When President Obama and Pope Francis discuss how to help those who have thus far not benefited from global economic expansion, I hope they will first look at where those people are. The gap between rich and poor is primarily a gap between urban and rural.
Before I started farming, I had little idea that non-profits like Berkshire Grown existed all over the nation, supporting small farms in ways that, unfortunately, state and federal governments are currently not set up to do.
This historical amnesia is a dangerous mistake. It poisons our hearts with pessimism. It blinds us to the lessons and solutions we need. Most New Yorkers have no idea how prevalent poverty used to be -- or how their predecessors made it go away.
For Colombians brutally displaced during the war, there needs to be some justice and accountability for the violence that drove them from their homes. Without a degree of justice, there simply won't be the safety they need to return.
If the benefits of living in a city are diminished because the Internet brings access to the world to you, then why deal with the high real estate prices, traffic, crime, pollution and difficulty of living alongside millions of other people?
Tis the season when hope for peace runs high. The season when I renew my commitment to creating a better world, based in large measure on the experiences of villagers across the globe, like the ones I met in Chillipoi.
What was more terrible than the civil war of the 1980s and Hurricane Mitch, which ravaged the region in 1998? Tropical Depression 12-E, a storm that dropped more than five feet of water over ten days, forcing 60,000 people into shelters.
"New Markets" encourages private investments from corporations and individuals who might never consider buying into "high-risk areas." The cost to taxpayers have created nearly 500,000 jobs at a cost of less than $12,000 each.