Cohousing-L Mailing List: FREE 432-PAGE DIRECTORY/READER to C'-L MEMBERS

[Sandi Brockway (brockway]

I am a graduate of the Art Strike and a BA in the Social Sciences, minor
Psychology and Film. In leiu of honoring the Art Strike of 1990 and a massive
authenticity crisis I started a project called Macrocosm USA which is now a
nonprofit organization. I maintain a database of over 6000 groups and other
progressive interests. I also published a handbook.

I will send the first 12 respondents from COHOUSING-L a FREE REVIEW COPY 
of the handbook and a press packet if, in 100 words or less, you can 
convince me you will make good use out of it. Sort of a contest!

I beleive Jerry Brown first called us his "secret weapon", but now we have
become the secret weapon of lots of journalists and magazines, for example, 
The Nation, Lies of Our Times, AlterNet, Co-op America, etc. Utne finally 
did a review almost one year after we sent the review copy, though Mr. Utne 
called us one night personally upon first getting it. He must have forgotten 
to take it back to the office! Who is going to hear about us if we are a 
"best kept secret?" We are a very small nonprofit, volunteer organization 
who relies on database and book sales. Our purpose is to reach the college 
and library market in particular. We have been favorably reviewed by Utne 
Reader, The New Millineum Whole Earth Catalog, Village Voice, and many 
others. I was recently told via phone call that it was named one of the 
top twenty censored books for 1994 by Project Censored. 

Our handbook is an interdisciplinary reader and directory. 5000+
organizations, periodicals, etc. listed, 14 chapters, 200 articles. All with
an "ecopsychological" slant, wholistic, solutions-oriented, and
demonstrating inconnectedness of issues. We have no big names attached to
us, no big money. I started it in 1989. The book was published December
1992. It is a powerful resource guide. I edited and compiled it. Foreword by
Marilyn Ferguson, Preface by Donella Meadows. Utne called it a large Utne
Reader, but all with an ecological slant. Six long years of my sweat and
hard earned cash. Hoped it would get into college and library markets, but
being self publisher is hard. Someone burned us down two months after the
book was published as well. With Newt's newly found power it is essential
this info gets around to the right people. Brown used our database in 92 and
held us responsible for his winning in 3-4 states, which ultimately, so his
staff people say, led to Al Gore being appointed. It can be a powerful ally
for activists, students, educators, and decision-makers. Our organization 
supplied tour guides to his staff early in his campaign (this was before our
nonprofit status).

I think the faster we can influence the media and the educational sytem the
better for this progressive tranformation and transition to take effect. Can
you believe the media blitz caused by the OJ Simpson crap? And now with Newt
we are faced with going back even further, as if 12 years of Reagan-Bush was
not enough.

Our book was designed to find solutions for teachers, activists,students,
decision-makers, journalists and many others. It is a handbook for those who
are not afraid of responsibilty or wholistic approaches. Our database is
also available, and we are working towards getting it online in some form.
Excalibur, the Windows-based BBS we are beta testing, is due to have a
database module soon.

We have an updated supplement due to be out in the Fall. We are all
volunteer and have no grant money yet. We rely on the sale of the book and
database. I am willing to run any kind of promotional to get it out there,
like maybe giving away the book to the first 100 that do something, in order
to draw attention to something we hope to get on the Net, like our
newsletter, or a form for orgs to fill out for our database and directory? I
am working on web pages now, but its like a whole new thing for me to learn
as well as straightening our three years of screwed up books on MYOB so we
can present a decent budget report and apply for grant money!

What is the best way to use the Net in order to get this book to the library
and college markets? I am designing up Web Pages now, but I am having to
learn it myself so it could take time. Does anyone at Progressive
Soicologist have time or inkling to maintain a small newsletter on line. So
far links to EcoNet and Project Censored look possible, and maybe ZNet. I
think The Nation has something online. They already traded me $700 worth of
ads for our database, they still owe me. I thought as an initial offering I
would give away books to the first 50 libraries, educatiors, or nonprofits
to apply, then for a limited time offer 500 books for $12 tax deductible
donation.

We have a BBS project, MacroNet, as well. We are beta testing a
Windows-based BBS called Excalibur. As well, I am learning to design Web
pages with Internet Assistant right now.

I guess we qualify as one of your persecuted environmentalists. A month
after the book was published my partner and I woke up to flames all around
us. Arson. We were lucky, exploding propane cans in the basement woke us up.
10 days later, the day of or before the inauguration, they torched the rest
of the place and we went into hiding. Did not I hear a story about, was it
Pat Costner with Greenpeace, a woman who kept a library, was also burned to
the ground? I just heard Corrine McLaughlin, who wrote Builders Of the Dawn,
just finished Spiritual Politics, was torched. 

It would be interesting to get a list of all the burn victims and some
background on them. As, for instance, I used to be a very visible member of
CISPES and Abalone Alliance. The year we were burned we were in contact
frequently with many radical groups, such as Christic and Meikeljohn, who
both also, that same year had all their computer equipment stolen. A faction
of Sane in SF about a year or two ago had all their computer equipment stolen. 

There is a new org, Global Response, that is attempting to be a reservior
for this sort of info on environmentalists globally. I wish they had more
going on the Net right now. I think they have a very good idea. The Net
provides a good reservoir for being a watchdog and whistleblower so to
speak. I don't think it is always "government" conspiracies behind sabotage
though. In many cases it is just nut cases, paramilitary libertarian fringe
groups, and corporate interests. 

It is very surprising that most people in general are very resistant to 
any progressive social change, even many people who talk about it a lot! 
So when someone really walks their talk, a rare thing indeed, everyone 
comes unglued. It is a threat on very many levels. As Christopher Lasch 
point our, most people are very lazy and narcissistic, and
competitiveness encourages jealousy and resentment. Responsibility is a
scary thing. Hell, look what happened to Christ!!! (As for Christ, I also think 
of him as a feminist and socialist. Speaking of Marxism and religion, has
anyone seen THE MISSION or ROMERO, back to back they are great! Is there
room for any dicussion like this in this exchange? Di you understand the 
system they devloped in THE MISSION?)

Please let me know if you would like me to send you a review copy and a
press packet. The 64-page update supplement to MACROCOSM USA, POSSIBILITIES
FOR A NEW PROGRESSIVE ERA... is due out this Fall, if all goes well. 

We also have a database used by many prominent organizations of over 6500
orgs, etc. at this time. I can send a sampler disk on request, with book. 

I also am working on a Air Base Conversion Project. We want to develop it
into an educational center that demonstrates sustainable living models, with
its ultimate goal to get off the grid and even the present monetary system
by using models promoted by the E.F. Schumacker Society. Cohousing would be 
ideal.


With affinity,

Sandi
Editor/MACROCOSM USA
President/Macrocosm USA, Inc.


brockway [at] macronet.org