Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The 2015 Norwegian television series “Occupied” has what will strike viewers today as an upside down premise. In the fictional series Russia invades Norway on behalf of the European Union to restore oil and gas production shut down by Norway’s new environmentally conscious government.
This primer seeks to explore why it is imperative to orient ourselves and our social movements towards a Just Transition and how we can consciously and deliberately move away from the dysfunctional and destructive systems that are leading us towards extinction.
If you want walkability, I can now personally recommend Edinburgh. But if you want a fresh vision for what a safe, enjoyable driving experience can be, rent a car in Scotland and go in search of the Great Wee Roads.
Think of it as a garden: you start with the soil, preparing it for seeding, and you work with the grassroots, cultivating a crop and nurturing it carefully over time. Democracy is more like an annual crop than a perennial one; it needs to be refreshed periodically. It won’t keep thriving if it’s left alone.
On Friday 14 October 2022 a new work of art was created in Room 43 at the National Gallery. It was a collaboration between Phoebe Plummer, Anna Holland and Vincent van Gogh.
What this book forces us to ask is that, if ‘contemporary issues’ were accurately described and diagnosed fifty years ago, why has no progress been made since then?
McGhee and her neighbors are participating in a pilot program to build zero-waste systems for Detroit. It’s something they say the city sorely needs. For decades, Detroit was home to one of the country’s largest waste incinerators.
The mechanism by which survival-of-the-fittest brings about prudence therefore cannot work any more. The analogy with nature has broken down. It can no longer support the belief that the pursuit of individual benefits will ultimately lead to balance in society and economics.
Douglas Rushkoff revisits Crazy Town, where he and Asher discuss why so many billionaires, academic institutions, and “serious” people are drawn to longtermism – the view that our top priority should be ensuring that humanity can spread its wings throughout the physical and virtual universe.
Re-localize, reduce, repair, and reuse. Build resilience. Become more independent of the monetary economy in any neighborly ways you can.
What if, instead of putting the pressure on each person, we explored what communities can do together to get through this and be stronger in future crises?
The owner of Britain’s biggest power station could receive billions of pounds in green subsidies for a flagship ‘carbon capture’ project even if much of the carbon ends up being released into the atmosphere, openDemocracy can reveal.
