Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The ways out of the crisis evoke the lifestyle of Amish communities rather than the apocalyptic vision of Mad Max. (French Cyberpunk/futurology e-zine interviews mild-mannered peak oil journalist.)
An Update from Transition around the world
Powerdown Toolkit #3: It’s All Connected
New HopeDance
Green burials
Entropypawsed Chickens
Transition is a huge social experiment, and the States embraces new ways of thinking much more so than the UK….On a related note, the pioneer spirit is very much alive in the States and embodied by many survivalists….Transition US hopes to be able to engage the survivalist community. We recognize that they have many of the skills that will be needed in a post peak world, and we honor that wisdom.
It has been fascinating to read a series of three articles at PeakOilBlues.com looking at the arrival of Transition in the US…Apart from having a fantastic title that I really wish I had thought of, the piece also raises some key questions needing contemplation as Transition continues to spread vigorously across the US. I wanted to take the opportunity to address some of Kathy’s points in this post.
I was speaking to a friend by phone recently who is very active in sustainability efforts where he lives. He’s noticed that many of those who were showing interest in cooperating with his efforts last year have now withdrawn into concerns about their own immediate future.
“The Great Squeeze” – film review
Interview: Matthew Stein, author of “When Technology Fails”
Homer-Dixon: Our Panarchic Future
Zero-Sum Game
British and American cultures are often thought of as mirror images of one another…The UK is a small country, and, as Hopkins points out, there is no room to “run and hide.” In contrast, vast sections of the US are virtually empty….We have different gun cultures…We will need to explore this important cultural difference in detail, in order to understand the phenomenal rise in popularity of the American “survivalist” movement, and TI’s-UK’s (culturally based?) aversion to it.
If there is one thing that I would like to claim as my own, it is the comparative theory of superpower collapse. For now, it remains just a theory, although it is currently being quite thoroughly tested. The theory states that the United States and the Soviet Union will have collapsed for the same reasons, namely: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget, and ballooning foreign debt. I call this particular list of ingredients “The Superpower Collapse Soup.”
Rarely in the specialized milieu of industrial civilization does one encounter a Renaissance man or woman-someone who is well-versed in a wide spectrum of disciplines and who can expound upon them in writing that is both articulate and engaging. So when I discovered Mat Stein’s phenomenal When Technology Fails: A Manual For Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving The Long Emergency…
How to Save the Suburbs: Solutions from the Man Who Saw the Whole Thing Coming
Casa De Botellas: Turning Waste into Modular Construction
Good design makes for better communities
For a community to thrive in a complex environment, it must strike a delicate balance between planning proactively and remaining alert to emergent, unexpected changes.
The fight to get aboard Lifeboat UK
Population growth: the forgotten worry, though crisis continues
Candles In The Darkness
