We have to deal with where we are. We have to create cooperatives, we have to create intentional communities, we have to work for local cooperation where we are.

Meaning of the quote

We need to focus on our local communities and work together to make positive changes. This means creating groups and organizations that bring people together to solve problems and improve our neighborhoods. It's important that we work with the people and resources we have in our own areas, rather than trying to make big changes from far away.

About Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown had a long and varied political career in California, serving as the state’s 34th and 39th governor, as well as holding other positions like Secretary of State and Attorney General. Born in San Francisco, he comes from a political family, as his father Pat Brown was also a former governor of California.

More about the author

More quotes from Jerry Brown

We have to deal with where we are. We have to create cooperatives, we have to create intentional communities, we have to work for local cooperation where we are.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Several unions have agreed to larger employee contributions for their members. Taxpayers are living with cuts and making sacrifices to deal with the reality of California’s budget crisis, state workers are going to have to do the same.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Inaction may be the biggest form of action.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Pension reform can be hard to talk about. In the long run, reform now means fewer demands for layoffs and less draconian measures in the future. It’s in the best interest of all Californians to fix this system now.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

The conventional viewpoint says we need a jobs program and we need to cut welfare. Just the opposite! We need more welfare and fewer jobs.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Too often I find that the volume of paper expands to fill the available briefcases.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

I like computers. I like the Internet. It’s a tool that can be used. But don’t be misled into thinking that these technologies are anything other than aspects of a degenerate economic system.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

When the farmer can sell directly to the consumer, it is a more active process. There’s more contact. The consumer can know, who am I buying this from? What’s their name? Do they have a face? Is the food they are selling coming out of Mexico with pesticides?

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

In some cases, managers and employees have secured pensions beyond their original base salary. It is wrong, the people doing it know it’s wrong, and we have to put an end to it.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

We have to be realistic about what the state can afford, and put an end to abuses of the system that cost millions.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Where there is a sufficient social movement of self-reliant communities, there can be political change. There must be political change.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

The reason that everybody likes planning is that nobody has to do anything.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

It looks to me to be obvious that the whole world cannot eat an American diet.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Multinational corporations do control. They control the politicians. They control the media. They control the pattern of consumption, entertainment, thinking. They’re destroying the planet and laying the foundation for violent outbursts and racial division.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Jobs for every American is doomed to failure because of modern automation and production. We ought to recognize it and create an income-maintenance system so every single American has the dignity and the wherewithal for shelter, basic food, and medical care. I’m talking about welfare for all. Without it, you’re going to have warfare for all.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Prisons don’t rehabilitate, they don’t punish, they don’t protect, so what the hell do they do?

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

The government is becoming the family of last resort.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

We have to restore power to the family, to the neighborhood, and the community with a non-market principle, a principle of equality, of charity, of let’s-take-care-of-one-another. That’s the creative challenge.

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019

Automation and technology would be a great boon if it were creative, if there were more leisure, more opportunity to engage in raising a family, providing guidance to the young, all the stuff we say we need. America will work if we’re all in it together. It’ll work when there’s a shared sense of destiny. It can be done!

Jerry Brown

Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019