Please feel free to link this You Tube Clip to your blog or website.

Some call me that but the truth of the matter is I read when I am at home, which is not often due to my social life and business activities.  But I have been working recently to become more efficient in my reading.  Of course, I am read up on the latest in speed reading courses and I do use the principles outlined in these courses to help me get even more reading done than normal.  But I think besides the amount of time available for reading I have a problem with the reading material itself.

For instance, I read for many reasons.  One important reason is research for my writing projects.  I also am a reviewer for BookPleasures.com so it is very important to get through this workload as well.  And just as important is the reading that I do for my own pleasure.  So damn!  I have one hell of a stack of books next to my bed.

I suppose if you were to take them out and count them you'd find 25% of the books are for research, 25% for my own pleasure and 50% for review.  But don't get me wrong.  I enjoy them all!

So I have been asking myself if there is a system I can create so that I can spend more time with the books I read for my own curiosity.  If you know of one or if you think of one, let me know!

Brown was speaking ahead of the release today of a Cabinet Office report looking at the "21st Century Challenges for Food Policy", and said:

If we are to get food prices down, we must also do more to deal with unnecessary demand - such as all of us doing more to cut food waste which is costing the average household in Britain around £8 per week. (Source: Guardian)

The report is the culmination of 10 months' work from a Government Strategy Unit looking at food policy across Government - a Unit which includes Defra, the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency.

Key recommendations of the report include the following:

• The challenges of climate change and 'global food security' are linked, and the report calls on the UK to build on the Stern Report and take a 'leadership role'. The Chief Scientific Advisor is to announce a new project based on this today.
• The Government intends to launch a public consultation leading to a 'more joined-up approach to UK food policy' - an announcement which sounds like they're learning from Scotland's recent work on a National Food Policy. This consultation is due to be completed in Autumn 2009.
• Keeping markets competitive is key to food policy.
• The role of agriculture in mitigating climate change should be promoted in partnership with other European countries.
• A new scheme will be launched to encourage the public sector in England to provide 'healthier, more environmentally sustainable food'.
• Consumers need to be 'helped' to access healthier choices when eating out.

(Source: Cabinet Office Press Release)

The report is available to download from the Cabinet Office website here, or by clicking the image above.

Associate Professor David Watkins, Professor James Mihelcic and PhD student Lauren Fry of the University's Sustainable Futures Institute analyzed worldwide barriers to sanitation. Diseases such as dysentery attack millions of people every year, often fatally, largely as a result of poor sanitation. In particular, the researchers found that a scarcity of clean drinking water is not as big an issue as one might expect.

In fact, installing water-guzzling appliances such as toilets can actually promote unsanitary conditions when the effluent is discharged untreated into once-clean rivers and streams. A properly built latrine, on the other hand, keeps sewage safely separate from drinking water.

"Our challenge has been to look at what interventions make the most difference," Watkins said. Their findings show that small changes can be more important in preserving health than big engineering projects, a fact that Watkins, an engineer, relates with some consternation. “As engineers, we like to build stuff. But handwashing is really important, too,” he said. "Even a simple thing like not dipping your hand into the water pot can make a big difference."

Their paper, "Water- and Nonwater-related Challenges of Achieving Global Sanitation Coverage," was published in volume 42, number 12 of Environmental Science and Technology.  A feature on their work "Why is Global Sanitation So Elusive?" appears in the journal's Policy News section.

Abstract:

Improved sanitation is considered equally important for public health as is access to improved drinking water. However, the world has been slower to meet the challenge of sanitation provision for the world's poor. We analyze previously cited barriers to sanitation coverage including inadequate investment, poor or nonexistent policies, governance, too few resources, gender disparities, and water availability. Analysis includes investigation of correlation between indicators of the mentioned barriers and sanitation coverage, correlations among the indicators themselves, and a geospatial assessment of the potential impacts of sanitation technology on global water resources under six scenarios of sanitation technology choice. The challenges studied were found to be significant barriers to sanitation coverage, but water availability was not a primary obstacle at a global scale. Analysis at a 0.5° grid scale shows, however, that water availability is an important barrier to as many as 46 million people, depending on the sanitation technology selected. The majority of these people are urban dwellers in countries where water quality is already poor and may be further degraded by sewering vast populations. Water quality is especially important because this vulnerable population primarily resides in locations that depend on environmental income associated with fish consumption.

Source: Newswise, 17 Jun 2008

Dr Rick Rashid (Senior Vice-President, Microsoft Research) spoke to IEEE Spectrum (Jun 08 ) about his computer science department-styled approach to running Microsoft Research and the breathe of pure research (and not just applied) undertaken.

Visit the interview article "Microsoft's Rick Rashid on Building a Corporate Research Giant" on IEEE Spectrum.

Most webmasters have no idea on how to make a search engine friendly web site. If you are one of them this will all change by following these steps below.

1. Research keywords - Before you start to build your web site you should research your keywords or your site may get hurt in the short term. Use the keyword research tool, use Overture to research the most popular keywords that are related to your site. Overture will show you how much traffic each keyword has got in the past 30 days.

2. Create a list of about 50 to 100 keywords that you can include within your web pages. After having completed the above research, you should have found the keywords that were searched on most frequently, but few competing sites.

3. Write a paragraph of at least 250, but better with 500 words of text for the top of each web page. Put your keywords within this text, but be careful because you could repeat your keywords to much and make sure the paragraph makes sense with all those keywords, remember visitors are more important then the search engines.

4. Optimize meta tags - Meta tags have lost there touch with most search engines, but they still help! The most important meta tags are the keyword and description meta tags. Include your keywords within each of these meta tags. Your keyword meta tag should include the most frequently used keywords contained within your web page, but keep it short to about 10 to 15.

5. Title Tag - The title tag is one of the most powerful on-site SEO at your disposal, so use it wisely. Put your most important keyword in the title close to the beginning as posable, keep it short and to the point.

7. Optimize your site size - Too many images or very large images on your web page will slow down your server and cause slow loading times for your site. Slice large images into smaller pieces with a graphic editors. Also to long of pages and to much text will do the same.

8. Find backward links - Web sites that link to yours raise your link popularity. Search for web sites that are compatible with yours. Write articles that are related to your site and submit them to sites like Articlecity.com.

About The Author Matt Colyer is the owner of the Marhen.com Network which includes www.linkexchangeit.com and is a part-time SEO. He also is a php, CGI and ASP developer.

Organic chemistry is a branch and specific discipline of chemistry. Organic chemistry deals specifically with the properties, structure, and composition of organic compounds. Organic compounds, by definition, are compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms. It is generally agreed that the science of organic chemistry began in 1828. It is then that Friedrich Woehler accidentally evaporated an aqueous solution and came up with the organic compound called urea.

Although carbon is not the most common element in the world, it is one of the most versatile. Organic compounds are composed of carbon and hydrogen molecules, but may also contain other elements. Some of the most common elements found in organic compounds include oxygen, halogens, nitrogen, and sometimes sulfur or phosphorus.

Most organic compounds are covalently bonded, which allows them to form long, complex carbon chains and rings. Carbon atoms are very stable, and are able to form stable covalent bonds with one another (known as catenation). Unlike non-organic materials, organic compounds will usually melt or decompose if exposed to temperatures below 300 degrees Celsius. Another characteristic of organic compounds is that they tend to be more soluble in organic solvents. Solubility, however, always depends on the overall structure of the compound and the functional groups present. A functional group refers to the parts of a molecule that make up its specific chemical nature.

Perhaps the most important and most studied types of organic compounds are those that contain nitrogen. These compounds usually contain parts of the amino group. When the amino group combines with the carboxyl group, amino acids are born. Amino acids are regarded as the building blocks of proteins.

Scientists and researchers use several types of methods in order to determine the molecular structure of an organic compound. Here are the most common methods currently in use:

Crystallography: Crystallography is the science of determining the arrangements of atoms in solids. By studying the diffraction patterns given off by a sample, scientists are able to determine its structure. This is the most precise method for studying compounds. However, most crystals are not large enough to produce a clear picture of some compounds.

Mass Spectrometry: This method involves examining the molecular weight and fragmentation pattern of a compound to determine its chemical structure.

Elemental Analysis: Elemental analysis involves analyzing the sample of the compound to determine its elemental and isotopic composition. In studying organic compounds mostly destructive methods, such as flame atomic absorption or graphite furnace atomic absorption, are used to determine the elemental composition of a molecule.

Infrared Spectroscopy: Spectroscopy is used to determine the presence or absence of functional groups to learn the chemical nature of a molecule.

UV/VIS Spectroscopy: Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometry to determine the nature of a compound. Spectrophotometry uses a spectrophotometer to measure how much light is absorbed by the sample.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): NMR spectroscopy is one of the most common methods to obtain the physical, chemical, structural and electronic nature of a molecule. NMR works by studying the magnetism of a nucleus by placing it in alignment with a magnetic field, and then using an electromagnetic field to disrupt this alignment.

About The Author John Mclain is an expert author at http://www.chemistrytalk.com, a site all about chemistry. Visit http://www.chemistrytalk.com to learn about chemistry and find the right equipment.

Keep moving and planting seeds into your business. If you feel stuck, then go back to the drawing board. Do some more planning, writing and research.

One way that keeps me from being idle is to use other businesses as a creative catalyst (see Tip #14). As I see them expanding, adding new products or updating their web site, it prompts me to start looking at what more I can do for my own business.

The first community in this study will be the MirandaNet Fellowship

Over the month of July the case study will offer:

1. A community case story on the blog (July 6-12)
2. Guest blogging about activities/projects in the community by community members introduced by the community director Christina Preston (July 13-26)
3. A guided field trip to the community space/s through Learning Times (one day week of July 20-26)
4. A round table event in the Community Capers site in Second Life (one day week of July 27-31)
5. Publication of a summary case resource on a wiki - acknowledging all who contributed over the month (July 31st)

Come join us over July to be inspired and to learn and support colleagues about the globe in their community development efforts.

While NASA spends most of its budget producing exciting, life-threatening spectacles in competition with Robbie Knievel, the next NASA Humans-In-Space Stunt actually has a scientifically-defensible aim: updating the Hubble Space Telescope, greatest space observatory in the history of Astronomy. 

On October 8, 2008, seven astronauts are scheduled to blast through the atmosphere in the aging, creaky, Atlantis Space Shuttle to make a service call on Hubble, 350 miles above Earth, repairing seventeen years of wear-and-tear from vibration and space dust and installing state-of-the-art instrumentation, including Wide Field Camera 3, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, and one of those newfangled digital TV converter boxes.

Since it was launched in 1993, information from the Hubble Space Telescope has led to astounding discoveries in physics, astrophysics, and astronomy.  New discoveries from Hubble data average 12 a week, generating thousands of original research papers so significant that you and I will never understand them.

In contrast, the trillion-dollar NASA manned space effort has led to the development of Tang, freeze-dried ice cream, ballpoint pens that write upside-down, and the zero-gravity toilet. You can see why George W. Bush, Space-Cadet-in-Chief, wants to risk American lives by sending humans to Mars; although this will cost zillions of dollars and require oil drilling in the ANWR Alaskan  wilderness preserve, it will be well worth it.

Exciting life-or-death manned space missions now blast off and land on weekends so the whole family can enjoy them on ABC Wide World of Sports and ESPN. Cheap unmanned satellites, space probes, and earth telemetry provide a constant stream of zillions of facts during their decades of life, merely helping change our entire concept of the universe and its creation. B-O-R-I-N-G.

The wealth of scientific discovery generated by the unmanned space effort does have some direct impact on your life, though. It helps newspaper editors slap 400 words in the weekly science column on those rare Mondays when tomatoes are safe and no one claims that some common foodstuff prevents cancer.

Image: Mike Licht. Download a copy here (mind the retro-rockets). Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Low plasma N-3 fatty acids and dementia in older person: the InCHIANTI study.

Cherubini A, Andres-Lacueva C, Martin A, Lauretani F, Iorio AD, Bartali B, Corsi A, Bandinelli S, Mattson MP, Ferrucci L.

Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy. acherub@unipg.it

BACKGROUND: N-3 fatty acids (FA) have an important role in brain development and function. However, there is conflicting evidence concerning the relationship between n-3 FA and dementia in older persons. METHODS: In the Invecchiare in Chianti (InCHIANTI) study, we measured plasma FA by gas chromatography in 935 community-dwelling older persons randomly extracted from the population of two towns near Florence, Italy. Cognitive impairment was measured using the Mini-Mental Status Examination. Participants who scored </=26 underwent a detailed clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. The diagnosis of dementia was based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Revision (DSM-III-R) criteria. The population was divided in three groups: persons with normal cognitive function, persons with cognitive impairment not demented, and persons with dementia. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, gender, education, body mass index, weight loss, smoking status, cholesterol and triglycerides levels, daily intake of alcohol, FA and total energy, cardiovascular disease, depression and other FA levels, participants with dementia had significantly lower n-3 FA levels (2.9% vs 3.2%; p <.05), particularly alpha-linolenic acid levels (0.34% vs 0.39%; p <.05), than did participants with normal cognitive function. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia is associated with low plasma n-3 FA relative concentrations. The possibility that higher n-3 FA intake is associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment should be further investigated in prospective studies.

PMID: 17921425 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Low levels of docosahexaenoic acid identified in acute coronary syndrome patients with depression.

Parker GB, Heruc GA, Hilton TM, Olley A, Brotchie H, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Friend C, Walsh WF, Stocker R.

School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia. g.parker@unsw.edu

As deficiencies in n-3 PUFAs have been linked separately to depression and to cardiovascular disease, they could act as a higher order variable contributing to the established link between depression and cardiovascular disease. We therefore examine the relationship between depression and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA), including total n-3 PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Plasma phospholipid levels of n-3 PUFA were measured in 100 patients hospitalized with ACS. Current major depressive episode was assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Depression severity was assessed by the 18-item Depression in the Medically Ill (DMI-18) measure. Patients clinically diagnosed with current depression had significantly lower mean total n-3 PUFA and DHA levels. Higher DMI-18 depression severity scores were significantly associated with lower DHA levels, with similar but non-significant trends observed for EPA and total n-3 PUFA levels. The finding that low DHA levels were associated with depression variables in ACS patients may explain links demonstrated between cardiovascular health and depression, and may have prophylactic and treatment implications.

PMID: 16499974 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Recapitulation of Battles, Casualties, Etc.

http://www.lindapages.com/140pa/140-recap.htm

Further studies would now be needed to show whether changes in vitamin D levels came before or after depression.

"Moreover, the clinical relevance of the present study is underscored by our finding that 38.8 percent of men and 56.9 percent of women in our community-based cohort had an insufficient vitamin D status," the study added.

Low levels of vitamin D in elderly people may lead to increased depression and other psychiatric problems, Dutch researchers said.

"Underlying causes of vitamin D deficiency such as less sun exposure as a result of decreased outdoor activity, different housing or clothing habits and decreased vitamin intake may be secondary to depression, but depression may also be the consequence of poor vitamin D levels," the study, released Monday, said.

Researchers from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, studied some 1,282 senior citizens aged between 65 and 95, and found 26 had major depression, while 169 suffered from minor depression.

Vitamin D levels were 14 percent lower in those elderly suffering from some kind of depression, according to the study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

It found that poor vitamin D status also led to an increase in levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid. Overactive parathyroid glands are frequently associated with depression.

The findings could be important in treating depression as both low blood vitamin D levels and high parathyroid hormone levels can be corrected by dietary and calcium supplements or increased exposure to sunlight.

Creatine – The most researched performance enhancing nutritional supplement

Does creatine supplementation work?

The February 2004 issue of the Strength and Conditioning Journal, the official publication of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, had an article about creatine loading. Why? Because it works!

How does it work?

I never really liked biochemistry, so I will give you the cliff notes version. Creatine is amino acid derivative that enables the body’s muscle to produce ATP quickly. ATP is the muscles main source of energy.

Is Creatine safe?

Yes. Creatine is the most researched supplement when it comes to increasing athletic performance. The only side affects believed are muscle cramps and water gain.

How does Creatine help athletic performance?

By increasing the concentration of creatine within the muscle cell, there will be an extended supply of ATP (the main energy source for muscle contraction). This allows the muscle to maintain muscle contraction for longer periods of time, thereby reducing muscular fatigue. By reducing muscular fatigue your can achieve higher athletic performance during short-duration, high intensity activities (e.g., weightlifting, sprinting, etc.).

How much Creatine supplementation is need?

There are numerous research studies that have show that 5 grams of creatine consumed 4-6 times daily for one week can substantially increase total muscle creatine concentration by 20-40%. However, if time is not an issue, 2-4 grams daily should be sufficient to fully saturate skeletal muscles within a month.

To date creatine is by far the most effective supplement for enhancing athletic performance, I have personal used creatine to assist my training programs for years, and it is one of the few supplements I never want to run out of.

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Please feel free to publish this article in your Newsletter or on your Website (with Resource Box included).

About The Author Dr. Jeffrey Banas is a Chiropractic Sports Physician practicing in Mesa, AZ. If you would like to contact Dr. Banas, he can be reached at his office at 480-633-6837, or by visiting his web site at www.personal-weight-loss-help.com drjeffbanas@yahoo.com

With the economy the way it is today, large numbers of people, both young and old are looking for a long term career which has some stability. The most common of which are police officers, firefighters, and postal employees. In the past many of these job-seekers would merely fill out an application in order to take an entrance exam, and then blindly go take the exam without really knowing or having an idea what to expect. Some would purchase generic books from their local bookstores, only to find out that the material covered was not even close to their exam.

Well that all has changed thanks to a new innovative company. Enter CareerQuiz Inc. (www.careerquizinc.com). For a small charge CareerQuiz Inc. prepares its members for thousands of law enforcement exams, firefighter exams, and postal exams throughout the country. What makes CareerQuiz Inc. different from other similar businesses is that that they target the specific agency that you are applying for. Depending on the agency that the job-seeker is looker for, CareerQuiz Inc. presents that person with up-to-date study materials and online practice exams to assist the test taker come exam day.

According to Augie Caamano, Jr. founder of CareerQuiz Inc. "Apart from being our main business, there is a great sense of satisfaction to see all of these men and women completing our study programs and getting the positions they're seeking. I enjoy reading e-mails from past members who have been sworn in to their agencies or accepted positions as a result of our online preparation programs."

A look at CareerQuizInc.com quickly conveys to the visitor their commitment to online test preparation. The web portal quickly allows you to choose which field you are targeting, and depending on your selection directs you to one of three sites, either PoliceQuiz.com, FireQuiz.com or MailQuiz.com. Once a selection is made you are instantly taken to that prep site to choose the actual agency you are targeting. PoliceQuiz.com and FireQuiz.com both list over 4,800 agencies for every state and territory in the U.S.

Caamano states "We would not have thousands of members throughout the country if we did not know the testing business. I'm so sure that we can help, that I offer every member a money back guarantee that they pass the exam on their first try. Therefore, our members have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by preparing for their respective exams at CareerQuiz Inc."

For a modest one-time modest fee of only $24.95, CareerQuiz Inc. provides it's members with hundreds of sample practice questions, along with test strategies and tips. They also provide all members the opportunity to communicate with past members who have already taken their entrance exam, and who may be able to provide better insight as to what to expect.

When asked if he would expand his service to other types of entrance exams, Caamano stated "We only want to prepare our members for exams that we know and have researched. Our subject matter experts carefully screen exams throughout the country so that our members have the best possible opportunity to pass that first critical step in the hiring process".

For more information about preparing for the police officer, firefighter and postal exam. Be sure to visit CareerQuiz Inc. at http://www.careerquizinc.com

Donna Moran is the author of "Becoming A Police Officer Just Became Easier (2004)" mailto:support@acdeigns.net

About The Author Donna Moran is the author of "Becoming A Police Officer Just Became Easier (2004)" mailto:support@acdeigns.net.

Return To Voluntary Simplicity — Part 1

While working for the think-tank, Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International), Duane Elgin co-authored the following report with Arnold Mitchell in 1976 for the Business Intelligence Program. Titled Voluntary Simplicity, this was the most popular report published to that date by the program and it stirred national interest in the theme of simplicity. This article is an updated version of that catalytic report and was published in the Summer, 1977 issue of the Co-Evolution Quarterly (which, in turn, was published by the Whole Earth Catalog).

The long run social ramifications of voluntary simplicity — if it develops into a major social movement — are enormous. Widespread adoption of the social goals and characteristics implied by the value themes underlying voluntary simplicity would surely mark a deep and perhaps permanent alteration in the nature of the American dream. The eventual result could be the creation of a social order that is as different from the present as the industrial era was different from the Middle Ages.

The reason that the potential social implications are so vast is that voluntary simplicity does not represent merely an internal readjustment of the prevailing values pattern but rather constitutes a fundamental shift in that pattern. Widespread adoption of this way of life could launch our society on a new developmental trajectory.

We are by no means suggesting that voluntary simplicity offers the only approach to a viable cultural and economic future. However, the United States and many other developed nations seem to be in a period of social drift. They appear to be losing both momentum and a sense of direction. People seem to be waiting for some leader or chain of events to make clear the nature of an alternative social vision. The uncertainty, indecision, and growing anxiety over appropriate social direction has prompted a new willingness to "think the unthinkable," to deeply consider what life means and where we wish to go. Voluntary simplicity as a coherent, broadly relevant, practical and purposeful world view could provide an important point of reference or anchoring point as our nation begins searching for and experimenting with new social forms.

Alternative Futures

Although VS as a way of life may have great and obvious long run significance, it seems at present to be struggling to achieve a critical mass of social awareness and acceptance. We have said that it could grow to major proportions by the year 2000. On the other hand, under some circumstances the movement could fade away. If we are to understand the prospects of voluntary simplicity, we must attempt to understand the nature and dynamics of the larger social context out of which this way of life could emerge.

There is great uncertainty regarding the future course of social evolution in the United States. Although the future is fundamentally uncertain, there are four alternative societal social futures which we feel bound much of the domain of social possibility over the next several decades. These are:

1. Technological Salvation — This is a future where, with good luck and great ingenuity, we find the social will and technological know-how to cope with critical national problems and continue along a trajectory of relatively high material growth. This future assumes that the value premises of the industrial era (rugged individualism, rationalism, material growth, etc.) will withstand current challenges and provide people with meaningful and workable living environments.

2. Descent Into Social Chaos — This is a future in which the society is torn by divisions and tensions among competing interest groups. There is no cataclysmic demise — just the grinding, unrelenting deterioration of the social fabric as crisis is compounded by crisis amidst diminishing public consensus as to how to cope with it all. Inept bureaucratic regulation and unforeseen events (such as severe climate changes) could change the drift toward social chaos into a rush.

3. Benign Authoritarianism — Despite the growing public pressure for and acceptance of the need for fundamental social change, the large, complex and highly interdependent bureaucracies in both public and private sectors could thicken and, like slowly hardening concrete, lock people into an inescapable net of regulations and institution. This could be a benign authoritarianism which emerges from the unstoppable logic of well-intended bureaucratic regulation which seeps into nearly every facet of life.

4. Humanistic Transformation — One expression of this alternative could be a future in which the underlying value premises shift and two closely related ethics emerge. First is an ecological ethic that accepts our earth as limited, recognizes the underlying unity of the human race, and perceives man as an integral part of the natural environment. Second is a self-realization ethic that asserts that each person's proper goal is the evolutionary development of his fullest human potentials in community with others. Each ethic could serve as a corrective for possible excesses in the other. This could be a future that substantially embraces voluntary simplicity or some similar way of life that, though materially more modest than current lifestyles, is overall more satisfying.

These four thumbnail sketches of alternative futures present an enormous range of social possibility. Yet, to the extent that each of these is a plausible future, its seeds must exist in the present. Therefore, they need not be mutually exclusive social futures. For example, we can imagine a plausible future marked by both a humanistic transformation and by technological success (although it may be "appropriate" rather than "high" technology that underlies that success).

One way to test the viability of voluntary simplicity as an emergent way of life is to assess the extent to which it could assume a significant role in all four of these futures. In other words, is this a social movement that has relevance only in the context of a future of humanistic transformation, or could it plausibly play a major role in the other three futures as well?

A future marked by "technological success" would probably still require people to attack the problems of resource scarcity, environmental pollution, and global economic inequities by consuming less. To the extent that there is a continuing need to approach these and related problems from the demand side, there will be a corresponding role for voluntary simplicity even in this materially successful scenario.

In a society of growing internal strife and tension, voluntary simplicity could, in the short run, exacerbate that conflict. In the longer run, however, VS might help to alleviate social tensions. To the extent that voluntary simplicity provided a way of life that transcended traditional interest group conflicts and provided a meaningful and workable response to a worsening social condition, it could alleviate tensions by directing social energy in a more coherent and harmonious direction.

In a society marked by growing bureaucratic regulation and erosion of democratic processes, voluntary simplicity (with its emphasis on local self-determination, human scale, and self-sufficiency) could provide a health corrective and counterbalancing force. Voluntary simplicity could provide an important source of grass roots innovation and vitality to what otherwise could be an increasingly rigid and somber society.

The important point that we draw from this is not a prediction of the social future but rather noting the significance of voluntary simplicity in many alternative futures. To be sure, the size of this social movement would vary considerably depending on the social context into which it must fit. Nonetheless, there seems to be sufficient push and pull toward voluntary simplicity that it will not soon disappear from the social landscape.

Social Impacts

Assuming that voluntary simplicity will be a significant social force across a broad spectrum of societal futures, we now turn to consider the general nature of its impact. The discussion that follows is intended to be provocative rather than definitive — in hopes of stimulating further thought and comment.

What kind of society would emerge if voluntary simplicity were to become the predominant way of life? A partial answer to this question can be found by examining stereotypical contrasts between the value premises and social characteristics of the industrial "world view" and the voluntary simplicity "world view." Table 1 presents an illustrative array of contrasting value premises and social attributes. Several important insights emerge from this table. First, voluntary simplicity seems to constitute a broadly based attempt to moderate, in the short run, and transcend, in the long run, the industrial world view. Voluntary simplicity implies going beyond material growth to include evolution among more subtle (but no less important) dimensions of life. A second pattern revealed by this table is that the values cluster embraced by voluntary simplicity represents at least as coherent a world view as the industrial world view (which has powered our social vision and industrial development for nearly two centuries). Lastly, voluntary simplicity does not appear to be a movement who domain of social impact can be narrowly defined; rather, it reaches out and touches a great many aspects of life.

Table 1 can do little more than hint at the social implications of voluntary simplicity. Therefore, we turn to look deeper across a sampling of these dimensions. Presented below are some of the plausible, long run directions of social change that seem congruent with voluntary simplicity — assuming this way of life were adopted by a majority of the population.

National Tenor — A society in which a large proportion of the population adopts voluntary simplicity would probably have a uniquely different "feel" to it. Although admittedly speculative, we think that such a society would likely possess a greater sense of frontier spirit, a feeling of continuing challenge at the prospects of forging new, evolving relationships among individuals, societies, nature, and the cosmos. Although some would likely view this as an escapist retreat from problems or a faddish response to soon-to-be solved difficulties, overall the VS oriented society would have a high degree of cultural cohesion, social maturity, and social consensus. People would likely be settling in for the long haul and hence would have a greater sense of future destiny and the conviction they were working on behalf of future generations as well as for themselves. The culture would likely be more open, less tense and serious, and more tolerant. There might be a higher degree of and delight in social diversity. There would likely be a rebirth of a sense of geographic community and regional spirit and a grass roots renaissance in the arts.

Material Growth — Society would tend to move from a goal of material abundance to a goal of material sufficiency. What level of material sufficiency is appropriate would largely be decided by individual choice constrained by resource availability and prevailing cultural norms. Clearly, this presumes a strong cultural context with widely shared beliefs as to what constitutes appropriate levels of material sufficiency. Although material growth may tend toward a steady-state condition, this need not imply a materially static society. With selective growth, some sectors of the economy would grow rapidly while others would contract. For example, growth in appropriate technology might be rapid while production of items of conspicuous consumption declines.

Human Growth — The society would tend to transfer its growth potential and aspirations from a material dimension to an increasingly nonmaterial dimension. This shift would be of the highest import if, as many suggest, our present problems arise in part from a gross disparity between the relatively underdeveloped internal faculties of man and the extremely powerful external technologies at his disposal. Society would attempt to achieve greater balance by fostering a degree of interior human growth that is at least commensurate with the enormous exterior growth that has occurred over the last several hundred years. This implies that our nation would increasingly become a trustee of conscious evolution on this earth, and, in doing so, endeavor to act with a level of awareness equal to the power and responsibility inherent in that role. The implication is that the nation's industrial prowess could provide, with suitable guidance, the material base to support the pervasive and intentional evolution of individual and socio-cultural awareness. Seen in this light, a trend toward voluntary simplicity is a logical evolutionary extension in our civilization growth.

Life Environment — Society would tend to shift from living and working in large, complex environments to living and working in smaller, less complex environments. Accompanying this might be migration from large cities to small cities, towns, and the country. Such trends would probably stimulate grass roots social action, revitalize the sense of community, and produce stronger, more distinctive clusters of neighborhoods.

Identity — The VS society would tend to define personal identity less in terms of consumption than in terms of one's awareness — psychological, social, spiritual. For many Americans consumption is not only an expression of identity but is basic to the sense of identity. The growth of voluntary simplicity would tend to produce a cultural perspective in which identity could be expressed in many other ways, such as experimenting with various forms of voluntary simplicity; developing vital communities through new forms of group and extended family relationships; exploring human consciousness through the hundreds of consciousness expanding disciplines, ranging from meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, encounter, bioenergetics, and so on.

Technology — Society would tend to move from "high" or "space age" technology to the careful application of "intermediate" or "appropriate" technology. Just as the industrial era was built on high technology, the voluntary simplicity era would likely rely on technology that is explicitly designed to be ecologically sound, energy-conserving, low polluting, comprehensible by many, integrated with nature, and efficient when used on a small scale.

Politics — If voluntary simplicity were to emerge as a dominant way of life, much of its growth would likely be driven by political activism at a grass roots level. Extensive decentralization of institutions would require that local communities take much greater responsibility for the well being of their population. Politics would probably assume a more humanistic orientation as people came to see the intimate connection that exists between the processes of personal growth and social change. Politics would thus be infused with a higher degree of honesty, compassion, and integrity. There might emerge new political coalitions and a greater number of political parties. There would also likely be greater self-righteousness; more frequent appeals to spiritual symbols in attempting to find political consensus; persistent tension between those holding the voluntary simplicity view and those adhering to the industrial world view; confusion concerning the equity and scope of programs conceived and administered at the local level; and so on. Overall, it probably would be a society in which political processes were more experimental, error embracing, and intentionally seeking diversity.

Global Environment — The emergence of an America dominated by the philosophy of voluntary simplicity would undoubtedly lead to many changes in international policies. A few are:

• Support for international bodies dealing with issues such as defense, food, energy, conservation, pollution, critical resources, regulation of nuclear activities, and so on
• Reduction in trade barriers and greater economic and technical assistance to developing nations
• Much more cultural interchange
• Moderation of power politics, with the U.S. attempting to exert moral rather than economic or military leadership

If our policies were successful, the U.S. might ultimately emerge as a symbol of human rights, a source of sophisticated aid in technological problems, and the leader in building a worldwide sense of unity among all peoples everywhere.

The advent of a large segment of the population acting fully or partially in accord with VS tenets would have a major impact on business. The highlights of these implications are sketched below.

Income Patterns

Our back-of-the-envelope estimates are that this way of life would not reduce Gross National Product as much as might be expected; rather, adoption of simple living by roughly a third of the adult population (such that their consumption levels were halved), in the year 2000 would, we think, reduce personal income available to consumers by only about 15% over our present levels. The biggest effect would likely be on the pattern of aggregate consumption and on moderating the level of growth.

Those businesses that view voluntary simplicity as an opportunity rather than a threat would likely find this to be perhaps the fastest growing consumer market of the coming decades. Our rough estimates (calculated at 100% of the spending of "full" VS consumers and 50% of "partial" VS consumers) suggest that consumption with a VS orientation could plausibly rise from about $35 billion today to perhaps $140 billion a decade hence, and to well over $300 billion in 2000 (all in 1975 dollars). This growth seems more than ample to engage traditional business and also to support large numbers of new firms — such as the Briarpatch Network — started to serve VS consumers.

The growth of voluntary simplicity almost surely would lead to an increasingly bimodal income distribution. The enduring disparity between rich and poor in our society would likely grow in magnitude as VS income patterns (although motivationally quite different) would look increasingly like those who were involuntarily simple or poor. How long this gap would persist is an open question. For a substantial proportion of the population — and particularly the poor — we think an equitable redistribution of income would be a precondition for voluntary frugality.

Consumer Markets

As indicated earlier, VS consumption criteria are significantly different from traditional patterns. The person living the simple life tends to prefer products that are functional, healthy, nonpolluting, durable, repairable, recyclable or made from renewable raw materials, energy-cheap, authentic, esthetically pleasing, and made through simple technology. Such criteria will adversely affect many products of conspicuous consumption. On the other hand, the VS lifestyle should create excellent markets for such items as:

• First class durable products, such as solid wood furniture, high quality music and television systems, top-grade hand tools, geared bicycles
• Sturdy cotton and wool clothing deemphasizing fashion, which can be mended, handed down, and worn for years
• Do-it-yourself equipment for home construction, home repair and improvements, cooking, gardening, entertaining, and so on
• Inexpensive prefab "flexible" housing
• Easy-to-fix autos and appliances, perhaps using modular construction
• Healthy, "natural," unprocessed foods
• Self-help medical, childcare, housekeeping items
• Products for arts and crafts and other esthetic pursuits
• Simple, safe, nonplastic, nonmetal toys and games for children
• Products or services associated with shared tasks in communal living, cooperatives, recycling, and energy reduction and food conservation projects
• Leisure activities geared to country living
• Imaginative ways of refurbishing old city and country homes
• Traveling care repair and parts services
• Machines, equipments, and systems utilizing intermediate technology

Prices

Many prices would increase substantially to meet the qualitative demands of the market; the market will be unwilling to accept varying profit margins (i.e., profit will increasingly be based on a "cost-plus" basis) and will no longer tend to reflect the market's willingness to pay a premium for style, fashion, or fad. Price will more often be in terms of barter or "energy exchange." "Bulk" purchasing of nondurables should be anticipated as a frugal market response to unit pricing.

Outlets

A growing and appreciable portion of market activity will take place in the "alternative marketplace:" flea markets, garage sales, classified advertising, community bulletin boards. Consumer cooperatives and mailorder operations will increase as VS consumers become less willing to support superfluous merchandising costs. Purchases will be increasingly localized to diminish the costs of transportation and to encourage the utilization of intermediate technology. Specialty stores will likely increase, especially for food (home canning apparatus and utensils for greater self-suffiency); shelter (energy conservation technology, materials-efficiency guidelines); and clothing (kits).

Promotion

New styles of advertising and promotion will tend to replace traditional types of sensational, emotional, and image appeals. Although an interesting and "aware" image will be important, the aim of advertising and promotion will be to help the consumer gain useful (rather than solely persuasive) information. The advertising will be more closely associated with the product or service being promoted. False or misleading advertising will be taken not as exaggerated puffery but as evidence of the advertiser's lack of concern for others — a message of "you versus us" instead of "we together." Appeals aimed at product quality, utility, durability, and service will likely be more successful, although the marketplace undoubtedly will have its share of "clique products." Keeping-up-with-the-Joneses will diminish in importance, but the popularity or market acceptance of a product will be an important promotional criterion.

Work Roles

In a simple living society the role of work would be downplayed as a status and power symbol and upgraded as a means of contributing to the collective good. Cooperation rather than competition would be the hallmark of work. Complaints would be directed more toward matters of ethics, social responsibility, and esthetics rather than issues of pay, office size, and promotion. Very likely there would be many more part-time jobs, enabling people to earn enough to fulfill their essential needs and yet have much more free time to pursue personal development and perhaps aid others. Significantly, management would tend to be highly participative, be organized around tasks, and be less hierarchical than at present. Ultimately, the traditional proprietary attitudes of business might yield to greater openness and inter- and intra-industry cooperation. The aggressive expression of the profit motive (exemplified by "making a killing" rather than "making a living") — although it is not likely to vanish in the near future — would likely be a diminishing force in business.

Consumerism

It seems likely the advocates of voluntary simplicity will, as a consumer group, continue to exert political and economic pressure to change business and industrial practices. A trend toward VS implies no abatement of activistic consumer movements directed toward such specific issues as safety, pollution, conservation, land use, ecological balance, and others. Some of these movements could have extensive implications for business. As individuals, VS people may very well try to influence business by buying in accord with rating criteria applied to long lists of specific branded products and specific manufacturers, retailers, banks, and the like. Such activities, accompanied by word-of-mouth publicity, might be one way in which adherents of voluntary simplicity will try to enforce their sense of social responsibility.

Voluntary Simplicity Business

We think it likely that in many parts of the nation small businesses run by VSers for the VS trade will flourish. The Briarpatch network in the San Francisco Bay area may prove to be one important template. Founded by Dick Raymond only a few years ago, the Briars have established several hundred individual firms in such areas as food and clothing stores, restaurants, book and magazine publishing (including The CoEvolution Quarterly), auto repair, baking, small-scale manufacture, child care centers, a toy company, etc. The Briarpatch network provides professional advice and services in a variety of domains including finance, advertising, insurance, charter flights, quantity purchasing, accounting and legal services, bartering opportunities, fund raising skills, and recruitment. The operating principles of Briarpatch businesses are significant. They include:

• Job sharing, in which two or more people are paid for one position
• Job swapping through which people can occasionally try out other positions
• Multiple jobs or roles, in which a person might be the bookkeeper as well as a board member
• Functions are generally performed without titles. If a title exists, it would probably be Facilitator instead of President, "She buys everything" rather than purchasing agent.
• Meditation is increasingly scheduled on the job
• If there are end-of-year surpluses, they are "recycled" in various ways. But generally there is a desire to help other projects rather than passive investors
• Directors serving as facilitators rather than watchdogs
• One favorite practice is to set prices according to the rule that the best price is what you would charge your friends

The phenomenon we have called voluntary simplicity appears to be of deep social significance for three fundamental reasons. First, it is a concept and a way of life whose time seems at last to be arriving. The idea of voluntary simplicity has been discussed for millennia. However, our present era of relative abundance contrasts sharply with the material poverty of the past. The voluntary assumption of a life materially simple and nonmaterially rich, therefore, is not only increasingly psychologically acceptable but physically feasible for perhaps the first time in history for large numbers of people.

Second, it specifically addresses the critical issues of our times — the problems of ecosystem overload, alienation, unmanageable scale and complexity of institutions, worldwide antagonism, and so on. Voluntary simplicity is a creative, comprehensive, and holistic approach to a host of problems customarily considered to be separate. By coping simultaneously with scores of interrelated specifics, voluntary simplicity seems to provide a solution that could not be achieved via the one-by-one route.

Third, it meshes with the eternal needs of individuals to continue to grow. The emphasis on the inner life inherent in voluntary simplicity permits people to grow psychologically even if material growth may be denied by events beyond their control. Further, there is reason to think that the kind of growth fostered by voluntary simplicity is especially appropriate to our times and circumstances. In brief, the need of the individual uniquely matches the need of the society.

Of what other emergent life patterns can these things be said?