Name Change to Capitalism 3.0

I decided to change the name of our blog from The New Rural Economy to Capitalism 3.0: Developing a Humane Economy for the 21st Century. The reason for this change is that it occurred to me that New Ruralism is only one part of a vision for a more humane society.

We will still blog about New Ruralism and I hope that you will send me your articles, thoughts and suggestions. However, I would like us to think more about how we can work with other groups who share our ideals. One area that we can work on together is finance and economics.

Capitalism 3.0 was an idea developed by Peter Barnes. Peter’s idea is that we can protect the environment using free market solutions which respect both private property and property held in common. This approach reminded me of Wilhelm Roepke’s “third way”, which is why I subtitled the blog “Building a Humane Economy for the 21st Century”.

Wilhelm Roepke’s seminal book A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market outlines the economic means for protecting community life.  Of course, economics is not the only area of common interest we share with other like-minded people.  We have issues of aesthetics, community life and many other topics.

The name change is not carved in stone.  Please let me know if you approve of it and continue sending me suggestions about topics we need to discuss.