Book Offers New 'Soft' World Paradigm to Counter Friedman's Old 'Flat' World

BOSTON, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In his new book, Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream, William Powers, journalist, author, and global development specialist, recounts his season living in a 12-foot-square cabin off the grid in the North Carolina woods. His retreat from our "flat," corporatized economy led him to a new "soft" world paradigm that can correct society's imbalances.

In his bestselling book, The World is Flat, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman observed that technologies are breaking down hierarchies. Now companies outsource jobs overseas; people compete on equal footing on a globalized economic playing field. According to an optimistic Friedman, world capitalism, guided by government incentives, will save us from environmental collapse through clean technologies.

The "flat" metaphor," says Powers, "suggests a dark truth about the twenty-first century: the world has hit a flat note. Industrial agriculture creates a flat taste, and multinational corporations flatten our uniqueness into homo economicus serving a OneWorld ™ Uniplanet. Rainforests are flattened for cattle pastures; a living ocean is flattened by overfishing; vibrant cultures are steamrolled to extinction."

While living in his 12x12, Powers met pioneers of a new way of life. He calls these people "wildcrafters." Powers describes how wildcrafters are quietly creating a new, viable, durable vision of American and global citizenry.

"These people's spirits," says Powers, "nourished me as I hoed the rows at the 12x12's garden: permaculturists, biodiesel brewers, beekeepers, spiritual teachers, and so on. They shape their worlds to the flow of nature, rather than molding the natural world to fit the industrial world. Wildcrafters leave a small ecological footprint. They don't conform to any outward program, manifesto, or organized group, they inhabit the rebel territory beyond the 'flat.'"

Living with these pioneers led Powers to conceive of a new paradigm of a "soft" world. The soft world is what is being steamrollered by the flat world: the uniqueness and creativity of individuals and local communities; a well-rounded biosphere; a creative, collective imagination about what comprises happiness. Soft world thinking, according to Powers, sees new possibilities.

"Farmers' markets," says Powers, "are an emerging social contract between twenty-first-century producers and consumers. The number of farmers' markets in the United States has more than doubled, from 1,700 in 1994 to 4,300 in 2006. They provide a lot more than food. They heal the edges of our uber-industrialized economy, allowing a less chemical- and fossil fuel-intensive economy to flourish. Most importantly, they heal our spirits, because if something pays, it stays, and by shopping there you vote for a kind of independence: the right to farm."

For more information go to www.williampowersbooks.com.

CONTACT:  Dan O'Connell, Dan O'Connell Media, +1-617-480-6585, [email protected]

SOURCE Dan O'Connell Media