If you are interested in participating in this 6-week book group please contact Cheryl Simpson-Whitaker by August 5th. This new group is setting the start date for mid-August to mid-September. Other book groups may be starting in the fall. cksw46@msn.com or 208-794-1479.

The Transition Handbook

“We live in an oil-dependent world, arriving at this level of dependency in a very short space of time by treating petroleum as if it were in infinite supply. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies to keep money in the local area.”

– Chelsea Green Publishing

Must read article: How Not to Play the Game

Recently, Steve wrote a heartfelt article about the situation in Greece and other countries around the world (read his article here). A few days later, Richo Cech of Horizon Herbs in Williams, Oregon, wrote about a very similar subject, and I was given permission to publish it here as a guest post. The changes taking place around the world do weigh on our spirit, as individuals and collectively. Richo, naturally, believes we can stay centered, in spite of everything that’s happening, by spending quiet time in the garden.

And now, here’s the original article:

A whisper is being passed across the land, from person to person, from bird to bird, from tree to tree.  It is the rumor of ending, a potent time when much of what we thought was solid and dependable is being revealed as fleeting and illusory.  There is fear, but there is also the welling of a great curiosity.  What is happening, and how will it affect us?  Can we hope that we will we be left alone to engage a simpler, more self-sufficient life based on the prudent rendering of resources at hand?  Is that the silver lining? If so, what tools, skills and ways of relating will prove most useful? What will we eat?  Where will we get salt? And how about the environment–can we trust that we will be safe?  What about rising waters? Erratic weather?  Wide scale climatic shift? Radioactivity?

I watch the news pretty carefully.  Not because I believe it, but because I want to know what the news media wants me to believe.  Very recently, Read the rest of this entry →

I can hardly pull myself away from the events going on in Athens and throughout Greece right now.  Calling it “Real Democracy” or “Direct Democracy”, the people of Athens are returning to their roots as the birth place of democracy and taking it to another level.  They are living and learning how to self-organize at scale.  It is estimated that between 500,000 and a million people were in Syntagma Square yesterday.  Tonight some of my friends who are veteran World Café practitioners will be hosting a conversation around the question of “Imagine we wake up and live in real democracy – what is it like, what is happening in daily life, what do you see and feel?”

Thousands of people have been gathering every night for the past few weeks in Athens and participating in a self-organized but very deliberative process.  I have been following this story through friends for a few weeks and continuing to wonder why it was not getting any attention in the US press.  Yesterday the group grew to nearly a million and was successful in forcing the government to reconsider the austerity measures being demanded by the international banking system and suddenly the US press began to take notice.  Here is an article suggesting that this could have implications for all of Europe and even the US.  Could this be the event that triggers the predicted global financial collapse?  This question suddenly makes these developments more meaningful here.

The news reports here also emphasized the violence that broke out yesterday.  It is much easier to put this experience into our normal frame of reference if we think of it as another out of control bunch of protesters making trouble.   However, a first hand report from a participant tells a different story.  ” The spirit amongst us was incredible – we moved as one as we were tear gassed – helping each other – of all ages.  When we could not see or breath for the chemicals, we sprayed each other with malox – when we needed to offer water we gave to each other.  When the despair, anger or fear became too much and provocation of the riot police became to vocal and overwhelming, we calmed each other down.  We sang and told jokes.  We moved the riot police back – not by force – but with a strong fierce movement – a breath of saying no and yes at the same time.”

I notice very different and conflicting reactions in myself as I follow this story.  Initially, I was excited to see such a large demonstration of the self-organizing energy that has been my model and  hope for community building.  First Tunisia and Egypt and now Greece.   There is something big going on here!   As I began to consider the implications for the global financial system (and for my own small sense of security), I noticed the fear moving in.  Yes, intellectually I know that our economic system is not sustainable and that collapse is predicted by many people but this feels so real and so imminent.   And then I read between the lines and recognize that perhaps this could be the end of capitalism as we know it and the opportunity to create a new, more socially and environmentally just form of economic system and  my mood begins to move toward enthusiasm.  I wonder, what if “they” declared a depression and nobody came?  What if we collectively took care of each other like the crowd in Athens did yesterday?

I recently finished a book on the history of the US between 1778 and 1815 (The Empire of Liberty).  It identifies the emergence of democracy as one of the biggest issues of that time in the early history of our country.  Many of the founders of the United States feared democracy.  They did not trust the power and the wisdom of “the people”.  For them, this country was founded upon principles of liberty and the values of aristocracy.  How little has really changed?  I am aware of my own fears of democracy.  How easily it would be for a demagogue to channel the anger and fear and other emotions of the crowd into a reactionary response.  And on the other side, there are people and institutions with financial incentives to crush any challenge to the status quo.  Uncertain times are dangerous.  And one of the biggest dangers is that fear takes over.  So, I find myself with a mix of emotions including gratitude and concern for friends in Athens today.  But mostly, I am filled with hope and a reminder of the admonition to “resist psychological contraction.”   The challenge as I see it is to keep the conversation going, to welcome the changes that want to happen and to trust power of self-organization.

The world is on the brink of huge changes and we are blessed with the opportunity to live in this time and to be part of shaping what will emerge.  No less than the future of our planet and our species is at stake, from my perspective, and those are pretty exciting stakes to be playing with.

A few months ago about 30 of us got together to watch The End of Suburbia, along with a short clip that extolled the benefits of joining the Transition Town movement. After the film, we had a lively discussion about problems with the current banking system and the schools, and we expressed a desire for informal classes about gardening and other subjects. We even talked about filming the classes so that local knowledge would easily available to others in the community. The energy in the room was unmistakable — the people present were ready for something to happen. We were ready to create something new.

Then what happened? Why did so much enthusiasm simply evaporate? Even after the Nicole Foss lecture, where she told us that we’re facing the imminent threat of almost complete economic collapse, there is still no passion or enthusiasm for creating a plan to deal with the problems facing us as a community. In fact, even the people who organized that first film showing don’t seem particularly excited about starting a Transition initiative now. Maybe later, but not now…

I love a good mystery, and this total lack of passion is definitely mysterious. Therefore, I started looking around for some clues that would explain what happened to all that enthusiasm. I’m still not sure, but I’m going to lay out one possible cause — and I will expect people to disagree with me. I hope people will disagree with me. After all, a lively argument is a whole lot better than no interaction at all.

So, here’s my case: Read the rest of this entry →

Chris Martenson’s blog has an eyewitness account by someone who lived through the collapse of the Argentinian economy in the early parts of this decade – listen to the podcast interview between Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre and Chris Martenson here.

The blog mentioned in the podcast is http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com/

Senior Aguirre has uploaded a series of 16 videos that he calls a “video-based urban survival course.” The first video in the series is below:
Read the rest of this entry →

The World Is Consuming More Oil Than It Produces, And Survived 2010 By Drawing Down Reserves -

Saudi Electricity Chief Says Country May Be Out Of Oil By 2030

Update: We’ve received quite a few RSVPs by email, and it looks like we’ll have a crowd for the film. A small crowd, perhaps, but it should be fun. Bill and Andrea are helping out with the technical stuff (using their equipment – thanks to you both) so we should have a film as scheduled. Please watch this space, though, just in case we run into any more problems and need to make any last-minute changes.

Previous Post: We’re running into a few technical glitches that might make the showing of the film The Economics of Happiness a bit more difficult than expected. We might still be able to get all the equipment up and running, but it would help if we knew how many people (if any) actually intend to come to the event this Friday, June 10. If you think you’ll be coming, please let us know (click on the “leave a comment link” at the top of this post). If there isn’t enough interest, we may postpone the film so we have a bit more time to get things working correctly. As always, your help is much appreciated.

Now what?  This question seems to be on many of our minds.  As the sun tantalizes me this morning with hopes for summer, I sense that more than just plants are trying to sprout in the Grande Ronde Valley.  The tender shoots of new community are evident in numerous places: book groups reading Transition Handbook; the community viewing of  “The End of Suburbia” documentary; Nicole Foss’ lecture last Sunday; the community garden, farmers market, Solar Fair and other ORA projects; connections with the PEN group in Halfway/Richland; and, most recently, the discussion follow-up to Nicole’s lecture this past Tuesday evening.  A common thread among these events (and others that I am not aware of) seems to be a concern for how we create or re-create a local community that – in the words of Nicole Foss – is redundant, resilient and re-localized.

Nicole focused upon the collapse of the financial bubble which she considers imminent.  On Tuesday evening 16 people gathered at the library to share our reactions to this prediction.  These reactions varied from relief that the issue if finally being looked at to concern that the information was alarmist and not adequately balanced.  While we each heard the message through our own filters and had our individual reactions to the prospects of collapse, there was a consensus that we are faced with an opportunity to create a new sense of community locally and that there is much about this vision that excites us and gives us hope.  Living in a post-carbon society or living in a world where money no longer has primacy might be more satisfying as we learn to replace consumption with relationships and to rely upon connection and interdependence rather than rugged individualism.  We have the opportunity and choice to “resist the psychology of contraction” (Nicole’s language) by co-creating a new kind of community.

Lots of action oriented ideas came out on Tuesday night including:

• Developing a local currency and a system for bartering goods and services without money.
• Sharing (co-ownership) of cars and trucks and other tools.
• Researching of Multnomah County’s 15 year plan for feeling their population.
• A group to discuss simple, non-electric or fossil fuel appropriate technology.
• Sharing of tomato plants.
• Forming a group to discuss the book Walk On, Walk Off (A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now)
• One or more book groups to discuss Transition Handbook.
• A potluck to begin developing a database of skills.
• Increased utilization of this website to coordinate activities and interests.

And always the question is “now what”? Who will make these things happen?  Who is the leader?  Where is the group structure?  My perspective these questions is to ask all of us to look in the mirror.  We have been so conditioned to expect the government or “the leaders” or someone else to develop a plan and to tell us what to do.  We are so used to looking for a group to empower us or waiting for someone to give permission or validation before things can move forward.  These are the values and beliefs that have created the old system that is falling apart.  It is time for a new system in which every person takes responsibility for following his/her passion and vision, inviting others to join in and collectively discovering what kind of new community emerges.  There are many examples in nature of how living systems organize to respond to environmental changes without waiting for a master plan or for a leaders to come forward and direct the actions.  These living systems provide a beautiful model of resilience and sustainability.  In a human community, this pattern takes the form of committed individuals taking initiative to begin conversations, to experiment, to communicate and to collectively learn.

So, in response to the question of “what now?” , I would suggest that the answer is “what are you called to do?”  Do it, see what happens and be prepared to be surprised.

• Contribute your ideas here on the website.
  
• Form a book groups.
  
• Have a conversation with your neighbors.
  
• Ask questions about sustainability.
  
• Plant a garden.
  
• Make a proposal.
  
• Listen with curiosity.
  
• Act with joy, practice generosity and gratitude.
• Ask for what you need, offer what you can.
  

In closing, I would like to share a quote from Pema Chodran that I find inspiring in this work of community building:
The whole globe is shook up, so what are you going to do
when things fall apart?
You’re either going to become more fundamentalist
and try to hold things together,
Or your are going to forsake old ambitions and goals
and live life as an experiment,
making it up as you go along.