Last Exploration: Jared Gandelot

I enjoyed reading "The Idea of a Local Economy"; I liked how Berry broke down the "environmental crisis" from a socio-economic one, to one that can only be solved by individuals and their communities. On page 14, Berry explains that the issue at hand can only be solved if people take responsibility back from the corporation that are doing no good, for humanity and the environment.

   "If people began the effort to take back into their own power a significant portion of their economic responsibility, then their inevitable first discovery is that the "environmental crisis" is no such thing; it is not a crisis of our environs or surroundings; it is a crisis of our lives as individuals, as family members, as community members and as citizens."

I agree with him on the fact that it is a crisis of the individual, I don't agree on how he uses quotations around environmental crisis. I understand he is trying to make a point but I feel like he is ignoring the seriousness of  the issue. As he continues he list the assumptions of a "free market", I like how he states all of the problems before giving his solution. The  clarity in his writing is what makes this essay so readable.
I liked how Alan used the sheep and shepherd metaphor to explain how the free market is dangerous. "...the global economy is shepherding people into a system that is hurting the world and those that run it are stuck in an unending loop that they may want to get out of, but have no way of doing so."

One issue that I feel does not get talked about enough is the rate at which species around the world are going extinct. We are witnessing a mass extinction caused by our need of and consumption of natural resources. The current extinction levels are 114 times higher than natural levels. Levels that high have not been seen for 65 million years, that was when the dinosaurs went extinct. There is hope though, if radical changes are made to the way we live and conservation efforts grow exponentially we can slow it down. If nothing is done we will "sink with the ship", last time I checked, Earth doesn't have a life boat.