Alt Text

Cultural Strength

text

Alt Text

Title Principles

text

Alt Text

Local Music

text

Alt Text

Local Food

There is, and rightfully so, much concern about GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) which are found throughout the industrial food chain. They are necessary to industry for several reasons, including the fact that because the industrial food chain depends on insanely low wages to deliver food at everyday low prices, hand-tended food like most fruits and vegetables cannot be grown nearby in countries with minimum wage laws. So a tomato coming from Panama to Pennsylvania must be genetically modified to be tough enough that it can be jostled around in the back of a refrigerated truck for several weeks without turning into red mush. Never mind the fact that it tastes more like moist wood fiber than an actual tomato. Local food, on the other hand, need not touch the industrial food chain because it comes from nearby, so the local tomatoes can be heirloom varieties which have been delicious in these parts since at least your great-grandparents' day. And because many people value tend to value delicious over cheap and tasteless, those local farmers who never touch the industrial food chain can actually earn a fair wage because the dollars spent by those enjoying the fruits of their work mostly don't leave town.

Alt Text

Local Craft

There are always great stories behind local craft, making it every bit as much of the culture of a place as the music, food, or art. This fellow came to Belize as a US expat hippie musician in the 1960s, but whenever one of his instruments broke, there was nobody nearby to fix it. Rather than shipping them off and being unable to play until they returned, he decided to start learning how to repair them himself. It wasn't long until word got around, and all the musicians on Ambergris Caye started coming to him. For decades now, his craft has grown and his fame has followed, so that he is now widely sought out by musicians across the region.
Craft as a foundation of culture gains strength from its art, but also from its necessity. In this case, the necessity of having instruments in working order to entertain both the locals and the travelers. Someone local who is able to meet that need with skill, art, and a great story is incomparably better than buying a repair or a new instrument online.

Alt Text

Local Art

text

Alt Text

Local Environment

We are as much peoples of where we are as we are peoples of what we do. Mountain people. People of the plains. River people. People of the seaside. Especially when the local environment isn't always friendly. Like the volcano in the background here, or on a coast frequented by hurricanes. It takes a special culture to live in a place where great beauty can occasionally turn deadly.

Alt Text

What of Popular Culture?

As much as some of my hardcore traditionalist colleagues might like to think otherwise, we cannot pretend that popular culture does not exist. The proper question is one of balance. Post-World War II, American culture became arguably as homogenous as in any nation that large in world history. The American Top 40 dominated the airwaves. On TV, you had a choice of three channels, and hot dogs, hamburgers, and apple pie became national icons.

Alt Text

Principle

text

Alt Text

Title Conditions

text

Alt Text

Condition

text

Alt Text

Condition

text

Alt Text

Condition

text

Alt Text

Title Tools

text

Alt Text

Tool

text

Alt Text

Tool

text

Alt Text

Tool

text

Tales & Tools

These ideas support the Cultural Strength foundation of the Original Green. The Tales are on Original Green Stories, while the Tools are in Original Green Resources. Several of these ideas support other foundations as well, so you'll see them listed wherever appropriate.

Search the Original Green Site
Buy the Original Green book on Amazon
Stacks Image 392_4_56
Rather Buy Indie?

Contact Sundog Books at Seaside, which is our favorite bookstore ever!

Speaking

I speak on the Original Green across the US and abroad. Would you like for me to speak (via Zoom these days) at your next event?

Stacks Image 392_4_53
Got an idea?

If you have an idea for a story, or know about work we need to feature...

Subscribe

... to receive periodic Original Green news releases. Here's our full Privacy Policy, where you'll see that we will not share your info with anyone else, nor will we sell it to anyone. All three fields required.


Share
Follow
Home
Origins
Foundations
Nourishable Accessible Serviceable Securable Lovable Durable Adaptable Frugal Education Economy Culture Wellness
Resources
Original Green Scorecard Initiatives Presentations Reading List Quotes Links Tweetroll
Stories
OGTV
Media Room
Bios Press Speaking

© 2021 Mouzon Design, Inc.