Good morning!
This is the weekly DKos Asheville open thread where we try to get together every Saturday morning around eleven, and then drift in and out throughout the day. We hope this group serves to reinvigorate us locally and regionally here on Daily Kos, building on the sense of community that's grown through our online engagement. DKos Asheville can give us all a better sense of connection, a better understanding of who these people are that we stand with, work with, and share with in the political process. We hope, through this community, that we can do a better job of leveraging our orange passion for progressive politics to help elect more and better Democrats.
If you would like to host a weekly open thread, please let us know.
There were two diaries on the rec list this morning that I found thought provoking in similar ways. One was Most Still "Think" It's A Luxury, and the other was It simply is true. Current Capitalism is failing the American People. These diaries got me to thinking about communities, and how thinking and acting cooperatively can benefit the communities in which we live. Here is what I wrote in response to the second diary ...
On a planet with limited resources, it seems to me that cooperation to sustainably preserve resources and allocate them for the benefit of all is a better organizing principle than competition to acquire, hoard, and waste resources at the expense of others and of future generations.
As we human beings continue to evolve, we will move away from capitalism. As we realize the necessity of living sustainably, the benefits of working cooperatively, and the joy of living peacefully and compassionately, we will move away from competing against each other.
It won't happen in what is left of my lifetime; but we can take steps to move our communities in that direction. Single payer healthcare would be such a step; preserving and strengthening net neutrality is such a step. Allowing local communities to operate utilities and provide broadband is such a step. Local food CSAs are such a step.
We can each take steps to live more sustainably and cooperatively, and we can share what we learn with others.
After I wrote that, I got to thinking about the local food movement here in Western North Carolina, the farmers markets, and the CSAs. And then I got to thinking that our DKos Asheville group can be a resource for sharing information with each other and supporting local food.
Perhaps a starting point is ASAP, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. At the ASAP site you'll find lists of CSAs and tailgate markets, as well as grocers and coops and restaurants that support local food, and many other resources.
This is something each of us can do now to live more sustainably, to benefit local communities and local growers, and to help end the destructive practices of ADM, Monsanto, and the other mega-corporate agra-business entities that are harming our planet and endangering our future.
If you have any thing to share along these lines, please do so. I know many of you grow food in your gardens, work and shop at local tailgate markets, etc; so please share information that you think can be of use to the rest of us.
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After several relatively warm days (yesterday it was 67 here at the house!), it's turning cold again today. But this morning the cove is filled with clouds, and it's a beautiful day for sitting by the window with coffee and laptop.
Enjoy your Saturday!