Building Community

A new energy third world in North America?

by

The “curse” of oil wealth is a well-known phenomenon in Third World petro-states where millions of lives are wasted in poverty and the environment is ravaged, while tiny elites rake in the energy dollars and corruption rules the land. Recently, North America has been repeatedly hailed as the planet’s twenty-first-century “new Saudi Arabia” for “tough energy” — deep-sea oil, Canadian tar sands, and fracked oil and natural gas. But here’s a question no one considers: Will the oil curse become as familiar on this continent in the wake of a new American energy rush as it is in Africa and elsewhere? Will North America, that is, become not just the next boom continent for energy bonanzas, but a new energy Third World?

“The first question should always be “how are we going to work together?” rather than “what are we going to do?”

by

“We’re on a mission here now with this group. We all are co-ordinated and there’s something powerful about having fifteen people completely dedicated to the degree where we all know we’re going to do absolutely what it takes to make this happen in our community”.

Commodification: the essence of our time

by

The dominant process underlying the transformation of life in all societies, since at least the mid-nineteenth century, is the conversion of things and activities into commodities, or commodification. In advanced capitalist countries this process is now outstripping our political and social capacity to adjust to it. Any useful economic analysis needs to foreground this process. Mainstream economics does not do this.

Taking ‘perhaps’ seriously: the resurgence of the British co-operative spirit

by

Why does Sennett, a professor both at New York University and the London School of Economics, see Britain, not America, as the new homeland for the social left? Ironically enough, he pointed to our language, much mocked by Americans for its stumbling timidity. We Brits are much better, it seems, at ‘subjunctive expression’, one of the three key co-operative skills…While Americans are experts at declarative expression (“I believe X, Y and Z”), the British with our “perhaps”, “I think”, “it might be” create a space for communication that in turn encourages the second ‘dialogic’ skill: that of listening not to the words, but the intention behind them. The third co-operative skill singled out as key is the ability to empathise.

What does a new economy look like?

by

The Atmos Totnes campaign, which is seeking to bring the town’s former Dairy Crest site into community ownership, and its vision of the site as ‘the heart of a new economy’, are at the cutting edge of thinking about the economy of the future. At least, that was the opinion of many of the delegates at the Social Enterprise Exchange in Glasgow, the world’s biggest social enterprise event.

The Collapse of Complex Societies (review)

by

The Collapse of Complex Societies is a useful book. Its model seems valid enough to me, and it contains a wealth of historical background. But I think most readers of this site already have a good idea where this society is headed. For the kind of wisdom that might point to renewal — towards which we still have to work, even if it happens long after we’re gone — we need to look elsewhere.

In small groups and small towns, opposition to Citizens United spreads

by

The small group, or “affinity group,” has been a crucial part of many social movements, and people are increasingly realizing its relevance for today. 
“It can sometimes be hard to get a group of activists to pull away from a political or social agenda,” says Lore. “But I always promise people that if you take five or six sessions focused on getting to know each other, you won’t be sorry. You’ll become much more effective activists. And you’ll also have fun in the process.”

Translating Transition: from small town to mega-city

by

“How can you possibly do this in L.A.?” people familiar with the Transition model often ask me. Even people who live here find the idea quite daunting. One local Permaculture teacher, when asked “What about LA?”, literally threw up his hands in a gesture that said “It’s hopeless.”

Los Angeles is a mega-city. At 11 million people, we’re somewhere between 8th and 15th on the list of the world’s largest. We’re one of the biggest population centers that have dared to actively work with the Transition model. Just for the record: it isn’t categorically “hopeless.”

Together: The Rituals Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation (book review)

by

As if recovering from the binge of market triumphalism that crested in 2008, the Zeitgeist is now unleashing a steady stream of new works on cooperation. The rediscovery of this aspect of our humanity is long overdue and incredibly important, given the deformities of thinking that economics has inflicted on public consciousness. So I was excited to learn that the distinguished sociologist Richard Sennett had written a new book about cooperation, Together: The Rituals Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation.

How many circles does it take to make a community?

by

I have read some of the “energy descent plans” of some of the leading Transition communities, and they strike me as being long on ideals and objectives and short on credible strategy — how to get there from here…I have come to realize that our future is so “unimaginable” that strategic planning is impossible…Instead, I wondered if it made sense to have…a “Working Towards” plan — specific ideas for helping us (1) build community and increase collaboration and sharing, (2) reduce dependence on imports and centralized systems and increase self-sufficiency, and (3) prepare psychologically and increase resilience for whatever the future holds.

Could we do this using the Resilience Circle model?