DOCSLIB.ORG

Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen CAPITAL HOMESTEADING For Every Citizen Copyright © 2004 Center for Economic and Social Justice Published by Economic Justice Media P.O. Box 40711, Washington, D.C. 20016, U.S.A. (Tel) 703-243-5155 • (Fax) 703-243-5935 (Eml) [email protected] • (Web) www.cesj.org All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the permission of the publisher and proper attribution. International Standard Book Number: 0-944997-00-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2003113509 First Edition Design, layout and illustrations by R.L. Brohawn CAPITAL HOMESTEADING For Every Citizen A Just Free Market Solution for Saving Social Security Norman G. Kurland • Dawn K. Brohawn • Michael D. Greaney © 2004 Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) Published by Economic Justice Media Updated and expanded from a report prepared by CESJ under a grant by the William H. Donner Foundation, December 2002. www.cesj.org “All men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” George Mason (“Father of the American Bill of Rights”) Article 1 of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted June 12, 1776 “Power naturally and necessarily follows property.” Daniel Webster Address, Massachusetts Convention, 1820 “I take it that it is best for all to leave each man free to acquire property as fast as he can. Some will get wealthy. I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good. So while we do not propose any war against capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else.” Abraham Lincoln Campaign Speech in New Haven, March 6, 1860 “Over one hundred years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. There was a wide distribution of land and they didn’t confiscate anyone’s already owned land. They did not take from those who owned and give to others who did not own. We need an Industrial Homestead Act.” Ronald Reagan Speech to the Young Americans for Freedom, July 1974 “Tax policy alone may not be adequate if expanded ownership is ever to become a reality. It seems to me that we will have to do something on a monetary side as well and I am speaking here in terms of using the government powers through the Federal Reserve Bank and others to see to it that loans are made available on more reasonable terms that help workers acquire capital.” Senator Russell B. Long (Longtime chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and political champion of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Keynote address at Harvard University, April 17, 1982 “[The challenge is] to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” Buckminster Fuller (Philosopher, world design scientist and inventor of the geodesic dome) Attributed to The World Game, mid-1970s CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xv INTRODUCTION xvii Flaws in the Foundation ................................................................................. xviii Social Security and Enron ................................................................................. xx Social Security and the Wealth Gap ................................................................. xxii Addressing the Social Security Problem from a Systems Perspective ............. xxii I. THE PROPOSAL IN BRIEF 1 A Capital Homesteading Solution for Social Security ......................................... 2 Re-Envisioning the Future of Social Security ..................................................... 3 How Would Capital Homesteading Work?...............................................................4 Insuring Minimum Social Security and Medicare Benefits ................................ 7 Capital Homestead Accounts (CHAs) vs. Personal Savings Accounts (PSAs) ..... 7 Genuine Social Security: Sharing in a Growing Economy .................................. 9 II. THE CONCEPT OF CAPITAL HOMESTEADING 11 The Historical Roots of Capital Homesteading ................................................. 11 Revisiting the Wisdom of George Mason and Abraham Lincoln ...................... 12 Support for Capital Homesteading .................................................................... 13 Obstacles to Capital Homesteading ................................................................... 14 A Free Market Way To Generate Mass Purchasing Power .................................. 16 Restoring Say’s Law of Markets ......................................................................... 18 The Systems Logic for Spreading Ownership Incomes ..................................... 20 The Four Pillars of a More Free and Just Market System: A New Policy Framework .................................................................................. 21 Universal Access to Capital Ownership (The Moral Omission) ........................................ 22 Limited Economic Power of the State ................................................................................ 23 Restoration of Free and Open Markets .............................................................................. 24 Restoration of Private Property ......................................................................................... 25 III. AN OVERVIEW OF CAPITAL HOMESTEADING 27 Component 1: Democratization of productive credit ....................................................... 27 Component 2: Simplification of tax systems .................................................................... 28 Component 3: Linkage of all tax and monetary reforms to the goal of expanded capital ownership ........................................................................ 28 viii CAPITAL HOMESTEADING FOR EVERY CITIZEN IV. POLICY OBJECTIVES OF CAPITAL HOMESTEADING 29 Promote Private Sector Growth Linked to Broadened Ownership ................................... 29 Save the Social Security System ......................................................................................... 29 Stimulate Maximum Growth, with a Balanced Budget and Zero Inflation Rate ............ 29 Stop Federal Reserve Monetization of Government Debt ................................................. 29 Stabilize the Value of the Currency .................................................................................... 30 Reduce Dependency on Past Savings for Financing Growth ............................................ 30 Establish a Tax System That is More Accountable to Taxpayers ...................................... 30 Discourage Monopolies and Monopolistic Ownership ...................................................... 30 Introduce a Market-Driven Wage and Price System ......................................................... 30 Restore Property Rights in Corporate Equity .................................................................... 31 Offer a More Just Social Contract for Workers ................................................................... 31 Encourage More Harmonious Industrial Relations .......................................................... 31 Downsize the Public Sector ................................................................................................ 31 Promote a Life-Enhancing Environment .......................................................................... 31 Initiate New Challenges for Multinationals ...................................................................... 32 Establish Workable Demonstrations of Capital Homesteading at the Community, State, Regional and Global Levels ...................................................... 32 Promote a New Global Monetary System .......................................................................... 32 V. BASIC VEHICLES FOR DEMOCRATIZING CAPITAL CREDIT 33 The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) ................................................... 33 The Capital Homesteading Account (CHA) ....................................................... 36 The Community Investment Corporation (CIC) ............................................... 36 The Customer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP) ................................................... 37 VI. SUPPORTING VEHICLES FOR FACILITATING CAPITAL HOMESTEAD LOANS 39 The FCCC: A New Type of “Fannie Mae” for Bundling Capital Homesteading Loans ....................................................... 39 The FCIC and CCRC: Managing Risk Through Capital Credit Insurance and Reinsurance ......................................... 40 Capital Portfolio Insurance................................................................................ 41 VII. REFORMING THE MONEY AND CREDIT SYSTEM 43 Capital Credit: A Better Way to Finance Private Sector Growth......................... 43 “Pure Credit”: Society’s Key for Freeing Economic Growth from Past Savings .... 44 Creating Money: The Role of the Federal Reserve System ................................ 47 An Untapped Source for Private Sector Growth ................................................ 50 Moving from a Debt-Backed to an Asset-Backed Currency .............................. 52 Why Focus on the Federal Reserve? .................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • GLC Newsletter2.Pdf
    The Good Life Center Newsletter Spring 2015 Simple Living, Sustainability, Intellectual Freedom Issue #2 OUR MISSION To uphold the legacy of Helen and Scott Nearing through preservation of the Historic Forest Farm Homestead and educational programs that teach skills in sustainable living, social justice, organic gardening and vegetarianism. Greetings from the Good Life Center! We hope you enjoy reading the second issue of our e newsletter. Featured articles include a tribute to the late Bill Coperthwaite by John Saltmarsh, a review by Jennifer Adams of the 1915 University of Pennsylvania firing of Scott Nearing, and Clark Pomerleau’s re-cap of the 2014 sixtieth anniversary of “Living the Good Life”. Please make a special note of the upcoming musical performance by Masanobu Ikemiya, on Sunday, August 23rd, at 3 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth to benefit the programs of the Good Life Center. Mr. Ikemiya will present his popular program "Classics to Ragtime" a piano recital with commentaries. Please get in touch if you would like to write an article or share a photo for the next issue. We welcome your feedback! Happy Spring! Greg Joly & Bob Jones, Co-Chairs OPENING DAY JUNE 18, 2015 The Good Life Center is open Thursdays through Mondays from 1 to 5 pm. For tours, individual appointments and group visits call 207. 374. 5386. Volunteers of all ages are welcome for garden, homestead maintenance and library tasks. Come visit us! ~~~ SUNDAY, JULY 26 IS OPEN FARM DAY ! 10AM – 5PM at Forest Farm Workshops ~ Special Events~ Tours of the Historic Gardens and Stone Buildings ~ Yummy Refreshments! A Maine Department of Agriculture Program.
    [Show full text]
  • Simple Living & Country Skills
    Simple Living & Country Skills SPECIAL COLLECTION • Choosing a Watchdog • Self-Sufficient 1-Acre Homestead • 75 Ways to Live on Less and Love It PHOTO BY: BRYAN WELCH Choosing and Training a Watchdog By Barbara Pleasant Make your pet a safe and loyal guardian. My home security system is large and Justice, 16 percent of American house- guard duty. Watchdogs look, listen and black—and she pants when it’s hot and holds were victims of property crime in bark to sound the alert that something sheds hair every spring. In return for 2003. Especially in rural areas, the theft unusual is happening in their territory. regular feeding, periodic veterinary care pattern goes like this: Thieves make a After that, humans take over. and grooming, I get a beloved compan- quick visit to a house or farm to check Dogs have performed this duty for ion that barks loudly when any strange for security, then return later to take thousands of years. In Tibet, the little vehicle enters my driveway. My dog also what they want. But a barking dog often Lhasa apso, called the “bark lion senti- chases opossums from my deck and rab- turns off potential burglars at the scout- nel dog,” was bred to work as an indoor bits from my garden. But mostly, my ing phase. watchdog. In Belgium, schipperkes watchdog makes me feel safe. It’s no surprise that, of the 68 million earned the nickname “little captain of I am not operating under an illusion: pet canines in the United States, most the boat” because of their work as ship According to the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Neo-Homesteading in the Adirondack North Country
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²([DPLQLQJ&XOWXUHDORQJWKH6XVWDLQDELOLW\&RQWLQXXP 7\SRORJLFDO$SSOLFDWLRQV $GGUHVVLQJWKH7\SRORJLFDO*DS (VWDEOLVKLQJ$FFXUDWH3URWR7\SRORJLHVWKURXJK3DUWLFLSDQW2EVHUYDWLRQ 7KH3DUWLFLSDQW2EVHUYDWLRQ,QWHUYLHZ3URFHVV &RGLQJ3DUWLFLSDQW2EVHUYDWLRQ,QWHUYLHZV 3DUWLFLSDQW2EVHUYDWLRQ,QWHUYLHZV²,QVLJKWVEH\RQG3URWR7\SRORJLHV 7KH(GXFDWHG$JULFXULRXV %DFNJURXQG6HULHV,QVLJKWV²7KH(GXFDWHG$JULFXULRXV 6RFLR3ROLWLFDO6HULHV,QVLJKWV²7KH(GXFDWHG$JULFXULRXV 3UDFWLFDO6HULHV,QVLJKWV²7KH(GXFDWHG$JULFXULRXV i (FRQRPLF6HULHV,QVLJKWV²7KH(GXFDWHG$JULFXULRXV
    [Show full text]
  • Living the Good Life with Helen and Scott Nearing
    LIVING THE GOOD LIFE WITH HELEN AND SCOTT NEARING http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=65710 Living The Good Life With Helen And Scott Nearing By the Mother Earth News editors Excerpted by permission from the book, Living the Good Life, copyright 1954 by Helen Nearing and published by the Social Science Institute, Harborside, Maine. This book is now published by Schocken and should be available in either hard cover or paperback from any good bookstore ... or in paperback only ($2.50) from Mother's Bookshelf. There's an old Spanish proverb which holds that, "The best revenge is to live well. " And if thats true, then Helen and Scott Nearing, (without ever having been vengeful at all) have had—and still have—the very best revenge of all. Because the Nearings have lived quite well indeed in all the ways that really matter. And they have done it entirely on their own terms and at their own pace. And they have done it far longer (Helen is 74 and Scott is 93) than most of their detractors ever have or ever will. The folks here in MOTHER's offices, of course, have long admired the Nearings' self-reliant, stand-up-for-what's-right, we'll-vote-with-our-lives way of living. As we said, in part, five years ago in our introduction to a Plowboy Interview with them (see The Plowboy Interview with Helen and Scott Nearing in MOTHER NO.11); Helen and Scott Nearing have been living today's counterculture for better than a generation.
    [Show full text]
  • Grounding the Counterculture: Post-Modernism, the Back-To- The-Land Movement, and Authentic Enviroments of Memory
    University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2013 Grounding The Counterculture: Post-Modernism, The Back-To- The-Land Movement, And Authentic Enviroments Of Memory Jonathan Bowdler University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Bowdler, Jonathan, "Grounding The Counterculture: Post-Modernism, The Back-To-The-Land Movement, And Authentic Enviroments Of Memory" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 629. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/629 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GROUNDING THE COUNTERCULTURE: POST-MODERNISM, THE BACK-TO-THE- LAND MOVEMENT, AND AUTHENTIC ENVIROMENTS OF MEMORY A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History The University of Mississippi by JONATHAN A. BOWDLER May 2013 Copyright Jonathan A. Bowdler 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This thesis will explore the regional and cultural dimensions of the Back-to-the-Land movement during the 1970s in an effort to move scholarship away from applying theoretical constructs such as post-modernism to diverse social movements. By drawing on the three main Back-to-the-Land publications, namely the Whole Earth Catalog, Mother Earth News, and the Foxfire books, this paper will demonstrate the varying impulses and regional nuances of the movement as well as the continuity and discontinuity of the back-to-nature tradition in America.
    [Show full text]
  • The Federal Subsistence Homesteads Program Philip M
    THE FEDERAL SUBSISTENCE HOMESTEADS PROGRAM PHILIP M. GLICKt FIVE days after the inauguration of the new Administration, Senator Bankhead of Alabama introduced into the Senate of the United States a bill' to make $400,000,000 available "to provide for the redistri- bution of the overbalance of population in industrial centers by aiding in the purchase of subsistence farms." On April 17, Mr. Bankhead in- troduced a second bill' which followed closely the form of the first, but which reduced the sum to be made available to $25,000,000, and, although the body of the bill still talked of "subsistence farms" the title now re- ferred to "subsistence homesteads." Neither bill became law. However, when the National Industrial Recovery Act3 was approved on June 16, 1933, it contained Section 208, under the heading: "Subsistence Home- steads," which reads isfollows: "To provide for aiding the redistribution of the overbalance of popula- tion in industrial centers $25,000,000 is hereby made available to the President, to be used by him through such agencies as he may establish and under such regulations as he may make, for making loans for and other- wise aiding in the purchase of subsistence homesteads. The moneys col- lected as repayment of said loans shall constitute a revolving fund to be administered as directed by the President for the purposes of this section." It is the purpose of this article to discuss the problems of a legal nature confronting the administrative officers charged with setting up the admin- istrative mechanisms and formulating the basic policies for effectuating the program thus defined.
    [Show full text]
  • A Beginners Guide for Young Farmers
    NORTHEAST BEGINNING FA RMER’S Beginners Guide for Yo A ung Far mers FIELD JOURNAL Acknowledgements Contributing Authors Publication Sponsors Illustrations & Design Hannah Bernhardt Beginning Farmer and Rancher Ginny Maki Michelle Podolec Development Program of the Christopher Kennedy Leonora Zoninsein National Institute of Food and Laura Cline Erica Frenay Agriculture Brooke Budner Christopher Kennedy Severine von Tscharner Fleming Publication Partners Jenn Su Jeff Perry The Northeast Beginning Farmer Dr. Travis Park Project hosted by the Cornell Small Robyn Stewart Farms Program at Cornell University The Greenhorns FIELD JOURNAL Serve Your Country Food There’s currently a movement underfoot! A recent groundswell of young farmers are fostering an agricultural movement with farmers who have worked the land for generations. With this underway, our government is recognizing the need for more young farmers and implementing programs to encourage them, while organizations are offering support networks, training opportunities, and resources to help them get started. The Greenhorns and the Northeast Beginning Farmers Project are two examples of such organizations and have joined together to create the Field Journal. This project was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2009- 49400-05878. Project Partners The Greenhorns is a non-profit organization whose The Northeast Beginning Farmer Project mission is to recruit, support, and promote young and provides support for new and diversifying farmers beginning farmers in America. “The Greenhorns” is and is hosted by the Cornell Small Farms Program also the title of their documentary film, which explores at Cornell University, a land-grant institution.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond No Fracking: an Anthropological Study of Individuals
    Eastern Kentucky University Encompass EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates 2018 Undergraduate Research Award Submissions Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles in Eastern Kentucky Meg Carter Eastern Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/ugra Recommended Citation Carter, Meg, "Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles in Eastern Kentucky" (2018). EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates. 3. https://encompass.eku.edu/ugra/2018/2018/3 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in EKU Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eastern Kentucky University Encompass Honors Theses Student Scholarship Fall 12-11-2017 Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles in Eastern Kentucky Meg Carter Eastern Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses Recommended Citation Carter, Meg, "Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles in Eastern Kentucky" (2017). Honors Theses. 461. https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses/461 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eastern Kentucky University Beyond No Fracking: An Anthropological Study of Individuals Pursuing Sustainable Lifestyles in Eastern Kentucky Honors Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements of HON 420 Fall 2017 By Meg Carter Faculty Mentor Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Land and Power: Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans
    Land Power& Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans A collection of essays from the 2007 Black Environmental Thought conference edited by Jeffrey L. Jordan Edward Pennick Walter A. Hill Robert Zabawa Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Land Power& Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans A collection of essays from the 2007 Black Environmental Thought Conference Edited by Jeffrey L. Jordan, Edward Pennick, Walter A. Hill, and Robert Zabawa First Edition Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. DepartmentAbout SAREof Agriculture SARE is a grant making and outreach program. Its mission is to advance—to the whole of American agriculture—innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. For more information about SARE’s grant making program and information products, visit www.sare.org or contact: SARE Outreach Associate 10300 Baltimore Ave., BARC, Bldg. 046 Beltsville, MD 20705 [email protected] (301) 504-5236 SARE Regions North Central Alaska Northeast West Guam CNMI South FSM Hawaii AS USVI PR Size and placement not to scale SARE’s four regional offices and outreach office work to advance sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture. 155 This book was published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program under cooperative agreements with USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, University of Maryland and University of Vermont. Online: Visit www.sare.org. By check or purchase order: Make payable to Sustainable Agriculture Publications and send to Sustainable Agriculture Publications P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • The Land Movements
    A sample entry from the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (London & New York: Continuum, 2005) Edited by Bron Taylor © 2005 All Rights Reserved B Back to the Land Movements retreat to the woods was temporary, he was the first influential thinker and writer to advocate (and enact) a American “back to the land” movements and practices retreat to the woods as being itself a form of spiritual refor- span the historical period of the mid-nineteenth century to mation. Prior to Thoreau’s experiment at Walden, Ameri- the present, with notable peak periods occurring at the can Christian thinkers had seen pastoral and wilderness turn of the century, from the late 1920s through the settings as appropriate contexts for direct, personal experi- Depression, after World War II (particularly in the late ence of the divine presence (although the leaders of Chris- 1960s and early 1970s) and again in the mid-1990s. The tian institutions emphasized that private retreat into the significance of these activities (often too diverse and indi- woods should not replace the communal, public hearing of vidualistic properly to be termed “movements”) is best the Word in official church meeting-places). Thoreau was understood, first, in terms of a broader history of the the first known writer, however, to make a post-Christian cultural construction of nature that bears briefly noting. argument in favor of dwelling close to the land as an alternative to both the social and religious conventions of Intellectual History his day. In Thoreau’s reading (and experience) of nature, The idea that a pastoral or wilderness setting can serve as nature is no longer a setting or metaphor for Christian a morally purifying force is an ancient one.
    [Show full text]
  • Choices to Say This Is a Book About
    ...................................... INTRODUCTION Some keep the Sabbath going to church; I keep it staying at home. Emily Dickinson The center of life routine is surrounded by a circumference of choice. Helen and Scott Nearing, Living the Good Life Choices To say this is a book about American religion is—to borrow a phrase from Emily Dickinson—to tell the truth but “tell it slant.” It is a book about choices and ne- gotiating the circumference of choice. It is a book about people who have cho- sen to be self-conscious about their lives and to shape life with less attention to economic livelihood and more attention to living itself. The problem of living, of course, is ultimately wrapped up in the problem of meaning, the question of how to render one’s life experiences meaningful and meaning filled. For some, this is a philosophical question; for many, it is also a religious and spiritual one. The problem of meaning and the problem of living are seldom defined or en- acted in the same way. In the early 1930s, the socialist Scott Nearing faced the dilemma of being a public intellectual whose political and antiwar views had caused him to be blacklisted by universities and publishing houses. In the 1920s, Ralph Borsodi fled his job as an advertising executive for Macy’s and sought to bring the United States out of impending “material barbarism.”1 More recently, Wendell Berry sampled and then rejected a literary life in New York, San Francisco, and Paris, choosing, in 1965, to return home to Kentucky and to daily labor as a farmer and writer.
    [Show full text]
  • Scott and Helen Nearing's Impact on Maine's Natural Food Revival
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Maine Maine History Volume 48 Number 2 Article 3 7-1-2014 Radical Teaching: Scott and Helen Nearing’s Impact on Maine’s Natural Food Revival Erik Gray Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryjournal Part of the Environmental Education Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Gray, Erik. "Radical Teaching: Scott and Helen Nearing’s Impact on Maine’s Natural Food Revival." Maine History 48, 2 (2014): 267-284. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryjournal/vol48/ iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RADICAL TEACHING: SCOTT AND HELEN NEARING’S IMPACT ON MAINE’S NATURAL FOOD REVIVAL ERIK GRAY Though today sustainable living and locally sourced food receive in - creased attention nationwide, these ideas have been important in Maine for several decades. A key part of the state’s agricultural history is a tra - dition of self-sustaining homesteads. While subsistence farming and self- sufficiency was often a necessity on Maine’s northeastern frontier, home - steading has remained a lifestyle chosen by many of the state’s residents to this day. In this article, the author discusses the legacy of Scott and Helen Nearing, focusing particularly on the couple’s contributions to the “back to the land” movement in Maine and beyond.
    [Show full text]