Page 8 RAIN Dec 1975 EDUCATION continued from page 7 School Library Journal R.R. Bowker Co. , . 1180 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 We may find a way eventually to review more materials for schools (any volunteers?), but we feel rather swamped/lost for now. If you -mted access to a broad spectrum of materials, look through the • Journal. Basically same structure as Library journal and Publisher's Weekly -a nationwide network of revie 1 wers from schools and libraries in paragraph size reviews of books, audio visual, curriculum materials. $10.80/yr. For good 'introduction to teacher stuff, see Seed Catalog ih this issue. • .~NERGY The Best Present_ofAll, by Oliver Houck, 15ct each frQm: ) The National Wildlife Federation 1412 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 The best elementary school level story of the best present-Energy-from various sources, such as: Mr. Gas and Mr. Oil, Mr. Coal, Mr. Atom, General Water, Mr. Geothermal, and Ms. Sun. One of many "Ranger Rick" nature• magazine reprints, this one is colorfully illustrated with lively writing to explain energy resource facts and explore their meaning in ways that maintain one's interest. Well-balanced presentations of advantages/disadvantages of each energy source .are presented. Development ofan Ene-rgy Information Retrieval System, by Donald Mazziotti and Ilene Wright, Nov. 1975 Single copies $5.00 from:· Portland Planning Bureau Library 424 S.W. Main • Portland, OR 97204 503-248-425 3 A good, useful attempt at using simple and inexpensive methods-optical coincidence retrieval (OCR)-to keep track of energy-related publications in such a way that small towns and cities can afford and manage (i.e., non-computerized). This first product of the·Portland Energy Conservation Project is an excellent example of appropriate technology which bows ~o human nature as represented by the ubiquitous KISS • rule ... "Keep it simple, stupid!" Yet it is one level more sophisticated than - your usual key-sort card system. Continued on page 10 DeKorne's Survival-Greenhouse The Survival Greenhouse: An EcoSystem Approach to Home Food Production, by Jim DeKorne, $7.50 from: The Walden Foundation P.O. Box 5 , El Rito, N.M. 87530 Last issue we promised you more on Jim DeKorne's long-awaited book, The Survival Greenhouse. In 150 pages, 30 ,drawings and charts, and 20 photos, the detail of an integrated solar, wind, fishfarming, rabbit-growing, organic hydroponic greenhouse are explained by the designer-builder. This is the kind of work that needs to _be done and widely shared. We highly recommend Jim's first publishing effort and hope to be able to share his fuq1re efforts with you. The following are excerpts from the introduction to Jim's book. Communism, invented to counter the inhumane excesses of the 19th century capitalist "robber baron," is no improvement, s_ince it only replaces one form ·of tyranny with another in its cynical (though coldbloodedly pragmatic) assumption that moral individualism is impossible. Capitalism insists on the individual's "right" to be a predator. Communism, in .correctly curbing this "right," insists that the individual cease being an individual entirely. (The choice between being eaten alive by a lion or by a million fire ants is not much of,a choice.) In addition, communism is essentially "people's capitalism"-and, as an economic system, it is not inherently more "ecological" or less damaging to nat~ral systems than capitalism is, though because of its totalitarian nature it could conceivably enforce ecologically sound P.ractices. Neither system is adequate to cope with the real problems we face. What the world needs desperately is a philosophy of natural economics. Both the words ecology and economy have the same root and, if one meditates long e,nough on· the meaning of each, it becomes obvious that they are in a very real sense synonyms. What the world has now is an economy of consumption, not an economy of conservation, and in capitalism and communism we have two economic dinosaurs struggling for control of a technological tar pit. History may yet prove that high technology has negative survival value for any civilization which embraces it ... . The Decentrali;t ideal of a civilization made up of autonomous agrarian communities is often advocated as a solution to our present problems, but what would it be like in actuality? Without some form of centralized control, it is not difficult to imagine the emergence of a pet 1 ty provincialism not unlike·the feqdal system of the Middle 'Ages: Oakland makes raids on San Francisco; the Duke of Chicago begins machinations for an alliance of all the Great Lakes fiefdoms to declare war against Cleveland; Arizona and New Mexico agree to cooperate in a scheme to exact tribute from all those who wish to travel and trade between Texas and California. While the examples are exaggerated, it is not difficult to imagine the problems a decentralized society would engender.
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