Anticipating a Transformative Future

First paragraphs: The core principle of this inspiring book is to spell out a compelling alternative to our cur¬rent industrial economy. As is becoming ever more evident, the mainstream industrial economy not only is destroying many of nature's ecosystem ser¬vices, but also is depleting many of our precious natural resources. Such destructiveness is part and parcel of the "endless growth" belief system that our industrial culture insists is the only path to progress. Thackara's global investigation points out that an alternative economy is not only possible but is already emerging throughout the world in the form of "bioregional" economies. These alternative economies rely on the regenerative resources of regional ecologies. The collaborators in such economies are likely to share a common awareness that "our lives are codependent with the plants, animals, air, water, and soils that surround us" (p. 9). Increasingly, participants in these bioregional economies find that they not only can survive but may even thrive. What is perhaps most inspiring is that while such transformations have long seemed unthinkable, they are actually happening now....