This little number had been with us since we bought our new Imac. Basically, I applied for what was called an "Apple Loan" and was given instead a Master Card. It was one of those deals that started you with a low interest rate which slowly got larger and larger over time. Jen and I used it more than we should have--it became a kind of safety net when I wasn't making as much money. After a few late payments, we realized that they had raised our APR to 30%!
You know the story. High interest rate equals high finance charges which means you have problems paying off the balance. We were a case study in the kind of consumers whom the credit card company loves.
Well, that has changed now!! Burn to you "Apple Loan"!!! Burn to you fake loan which is actually a credit card with incredibly and insanely and wickedly high APR! We have now paid you OFF!! This happened yesterday. Quite the momentous occasion for us. Now we only have one more credit card to pay.
One step closer to our independence!
7/28/2007
7/21/2007
Easy Credit
The following was written by Dr. Peter Chojnowski on The ChesterBelloc Mandate from an article “Distributism: Economics as if People Mattered.” Footnotes refer to Schumacher's Good Work.
"There is one fact which separates our day from the days of the 30s and 40s, however. The concentration of wealth and capital, the inadequacy of a man's pay to provide the basics of life and to provide for savings for the future, the lack of real property generously and broadly distributed, is masked by the reality of easy credit. Easy credit, which is not ultimately "easy" at all on the borrower, anesthetizes the populace to the grim facts of capitalist monopoly. Since we seem to be able to get all the things that we want, the reality of real money being increasingly unavailable to the average man is lost in the delusionary state of the consumerist utopia. Only when the "benefit" of usurious credit is cut off, do we realize the full extent of the problem. The greatest problem with liberal capitalism, however, is not the concentration of wealth or real property, the greatest "existential" problem created by capitalism is the problem of the very meaning and reality of work. To work is essential to what it means to be a human being. Next to the family, it is work and the relationships established by work that are the true foundations of society.6 In modern capitalism, however, it is productivity and profit which are the basic aims, not the providing of satisfying work. Moreover, since "labor saving" devices are the proudest accomplishments of industrial capitalism, labor itself is stamped with the mark of undesirability. But what is undesirable cannot confer dignity.7"
The entire article can be found here.
"There is one fact which separates our day from the days of the 30s and 40s, however. The concentration of wealth and capital, the inadequacy of a man's pay to provide the basics of life and to provide for savings for the future, the lack of real property generously and broadly distributed, is masked by the reality of easy credit. Easy credit, which is not ultimately "easy" at all on the borrower, anesthetizes the populace to the grim facts of capitalist monopoly. Since we seem to be able to get all the things that we want, the reality of real money being increasingly unavailable to the average man is lost in the delusionary state of the consumerist utopia. Only when the "benefit" of usurious credit is cut off, do we realize the full extent of the problem. The greatest problem with liberal capitalism, however, is not the concentration of wealth or real property, the greatest "existential" problem created by capitalism is the problem of the very meaning and reality of work. To work is essential to what it means to be a human being. Next to the family, it is work and the relationships established by work that are the true foundations of society.6 In modern capitalism, however, it is productivity and profit which are the basic aims, not the providing of satisfying work. Moreover, since "labor saving" devices are the proudest accomplishments of industrial capitalism, labor itself is stamped with the mark of undesirability. But what is undesirable cannot confer dignity.7"
The entire article can be found here.
7/19/2007
Land Ownership By Families
The following was written by Dr. Peter Chojnowski on The ChesterBelloc Mandate from an article “Distributism: Economics as if People Mattered.” The article explains why and how Distributism circulated as a concept by a group of English thinkers and writers, among them G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc:
"Being Englishmen, the idea that the land meant wealth was inevitably ingrained in their conception of economics. Ownership of the land by the families who themselves worked the land would also mean financial stability, no fear of unemployment, a family enterprise which could engage, in some measure, all members, an ability to put aside food and supplies to create a hedge against destitution, a way of providing not only for one's children but for one's children's children, along with creating an economic structure which is not oriented towards corporate profits but towards providing for familial subsistence and a local market. Belloc speaks of this type of Distributist economy as the one most general throughout the history of mankind, with the possible exception of the slave economy. Capitalism and Socialism are certainly recent interlopers on the human economic scene."
The article in its entirety can be found here.
"Being Englishmen, the idea that the land meant wealth was inevitably ingrained in their conception of economics. Ownership of the land by the families who themselves worked the land would also mean financial stability, no fear of unemployment, a family enterprise which could engage, in some measure, all members, an ability to put aside food and supplies to create a hedge against destitution, a way of providing not only for one's children but for one's children's children, along with creating an economic structure which is not oriented towards corporate profits but towards providing for familial subsistence and a local market. Belloc speaks of this type of Distributist economy as the one most general throughout the history of mankind, with the possible exception of the slave economy. Capitalism and Socialism are certainly recent interlopers on the human economic scene."
The article in its entirety can be found here.
7/16/2007
Sustainable Is Good
Jen found this blog which I have now added to the Resources and Link section.
"Sustainable is Good covers products, trends and developments in the green marketplace. Focusing on marketing, branding, PR and packaging & materials related to green products and services."
"Sustainable is Good covers products, trends and developments in the green marketplace. Focusing on marketing, branding, PR and packaging & materials related to green products and services."
Article About Solar Power
Jen found this which is an article titled "Harnessing the Sun: Facts and Myths About Solar Power." It's a kind of Solar Power 101. Good read.
Love Your Work
Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which is their own; nay, they learn to love the very soil which yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of the good things for themselves and those that are dear to them.
That is a famous passage from the encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (1891) which is a Catholic argument indicting capitalism and socialism. The "third way" which was being discussed by men such as Chesteron and Belloc was called Distributism, a system which navigates between the two. Distributism allows for ownership but it is distributed equitably among families.
That is a famous passage from the encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (1891) which is a Catholic argument indicting capitalism and socialism. The "third way" which was being discussed by men such as Chesteron and Belloc was called Distributism, a system which navigates between the two. Distributism allows for ownership but it is distributed equitably among families.
7/14/2007
Off the Grid
Off the Grid is a site which follows innovations in off the grid technologies world-wide. I have added it to our Resources and Links.
Homesteading Article from Get Rich Slowly
This is a link from a non-homsteading website which argues the frugality of homesteading. It serves as a nice, little "how do you do" for someone who might be thinking about it.
7/02/2007
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
Neil and I just watched Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media yesterday and it was very good and definitely worth the time (it runs about three hours). Mostly what Chomsky aruges is a fairly standard structural approach which leans heavily on Marx and Althusser: Marx for the economic critique and Althusser for the ideological one. Mostly, what Chomsky does is to argue how institutions mask reality by feeding the public watered-down or more pleasurable instances of events so that the public remains diverted. A democracy must deceive in this way because (in theory at least) political decisions must be made with public approval. A dictator just goes to war. A president must "manufacture consent" and this requires sophisticated and deceptive methods. Although this doc was produced in 1992, it has obvious applications for today.
Chomsky takes a specific intance in the media, that of East Timor, and aruges that the media downplays this particular instance of genocide for the more poltically favorable Cambodia.
I think there can be obvious parrallels with how big business affects and produces desire in certain products and convinces us to favor some over others. It also makes me think about the line in Brave New World: "ending is better than mending." Big Business doesn't necessarily want us to be independent. They want us in a circle of consumption, endlessly toiling on the wheel like rodents, always diverted and never independent, locked into this prison of consumerism.
Chomsky takes a specific intance in the media, that of East Timor, and aruges that the media downplays this particular instance of genocide for the more poltically favorable Cambodia.
I think there can be obvious parrallels with how big business affects and produces desire in certain products and convinces us to favor some over others. It also makes me think about the line in Brave New World: "ending is better than mending." Big Business doesn't necessarily want us to be independent. They want us in a circle of consumption, endlessly toiling on the wheel like rodents, always diverted and never independent, locked into this prison of consumerism.
7/01/2007
Strawbale House
Jen and I are fond of this strawbale home. It is a beautiful 1800 square foot house with four bedrooms and two baths. It has a great open kitchen/living area with walled bookshelves. It also has an indoor/outdoor fireplace. Really beautiful. It may be a bit large for us, but we're really leaning toward the strawbale style. In addition to being energy efficient, there's something very cozy about them. Here is the link: http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/home_plans/44 as well as the site which has plans of all shapes and sizes.
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