Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
For environmentalists protesting the Keystone XL pipeline, the battle is about more than just transporting tar sands oil from Alberta. It’s about whether the United States — and the rest of the world — will finally come to its senses about global warming.
So what is the role of community organizers and progressive leaders in this moment of #occupy momentum? After the dramatic mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, the #occupy meme is spreading like wildfire and progressive forces are rapidly aligning around the protests.
The big bronze bull is surrounded by metal fences and strategically placed members of NYPD’s finest. The famous statue, the symbol of aggressive market optimism, is normally open for tourists to grope and fondle, but today, in part because of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest, it has been penned. Today, the Wall Street Bull looks amusingly like a panicked animal in a cage.
– Why Do You Occupy? – Interviews At Occupy Boston – video
– ‘You’re creating a vision of the sort of society you want to have in miniature.’ (interview with theoretician-organizer David Graeber)
– Encounters with Occupy Wall Street – video
– Democracy 2.0 Barcelona – video
While the adoption of new technologies is crucial, so too is the need for a new, self-limiting worldview recognising that “enough is plenty”. This philosophy of “enough” is about the optimum — having exactly the right amount and using it gracefully. Adopting such a worldview would nourish a culture of adapted human behaviour in which social justice could prevail and at least some of the Earth’s ecosystems would have the chance to renew themselves.
A few years ago Citigroup (yes, it’s a bank) came up with the notion of “plutonomy” to describe the way the economy was coming. It was a neologism, of course, but one that needed little or no explanation…Another way of describing it is as the rule of the top 0.1%, by the top 0.1%, for the top 0.1%.
One of the most common complaints about the industrial age is its constant and seemingly ever-growing use of sweeteners. Whether it was cheap sugar (and rum) in the early 1800s, saccharin in the early 1900s, or high-fructose corn syrup in the late 20th century, sweeteners have had a bad—but tasty—reputation…In a local context, however, sweeteners are extremely important. Many of the local fruits that contain Vitamin C, for instance, are difficult eating unless sweetened…Sugar is also very important in preserving food, where it creates a hostile environment for bacteria as well as a delicious treat.
– WaPo: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests gain steam, but movement’s goals remain unclear
– NY Times: Anti-Wall Street Protests Spread to Other Cities
– Occupation: Coming to a City Near You?
– #OccupyWallStreet is a church of dissent not a protest
– Gandhi goes to Wall Street
– Sharon Astyk – Don’t Feed the Zombies: The Problem of Protesting the Thing You Depend On
– The Unrepentant Marxist encounters Occupy Wall Street
– Understanding the Theory Behind Occupy Wall Street’s Approach
-Battered by economic crisis, Greeks turn to barter networks
-OSU Urban Farming Study: What’s the Best Way to Turn a Parking Lot into a Garden?
-Earth Sangha announces “Rising Forests Coffee”
-Bath and West Community Energy launch their first public share issue
In Transition we’re taking part in something which could lead to enormous change by relying on everyone’s inherent creativity, commitment and generosity…Whether or not Friedman is right that only a crisis can produce real change, there’s no doubt that we’re facing one now. Transition is responding to that crisis and showing the power and potential of seeding and growing alternative ways of being.
Meet Kacy Dapp, a modern day artisan whose life has been consciously crafted to balance the needs of the individual with the reality of the times we live. Her personal passions are carved from a value system of self-sufficiency, community building, and a quest for simplicity.
