The Best Reason to Ride a Bike
The film “Bikes vs Cars” tells us that bicycling for transportation can reduce our emissions. But more importantly, bicycling can change our mindset.
Society
Power is Nothing without Control: Lessons from the Failed Coup in Turkey
We seem to be facing the same problems that the Romans faced two thousand years ago: how to maintain control over a complex system that turns out to be unstable and prone to fighting against itself?
Christopher Alexander’s Challenge meets Darren J. Doherty’s Design Process: More Thoughts
This two-part series is part of a larger inquiry that started when we accepted Alexander’s challenge. Accepting this challenge means giving Alexander’s living process perspective2 serious attention towards any value it might offer permaculture.
Climate Change Activism: A Post-Mortem
Thus it’s not inappropriate to ask what happened to all the apparent political momentum the climate change movement had ten or fifteen years ago, and why a movement so apparently well organized, well funded, and backed by so large a scientific consensus failed so completely.
Fraternitas Mercatorum
Fraternity is a key Western value since the time of the Greeks… But how did it become the yearning of the urban masses to the point of forming a triad with freedom and equality?
Poacher’s Pilgrimage: An Island Journey
When we were young growing up on the island, the old folks used say that on a moonless night, they’d move from house to house by just the light of a glowing peat taken from the fire.
21st Century Revolution: Review
Across the Western world, post-war political structures are facing their toughest challenges yet.
Thousands March in Philadelphia Kicking off Vocal Week of Protests at DNC
More than 10,000 people calling for a “clean energy revolution” marched in the streets here Sunday demanding that the Democratic Party endorse a ban on fracking and commit to heavy investments in renewables on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
A Short History of Woven Boats
Such ingenious craft opened up new industries, crafts and food sources for ordinary hunters or farmers, allowing them to traverse lakes and rivers easily and travel between islands.
Resilient Suburbia
Talented designers and planners have shown us that it’s possible to retrofit suburbia.
An Intentional Egalitarian Community as a Small-Scale Implementation of Post-Capitalism
It takes systematic work and engagement to build up a reputation that gives one more influence and support for one’s project. The non-hierarchical relations imply a lot of self-responsibility but also a feeling of empowerment.
The Shopping Mall Death Spiral
The shopping mall is the epitome of America’s Suburban Experiment.
