With a respectful tip of the hat in honor of activist Zilphia Horton, the title of this episode speaks to how one might harness an ember's kinetic potential, use its heat to rekindle the hearth, and its light to serve as a beacon, so others might find a way home, within a spirit of forgiveness and redemption.

While the original hymn proclaimed "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!," within this anti-fragile model, the "me" is transformed into "we."

Ruth and Kent are creating an Anti-Fragile Playbook; a step-by-step guide for those seeking to deliver a self-funded economic revival that addresses the root causes of generational poverty and trauma.

An anti-fragile system benefits from hardship and stress, which means the model improves even as things become worse, and in this podcast series it's been discussed how a step-by-step plan has been defined (following the Community Activation and Launch Methodology as a baseline framework) for igniting a rooted community activation that thrives in the context of difficulty.

Examples include:

- intentionally source and activate existing local leadership (rather than rely upon "experts" from outside the community)

- educate community members as "kitchen table capitalists" or "household entrepreneurs," optimizing productive capacity to tapping into existing fonts of great creative potential

- identify and activate soft capitals like time, attention, relationship, trust and wisdom for stronger communities - the foundation of any thriving gift economy)

- promote a philosophy of inclusivity for all, such as the economically disadvantaged, explicitly the houseless, single parents and the racially diverse, through a philosophy of otherhood to brotherhood

- promoting locally-sourced food and nutritional educational opportunities for expanding health as wealth

Because the authors of the AntiFragile Playbook are using themselves as test subjects, (igniting and launching a pilot community), the Anti-Fragile Playbook is continuing its continued evolution and improvement, and consistent with the Anti-Fragile Playbook: one activist became two, and soon afterwards were joined by a third to create a sustained grass-roots advocacy.

As the three (Ruth, Trudy, and Kent) continued to synthesize the model, they found that they've irresistibly attracted two additional persons (as well as a growing number of client communities), and so the "administrative committee" now numbers five, all serving as peers.

In this discussion, Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren share their direct experience with this "point of inflection" (from three to five), referencing various pertinent examples from adjacent domains, such as activism, parenting, management, and mentorship.

Ruth and Kent discuss how to curate an authentic sense of ownership, shared attribution, and stewardship, through a nuanced and subtle application of wisdom, and provide examples of why Ruth, Trudy, and Kent invest so deeply in broadening and deepening an investment among those typically described as the elderly: the value of wisdom capital is transcendent to that of ordinary money.

The Gordian Knot is a legend associated with Alexander the Great, and is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem solved by finding an approach to the problem that renders moot the problem's perceived constraints.

Legend holds that Alexander the Great "solved" the knot by simply using his sword to cut it, and for generations and as it pertains to execution, the use of kinetic violence has passed for wisdom, typically the bigger the better.

But what if there were such a thing as a knot made of a material that resists cutting?

And what if the knot itself were contrived in such a manner that attempts to sever its cords through violent means only made it stronger?

Finally, how do we solve this "knot" while juggling all the other things in our already busy lives? Kids, families, work, personal life, etc? 

Discussed: how does one fix a truck while it continues driving, so to speak?

In this discussion, Ruth Glendinning (Founder, Future Story Lab) and Kent Dahlgren (CEO, 214 Alpha) describe a third way, rooted in real-world examples, and deliver an easy-to-remember recipe for high-functioning "holons" (small, autonomous teams), using language widely understood across industries, domains, and cultures, summarized as:

Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren have defined a novel, anti-fragile solution for community impact organizations (such as non-profits, churches, mutual aid organizations) to secure a lucrative stream of recurring revenue that deepens and roots these institutions within community.

Community impact organizations deliver a "buy and produce local" marketplace that enables "household entrepreneurs" to launch a home-based microbusiness as easily as creating a listing, and enables "kitchen table capitalists" to utilize the services of a self-funded "community impact co-op" that helps their endeavors launch, sustain, and thrive.

More to the point: the emphasis upon "anti-fragility" means the community's solution thrives in the context of increased stress.

How?

In this podcast episode, Ruth and Kent discuss how they've quantified the following attributes of community anti-fragility within their own community pilot, as well as how these same attributes are being embraced within other communities:

In one noteworthy example, Kent and Ruth discuss Cloud Room Botanicals, which serves as an excellent example of creative, household-based entrepreneurship.

Finally, they discuss the Community Activation and Launch Methodology, which steps local activists from outrage to stewardship, through action.

A basket cannot be woven but from the bottom-up. So it is with our communities, rooted inside the home, for if we lose the home, we lose the community.

Thus begins a discussion opening with a reference to 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and seamlessly merges with guidance on how to define and maintain a management-friendly report card that quantifies progress, through the following three lenses:

Imagine that as an activist you are called upon to define a "neighborhood revival plan," and are expected to provide quantitative reporting regarding current state, projected priorities, and project status to an executive-level governing body.

Leveraging best practices from private industry, inclusive to the manufacturing and security industries, Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren introduce the use of a maturity model for triaging a community's evolving state, through the lens of aspired anti-fragility, and describe how the maturity model could serve as a lens for connecting high-level to "in the streets" project management reporting.

About a decade ago "attorney, alchemist, and activist" M. Renée Orth was seized with the conviction of rightness as she received a vision: how to optimize capitalism such that it can be leveraged as a tool (rather than a weapon) to transform the present exploitive and extractive system to one rooted in the sacredness of life.

With substantially applicable legal experience under her belt, Renée first set out to deliver her vision by authoring a book - Conspiracy of Dreamers: Capitalism at the Service of Humanity. Kent will tell you it's a worthy investment and an engaging read.

In the decade hence, Renée has been busy putting her words into action, which reveals her vision as nearly prescient, considering the current economic and cultural conditions.

Renée has helped launch the Stone Soup Collective, whose mission is to “align the efforts of the Lowcountry to nourish our community through a buy one, give one plant-based soup collective.” Additionally, she is in the midst of launching Chrysalis Forest - an eco-monastery which aspires to "emphasize a gifting economy rather than a transactional, commodified one, contributing our unique gifts to the creation of a more just, sustainable and vital world and supporting others to do the same, and achieving a higher understanding of others through conscious empathy, humanism, and rejection of simplistic attributions."

Clearly, Renée is all about execution in alignment of her vision, and in this episode, Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren listen as she describes her journey, her values, her inspirations, and her intended path forward.

Ruth Glendinning, Kent Dahlgren, and Trudy Martinez are bringing forth an Anti-Fragile Playbook; a step-by-step guide for those seeking to deliver a self-funded economic revival that addresses the root causes of generational poverty and trauma, and are concurrently launching a "living laboratory" launched within their own neighborhood.

And this week, a "once a generation snowstorm" demonstrated the merit of the anti-fragile model, accelerating the project dramatically, thanks to an explicit embrace and investment in various forms of soft capital.

Let's elaborate upon this just a little, because it's important.

The Anti-Fragile Wealth Production Model delivers a self-funded economic stimulus, using money that normally remains "under the table," and activating locally-sourced leadership to eventually deliver social services ordinarily expected from centralized governments, inclusive to:

But close to the ground, where it's of greatest value and addressing the greatest need, utilizing a model that dramatically offsets operating expenses, using an innovative micro-economy that rewards the community for buying and producing locally.

There's a reason we've chosen to invest in a foundation of anti-fragility, vs mere resiliency: resilient systems maintain current state, but an anti-fragile system is one that profits from external and internal stresses that would bring an insufficiently resilient system to its knees.

It's for this reason Ruth and Kent have invested so deeply in an explicit embrace of various forms of soft capital, which boasts a value transcendent of forms of hard capital (normally known as money).

Therefore, when the system came to a standstill, and a deterioration of top-down services resulted in a humanitarian disaster, the anti-fragile "living laboratory" evolved quickly.

Is this communism?

No, as discussed in a prior podcast, and detailed in an accompanying article.

This podcast challenges you to rethink the co-op. 

It's not just some hippy thing, and within the Anti-Fragile Wealth Production Engine, it's not the same as "the REI Co-op," which is little more than a marketing program which biases rewards to the most loyal customers.

Imagine a neighborhood co-op where benefits might include:

Imagine: instead of making a living, you can make a life.

Wait, is this communism?

As discussed in this Podcast, and detailed in this article: no, it is not.

In this episode, Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren describe how private-sector best practices, existing technology, and currently-available wisdom capital can activate some extremely innovative solutions that will reinvigorate our communities, from the ground-up.

There’s plenty of reasons to be upset, but remaining in a state of outrage isn’t going to change a thing, and while it's important to eventually move out of outrage towards a solution, don't forget your roots! 

Because remember: the deeper you root, the higher you rise!

Ruth Glendinning, Kent Dahlgren, and Trudy Martinez are creating an Anti-Fragile Wealth Production pilot within their own neighborhood, and this week expanded their small circle to a fourth: a receptive neighbor. 

As discussed in this episode; the results were impressive, electrifying, and infectious, laying the foundation towards the second step of the Community Activation and Launch Methodology (C.A.L.M.): Vision.

As you move out of planning and begin to socialize your vision with others, it's important to use your outrage to light the way to root the solution in why your vision is important, which unlocks the "keystone capitals" of:

These five keystone capitals were discussed in a prior podcast episode, and unlocking these forms of soft capital will bring forward unexpected complexity that enriches your investment in neighborhood economics.

What are "keystone capitals?" 

Well, think about keystone species within an ecosystem: "a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically." 

For example, squirrels spend the entire summer and fall burying nuts and seeds in preparation for the winter months, but they don't actually keep track or remember precisely where they've buried the food; their survival strategy is contingent upon how much food is buried.

There are obviously a broad variety of inadvertent beneficiaries: the squirrels not only feed a large number of other species, they also plant seeds necessary to ensure new tree growth, as alluded to in a recent article by Ruth.

So too it is within our communities, our neighborhoods, and our own households.

In our latest Podcast – “Just Say Cheese" - Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren have a special guest: Sandy Burky of Helvetia West Virginia. 

This small community is located in the verdant mountains of West Virginia, where it was established by Sandy’s ancestors in 1869. In the midst of the huge extractive coal and timber industries, Helvetia has kept its cultural identity alive through the Helvetia Thriving organization and Mountain Roots Markets, developed to provide local markets offering local produce, foods, arts, and crafts.

Sandy’s mission is to re-establish Helvetia as the home for Helvetia cheese for present and future generations. The know-how and local original recipes are still available. The existing, emerging and returning generations want to locate in Helvetia, but need an economic pathway as to how to make that happen. There is already a consumer market desiring local Helvetia cheese and distribution channels ready to receive. This is where 214 Alpha and Future Story Lab enter the picture as we work with Sandy to put a new container around the expansive potential that’s been activated by Sandy and her neighbors.

In our last podcast we discussed 5 keystone capitals: 

All of these are in play in the Helvetia story and in this conversation among friends. Ruth has been developing the story supporting Sandy's vision since 2018, and we love that the 'E-Cow-Nomy' is emerging. For us this is a great way to demonstrate S.L.O.W. Tech, in which technology is used to activate & amplify the human scale story. In this case, 214 Alpha is the tech and will be used to create a local marketplace bringing forward both monetary & non-monetary capital to root & grow the Helvetia community, improving fiscal & physical health. It's what we call the Anti-Fragile Wealth Production model & Helvetia will be a prominent example in the Anti-Fragile Playbook we're developing.

Money isn't always the answer - at least not as it's normally recognized (hard capital).

However, full-spectrum capital plays a central role in the Anti-Fragile Wealth Production Engine, which acknowledges and quantifies other forms of capital necessary for community revival.

The discussion opens with a story about how Ed Daniel's investment in attention capital helped a locally-focused advocacy effort rapidly blossom.

Eddie Daniels, a bus operator for a West Virginia school district, proposed the county implement a “Farm to School” program that help to ensure no children go hungry. says Ed:

“As I drive the school bus, one of the things I’m seeing at the stops is grandparents,” Daniels said. “They are on a fixed income and may not have the money to feed these kids, so I am trying to implement a program with the Food and Farm Coalition called ‘Farm to School.’ We are going to invite farmers in the area, and the (agriculture) programs in the schools, to grow some food for your students here in Randolph County.”

In this example and others, Ruth Glendinning and Kent Dahlgren discuss how an investment of attention capital inspires the creation of relationships which magnifies the value of the time invested, building trust, and unlocking normally-overlooked pockets of wisdom, which flowers as a benefit that cannot be purchased with cash.

In this episode, building upon that which was discussed in the prior "Placeholder to Place-maker" podcast episode on alternative and complementary currencies, Ruth and Kent talk about how an investment in five forms of soft capital accelerate a community advocate's return on investment:

These discussions lay the foundation for upcoming topics on how the Anti-Fragile Wealth Production Engine, built upon the Community Activation App by 214 Alpha, encourage those who are naturally-generous to help bootstrap a hyper-local economy.

This same hyper-local economy, in turn, soon delivers a self-funded economic revival, using money which normally remains "under the table," and leaves in its wake a self-governing community, using leadership which was sourced and activated from within the community itself.