Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
When we work with groups for a long time, building a research agenda that is considered by all parties involved as a tool to continue working for accessing human rights for all, we may find quotidian ways to construct knowledge together.
“There were times over the past 20 years when we weren’t sure this would happen,” James said. “But we never gave up hope. We took a stance and said, ‘We love our river. We love our fish. We love our natural resources. We love our culture. And we’re not shy about showing it.’ That’s what Blue Creek means to us. That’s who we are.”
In this episode, Nate is joined by Helena Norberg-Hodge – a leading voice in the localization movement – to explore the deep systemic challenges posed by economic globalization.
Complexity has strong links to energy which means that the combination of increasing energy costs and increasing complexity is a potential game changer. Even more so if the energy system also requires high levels of complexity such as nuclear power or a electric grid run on renewables.
As Boki’s forests disappear in plain sight, the deeper crisis is not deforestation alone – it is neglect. The world watches, largely indifferent, while the Banyinyi women’s struggle keeps echoing a painful truth: we do not lack solutions, we lack the courage to abandon the myths of progress that blind us to them.
I warned in March that in response to the Trump administration’s trade war, China would likely resort to squeezing supply of critical materials it controls. Now it’s happening.
In Monroe County, a decision against expanding Bloomington would be a costly disappointment for growth advocates. However, it would align the city with the aspirations laid out in its comprehensive plan, toward a steady-state future.
Instead of the current destructive notion of beauty, we would like to usher in an ideal of beauty that is regenerative for the environment and assures well-being, happiness, security and social cohesion for people.
So why not disrupt capitalism? Creatively. By which I mean replace the consumption model with a maker model. Or rather, models, because one size doesn’t really fit all and the monoculture of capitalism needs replacing with a diverse array of making things.
When we understand ourselves as part of a web of relations, reciprocity becomes a way of life, not a checklist. It becomes less about immediate repayment, but about how we live in right relation across time, space, and power.
Therefore, a central task is to de-commodify food through multiple means, such as self-provisioning, co-producing, gifting and sharing or even just by having a stable relationship between producers and consumers.
A commons is a bounded community of shared purpose that stewards its collective wealth with self-devised rules of care, fairness, and mutual benefit. The history of humanity over millennia shows that this is a default social form.
