Furthermore, the stuff I heard preached in church was not the behavior I saw modeled for me by many who sat in the pews – so being there felt like a major waste of time. I thought, why should we sit and listen to this stuff when no one actually lives it? I went on my merry way still determined to be a "good" person, but not quite sure about the particulars of how this related to God.

As an adult, however, I felt a deep need to join a faith community because it seemed like the easiest and fastest way to join together with others to make a difference in helping a hurting world. My husband and I tried several churches in different communities before settling on our current church, United Christian Parish. What follows are the reasons we chose this amazing congregation that in every way defies the “churchy” and judgmental Christian upbringing both of us had experienced as youth.

United Christian Parish (UCP) is a Lakeport church made up of Disciples, Methodists, and Presbyterians who worship together under this common umbrella: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”

The essential faith that binds us together is a common belief that Jesus Christ walked the Earth some 2,000 years ago. Every member of this welcoming congregation is given the liberty to interpret the particulars surrounding Jesus in his or her own way, however.

For example, there are many who believe that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. Other ideas are equally welcomed and respected, however, such as these: Jesus is but one of many children of God; Jesus is the only God; Jesus was one of several highly-enlightened teachers who had accessed the Divine within him and who tried to teach others that everyone is capable of this too; Jesus is coming again someday; Jesus already lives among us in the hearts of every human; Jesus’ Divine energy is alive within every atom of everything in the Universe; Heaven is something to look forward to; Heaven is already here – we just need to have the eyes to see it; Jesus died for our sins; Jesus was executed because he was a religious troublemaker; Jesus rose from the grave; Jesus’ resurrection is a metaphor for enlightenment through suffering; Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene; Jesus never married; the Bible is the Word of God to be interpreted literally; the Bible is the word of many ancient believers who recorded their fears and hopes in a formal way; the Bible is a semi-historical chronicle of persecuted people filled with wonderful exciting stories; the Bible is a wealth of important messages for living that we can follow by using contemporary interpretations; and on and on.

The range of beliefs is far-reaching, but the common factor is simply belief in Jesus Christ.

Regardless of the non-essentials (many of which are listed above), we all believe that Jesus was here to teach the message of love, compassion and gratitude. He died trying to spread this Word to all to help heal a hurting world. While many other “Christian” churches get so hung up on 2,000 year-old non-essentials that they end up alienating those who would otherwise join them in their quest to bring love and compassion to our world, UCP relegates those non-essentials to the back row and instead welcomes ALL who wish to follow Jesus’ example.

Jesus taught the world that judging others was a means of separating ourselves from one another. Rather, he told his disciples to actively seek out those who might be different from us, welcome them, show compassion, kindness and an open heart. Members of UCP, though their individual Jesus-specific details might differ, are united in this idea of charity. Who cares how anyone wants to interpret something, as long as you are showing charity to all of God’s creation? Does Truth need any defense anyway? As one great teacher, Byron Katie, puts it, "Who needs God when we have your opinion?"

Our pastor is a woman, Shannon Kimball-Auth, who is both praised and sometimes maligned for her “liberal” thinking. I’ve never understood how a minister who actually practices what she preaches could be criticized but it happens nonetheless. There are “Christians” out there who forget that the root meaning of “liberal” is liberty (freedom) – something that Jesus wanted for all of humankind.

Pastor Shannon has been a tremendous spiritual guide for me in my quest to understand how my personal beliefs actually match beautifully with the truths of the Bible and other works that were intentionally left out of the Canon.

While some pastors try hard to keep their flock “in line” with particular creeds and/or beliefs, Pastor Shannon actively encourages hers to delve into their hearts to find out how the Word fits for them. She is funny, open-minded, compassionate, fiercely determined to work in a positive way for social justice and planetary salvation, and beloved by her congregation – even those who may differ with her politics or her personal non-essentials.

In many ways, I think she defines a true teacher in the spirit that Jesus was; people choose to follow and learn from the one who does not judge and condemn them, but who welcomes and lifts them to new and greater possibilities.

In this age of quantum physics starting to prove the theory of a “unified field” that ties everything in the universe together via tiny “strings,” we are living in an exciting time indeed for watching the merger of science and spirit: The truths that Jesus taught 2,000 years ago are now showing up in the laboratory.

UCP is a place that enables me to join together with many others to utilize these truths to create hope for a hurting world. We are far more interested in helping the homeless and the hungry, the persecuted and the oppressed, the abandoned and the abused, and in working to be good stewards of God’s beautiful planet than arguing about non-essentials with those who might otherwise agree with our common mission: Charity.

I am grateful to be part of a truly “Christian” community at United Christian Parish, one that loves and embraces the Divine light within every person, as Jesus taught us to do.

Gale Tompkins-Bischel lives in Kelseyville.

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This is a struggle no one should have to face alone or otherwise. So as a parent you try to help any way you can.

For the last 10 months, my daughter has struggled through the court system. It's like swimming up stream in a raging river full of debris, first fighting for custody of her two children and then financial support. She waited several months before the financial part was ever addressed. I guess since lawyers are getting their money, why worry. Don’t even get me started on that subject (I’ve spent thousands)!

During that time my husband and I bought groceries and paid bills that had been left unpaid (some for awhile) when my daughter's husband left. He had removed her from all accounts several years earlier. She was by all intents penniless. Not once at any time did he call and ask about food, heat, etc. There were two children in the house. At one point in January there was no heat for a week, before she asked for help. Before that she would leave the heat off unless the kids were home and then they bundled up. This made me heartsick; to think my child was ever married to someone like this.

After several months my daughter found a job to replace her part-time job. Her new employers have been very kind and extremely supportive. May I say she loves her job with a capital “L.”

She was finally awarded monthly support to which back support was added. A small portion was tacked on to currant monthly payments. This amounted to about $1,500 a month. In the four months since the judgment, he has paid one full support payment and three partial payments and now nothing. He does not respond to Child Support Services to which the case was turned over. This seems to be his M.O. We have even gotten calls regarding collection accounts (evidently he gave our phone number) and my daughter receives collections calls constantly. I guess he thinks if he doesn’t respond they will give up.

Buy the way, did I mention he owns a business BUT he claims he’s disabled with an arm injury; he’s paid cash when working, isn’t this illegal? However, he goes boating and kneeboards (don’t you have to hold onto a rope that pulls you up?), he plays baseball too, all the while collecting disability. He moved into a larger house on a golf course ... in essence, his life has not changed.

His abusive behavior has not changed, only his address. This is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

My grandchildren are going to counseling because of the trauma of divorce, plus things that are said to them about their mother. My daughter had to take him to court to get an order for the therapist. My granddaughter seems to be his main target; she is constantly worried about something happening to her mother. He finally decided to agree to therapy.

And his manipulation continues.

Today, for me the final straw broke this camel’s back! My daughter called sobbing; the accountant for her work told her that her wages were being garnished because her ex had failed to report a retirement (401k?) account he cashed in 2004. They can’t find him (he lives in the same community), so they settled for the next best person. As, I stated before, he doesn’t respond to any agency.

Did I mention that he stated in court that he hadn’t filed business taxes EVER because he and his partner where saving monies for a “nest egg” ... honest, it's court-documented!

But I digress. I was so angry that I called his cell phone, I knew he didn’t have the courage to answer, so I left a terse message stating that I thought he was a coward, not a man and that everything he has put my daughter through should come back to him and he could choke on it. That really is the gist of the message, no foul language etc., but I was so angry I was shaking and I had to let him know what human waste he is. You probably think that was a bit childish; but I have not spoken to him since prior to the divorce proceedings and I just could not hold back any longer. He has deliberately set out to not only emotionally ruin my daughter, but financially too. He has an agenda.

I have tons of scenarios that go through my head daily. I would say my fantasy life about body parts falling off is pretty graphic. But as I have said many times, he isn’t worth going to jail for. I will only say, he is a product of his upbringing!

You may be thinking, why doesn’t she stop bitching and just pay the tax? Well, I’ve paid a lot of his past bills over the months just so my daughter could stay in a house that went into foreclosure because he stopped paying the house payments, her car was repossessed, light bills, water, gas were unpaid and the list goes on. That’s why!

Where to go from here? Well, one day at a time I guess. My daughter is calling the tax board to hopefully work something out. I pray they will work with her. She was raised with a conscience and a set of morals that her ex was not, that is evident in everything he has done. So whatever comes, she’ll do the right thing.

But the big question is: Why isn’t anyone or any agency going after the person who committed these problems? The answer: Well, it depends on whom you are talking to. Does the government really want to waste manpower looking into a deadbeat father? Or is it easier to go after someone who is in the working community and only trying to stay off welfare and make a good life for her and her children?

Time and many phone calls will tell. If my daughter cannot resolve this, she may have to consider quitting her job and go on welfare, adding to the list of state dependents. As I said, she loves her job and would truly hate to quit. But how can she survive on maybe $800 a month when her rent is $1,100? We also helped her get into that.

While sitting in court and listening to many cases eerily similar to my daughter's, I have to question: What’s going on? Is this a case of a “boys will be boys” attitude? Are there so many of these so-called men that, once out the door, their responsibilities are over? Is this another societal (patriarchal) way to keep women in their place? Are the courts so overflowing with this type of behavior that they have become complacent, jaded or just too overworked?

There are more and more women with children living below poverty level, and no one seems to be concerned. It's easier to say she’s lazy or wants a free ride, instead of acknowledging that most women have either stayed home to care for their children and/or they worked part-time and were out of the job force. I haven’t meet any yet that likes being on welfare.

A woman makes 60 cents to every dollar a man makes. Childcare is cost prohibitive in many cases. So what are the options?

How do the courts make the husband/father take care his responsibilities to his family? There is the Deadbeat Dad law, but that doesn’t always work, it can take months or years to catch up with him and sometimes never.

Is there some kind of manual out there that sells for $2.50 that explains in 30 words or less “How To Be A Deadbeat And Get Away With It”?

This, unfortunately, is only a small portion of my daughter’s story. And the saga continues.

Terry Figone lives in Petaluma. Her daughter and grandchildren live in Lake County.

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Beauty and ugliness are but two human perceptions and interpretations of a universal energy that is neither good nor evil but infinitely greater than the sum of these thoughts.

A simplistic approach to the question of the divine nature states that all that was created was originally perfectly good, but as humanity misbehaved it needed to be punished, "banished from paradise," and all suffering and even diseases and death are the outcome of this punishment.

According to Christian doctrines "salvation" would come through the repudiation of all that is bad or "evil" ("sins") and a complete surrender to what is good as strictly defined by this dualistic religion.

Furthermore, according to Carl Jung, the Anima (the feminine aspect of the human psyche) represents the "primitive" layer of man's psychology, a "heretic" in more or less open revolt against the dualistic Christian point of view. Jung defined the Anima as a "negative entity" representing the "inferior Eros in man."

Not only were "heaven" and "hell," or the spirit and the flesh, conceptually separated by patriarchal cultural beliefs, so were the male and female principles, which facilitated the oppression of women,

who were sensed to be "instinctive dialecticians" intent upon undermining the "progressively developing dualistic principles of rational thought" upon which western civilization and to a lesser extent other patriarchal societies were able to build their destructive and coercive, authoritarian

dominant power.

This dualistic ideology, which still pervades our thoughts, guides our world and causes much chaos and unnecessary suffering, is about as realistic and accurate as to view the above-ground part of a tree, its beautiful leaves and fragrant fruits and flowers blossoming in the clean air and sparkling sunlight, as good and existing in accordance with divine laws, and its roots, that spread blindly in the dark and "dirty" soil "infested" with worms, lowly insects and "ugly and repulsive" creatures of the "underworld" as evil, the outcome of a transgression against the divine and the creation of a "devil."

Could a plant exist without its roots? Could the day exist without the night? Could pleasure be known without pain? Could life be appreciated without the knowledge of certain death? And could love be as intense as it can be without experiencing loss?

The redemption of the human heart is not dependent upon a person following a particular religion's precepts and dogma, but when all joy and all sadness, all pleasure and all pain, all fear and creativity are embraced as boldly as if they were the ebb and flow of the same tide of consciousness expanding in

the act of life itself, because they are.

It is when life is lived halfway, when the timid heart retreats into numbness, detachment or rationalization, and pleasure is sought and held against all reason, and pain is avoided as if it was the devil itself, that "heaven" and "hell" become as true enemies in our psyches, our inner clarity is lost in this internal mayhem, and confusion and struggle become our very identity.

Peace returns to the person who makes the two as one: the above and the below, the inner and the outer, life and death, good and evil, "heaven" and "hell,” because they are one and can only be experienced as being separate in the dualistic conceptual creations of the human mind.

However they cannot be understood to be one, that is to say inseparable and complementary, in intellectual detachment: they can only be re-integrated successfully in the heart that is completely open, and when in the full intensity of all of its experiences of ecstasy and despair it grows to manifest the true invincibility and wholeness that are part of the essence of the eternal soul.

Out of decay springs new life, a life that can neither be born nor sustained in a sterile environment. Worlds, nations, people and all of the elements of nature experience internal decay ... from death itself arises a richer and more powerful life.

Raphael Montoliu lives in Lakeport.

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In 2006, the City of Los Angeles hiked trash collection fees to raise an additional $100 million to add another 1,000 officers to patrol the streets. When all was said and done, LA officials used a paltry $42 million of the new funds to add a mere 400 new cops rather than the promised thousand. Recently, Mayor Villaraigosa has proposed another increase in fees to be used to pay for enhanced public safety.

The City of Sacramento is contemplating a voter initiative to pass a "gang crime" tax to deal with its rampant gang problems. Facing an election year and plagued by a rash of crime, city officials want to increase the local sales taxes to 8 percent. This would raise an estimated $16 million a year for prevention and enforcement. Yet this sales tax proposal is ill-planned and hastily pushed and is even opposed by law enforcement leaders.

The City of Oakland joined the tax bandwagon as well by placing a parcel tax on the November local ballot. Officials promise that the money from this tax would be used to add 105 new police officers and 75 technicians. Amazingly, city officials continue to ask for more taxpayer dollars amid allegations of mishandling of existing funds, nepotism and corruption.

While these cities scheme to tax, a plan to infuse local governments with funds and tools for fighting crimes already exists. Proposition 6 – The Safe Neighborhoods Act would guarantee state funding for law enforcement and programs designed to reduce and prevent gang crime.

The LA City Council opposes Prop 6. This knee-jerk hostility toward the measure comes even though the proposition would increase the number of cops on the street – something the council continues to promise but fails to deliver.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums opposes Prop 6 as well, despite its benefits to his city, which is no model for public safety.

While these cities and others continue to wrangle for more taxpayer dollars, they offer few concrete plans on how the dollars will be spent. That's how the LA City Council was able to renege on its promise – by asking voters to approve higher taxes but giving few specifics on how that money would be spent.

Prop 6 will guarantee public safety spending from existing state dollars. This means more officers will patrol the street, more prevention programs, and more rehabilitation without raising taxes. Unlike individual city tax schemes, Prop 6 includes accountability. The measure will ensure that the dollars spent on prevention and rehabilitation will be used efficiently and effectively.

Prioritizing existing dollars is the winning strategy, especially since voters have clearly expressed opposition to increases in their tax burden. Recent PPIC polls show California voters overwhelmingly opposed to increases in sales tax and vehicle fees. With the passage of Prop 6, we can squeeze gangs without squeezing the taxpayers.

Senator Runner is the chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus and a co-author of Proposition 6-The Safe Neighborhoods Act. He previously authored California's Jessica's Law and Amber Alert. He represents Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley, the Victor Valley, and portions of both the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County. Visit SafeNeighborhoodsAct.com.

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At the state level groups have worked to support SB 840, California's Universal Health Care Act, introduced by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, and co-authored by the legislators who represent or have represented Lake County in Sacramento: Assembly woman Patty Berg, former state Sen. Wes Chesbro and current state Sen. Patricia Wiggins.

SB 840 is California's plan to establish a functional, modern, universal health care system for the 21st century.

This bill covers every California resident with comprehensive, affordable health benefits and contains the growth in health care spending while improving quality. It guarantees every patient the total choice of their doctors and hospitals.

California's own budget crisis is greatly affected by the rising health care costs. The state budget buys health care directly through public programs and as employers. The bill is supported by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, who are the principle sponsor of the bill, as well as the California Physicians Alliance.

Also in support, California School Employees Association, League of Women Voters, Health Care for All-California, California Labor Federation, California Church IMPACT, and leading seniors' organizations including the California Congress of Seniors and California Association of Retired Americans.

This bill was passed by both houses of the legislature in Sacramento in 2006 and was vetoed by the governor.

As of this writing, SB 840 has been placed on suspend by the Assembly appropriations committee. It is lodged there, pending resolution of the state's budget crisis.

In early August, the committee will vote on whether or not to send the bill to the floor, where it will surely pass again, and then it will be forwarded to the governor's desk for his signature.

In July of 2007, the Lake County Board of Supervisors did a cost comparison detailing how much Lake County taxpayers would save if the SB 840 single payer health care system was enacted in California.

The Board's figures revealed that Lake County could save at least $1.5 million dollars in health care costs under SB 840 every year.

That's $1.5 million of tax revenue that could be spent on other county services or returned to the taxpayers. (See http://lakeconews.com/content/view/1267/764/.)

Answering a written request from Lake County single-payer health care advocates, that was sent to cities and school boards, in the summer of 2007, the Konocti Unified School District did the calculations and showed a $3 million annual savings in their budget. The school board and union representatives notified the governor of their position supporting SB 840.

In June of this year, Clearlake City Council member Joyce Overton, in response to the 2007 letter, requested that the city of Clearlake's finance director, Michael Vivrette, perform the same cost analysis. The results are that the city could save $404,000 if SB 840 was enacted.

Around the state of California, these studies are being requested of local jurisdictions, by citizens who are interested in a cost-effective and fair implementation of health care delivery.

For example, the Sonoma County Office of Education calculated a savings of $1.35 million, the city of Rohnert Park calculated a cost savings of $1.4 million, the county of Sonoma calculated a cost savings of $20 million, the City of Newport Beach calculated a cost savings of $6 million. The Grey Panthers of California have made similar calculations for other jurisdictions. Of the only 15 government entities in California that have been calculated, the savings to taxpayers range from $230 to $435 million.

The Lewin Group, an independent, nationally respected health care research organization, analyzed SB 840 and California's current broken health care system. They reported that around $20 billion in premiums paid to the health insurance industry in California each year never reaches health care providers. It disappears into competing advertising and other overhead expenses, and multimillion dollar bonuses to health care industry CEOs.

The Lewin Report says that California could save around $8 billion in health care costs in the first year after SB 840's enactment. (Reference site: www.healthcareforall.org.)

Here’s how to calculate savings in four simple steps:

• Step One: Multiply $7,000 (the exemption per employee) by the number of insured employees. The result is the amount of the total payroll that is exempt from SB 840 taxes.

• Step Two: Subtract the result in step one from the total annual payroll of those same employees. The result is the SB 840 taxable payroll.

• Step Three: Multiply the result in step two by 0.0817 (the SB 840 factor of 8.17 percent, as shown in the Lake County memo). The result is the new annual health care cost under SB 840.

• Step Four: Subtract the result in step three from the current annual health care cost (include retirees' cost). The result is the potential annual cost reduction.

Taxpayers would be well advised to contact their local school boards, water boards, and city and county governments and ask those jurisdictions to calculate the savings under a single-payer health care plan.

SB 840 provides truly universal health care – affordable, patient-centered health care – with doctors in charge, not insurance companies.

It's tested, it's possible, a majority of Californians are in support and it's time.

Wanda Harris is chair of the Lake County Democratic Central Committee. She lives in Hidden Valley Lake.

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Essentially it predicts that science, technology, progress, and our supposed superiority and military power cannot protect us from the multiplicity of comprehensive and simultaneous disasters we face in the coming years. Our disastrous foreign policy, our dysfunctional educational system, our declining infrastructure, our exhaustion of necessary resources, our reluctance to disavow “developmental sprawl,” our dependence on fossil fuels, our crisis in mental and physical health, our penchant for building prisons rather than caring for our citizens – all signal the need for a revamping of American ideals – even our dreams – of what the future should be for our peoples.

The recognition of the importance of sustainable communities that develop some percentage of self-sufficiency to guard against crisis and disaster is growing, particularly as the economy descends into recession (depression) and inflation soars.

We are behind on so many fronts, with our priorities so dangerous skewed, we risk – in the very near future – losing all the economic and socially responsible gains the visionary few have worked so hard to achieve. Let's examine some of these crumbling dreams, institutions and infrastructures.

Foreign Policy

We're currently involved in two disastrous conflicts that have cost billions of dollars with no perceivable end in sight. Our military is virtually ruined with an estimated cost of billions more to refurbish it again. Combatants in Afghanistan are completing their seventh consecutive tours. Suicides among returning veterans are approaching epidemic proportions. Violent felons may soon be allowed to enter our armed services just as inter-service homicides, rapes and crime has exploded almost exponentially. No longer do our service men and women represent the best we have to offer despite the fact they are often our front line emissaries representing us in foreign nations.

Criminal cases are being prosecuted against our service personnel for crimes committed against foreign nationals in as many as seven different countries simultaneously. The cost in trillions of dollar is insignificant in comparison to the cost of those killed in battle or due to service negligence or misconduct and that does not compare to the thousands of incapacitated, disabled and permanently scarred veterans that comprise a significant amount of the generation currently available to defend the mation.

Those who have not suffered injury or disabilities are worn to a frazzle. It could be generations before we achieve the level of conventional strength we had. This not only increases our vulnerability but undermines our ability to make good defensive and foreign policy decisions because we are forced to rely more on the heavier weapons in our arsenal – putting us, and the world, at greater risk by forcing us to play a heavier hand, consistently pushing up the stakes.

Economy

No one really seems to understand that the economy is not now, nor has it ever been, truly predictable. The inconsistencies of human nature and our natural environment preclude us from knowing the real factors that drive environmental change and economic stability. Certainly, China and India will continue to grow as powerhouses, competing with us for resources – both in human and in natural terms. Our horrendous foreign debt makes us vulnerable to all kinds of economic risk and instability. Non-aligned corporations and businesses tuned to the bottom line, with no real allegiances, will be drawn to foreign opportunity as has already been evidenced by outsourcing and a general momentum away from the continental US.

US workers are not realistically capable of competing on an even level with multitudes of workers who expect less, work longer, have few protections and are highly motivated by necessity to compete. The dollar, backed by nothing, will continue to fluctuate wildly as a willow in the wind. The US recession will continue to affect foreign markets and that will, in turn, cause an even greater number of international businesses to look elsewhere for stability.

Employment

The paradigm has always been – go where the jobs are. American workers are less able to do that with soaring fuel and housing costs, combined with burgeoning foreclosures or the inability to sell the houses they own. We are also seeing evidence of the seemingly natural inclination to hunker down in times of stress, not take risks and expect that these types of economic times are cyclical.

The massive influx of baby-boomers who are not retiring as expected, but are being laid off, are unable to physically do the job and find no provision for retraining may drive up unemployment rates to previously unheard of levels. Add to that a very real discrimination against elderly workers, force them to compete for mid-level less skilled jobs could lead to a nightmare of unemployment with no safety net.

Schools, colleges and vocational training programs are years behind the curve in attempting to train or retrain the existing and emerging workforces. Young and middle-age workers are being forced to compete against each other and the elderly for available jobs. All over the nation, we see literally hundreds of applicants for every job and with only one six month term of unemployment benefits available and virtually no viable retraining programs to boot.

Climate change

No matter what the reason, it's happening. The results over the next 50 years will cost in the trillions. From the need to fund recovery efforts from disasters, to changes in coastal areas and port infrastructures, we're looking at a massive problem financially and logistically for the world and for the U.S. Add to that the potential for world famine and disease from habit changes and climate variations, drought and flood – you've got a recipe for unpredictable economic instability.

Education

We once touted our educational system as a model for the world, but we got lazy and rested on our laurels. We became consumed with socially engineering equality in education, requiring an immense administrative drain on our available resources. Our teachers became underpaid, our programs diluted, and our vision unrealistically focused on turning out entire generations of college graduates, ignoring vocational training and skills tracking to identify individual student strengths and weaknesses to help determine appropriate educational goals.

We became enamored more with high school and college social environments than we did with actual education. In truth, we were convinced that these environments somehow reinforced our values and socially acclimatized our students in a positive way. Only recently have we come to understand how wrong that was.

Our standards have fallen so low that a huge percentage of our students can barely cope with the day to day demands of our increasingly complicated and confusing culture and marketplace. They have difficulty understanding the currents that buffet them to and fro, having little capacity for creativity and less for discernment when it comes to public policy and socio-political decision-making. They are ripe to be harvested and led by a charismatic figure, spouting popular rhetoric, encouraging prejudices and fomenting divisiveness.

Consequently, the rest of the world is jumping ahead of us in leaps and bounds educationally, creating the minds that will lead the world in the next century.

Science

The myth that science cannot be bought has been exploded. Monies for pure research without predetermined results or pre-programmed financial gain have virtually disappeared. We are losing our best and brightest minds to other countries almost as fast as they can buy a ticket.

With both a dysfunctional education system and a lack of will to hold and create the scientific minds necessary to keep us competitive in a rapidly changing and evolving world, we face the possibility of becoming more and more reliant on unpredictable forces and alliances for our necessities and resources.

Infrastructure and development

Our national bone structure is rapidly rusting, breaking down and becoming obsolete. Rather than bite the bullet when we could have afforded to, we postponed the inevitable and now face the replacement of a decrepit infrastructure that we can no longer afford to rebuild.

The model adopted at the inception of the nation was to simply ignore failing systems, move on and rebuild new ones elsewhere. If an area fell into ruin – we'd simply ignore it to find another pristine environment and create the same obsolescence all over again.

This is the model of American development and the essential expression of a throw-away philosophy. It has become an accepted norm to consider the reconditioning, redevelopment, and rebuilding of infrastructure as too expensive, too time-consuming and essentially non-profitable to be considered.

If an area goes into decline, the answer is always to search for a new area to develop in the misguided belief that infusing another area with “upscale” development will somehow trickle down into the community and help the declining area (by default) as well – as if the presence of wealth has ever diminished the presence of poverty!

In reality, it is simply a pretense for the “royalty” to separate themselves from the “peasants” without any deliberate intention to improve their condition, and results in a simple juxtaposition of slums and suburbs. The days of the philosophy that unused or undeveloped lands are “wasted” passed away with the 19th century. The only saving grace is that a realization of the importance of public lands and resources remaining accessible to the public is beginning to gain steam among our local rural populations.

Finally, let me be clear that I am not advocating creating small urban jungles – the concepts of environmental space and designs that incorporate the natural world to give us a sense of space is absolutely necessary in planning for the redesigning and rehabilitation of our communities through implosive development.

It's not about filling up every inch of space with concrete and steel – it’s about creating an environment we can live in without wasting space and without sacrificing quality of life.

Transportation

When combustion engines were relatively new and petroleum plentiful and cheap, the model of “sprawl development” worked. Affordable transportation allowed for distance between living area and necessities, work and play. Those days are gone.

Our highways require incredible amounts of manpower and money to maintain and our local communities cannot keep pace – particularly if we're going to keep “sprawling” out, creating the need for more and more roadways.

Not only are the good old days of the automobile culture passing due to a decline in cheap and affordable transportation, they are gone because many communities and citizens have witnessed countless examples of areas losing their cherished qualities through poor resource and development planning based on the concept of “sprawl development,” and facilitated through use of cheap individual transportation.

Even if cheap transportation were to become feasible again, we need to consider what we lose with this type of development philosophy. Growth can never be infinite. It has limits. The closer one approaches those limits the more freedoms are lost and the more quality of life is affected.

It is time to consider implosive development – making sure every inch of space in a developed area has been utilized before new areas are considered – and even imposing eventual limits to development altogether. This goes against the grain of a traditional view of progress that demands explosive growth, but conforms to the ideology that quality of life and resources is more important than continual expansion.

Actually, it has already been proven, that the continual renewing, redesigning and redevelopment of communities internally to keep up with technological progress can be just as economically profitable and stimulating as explosive sprawl development.

But planning for transportation must conform to this new model – emphasizing public transit methods, and focusing on implementing shorter distances to necessities. This can be realized by redesigning communities to achieve as much self-containment and sufficiency as possible. Advances in communications will facilitate these changes, allowing much of our commerce (and many of our daily activities) to be achieved without the physical necessity of us transporting ourselves to distant locations and resources.

Energy

In the early days of the American Colonies there was little consolidation of anything. One was responsible individually for acquiring almost all the necessities needed to live.

As communities and economies changed, consolidation of services increased. The technology required a huge infrastructure and administrative entity to provide services. The Grid. Those days, too, are passing. What good is energy if it is too expensive to utilize? What good is a car if you can't afford to drive it?

The technology will soon be available and affordable to return to the days of individuals creating and sharing their own energy development resources in small localities. The days of The Grid That Serves Everyone are numbered. This re-creation of our energy infrastructure needs to be a local priority agreement.

With enough minds and resources, local communities will be able to offer straight forward conversion plans and, with the right incentives and encouragement, we will free up resources for use toward other needs rather than continuing to feed inefficient and resource draining infrastructure. The technology is there and it works.

Water

Water belongs to everyone. It needs to be protected. It needs to be as pure as we can make it. Everyone knows by now how much of the world is suffering a crisis of potable water.

Any waste or contamination of any water resource available to us for any reason cannot be permitted. Traditional practices, economic interests, etc. – nothing can be allowed to take precedence over the protection and preservation of our water resources. Period, the end.

Food

We take it for granted. We shouldn't. Costs are spiraling as we speak and no one knows how high they will climb. History teaches us that even the richest areas are only one significant drought away from famine.

In a world of just-in-time delivery, our risk is even greater. Placing as much local agricultural land as can be put into service for food crops, using sustainable and organic principles, should be a priority. Co-ops and other public resource grocery outlets should be encouraged and laws or codes which prohibit or discourage local agriculture should be challenged as counterproductive to sustainability. Real hazards to consumer health can be met with education programs not codified regulations.

Identification of suitable grain crops to provide a minimum level of food resource security for the local population should be identified and the acreages to host them utilized. A significant local economy relating to food is possible and can be created. It starts with every citizen (whether they currently buy local or not) requesting their local market provide an ever-expanding section of locally harvested vegetables, nuts, fruits, berries, dairy, meats and beverages. The co-op is also the perfect place to start an internal bartering system and creating alternative currency replacements supported by “real” value.

Tokens, paper or an electronic system could be created to act as an alternative source of currency that would allow people to barter, trade and exchange for services as well as utilize common currency. This would only serve to strengthen our local economy and focus our vision on where traditional expenditures are lost or wasted.

Economic Development

Local economies in many areas have gone stagnant. Everyone wants to believe in the cyclical nature of economic booms but we need to be asking ourselves if that cycle were to become undependable what is Plan B?

Our age-old model asks for development, growth, new houses, more people, more businesses – until all the wonderful qualities we cherish are dissipated and the wealthy move on to a “new” Lake County somewhere else, leaving the rest of us with a used-up run-down version of rural suburbia. Is that all there is?

Perhaps by taking the tourist model forward to encouraging emerging technological companies in the green industry to locate their headquarters (not their production factories) in the county, and encouraging state and national businesses and organizations to host trade shows, conferences and gatherings locally, we could sustain a significant portion of our economy without a need for significant growth.

Citizens would need to take an active role in this process, helping to identify the potential businesses and companies; even facilitating their contact with appropriate county representatives. The only necessity would be to make a commitment to creating an efficient, reliable and technologically advanced countywide communications network. If we built it, and educated them to our attributes, they would come – but they would also leave.

With targeted outreach to information and technology based businesses, those that chose to headquarter here wouldn't require much additional infrastructure but could bolter our reputation as a place that chooses quality of life and resources over ill-conceived economic development and unnecessary growth.

Government and services

Face it: many American's have become spoiled children who want everything done for them by someone else. They have come to expect it. We have to change that.

Government is failing us because we have forgotten that we are the government. It's us versus us. We need to stop relying on state and federal monies and programs and look to support ourselves. In the old days it was local communities that regulated their health and welfare through churches and community organizations. Often people paid dues to those organizations to support the less fortunate and provide resources for the needy.

When those systems passed away, we lost an important measure of a community's viability. If we are too individually isolated from those less fortunate than ourselves we destroy the safety nets that protect all of us from severe economic misfortune. It is our responsibility to take care of our neighbors – not Sacramento's and certainly not Washington's. They could care less.

We must understand that we are more vulnerable to crisis when we disavow or remove ourselves from the circle of responsibility we share for each others welfare. Our citizenry must become proactive and begin choosing to create and fund our own programs to fix our streets, employ our out of work populace, support our needy and indigent, and participate in the planning and implementation of programs that protect what and who we love. We need to develop hubs of communication and action that educate, plan, finance, organize and create step-by-step solutions, individually and communally, to each of the challenges we face. Example – KPFZ 88.1

All these issues are big money issues. Where will the money come from? We just can't keep printing it willy-nilly like we have been. The currency has to be based on something and good will and high hopes aren't enough. From the highest level of national policy to the smallest locality we're running short. I haven't seen a plan yet that will change that reality.

The architects of the next age must face the challenge of internal redevelopment, refusing the gluttonous and perishable demands of sprawl that threaten the fragile and finite resources that support us. The planet is in the process of changing its face. Our communities must be redesigned and rebuilt even if it requires tearing them down and re-building them one brick at a time.

Space, energy, waste disposal, transportation and proximity to services and resources must be integrated with artistry, beauty and a blending with the natural environment. The technology and systems to accomplish this are being designed as we speak.

Take, for example, the HVAC heating and cooling solution utilized for a skyscraper in Asia. It was created from the study of a termite colony where the temperature of each cell of their housing structure never varied more than one degree. This natural technology was copied effectively and efficiently into the design of the building structure.

The examples are there. Whether we become a third world nation or not is beyond one county's control. How we fare as a community in regard to having access to affordable necessities and an acceptable standard of living – is still up to us. Our willingness to fore-go our cherished prejudices and ideologies and commit to harnessing our creativity, ingenuity and willingness to compromise – to benefit all our citizens—is the challenge.

My opinion? There are too many selfish stick-in-the-muds that will resist change at all costs to allow the fixes that must be made unless we find a way to force it down their throats!

Third World, brace yourselves, here we come!

James BlueWolf is a artist and author. He lives in Nice.

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