The very cold continues outside and makes it hard to germinate new seeds in the sunroom inside. Also it slows the growth of the present plants. Next year I definitely need to investigate some type of solar heat for the sunroom to I can keep it warm in very cold periods without a terrible electric bill. The small heater I now employ is not meant for such long consistent cold periods.

Many of us enjoy warm houses to live in and do not worry about choosing between heat cost, food or phone service. Although utility companies cannot turn off your heat in winter, they can in the spring if you do not pay the bills. Also the electric bill seems to climb and climb. We have switched to energy saving bulbs and do not leave any more lights on than normal but the bill still climbs these dark cold winter nights.

With the growing unemployment it does seem, like our president says, things will get worse before they are better. I am blessed to not be looking for a job at this time and to have regular income from wife’s work and my past savings to go with social security.

In India I found sustainable communities not greatly affected by the worldwide economic depression. In America there is a small group not affected by the economic downturn but it is not because of sustainability. It is the .1 percent of Americans that enjoy a “free lunch” at the expense of the 99.9 percent of the rest of us. This is the premise of David Kay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the New York Times, in his book: “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill).” Although the book has been around for a while I doubt if you, like I till the other day, have heard about it or will hear about it in the future.

I happened to catch the author who was briefly on a very late night television show on PBS. He reported how all the money spent on persons in need is carefully recorded and accounted for but how the vast amounts of money that flow up to the very rich are not. Through painstakingly research he uncovered what some would call ‘corporate welfare’ and he called “socialism for the rich.” Of course there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch’ so we, the 99.9 percent pay dearly for the greed of the .1 percent.

This book gives new meaning to the old phrase: “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Gandhi said: “Earth has enough for the needs of everyone but not the greed of anyone.” There is no free lunch, and it is up to us to turn the present system of wealth flowing from the 99.9 percent up to .1 percent upside down.

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