Good Book

I recommend reading Bill McKibben's latest book, Deep Economy. I picked it up last week at my local bookstore and couldn't put it down until I finished. McKibben's basic premise is that we've passed the point in the West where more no longer equals better and growth is not necessarily good. He rather convincingly argues that economic growth isn't improving the lives of most people, is causing our economy to bump into the physical limits of our ecosystem with potentially catastrophic results, and that more wealth doesn't actually make us happier any more (how many IPods do you really need?). His solution involves shifting the measure of our societal/economic well-being away from things like GDP and growth and begin focusing instead on real quality of life through economies operating on a much smaller, more local scale within our communities.

All this and more coming from a Methodist Sunday school teacher from Vermont.
Go pick up a copy or better yet, borrow mine. You'll be glad you did.