Participatory economics, often abbreviated parecon, is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the production, consumption and allocation of resources in a given society. Proposed as an alternative to contemporary capitalistmarket economies and also an alternative to centrally planned socialism or coordinatorism, it is described as “an anarchistic economic vision”,[1] and it could be considered a form of socialism as under parecon, the means of production [...]

“Brothers and Sisters: Humanity lives in the breast every one of us, and, like the heart, prefers the left side. We need to find her; we need to find ourselves. There is no need to conquer the world. It is enough that we make it again. We. Today.” – Zapatistas

The Common Root 09 is three weeks away. There is still plenty of room for registrations. This is a labor of love: we’ve worked hard to get great speakers and workshop leaders to come help us to pursue the shalom of Christ in the shadow of empire. We’ve kept costs as low as possible so that individuals and [...]

  “Power can be used for any purpose, but non-violence and the power of of justice can serve only justice.” “… the future must be a future of non-violence, or else there will be no future.” “…peace, strength and joy.”     Lanza del Vasto, (Giuseppe Giovanni Luigi Enrico Lanza di Trabia), (September 29, 1901 – January 5,1981) [...]

The Mustard Seed Associates team is putting together an Alternative Calendar for 2009, and we want you to be part of it. We would like to highlight ways to celebrate the ordinary events of life–not emphasizing the negative but the positive–and giving them a Christian focus. We want to express and celebrate creativity and move beyond the consumer-oriented [...]