Our problems are resolvable in principle: End of Growth Chapter 6, Part 4
We’ve just seen how the economy could be put on the right track. But sorting out the economy is not enough to save the world; that would be just the first step.
Building Community
#Occupy – VOICES – Oct 11
– Meet 4 Middle-Class Americans Who’ve Been Politicized by #OccupyWallStree
– Chris Hedges: “Ketchup” describes Occupy experience and group process
– Training video for running an Occupy General Assembly
Occupy Wall Street emerges as “First Populist Movement” on the left since the 1930s
As the “Occupy” movement expands from the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York City throughout the United States, we look at its historical significance. “This is an incredibly significant moment in U.S. history,” says Dorian Warren of Columbia University. “It might be a turning point, because this is the first time we’ve seen an emergence of a populist movement on the left since the 1930s.” We also speak to Firedoglake blogger Kevin Gosztola, who has been reporting from the occupations in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
A people’s takeover
What would a People’s Takeover require of us? Below I share some reflections on a summer of research into the bigger picture. And a few further questions!
How I prepared my family for peak oil – Nicole Foss (video and text)
Nicole Foss is senior editor of The Automatic Earth web site, and an international speaker integrating topics of peak oil, economics and personal preparation. In 2001, Foss moved her family from England to rural Ontario, in order to prepare her family for peak oil and economic uncertainty. Local Future nonprofit has published to YouTube the entire 40-minute presentation by Foss on her considerations for personal preparation, in advance of her keynote presentation at the International Conference on Sustainability, Transition and Culture Change: Vision, Action, Leadership.
Bill McKibben: “Communities are more important than individuals, and probably more important than states and nations”
In an interview with Rob Hopkins of the Transition Movement, 350.org founder Bill McKibben talks about the importance of community, the XL pipeline and the green movement.
Why the metamovement will ultimately fail
There have been, belatedly, attempts to connect the “We Are the 99%” Occupy Wall Street protests with the protests in the Mideast against anti-democratic regimes and in Europe against unemployment, austerity and government inaction. What is unique about the newest US protests (at least since the ill-fated anti-globalization protests of a decade ago), and perhaps the reason why it took so long for them to get media and public traction, is that they are anti-corporate more than anti-government.
What are your demands?
Now that there is a nascent movement taking form on the streets of American cities, the media are asking, Who are your leaders?, and, What are your demands? The leaders will emerge according to their abilities. The demands will bubble up on their own as well–but here perhaps suggestions are possible.
#Occupy – Oct 10
– “I have no trouble understanding what OWS are complaining about” – Alan Grayson (former D-FL) smacks down P. J. O’Rourke
– Business Week: Wall Street, Heal Thyself
– Slavoj Žižek Speaks to Occupy Wall Street
– Robert Reich: The Wall Street Occupiers and the Democratic Party
– How #OccupyWallStreet Is Evolving and Gaining Power
– The grievance is having no voice, being invisible
#Occupy – Oct 9
– NY Times gives thumbs up: Protesters Against Wall Street
– Pelosi Supports Occupy Wall Street Movement
– Krugman: Confronting the Malefactors
– Derrick Jensen Speaks To Occupy DC via Skype (audio-video)
– Think Again: The Era of the ‘One Percent’
– Occupy Sesame Street Gets Violent
– #OccupySesameStreet: The Making of a Meme
Transition & solutions – Oct 9
– Less stuff, more happiness (video)
– WWOOF UK: Forty years of inspiration, education and perspiration
– Transition Toronto’s winning film! ‘The people in my neighbourhood’
– Geothermal Power Plants Could Help Produce Lithium for Electric Cars
Lessons from a surprise bike town
It came as a surprise to many when Bicycling magazine last year named Minneapolis, Minnesota as America’s “#1 Bike City,” (unseating Portland, Oregon, which had claimed the honor for many years). Shock that the heartland could outperform cities on the coasts was matched by widespread disbelief that biking was even possible in a state famous for its ferocious winters.
