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Envisioning Sustainable Communities by Pamela Courtenay-Hall and Gary Clausheide, Energy Bulletin
A Movement or An Organization? by Joanne Poyourow, Transition United States
Are Cities Becoming as Obsolete as Farms? by Gene Logsdon, the Contrary Farmer
Jeremy Rifkin: The Third Industrial Revolution by Amanda Gefner, Culture Lab (New Scientist)
Envisioning Sustainable Communities by Pamela Courtenay-Hall and Gary Clausheide, Energy Bulletin
In this 4-part series on sustainable communities, we critique dominant western conceptions of 'community', try to help clarify confusions of the term in EB feature articles, review various approaches to "building community", and call for clarity in our dialogues about "building sustainable communities". In Part 3 to come, Gary Clausheide gives a short history of "community" -- how humankind lost it, and how we might regain it. In part 4 to come, we present a radical theory on building sustainable communities, drawing on lessons from the past, and arguing that there is no more important question for us to grapple with than the question of how our community and larger society should be organized. We show that if you want sustainability and equality “at the end of the day”, you have to build them in at the start. A Movement or An Organization? by Joanne Poyourow, Transition United States For the people, by the people -- no members of this Transition initiative are funded or paid for the work they do for their community. We rely on the power of the people, inspiration, time, skills, and donations. If we're truly aiming for a movement --rather than an organization-- this is what it will look like. Roll up your sleeves, get down to work, neighbor shoulder-to-shoulder with neighbor. Are Cities Becoming as Obsolete as Farms? by Gene Logsdon, the Contrary Farmer
Listening to the news from Haiti, I was surprised to hear officials in its earthquake-leveled capitol say what a blessing it was that thousands of people have left the city seeking refuge in rural areas, and how it would be better if they stayed there. That sounds heartless, but I agree. The movement of population has been throughout history from rural areas to cities and inevitably that migration proves fatal. Jeremy Rifkin: The Third Industrial Revolution by Amanda Gefner, Culture Lab (New Scientist)
In The Empathic Civilization, Jeremy Rifkin argues that before we can save ourselves from climate change we have to break a vicious circle and embrace a new model of society based on scientists' new understanding of human nature. I asked him how we can do it. What is the premise of The Empathic Civilization? My sense is that we're nearing an endgame for the modern age. I think we had two singular events in the last 18 months that signal the end. First, in July 2008 the price of oil hit $147/barrel. Food riots broke out in 30 countries, the price of basic items shot up and purchasing power plummeted. That was the earthquake; the market crash 60 days later was the aftershock. It signaled the beginning of the endgame of a great industrial era based on fossil fuels. The second event, in December 2009, was the breakdown in Copenhagen, when world leaders tried to deal with our entropy problem and failed. That's the context of the book. Why couldn't our world leaders anticipate or respond to the global meltdown of the industrial revolution? And why can't they deal with climate change when scientists have been telling us that it may be the greatest threat our species has ever faced? What do you think the problem is? My sense is that the failure runs very deep. The problem is that those leaders are using 18th century Enlightenment ideas to address 20th century challenges. I advise a number of heads of state in Europe and over and over again I see how these old ideas about human nature and the meaning of life continue to cloak public policy. The Enlightenment view is that human beings are rational, detached agents that pursue our own self-interests and our nation states reflect that view. How are we going to address the needs of 7 billion people and heal the biosphere if we really are dispassionate, disinterested agents pursuing our own self-interest? A lot of interesting new discoveries in evolutionary biology, neuroscience, child development, anthropology and more suggest that human nature might not be what Enlightenment philosophers suggested. For instance, the discovery of mirror neurons suggests that we are not wired for autonomy or utility but for empathic distress; we are a social species.
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