Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
David Holmgren, one of the originators of the permaculture concept, has recently written what I believe is one of the best books on the societal implications of peak oil and climate change to be published over the last several years.
In a sense the Transition Initiative places itself as a social tipping point, with dramatic and positive consequences where the sudden wisdom of communities breaks through the stolid unwisdom of national government.
(excerpts)
Collapse Dynamics: Phase transitions in complex social systems
How will knowledge of collapse impact collapse?
Again social evils haunt Britain. Do we still have the spirit to thwart them?
Machiavelli’s insight
Santa Cruz group gears up for life after cheap oil (Transition)
From crisis comes hope (can a weary Left come up with new ideas?)
Newfoundland/Labrador premier captures the flag from the oil patch
Greenpeace hands out fake copies of International Herald Tribune
Blowing the green whistle on sports
Saving some of our civilization’s achievements for our successors is certainly something worth fighting for. The problem is that bequeathing them a hoard of textbooks written on acid-free paper won’t be of much use if they don’t understand them… as it is very likely to be the case.
For me a boat easily fit into my collection of human powered vehicles, yet was something new that I hadn’t tried before as an adult. And here it was entering my consciousness as a post-collapse survival tool, the context by which I justified my investments of time and money. But was a boat a survival tool or an expensive new toy? It was not as though I could commute in a boat as I would on a bicycle.
Online screening of ‘In Transition’ for 72 hours
Financial crisis: high noon on the high street
Transition culture: Pushing back to a greener future
Transitioning Tampa Bay into sustainable communities
The ecological and economic prognosticators who warn of a potentially unpleasant future for the human enterprise typically portray humanity as being at a fork in the road on our evolutionary journey. They contend that we are at a pivotal decision point at which we must make an “either/or” choice between a positive future outcome and a negative future outcome.
The vindication of a public scholar (Paul Ehrlich and The Population Bomb)
How did 100,000,000 women disappear?
Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation
Transition film to be available for 48 hours Friday and Saturday
Daryl Hannah: the joy of living ‘on the edge of civilisation’
Rebooting urban watersheds
The eco evangelist
Post-consumerism: emerging needs and market opportunities
It is, of course only a novel, but it offers a good rationale for us to enter politics. Nobody can predict what shape the future will take, and even if we can be pretty sure the present world is going to collapse, its demise will take time and it can be succeeded by a lot of things, not all of them pleasant…Yet we can work to cushion the decline and make sure that whoever will succeed us will inherit the best of what we have…This is not a very rewarding job and it is as likely to fail as to succeed. Sometimes it will leave you with a bitter aftertaste and even victories will sometimes feel empty, but it certainly beats replaying Julian’s tragedy.
As our families are rocking away the evening under our kiwi arbor, my friend mentions that her sister is pregnant. After having one baby by C-section, she is worried about having another one at home, without drugs. Pregnancy and birth have changed a lot since the old economy failed and insurance and government stopped paying for epidurals and Cesareans. Of course, without insurance or government support, no one can afford them, and hospitals want payment up front now.
