Politics

Movement goes world-wide – Nov 7

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– An Update on All Things Transitioney and French
– Round-up of What’s Happening out in the World of Transition (Brazil, US … )
– Dinero contra energía fósil: La batalla por el control del mundo (online Spanish translations)
– Bem-Vindo ao Pico do Petróleo (new Brazil peak oil website)

ODAC Newsletter – Nov 5

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Oil rose to a six-month high of more than $87/barrel as the Federal Reserve embarked on a new round of quantitative easing worth $600bn and Saudi Oil Minister Ali al Naimi raised his target oil price to $70-90 per barrel. Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation said the price should be higher still, at around $100/barrel…

The election is over – Now what do we do with all the fear?

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The election is over and the results are depressing, much as expected – it was not a good night for anyone who believes that the most important work of government in hard times will be protecting ordinary people. This is a stretch to imagine at the best of times, and this was not them. There’s a larger question, however, that emerges out of the ashes of our usual political self-incineration – what will ordinary people will do with their fear now that the election is over?

Argentina’s collapse and the grassroots of resilience

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When people think of the 2001 Argentinean collapse, they automatically think of riots, looting and violent unrest. It’s true. Social cohesion did break down in large cities as they negotiated both the erosion of societal norms and the carrying capacity of the land beneath them. On the other hand, in rural Patagonia a different dynamic existed that allowed for the spontaneous emergence of barter markets. These markets self-organized to create a flow of trade in necessary goods and services when access to standard currency was radically reduced and even ultimately removed from society. Community cooperatives also formed to provide the means for a higher level of local function and, thus, greater regional stability.

Infrastructural Ecologies: Principles for Post-Industrial Public Works

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A next generation of ground-up or rebuilt bridges, power grids, waterworks, sewers, landfills, rail systems, ports and dams demands a new direction — bold strategies to bring about a future of multi-purpose, low-carbon, resilient infrastructure, tightly coordinated with natural systems, well integrated into social contexts, and capable of adapting to a changing climate.

Election day — Reflecting on our failures

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Let’s not fool ourselves. There is a considerable challenge in making the best of a bad situation, for what is required is a serious, wide-reaching revival of American families, communities and old-fashioned Christian charity. Americans will have to take care of each other in the absence of a benevolent government.

“Expect next phase of market crash and a large one for that matter…” – Interview with Nicole “Stoneleigh” Foss

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“Financial crisis is going to make resource depletion much harder to address, because we are not going to have the money to replace highly energy-dependent infrastructure. Doing so would be staggeringly expensive and would take a very long time even if we did have the money. As it is, we will be forced to conserve both money and resources by going without.”