The following are excerpts from Wendell Berry’s essay “Thoughts in the Presence of Fear,” published in 2001 in reaction to the tragedy of 9/11 and its aftermath.  Nine years later, his “thoughts” still ring true.

XXIV.  Starting with the economies of food and farming, we should promote at home and encourage abroad the ideal of local self-sufficiency.  We should recognize that this is the surest, the safest, and the cheapest way for the world to live.  We should not countenance the loss or destruction of any local capacity to produce necessary goods.

XXV.  We should reconsider and renew and extend our efforts to protect the natural foundations of the human economy: soil, water, and air.  We should protect every intact ecosystem and watershed that we have left, and begin restoration of those that have been damaged.

…

XXVII.  The first thing we must begin to teach our children (and learn ourselves) is that we cannot spend and consume endlessly.  We have got to learn to save and conserve.  We do need a “new economy,” but one that is founded on thrift and care, on saving and conserving, not on excess and waste.  An economy based on waste is inherently and hopelessly violent, and war is its inevitable byproduct.  We need a peaceable economy.

(2001)

You can read all of Wendell Berry’s “Thoughts” in his book “Citizenship Papers” published by  Shoemaker and Hoard.