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Nov 30, 2008

"The have-nots can be out of sight and even out of mind, but they breathe the same air, drink from the same scant supply of fresh water, and birth children who will grow up to work with our children to finish the job we've barely started; they will have to find a way for ALL of us to live well within the Earth's means." --Vicki Robin

The Good Life For $5000 a Year

Most people monitoring the current fiscal crisis are fixated on what they could lose. Vermonter Jim Merkel is focused on what everyone could gain. After the 1989 oil spill, Jim set out on a mission to radically simplify his life. "There I was," Merkel recalls in his book, "a jet-set military salesman who voted for Reagan by day, and a bleeding-heart pacifist, eco-veggie-head-hooligan by night." After years of experiments, he crafted a sustainable life for a mere $5000 a year. And now, he's sharing his learnings with anyone who cares to simplify their life.