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     I felt "The Idea of a Local Economy" touched on a lot of key points that are problematic in our society. At the height of consumerism that we are in, we are all guilty of allowing this wrong doing to continue. We all are accepting the sacrifices of the planet now for the benefits we are so blindly promised for the future. It seems that the population as a whole is so materialistic that, aside from the small groups that actually try to live that way, we don't really care about what the global trade is doing to the world. It's all about money. There was a quote that stood out to me and that was "Communism and "free market" capitalism both are modern versions of oligarchy (pg. 15)" This makes me laugh at the thought of how frown upon communism is and was , and yet we are following similar principals.
     The peace prize speech I read was "Inner Peace and Human Rights" by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. He made a bunch of valid points in his speech reflecting primarily on the wrongdoings and the absence of human rights by the Chinese governments on the Tibetans. He describes how the things he feels about the oppression is because people aren't being adaptable. He starts off by admitting how the people of Tibet needed to adapt before the occupation, and now they can reflect upon that. He also talks about how important inner peace is for the people. He says "Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed or unhappy because of circumstances"(Essay connection pg 600). He goes on to talk about how he is astonished to see that the children that are raised up in this violent society are using non-violent forms of protest. Lastly he describes how the people of Tibet are dwindling in numbers, and if things are sought out to stop the change, it still had time to be reversed.