusses the importance of rules and catalogs the best.  We make the rules and the rules make us. More

The world’s biggest retailer has gotten an undeserved free pass from many environmentalists. It’s time to take a tougher line and set a higher standard.

In the conclusion to her series on Walmart’s greenwashing, Stacy Mitchell outlines four ways we can hold Walmart accountable. Read the full story and comment at Grist.

An annual survey has found that independent businesses had strong sales growth over the holidays and appear to be benefitting from growing public interest in supporting locally owned retail stores, banks, restaurants, and other enterprises.

The survey, which was conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in partnership with several business associations, gathered data from 1,768 independent businesses across 49 states over an 8-day period in January. More

Recent comments by Mitt Romney, the probable Republican nominee for President all but guarantee the inequality issue will remain front and center this election year.

When asked whether people who question the current distribution of wealth and power are motivated by “jealousy or fairness” Romney insisted,  “I think it’s about envy.  I think it’s about class warfare.”  And in this election year he advised that if we do discuss inequality we do so “in quiet rooms” not in public debates. More

Let me suggest a sure fire way Barack Obama can win a second term. Stand in the doorway of a post office scheduled for closing and declare, “Not on my watch.” He will be standing with tens of millions of Americans who are rising up to defend our must trusted and ubiquitous public institution.

Last year 3600 communities were put on notice that they will likely lose their local post office.  The Postmaster General promises to close half of the country's 32,000 post offices over the next four years. More

This is the eighth article in a special series written by ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and published by Grist.  You can read the whole series here.

Walmart has become the most powerful force in the U.S. food system, selling 25 percent of our groceries and growing fast. Watch for this expansion to lead to fewer neighborhood grocery stores, more industrialization, more poverty, and maybe even more moldy produce. More