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I greatly enjoyed this show, it was informative (and worrisome, as so much is in the national dialogue these days).

Personally, I've always been happy to take unpaid days off as the time off and freedom I enjoy on those days is more than worth the lost wages. I realize, however, that unpaid days off are much harder to enjoy when living paycheck to paycheck, or when the budget is already stretched to the max. This whole furlough/layoff issue is a tough one.

On an unrelated note: At the end of the program there were a few comments about the possibilities (and negatives, as I heard it) of turning more toward a bartering economy (something about not being able to pay for groceries with hay?) and Emily mentioned that this might be a topic for another show.  If this does become a show topic, I would like to suggest contacting a local company called Tradia (www.tradia.net) to talk about the realities of operating within a barter system. I've recently become aware of their system through a friend that works with them and though the company has been around for 13 years, they are experiencing a boom in interest in their system as the traditional economy continues to sputter.  Trade or barter is just one more way that people are learning to cope with the sharp downturn and resulting drops in income and security and I think it would make an interesting topic on TOL one morning. 

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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