Sustainable Living - Enough is Enough; The New American Dream

Over the course of our working life of say, 45 years, most of us will individually earn a least $1,000,000.00. Why is it that most of us upon reaching retirement age will have little in the bank, and, most likely, be reliant upon Medicare? The answer lies in our expenditures; our wants, our perceived needs, i.e. a new car and a big house. No dollar specific analysis is required to realize there are little or no monies remaining at the end of the month after mortgage, insurance and multiple tax expenses are extracted from our livelihood. For most, the realization comes too late that the association of personal security and the attainment of material goods is an illusion.

Is it conceivable that one could live frugally on a few acres, working off-site no more than is required, and support himself and family in comfort and security by his own ingenuity, diligence and hard work, for the remainder of his days? The true necessities of life, such as food, shelter and clothing, actually cost very little.

Where does one find time to practice a way of life espoused in this work? We weaned ourselves from the opiate of prime time television years ago through the example of friends who had recognized the same wisdom. We were surprised to find that through redefining our priorities, we had sufficient time for our jobs, continued education, gardening and canning, quality time for family activities including date night, community service and believe it or not, sleep. Everyone has interests and hobbies they’ve neglected once they got “Hooked” on TV. It is absolutely amazing how easy it is, with a little imagination and planning, to find something to do when you turn off the tube. For example, in addition to the usual family responsibilities, I've managed to develop an edible landscape, participate in a sustainable living organization, and finish a B.S. degree. Once you commit to the idea and become fully involved the “Withdrawal” process is rather painless, with little danger of backsliding.

Shortly after the war, backyard victory gardens produced at least 30% of all produce grown in this country with all the popular vegetable varieties being represented. Corporate farms have succeeded for the most part in driving the small commercial farmer out of business, virtually monopolizing our sources of food. Vast areas of a single food crop are grown because of the efficiency of harvesting and profit margin without consideration of the inherent vulnerability of monocultures to disease. A few small growers survive by specializing in the production of bedding plants and herbs. The small + 2 acre private farm that grows specialty, i.e., unusual and oriental vegetables, also does well. The parking lot vegetable vendor still does a business from the occasional backyard garden. The edible landscaper can manage very well for the needs of family with planning and preparation.

I lament the passing of a way of life embodied in the small family farm, with its intrinsic values of prudence, hard work and thrift. I see, in retrospect, the values of my Grandfather's generation, and I believe that rural life was a good way to grow up. One is hard pressed today to find a youth that is raised to value the virtues of hard work. American society has become perilously soft and lazy, and we have been lulled into a sense of complacency because of the abundance of goods we enjoy. With the exception of the advantages of medical technology, I don’t believe we’re better off today.

James Henry said, “It’s time to start living the life we’ve imagined.”

How much do we really need to live a good and satisfying life? A conversation on the matter usually goes something like this.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Eh, OK, I guess.”

“Just, OK, not great?”

“…..You know I would be willing to just let it all go; Sell everything and buy five to ten acres in the country and just live on it. I could build our own house and grow everything we need. I am so tired of this rat race.”

“Well, I guess we can dream, can’t we?”

The conversation usually drops at this point because the argument for abandoning the American Dream, in this instance, isn’t convincing. How will one support a family? How can one provide for basic needs, much less pay for insurance and education?

The reasons for cutting loose from the hustle and bustle of this modern world are compelling, and intuitively self evident. What has become of the real reasons for living? They are swallowed up in the desire for things and the oppression of debt , of desire for convenience and entertainment, and of oppression for gratification sake. Hence, real living is forfeited by our own doing. However, the true expense of participation in the modern world stems from the conspiring designs of housing, insurance, credit and government entities that prey on our perceived vulnerabilities, for outrageous usury. Again, for most or us, the cost of the “American Dream” is the surrender of our peace of mind, and ultimately the sacrifice of the best years of our lives. This scenario is like a bad marriage. We know we want out, but we don’t know any other life.

To what do we owe our loyalty? Is it government, the economy, or the corporation for whom we work? Our loyalty, that for which we are ultimately accountable, is to our family and our God. The questions remain. How much, in terms of money and things, do we really need to enjoy a fulfilling life? Can we live in good health for the period of our natural lives? Will we save enough of the green stuff through shifting our priorities to pay for our children’s education? What will be the quality of our lives if we adopt the lifestyle of our forbears? What will become of us when we get old? For thought sake, and just as compelling, is the question; what legacy will we leave our children when we’re gone? Let us search our own souls.

I will first dispel concerns on the question of aging and dying according to my own views and personal confidence. First, the responsibility to assure my own health and well being lies with me, not the government. I avoid vices and take care of my nutritional needs. I’ve further secured my personal assets by the prudent use of major medical insurance, as I will later describe. By so doing, I will assure that my decision to age and die in my own way and in my own home rests with me and not the government. Second, does it really matter where I take my last breath? It does to me. I would much rather die in my own home and in the loving embrace of my own family than in some hospital or nursing home. I’ve seen far too many fine people languishing and dying in these facilities. I have profound sympathy for any individual thrust into that situation and environment because family members either don’t know what else to do or take this option out of convenience or, worse, motive and selfishness. The real things necessary to sustain life are all that matter, and there is really nothing I do in that regard as a young man to provide for a wife and home that I won't be able to do when I am old. I refuse to spend the best years of my life worrying about the last twenty.

The pervasive mindset in American culture is to make as much money as possible, thinking perhaps we will be happy and secure. In preparation for this goal, we spend one-third or our lives pursuing an education hopefully related to our interests and future occupation (this seldom happens). We will spend additional years of our lives in continuing education to maintain our qualifications or upgrading our skills to change career paths. The need for technical, medical and legal professionals is necessary in a healthy society. However, I believe an alternative should be available. If we monitor financial indicators and watch current national and world events, it is painfully obvious that few of us will have financial security, and fewer still will see retirement before being downsized.We work all of our lives, essentially, to prosper big business, mortgage and insurance companies, to pay utilities and to support the nonproductive members of society because of socialistic government programs. The solution to this conundrum is not in the ever-increasing “Opportunities” available for home businesses or investments. One alternative to the subservient existence we now live is passive resistance – being neither a significant producer nor consumer.

How much do we really need to live a good and satisfying life? Most of us live on 65% of our salaries, really. Let’s use the Tulsa, Oklahoma area as an example and say the average person has an income of around $2,732 per month – the median salary. Considering that we pay Federal Income Tax, Social Security tax and State Income Tax, which totals approximately 14%, counting one deduction, we’re left with approximately $2,349.00 (If we find we must pay more taxes at the end of the year this percentage will be more). Now consider that we pay around $800.00 to $1,500.00 per year for property tax, depending on which school district we live in, for an additional $190.00 average per month, leaving us $2,159.00. Next, of course, is sales ax, which is around 9% in Tulsa County. This is tax on everything we buy, including, but not limited to, groceries, clothing, and some service products. If you are conservative and keep your budget at $250.00 per month, this amounts to $23.00, leaving you $2,136.00. Utilities, including gas and electric, and transportation fuel cost roughly $350.00.Let’s not forget that we have annual auto tags (mine is $56.00 for two old cars), driver’s licenses at $19.00, which are also taxes. Taxes on your city utility is 5%, with natural gas at 8.7%, electric at 5% and phone services at 10.7% including local, state and federal. Tax on gasoline is about 30% of the total cost. I personally average one trip to the station per vehicle per week. These conservative averages can be around $450.00 annually, amounting to $35.00 per month, leaving the consumer $2,101.00 to do with as he sees fit.Since we had one deduction on our tax form we will have additional taxes to pay at the end of the year. We can invest up to $4,500 per individual into a Roth IRA. The average of that investment is $375.00 per month. All of this means we must pay a mortgage, buy health insurance, feed and clothe ourselves, maintain and insure a car, and plan for the other necessities and contingencies of life with $1,726.00. Heaven forbid we should be sucked into credit card debt.

I reiterate that this is tax on monies we’ve already paid taxes on. If we manage to scrape up anything to put into a savings account, the interest is taxed also – a great incentive to save. It is not within the scope of this work to suggest better ways to invest your money, however, a better use of money we already have is prudent.

Consider again, the mortgage on your home. It is blithely accepted by the public at large that they will pay on a home mortgage most of their adult lives. However, consider that you will pay approximately $300,000.00 for a $100,000.00 home over a thirty year period. Is there anything wrong with this scenario? We must accept the fact that we are either paying rent or flushing $200,000.00 down the toilet for the first 20 years of our mortgage. The claim of tax benefits for having a mortgage is rather lame if you do the math because equity is poor compensation for the $200,000.00 you've lost to interest.

Is it possible that we could live on a piece of ground that we buy outright and inhabit a low energy consumption home of our own construction? Could we produce the majority of our own food supply? Could we simplify our lives in terms of gadgets and appliances, some of which use exorbitant amounts of electrical power, virtually eliminating our dependence on public utilities? Would we be content with less income and minimal taxes and consequently fewer material goods? Instead of acquiring our necessities by indirect means, that is to say, working for money to acquire food, clothing and shelter, could we make as our occupation the concerns of everyday farm life, in a community of like-minded people, and produce these necessities directly? I find it ironic that so many of us who have fruit trees allow that fruit to fall to the ground and rot because of the demands of our jobs. We end up buying inferior fruit at the super market.

What of the demands of the present system that require paying property taxes? Is it feasible to pay those taxes on a subsistence income? What of filing 1040 tax forms? How can the necessary tools and building materials needed to develop and maintain a homestead be acquired and supplied? What will happen if one is injured or becomes ill? How will medicine and medical services be provided? What of retirement? How will we provide for family and ourselves as we age? These questions seem insurmountable, only within the context of the social order we now support.

We must, by law, file a return annually regardless of income. However, a couple filing jointly is allowed to earn $14,000.00 annually without paying federal taxes. The state allows $5.000.00 before taxes are withheld. We have a degree of control over our expenditures and subsequent taxes. Checking accounts are not requisite for purchases when cash or money orders will suffice. Regular savings accounts, drawing interest at a whopping 1.5%, are little more than repositories for our money. Investing in 1/10th ounce gold pieces, bulk silver coins, as well as virtually worthless traditional cash, and rat-holing them are as safe as any holdings in a bank, and more secure in the event of depression and bank closures. Mail order from co-ops and nurseries, some of which will waive shipping contingent on order size, will presently eliminate most sales tax. Barter for services and goods, while technically taxable, have no paper trail and are, therefore, invisible. I did not say legally taxable, because the laws taxing our personal income have no constitutional basis. I will publicly state that I do not advocate evading legitimate taxes, however I believe in paying no more taxes than I absolutely must.

Health and auto insurance are the most expensive though imperative expenditures for the simple life. The consideration of living an uncluttered life is made straightforward when one is secure about the unexpected. The abolition of a mortgage and credit cards, the worst forms of slavery eliminate usury and are critical to success. In doing this, the unavoidable property tax, health and auto insurance and lifestyle maintenance expenses are rendered realistic. It does not take $14,000.00 annually to live a fulfilling life, really. Fulfillment in life is rather one of focus and priority. Cottage industries of herbs, mushrooms, vegetables and bedding plants are sufficient to meet the requirements of a self-sufficient lifestyle, really. In fact, mycology, the branch of botany that deals with fungi, alone may be sufficient as cottage industries to support the family enterprise. Several varieties of vigorous, low labor intensity mushrooms can be easily grown for the food market or for medical research. Sustainable agriculture, as the way of the future, is upon us now.

Suppose we’ve previously determined our course of action, had our garage/estate sale and sold our house (eliminated our mortgage). The next step, that is to say weaning ourselves from the need for 'Stuff', is more difficult for some than others. People sometimes jokingly say, “The guy who has the most toys when he dies, wins.” In reality, the benefits of that $100,000.00 annual salary that people dream of and prepare for, along with the accepted and presumed value of goods and services it supports, is only an illusion. In the pursuit of 'Stuff' we rack up credit card debt. Credit card debt, which is a manifestation of impatience in the pursuit for wants we cannot afford, is one of those American Dream axioms, and the cause of most non-business related bankruptcies. The solution, while inexorably becoming public knowledge, is seldom used because it takes discipline. The formula is simple, if not easy. Pick the smallest debt and pay it off. Then, instead of spending it, use the money you previously spent on that debt to systematically pay off the next debt. Finally, use the sum of those monies to pay off the third, and so on.

Transportation is still essential for a simple lifestyle; however, a new car with its high tag (annual tax) and insurance is not. A pre-computer/emission control vehicle of ones’ own choice, perhaps a pickup truck for its obvious utilitarian functions on a small farm, can easily be had for around $1,500.00 and reworked to ensure reliability. Should this mean putting the equivalent of a new engine, front end, transmission, tires and basic paint job, it will still only amount to an additional $3,500.00 on the average. However, you now have, virtually, a new car for around $5,000.00 that you can maintain without doling out money to a mechanic only because he has special tools and computer diagnostic equipment. Insurance will be around $480.00 per year for comprehensive with a middle of the road deductible, and the tag/tax should be in the neighborhood of $25.00.

An additional option for sustainable transportation is a diesel vehicle. Fuel can be virtually free if you install a veggie oil conversion kit. The kit averages $1,500.00 if you install it yourself. If you simply must make biodiesel that's fine. Otherwise, except for the occasional expense of a minor amount of diesel fuel to start and finish a trip, you can run straight fryer oil from a nearly unlimited number of restaurants. The restaurant has the option of contracting their waste oil disposal or giving it to you for free. Fryer oil is considered hazardous waste only if a commercial contractor collects it.

Health insurance is another crucial consideration. Many insurance companies will gladly accept your premiums for a lifetime and then cheat you out of benefits when you file a claim, if they can. Insurance companies have teams of high-powered attorneys, paid for with your insurance premiums, with no other purpose than to bog you down in procedures until you give up or die trying to collect on a claim. Though diligence and research, it is possible to find a reputable insurance company with a solid track record of paying legitimate claims. A good policy that includes vision and dental from an independent agent will vary greatly in cost, depending on factors such as age, sex, vices, preexisting conditions and fluctuating annual rates. Expect to pay at lest $3,800.00 annually for a couple, if one takes the high deductible. Children are an added expense, but then this is our real priority. Make absolutely certain you find an insurance company and agent that works for you, the customer, and not the stockholder. I'll included more on this later.

The purchase of a homestead is a matter deserving considerable attention to detail. Never buy property without the aid of an attorney. Rural property can still easily be had for $1,000.00 per acre. Given a temperate climate and sufficient rainfall, five acres is sufficient for a perpetual woodlot and more than enough for the necessities of life for one family.

Heavy equipment is unnecessary on the small farm. Hand tools are sufficient for tasks ranging from gardening to home construction. These tools can be possessed for a song from garage sales. Lawn tools become obsolete in this lifestyle.

In addition to the produce and minor livestock, a family can raise and preserve, they needn’t spend more than $50.00 per month for staples to include grains, legumes, sugar, spices, oil and baking supplies; that’s $600.00 annually – no kidding. Actually, as one becomes innovative, he can turn out gourmet cuisine with little but these staples and produce derived from his own labor. Once established, nursery stock can be propagated, vegetable and herb seed can be saved, and chickens and small livestock will perpetuate, so that one never be without his own diversified delicatessens.

It should become clear that, without the constraints of a mortgage, $14,000.00 per year, or even less, is enough for the necessities of life, including insurance, education (tuition and books at a conservative college may cost around $2,000.00 per 9 to 12 hour semester) and savings.

The bottom line on self sufficiency is that one only needs to be able to buy basic food staples, pay property taxes, health insurance and file one’s form 1040 every year and stash some savings for the unexpected, or continuing education. Everything else is an extension of one’s wants rather than one’s needs.

Self insured major medical insurance, if you take a high deductible of $10,000.00, will cost around $390.00 per month for a family of four. The Annual OON Deductible is $1,000; the Coinsurance/Out-of –pocket is 100% after deductible; The Out-Of-Network differential is 20%; The Family Out-Of-Pocket maximum including the in-net deductible is $10,000.00, and the Lifetime maximum, PPO Network, is $8,000.00.

The same insurance for a couple with all the children out of the nest, if you take a high deductible of $10,000.00, is around $320.00 per month. The Annual OON Deductible is $1,000.00; The Coinsurance/Out-Of-Pocket is 100%; The Out-Of-Network differential is 20%; The Family Out-Of-Pocket maximum, PPO Network, including the in-net deductible is $10,000.00, and the Lifetime maximum is $8,000.00. You can pick up dental and vision from an independent agent for a paltry $15.00 per month.

Property tax will be a few hundred dollars a year for a family embracing this lifestyle. If you want a big home you may pay $1,200.00 a year, depending on your school district.

Consequently, given the above two scenarios, you will have expenses of from $4,900.00 to $5,800.00 per year, major medical, property taxes and food staples inclusive. As you can see, given some degree of preparation, even a single income of $14,000.00 per year before taxes is a liberal price tag to be free of Corporate America and its accompanying headaches. Cottage industries alone can create this kind of income.

The Implementation of a life of Self Sufficiency might follow this pattern.

1. Ditch the Mortgage.

For the most part, women have an innate desire for security, which stems from their nurturing nature. While many men would be content living under Spartan conditions, most women thrive in a home environment; one with the seeming affluence of space and a stocked larder. Unfortunately, the conventional concept of security is in the obtaining of that home through the media of a mortgage. It is under the yoke of the most outrageous usury called a mortgage that we are least secure. Consider the lessons of the Great Depression of the last century. If anything happens to the government or the economy your home is forfeited. Therefore, I would submit that meeting our basic needs, including providing a home environment, has nothing to do with the conventional concept of security.

The assumption at this point is that you have no debts other than a mortgage. If this is not the case, then eliminating extraneous debts is your first priority. Living your self sufficiency dream in the country will have to wait.

The one greatest impediment to a lifestyle of self sufficiency is the mortgage. Getting out from under the mortgage can be accomplished in a couple of ways. You can accelerate your mortgage payments, or sell out and reinvest mortgage-free in another piece of property. Hopefully, it is already understood there is no real tax advantage in having a mortgage if you’re paying 300% usury. You can worry over whether to find your acreage first or sell your existing home, or you can simply store the belongings you deem necessary for your real future needs, sell your home and then get a rate at a motel until your new property is secured.

2. Take the Leap.

Without a consensus with the wife or husband any action to bail out of the rat race will never happen, much less succeed. If you are to ever realize your dream of a simple, sustainable lifestyle the utmost care and patience must be exercised. Compromises must, of necessity, occur. We men are usually the first ones advocating such a change. So, husbands, you must not flag in your responsibility to provide upkeep for your companion. Despite the confidence you feel in your abilities, your wife has reasonable concerns. Once your companion has been exposed to the concept and seen the validity and potential of the venture, and has been convinced that he or she, along with children, will not suffer from want, you may at last find they are amicable to such a transition. Basic human nature dictates that a change in lifestyle which they at first fear they will later entertain and finally embrace. The principle is simple. It is the application that is challenging. If you’ve planed sufficiently, you’re experience will be one of novelty and adaptation, as opposed to, disillusionment and calamity.

Up to this point you should have given thought to site considerations and suitability to a sustainable lifestyle of the property you have, or will choose. You should have organized your thoughts on matters such as proximity to medical services and, sources of supplies and staples. If you intend to remain employed your major medical insurance is likely covered.

Choices for housing are varied and many. One practical solution is to pour a slab and erect a metal building to live in. An “S” pattern Quonset home made of Galvalume® Plus 24’ x 76’ is over 1,900 square feet of clear span that can be partitioned for living spaces. It has a 30 year warranty. It will never rot, never need painting, never need a roof replacement and never catch fire or suffer termite damage. It will cost in the range of $35,000.00, including the slab. Excepting electrical, plumbing and interior finishing, the structure can be shelled out by you alone in literally a week. You can substitute utilities by using lanterns for lighting, a wood stove for heat and cooking, a cistern for your water requirements (the Quonset makes an excellent watershed) and a composting toilet to eliminate the age-old distasteful and problem-fraught outhouse, lagoon or septic system.
A mobile home is a conventional temporary option for housing, though it may be hard to sell when you’re through with it. However, environmentally green options range from yurts to straw bale, earth bags or cob houses.

Consider this. If you build with concrete, slip form, block or stone, your home will not decay before you finish and you can take your time in most areas of the country. Steel internal framing, or a continuation of concrete for the internal walls can support a clay tile or sheet metal roof. You will ultimately have a finer home than the man who has poured out his entire soul over a lifetime of payments for a house built out of cheap lumber and chip board. The additional benefits are that you can live in whatever part is finished while the rest is under way, and you won’t pay property taxes on your home as long as it is under construction.

Should you plan to set up housekeeping in the fall, this is the best time to plant fruit trees, particularly in warmer latitudes. They will establish their root systems and fare far better as the season progresses toward summer than those planted in late spring. There are nurseries that will ship containerized plant materials any time of the year. Fall gardens will provide good table fare through most of the winter in greenhouses and cold frames. On the other hand, a spring venture will allow ample time through the year for establishing your homestead.

Diogenes (412 – 323 BC) once said "The gods gave man an easy life, but man has complicated it by itching for luxuries."

The possessions we acquire ultimately own us. They are neither vital to our existence nor our well being, yet like a vice, we find we cannot part with them except through the most strenuous emotional and mental exertion. Once done, however, we find it is easier to do without many of the things money can buy than it is to earn the money to buy them.

Please understand that I believe it to be in harmony with gospel doctrine to work by the sweat of ones brow to provide for family. This differs with the doctrine of economic growth which compels both husband and wife to acquire material wealth for a perceived security in the time of their old age.

It could be said that I’m not doing my share to contribute to society. While I may not be contributing to the dubious good of the Gross National Product, I am certainly not contributing to the definite evil of pollution and the destruction of the land. I do, however, exert myself in working for the common good of the religious community to which I belong, which community, in fact, extends its' resources to help those in need, regardless of religious affiliation. As I've before stated, the responsibility for social relief for the needy should come not from the government, but first through the immediate family, and secondly, when all other alternatives are exhausted, through the church family.

"Life, to the average man, means hard, anxious work, with disappointment at the end, whereas it ought to mean plenty of time for books and talk. There is something wrong about a system which condemns ninety-nine hundredths of the race to an existence as bare of intellectual activity and enjoyment as that of a horse, and with the added anxiety concerning the next month's rent. Is there no escape? Through years of hard toil I suspected that there might be such an escape. Now, having escaped, I am sure of it, so long as oatmeal is less expensive than Hour, so long as the fish and the cabbage grow, I shall keep out of the slavery of modern city existence, and live in God's sunshine." (Hubert, "Liberty and a Living.") It is pointless to blame the masses for not leaving the cities to go to the farms; they know of nothing else and would not know enough to make a living, much less enjoy it, if they did go.

Bolton Hall, author of Three Acres and Liberty, said, “We are not tied to a desk or to a bench; we stay there only because we think we are tied. It is not the growth of the cities that we want to check, but the needless want and misery in the cities, and this can be done by restoring the natural condition of living, and among other things, by showing that it is easier and making it more attractive to live in comfort on the outskirts of the city as producers, than in the slums as paupers.”

The return to a simple life is a transition that takes time, planning, preparation, resolve and disciplined labor. The concept is simple, though the application is difficult. The goal is to wrest back our lives from the illusion of the “American Dream”, and to leave Corporate America and all we have come to rely on for our support. The return on this investment in commitment and resolve is a life unfettered by the concerns of the corporate world with all its attending stress. We have begun to build a lifestyle and establish a work ethic that keeps us fit and healthy, with values that are a heritage worthy to be handed down to our children.

Have we diminished our quality of life in embracing a simple lifestyle? Is this not the life our great-grandparents experienced? Except for medical technology, were they deprived of a wholesome and satisfying life? Did they not give us, according to their journals, a rich heritage of ethic and work based upon the same values that originally existed and upon which this nation was established? In principle, I must denounce the ethic and priority of modern society. To make ones' living by the economics of the modern world is not a life. Life in its purity is to live and eat by the sweat of ones' brow. Work, that is to say, constructive manual labor in an agrarian setting, is a source of spiritual and emotional illumination, not to mention a foundation and investment in health.

Life, in its simplicity, is to watch the seasons change and the leaves turn; it is to notice when the birds migrate and to take note of the constellations and phases of the moon throughout the seasons; it is to take joy in harvesting the rewards of our labors, to watch the ripening of fruits through the seasons, both temporarily and spiritually.

Great spiritual leaders through the millennia have said the greatest fear they have for our spiritual welfare is what wealth and possessions will do to us.

What I’m proposing is the kind of lifestyle that involves making our living from the land as our great grand parents did. The implementation of this lifestyle is simple, if not easy, but must be undertaken in earnest for there is much at stake, even our very souls. Take heart, as hundreds of thousands are embracing similar concepts now in small family units as well as in eco and environmental communities around the country.

"We make ourselves rich by making our wants few."Henry David Thoreau

Copyright, February 2007 This article may be reproduced when the author's name is included.