I've read about a legendary meeting between Tesla and Westinghouse where Tesla showed W his free energy system to a cynical response: "How could we make money from this?" He couldn't, so a corner was turned and we headed down the road of energy dependency.

What if Westinghouse had shared Tesla's vision - free energy for all. ???

This was just one of many forks in the road throughout our human history where we have consistently chosen short term benefits for the few over long term benefits for the many. Those choices all put control over sharing.

How do power players stop making those lousy decisions? Only when something other than power profits becomes more important to them. "Don't hold your breath" I hear you warning and I agree. But, change has to start somewhere... how about with me?

What if I change my own priorities? That's a start. It's easy. I just think ahead before I act. "How ill this decision affect my great grandchildren?" That simple question seems to make decision making a whole lot easier.

For instance, I can get a bag of screws for $4.00 at Lowes. They cost $4.50 at my local ACE hardware. It costs some gas to get to Lowes but, more important, the extra 50 cents I pay at ACE goes towards salaries for neighbors. They can then spend more in my little town... it adds up.

So, I'm happy to pay more - not feeling that I am getting ripped off or losing, but that the extra is my investment in my local community. So, I start to see pricing differently. There is the cost of an item and then the investment in my local community. On that basis, I don't mind paying a little more because I like where it is going.

If enough of us thought this way and did it, actually redirected our buying power, that would begin to accrue a lot of value in our locally owned businesses and drain money away from the giants.

What if?