Comments on: Responding to Various Critiques of Transition http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/ An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:35:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Craig Barnett http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-60256 Craig Barnett Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:41:41 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-60256 Ale, Thanks for this. I am offering a workshop on 'Sanctuary in Transition' at the the Transition Cities conference in Nottingham - hope you can make it. It seems to me crucial that we broaden out our vision of transitioned communities to explicitly include the practice of sanctuary for those disposessed by climate change and resource wars. Otherwise the inevitable tendency will be towards ever-harsher border controls and anti-refugee hostility. Ale,
Thanks for this. I am offering a workshop on ‘Sanctuary in Transition’ at the the Transition Cities conference in Nottingham – hope you can make it. It seems to me crucial that we broaden out our vision of transitioned communities to explicitly include the practice of sanctuary for those disposessed by climate change and resource wars. Otherwise the inevitable tendency will be towards ever-harsher border controls and anti-refugee hostility.

]]> By: Jennifer Mazer http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-60009 Jennifer Mazer Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:21:24 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-60009 <p>I love very much the whole idea of the Transition Town. I am deeply concerned however that in matters of trying to get help from the local government;the Transition Town Initiative may fail. Because people rely too much on the status quo when they could be taking matters into their hands and offering their own candidates.</p> I love very much the whole idea of the
Transition Town. I am deeply concerned however
that in matters of trying to get help from the local government;the Transition Town Initiative may fail. Because people rely too much on the
status quo when they could be taking matters into their hands and offering their own candidates.

]]> By: Ale Fernandez http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-60005 Ale Fernandez Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:31:55 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-60005 <p>I just came here because I saw a new critique of TT, this time on the p2p foundation's website - but I think it criticises decentralised societies such as middle ages post-rome rather than directly TT.</p> <p>http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/a-critique-of-local-resilience-movements/2008/10/31</p> <p>And I spotted your comment Craig - great because here in Bristol we're working on launching as a City of Sanctuary in a few years, but this is led currently by humanist organisations supporting refugees, but I think the whole thing might be easier if more people like yourself (but based in Bristol!!) saw the connection between refugee issues and "decentralised" environmentalism. As a sometime refugee and migrant myself, I think the long distance links are as important as the close ones.</p> I just came here because I saw a new critique of TT, this time on the p2p foundation’s website – but I think it criticises decentralised societies such as middle ages post-rome rather than directly TT.

http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/a-critique-of-local-resilience-movements/2008/10/31

And I spotted your comment Craig – great because here in Bristol we’re working on launching as a City of Sanctuary in a few years, but this is led currently by humanist organisations supporting refugees, but I think the whole thing might be easier if more people like yourself (but based in Bristol!!) saw the connection between refugee issues and “decentralised” environmentalism. As a sometime refugee and migrant myself, I think the long distance links are as important as the close ones.

]]> By: Craig Barnett http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59301 Craig Barnett Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:57:16 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59301 <p>Sheffield's (very) new Transition group is working closely with the local City of Sanctuary movement, which offers a connection to all of the refugee groups and activities in the city. There are other City of Sanctuary groups (so far) in London, Bristol, Bradford, Nottingham, Swansea, Leicester, Coventry and Oxford, aiming to build a culture of hospitality for refugees and asylum-seekers throughout their cities. This seems to me like an important aspect of our transition to a liveable future too. Given the potential numbers of climate and resource-war refugees in the near future, I want to make sure that we retain a commitment to the value of offering places of sanctuary to people whose lives are threatened. If anyone would like to get in touch with their local City of Sanctuary group see www.cityofsanctuary.org or contact me.</p> Sheffield’s (very) new Transition group is working closely with the local City of Sanctuary movement, which offers a connection to all of the refugee groups and activities in the city. There are other City of Sanctuary groups (so far) in London, Bristol, Bradford, Nottingham, Swansea, Leicester, Coventry and Oxford, aiming to build a culture of hospitality for refugees and asylum-seekers throughout their cities. This seems to me like an important aspect of our transition to a liveable future too. Given the potential numbers of climate and resource-war refugees in the near future, I want to make sure that we retain a commitment to the value of offering places of sanctuary to people whose lives are threatened.
If anyone would like to get in touch with their local City of Sanctuary group see http://www.cityofsanctuary.org or contact me.

]]> By: Andrew http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59297 Andrew Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:02:53 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59297 <p>I read the post, was getting grumpy and halfway through the comments I had a phone call: It looks like we're organising our first inter-Transition Neighbourhood soccer/football match between Transition Bell 3215 and 'Mullers'in nearby postcode 3216! I don't care what any thinks...we're having a ball in our neck of the woods.</p> I read the post, was getting grumpy and halfway through the comments I had a phone call: It looks like we’re organising our first inter-Transition Neighbourhood soccer/football match between Transition Bell 3215 and ‘Mullers’in nearby postcode 3216! I don’t care what any thinks…we’re having a ball in our neck of the woods.

]]> By: Jim Newcomer, Portland Peak Oil http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59296 Jim Newcomer, Portland Peak Oil Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:24:32 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59296 <p>Ale, I love your understanding of the humanity of rich as well as poor people. We all have to be in this together. The truth is this turning point, to use Joanna Macy's term, is different from all others. There have been two or three big era changes in European history so far since the first one, which was the beginning of agriculture. One occurred when the Roman Empire collapsed and de-centralized political life into feudal estates, and another emerged from the cutting of the forests in Europe that forced production to rely on coal for energy. From that one came a tendency toward centralization (eventually ending in nation-states and huge corporations) that we live with today, toward mass literacy, and toward the reinvention of democracy, including democratic churches. The Marxist framework, of course, was aimed at the class structure that emerged from the capitalism that was the corporate expression of that centralization. Our present movement, Transition Towns, takes us in an opposite direction. It is about de-centralization. It is about organizing communities to take positive action in the face of the cancer-like growth of centralization, which had no way to counteract its ultimate self-destruction. I just finished reading Joseph Tainter's great classic, The Collapse of Complex Societies. What I learned there is that the collapse may look a lot like forming communities. Local governments become dominant over national ones. Hierarchies collapse. People may actually be better off. And that is what we are working on: how to be better off - resilient. One point here is that after the turning point, i.e., in a de-centralized, local society, class warfare is nonsense. Rich and poor must cooperate; both are needed to assure mutual survival because both bring needed talents and resources to the party. The alternative is a kind of Mad Max landscape of death and despair, the wart of all against all that Heinberg has hinted at. The suggestion to create gazelles instead of killing dinosaurs makes sense. We waste our efforts being against others. For that reason, rooting for the success of, for example, local small business owners is supporting our movement. Paul Hawken recently suggested we distinguish between corporations, which were formed originally to aid kings in the conquest of colonies, and commerce, which humans have always carried on to trade for things we need. In our neighborhoods we are looking at ways to support emerging small stores, bars or pubs, restaurants, and services. That's how we will replace the multinationals that keep calling for globalization even as shipping grows prohibitively expensive. Here in Portland, Oregon (in the US), where I am, we are just beginning to learn about the Transition movement and forming a team to design strategies. Some of us have worked with our City Council in the past on the Portland Peak Oil Task Force, which developed a strategy for city government to begin preparing for the descent. We also realize that organizing communities from the ground up is very different from running a government no matter how well the mayor and agency heads understand the implications of environmental changes - and that it requires the cooperation of local authorities, neighborhood associations, churches, environmental organizations, farmers associations - ultimately everyone! We have had enough experience with these authorities and their staffs to realize that we can support them in doing the right things within the present limits of their responsibilities, laws, building codes, and budgets, and they will help us in return. Their limitations - budgets, codes, regulations - will change with time. Meanwhile we also need public order, streets, clean water, sewers, and telephone connections, health services (such as they are in the US), and all the other aspects of daily life that support our present well-being. The important thing for now is to get started where we are with the people we can reach, including minority people, in the time we have. We can and must also learn from great traditions rooted in the people. It was Chairman Mao who advised his movement to go to the masses and trust the masses. Just so, we can learn from the people we want to reach and trust that they want to learn from us when we get it right. Freiri was in that tradition too. What we try to remember here is that we are moving into an era that has never existed before, trying to do something that hasn't been done. We are moving toward decentralization in a fully-functioning (at least on the surface) centralized society and trying to do it peacefully - because that is the only way it can be done. So in that context, we must keep open minds. We must learn as we go. We must remain sensitive to the people we reach out to because they are going to teach us what to do and what our ultimate goals will be - beyond Open Spaces, beyond EDAPs, beyond permaculture and into questions of how we maintain laws and democracies, even banking and fraud protection, if we have no armies to protect us, how we maintain the kinds of sophisticated technologies - in medicine, for example, communications and energy generation - that have made our lives comfortable and rich and bathed in world-wide information flows. All that is going to require enormous creativity and continuous prevention of violence. In the end we (and our descendants) are likely to evolve societies with morals, customs, even religious and spiritual beliefs that are very different from what we have now. To get an idea of how fundamental that is, look back at the Renaissance and think of the changes Europe has grappled with since then. For all those reasons, I rejoice that you, Rob, are grappling with these criticisms. Writing answers to them requires you to think a step or two further into the mystery that shrouds this unknowable future. (Actually, given the local nature of our aspirations, each community will have its own face, develop its own version of a local civilization, and so it is more appropriate to say "futures.") I urge you to stay focused on these questions. But of course I'm a policy wonk, so I would say that.</p> Ale, I love your understanding of the humanity of rich as well as poor people. We all have to be in this together. The truth is this turning point, to use Joanna Macy’s term, is different from all others. There have been two or three big era changes in European history so far since the first one, which was the beginning of agriculture. One occurred when the Roman Empire collapsed and de-centralized political life into feudal estates, and another emerged from the cutting of the forests in Europe that forced production to rely on coal for energy. From that one came a tendency toward centralization (eventually ending in nation-states and huge corporations) that we live with today, toward mass literacy, and toward the reinvention of democracy, including democratic churches. The Marxist framework, of course, was aimed at the class structure that emerged from the capitalism that was the corporate expression of that centralization.
Our present movement, Transition Towns, takes us in an opposite direction. It is about de-centralization. It is about organizing communities to take positive action in the face of the cancer-like growth of centralization, which had no way to counteract its ultimate self-destruction. I just finished reading Joseph Tainter’s great classic, The Collapse of Complex Societies. What I learned there is that the collapse may look a lot like forming communities. Local governments become dominant over national ones. Hierarchies collapse. People may actually be better off. And that is what we are working on: how to be better off – resilient.
One point here is that after the turning point, i.e., in a de-centralized, local society, class warfare is nonsense. Rich and poor must cooperate; both are needed to assure mutual survival because both bring needed talents and resources to the party. The alternative is a kind of Mad Max landscape of death and despair, the wart of all against all that Heinberg has hinted at. The suggestion to create gazelles instead of killing dinosaurs makes sense. We waste our efforts being against others.
For that reason, rooting for the success of, for example, local small business owners is supporting our movement. Paul Hawken recently suggested we distinguish between corporations, which were formed originally to aid kings in the conquest of colonies, and commerce, which humans have always carried on to trade for things we need. In our neighborhoods we are looking at ways to support emerging small stores, bars or pubs, restaurants, and services. That’s how we will replace the multinationals that keep calling for globalization even as shipping grows prohibitively expensive.
Here in Portland, Oregon (in the US), where I am, we are just beginning to learn about the Transition movement and forming a team to design strategies. Some of us have worked with our City Council in the past on the Portland Peak Oil Task Force, which developed a strategy for city government to begin preparing for the descent. We also realize that organizing communities from the ground up is very different from running a government no matter how well the mayor and agency heads understand the implications of environmental changes – and that it requires the cooperation of local authorities, neighborhood associations, churches, environmental organizations, farmers associations – ultimately everyone! We have had enough experience with these authorities and their staffs to realize that we can support them in doing the right things within the present limits of their responsibilities, laws, building codes, and budgets, and they will help us in return. Their limitations – budgets, codes, regulations – will change with time. Meanwhile we also need public order, streets, clean water, sewers, and telephone connections, health services (such as they are in the US), and all the other aspects of daily life that support our present well-being.
The important thing for now is to get started where we are with the people we can reach, including minority people, in the time we have. We can and must also learn from great traditions rooted in the people. It was Chairman Mao who advised his movement to go to the masses and trust the masses. Just so, we can learn from the people we want to reach and trust that they want to learn from us when we get it right. Freiri was in that tradition too.
What we try to remember here is that we are moving into an era that has never existed before, trying to do something that hasn’t been done. We are moving toward decentralization in a fully-functioning (at least on the surface) centralized society and trying to do it peacefully – because that is the only way it can be done. So in that context, we must keep open minds. We must learn as we go. We must remain sensitive to the people we reach out to because they are going to teach us what to do and what our ultimate goals will be – beyond Open Spaces, beyond EDAPs, beyond permaculture and into questions of how we maintain laws and democracies, even banking and fraud protection, if we have no armies to protect us, how we maintain the kinds of sophisticated technologies – in medicine, for example, communications and energy generation – that have made our lives comfortable and rich and bathed in world-wide information flows. All that is going to require enormous creativity and continuous prevention of violence. In the end we (and our descendants) are likely to evolve societies with morals, customs, even religious and spiritual beliefs that are very different from what we have now. To get an idea of how fundamental that is, look back at the Renaissance and think of the changes Europe has grappled with since then.
For all those reasons, I rejoice that you, Rob, are grappling with these criticisms. Writing answers to them requires you to think a step or two further into the mystery that shrouds this unknowable future. (Actually, given the local nature of our aspirations, each community will have its own face, develop its own version of a local civilization, and so it is more appropriate to say “futures.”) I urge you to stay focused on these questions. But of course I’m a policy wonk, so I would say that.

]]> By: Kamil Pachalko http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59258 Kamil Pachalko Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:19:32 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59258 <p>Hi Jenny Smith - you seem to be doing interesting work. Could you get in contact with me as I'd like to learn more details. Thanks</p> Hi Jenny Smith – you seem to be doing interesting work. Could you get in contact with me as I’d like to learn more details. Thanks

]]> By: Sonya http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59249 Sonya Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:21:58 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59249 <p>Personally, I've encountered people who think I'm making a fortune out of energy descent planning. They think it's a business, not realising I've not had any income at all for two years while I've been working on this. My husband and I have been using our savings to support the project this far (funding systems are very different in Australia)</p> Personally, I’ve encountered people who think I’m making a fortune out of energy descent planning. They think it’s a business, not realising I’ve not had any income at all for two years while I’ve been working on this. My husband and I have been using our savings to support the project this far (funding systems are very different in Australia)

]]> By: Ale Fernandez http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59246 Ale Fernandez Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:06:41 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59246 <p>I'm pleased to read all this, as it closely mirrors what's happening at a local level in East Bristol, and inside me too. I think that's what's missing from Rob's great quote there:</p> <p>"I also don’t believe that Government and other institutions will vanish overnight; we need proactive responses wherever we can get them from, from international agreements to national policy to a regeneration of regional politics and engaged and dynamic local communities"</p> <p>I think it goes even futher - in our hearts there's always a struggle between destructive anger, resignation and powerlessness - the force within that tells you you've already failed, and with the positive anger for justice, and the belief that you alone can change things and have the power and wisdom to do so. To defeat this negative voice in every moment is a revolution at the human level: if revolution is what detractors want, let them have it, but in their lives first.</p> <p>And I think Rob's points in general aren't really just about transition movements but common sense wisdom about unity of purpose, in overcoming problems and taking a large diverse population through any kind of transition or change. I think anyone who works this way will be successful and will create great change, not just transition initiatives and not just in this current situation. I'm a buddhist, and I can say that Rob's arguments, when I first encountered them, were surprisingly buddhist in nature - encouraging dialogue, inclusion and peaceful transition rather than violent revolution and discord between people.</p> <p>What I find the most upsetting failure of the great 19th century ideologies has been the violence and anger at their heart: hatred of people different from you in some way or other. With the left wing extreme it's rich people, people with money, people with power and big titles.</p> <p>As an ex refugee of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile I know all too well what happens when there is hatred, mistrust or exclusion of anyone - even the privileged classes. The law of Cause and effect doesn't just hit "bad people" - everyone has good and bad in them, and we all came from the same roots. With all these groups it's the same: they have someone to pick on and make their enemy, and to hold hatred in your heart is to make a cause to experience it in your own life. But even in the capitalism-damning film "The Corporation" I saw one of these rich and influential people confess to activists who had descended on his roof to write "Murderer", that he felt as powerless as them and wanted similar things but felt unable to do them. I find the words they exchanged over tea and biscuits on his lawn that day to be much more powerful than the angry words written on his roof.</p> I’m pleased to read all this, as it closely mirrors what’s happening at a local level in East Bristol, and inside me too. I think that’s what’s missing from Rob’s great quote there:

“I also don’t believe that Government and other institutions will vanish overnight; we need proactive responses wherever we can get them from, from international agreements to national policy to a regeneration of regional politics and engaged and dynamic local communities”

I think it goes even futher – in our hearts there’s always a struggle between destructive anger, resignation and powerlessness – the force within that tells you you’ve already failed, and with the positive anger for justice, and the belief that you alone can change things and have the power and wisdom to do so. To defeat this negative voice in every moment is a revolution at the human level: if revolution is what detractors want, let them have it, but in their lives first.

And I think Rob’s points in general aren’t really just about transition movements but common sense wisdom about unity of purpose, in overcoming problems and taking a large diverse population through any kind of transition or change. I think anyone who works this way will be successful and will create great change, not just transition initiatives and not just in this current situation. I’m a buddhist, and I can say that Rob’s arguments, when I first encountered them, were surprisingly buddhist in nature – encouraging dialogue, inclusion and peaceful transition rather than violent revolution and discord between people.

What I find the most upsetting failure of the great 19th century ideologies has been the violence and anger at their heart: hatred of people different from you in some way or other. With the left wing extreme it’s rich people, people with money, people with power and big titles.

As an ex refugee of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile I know all too well what happens when there is hatred, mistrust or exclusion of anyone – even the privileged classes. The law of Cause and effect doesn’t just hit “bad people” – everyone has good and bad in them, and we all came from the same roots. With all these groups it’s the same: they have someone to pick on and make their enemy, and to hold hatred in your heart is to make a cause to experience it in your own life. But even in the capitalism-damning film “The Corporation” I saw one of these rich and influential people confess to activists who had descended on his roof to write “Murderer”, that he felt as powerless as them and wanted similar things but felt unable to do them. I find the words they exchanged over tea and biscuits on his lawn that day to be much more powerful than the angry words written on his roof.

]]> By: millymop http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59245 millymop Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:06:13 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59245 <p>Hi Jenny</p> <p>How can I find out more about your project? Fancy a chat on the forum?</p> Hi Jenny

How can I find out more about your project? Fancy a chat on the forum?

]]> By: Rob http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59244 Rob Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:46:38 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59244 <p>Yes, I'm still waiting for the brown envelopes myself...</p> Yes, I’m still waiting for the brown envelopes myself…

]]> By: Graham Burnett http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59243 Graham Burnett Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:45:47 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59243 <p>‘Rob Hopkins and his Paymasters’.</p> <p>have they got any more vacancies Rob, I could do with the work right now...</p> ‘Rob Hopkins and his Paymasters’.

have they got any more vacancies Rob, I could do with the work right now…

]]> By: Graham Burnett http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59242 Graham Burnett Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:41:02 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59242 <p>Hi Rob, I think the discussion between TT and Trapese/Climate Camp/etc, etc is highly important and valuable in the crucible of ideas and responses that are emerging in this most challenging of times, but equally I don't think that you should feel dutifully bound to personally respond to the criticisms (whether valid or otherwise). Bearing in mind 2 of criteria of how to successfully form a transition project, ie, "a group of 4-5 people willing to step into leadership roles (not just the boundless enthusiasm of a single person)" and "let it go where it wants to go", maybe it is time to begin considering uncoupling yourself from TT at least in terms of being a 'personality' that is seen to be 'driving' (and by implication is seen to have'all the answers')</p> <p>Personally I used to spend alot of time debating issues around permaculture, veganism, etc, etc, on various online forums, chatrooms, etc, Although some was the kind of waste of time you've alluded to in other posts, much of it was also valid, interesting, thought provoking, challenging to my own thinking and made me seriously reconsider my own stand on certain subjects, etc, But now find I simply don't have the time or energy for such pursuits (apart from today of course!! But at the moment I'm procrastinating from an important bit of work i'm getting paid for and really should be cracking on with, which is always a valid reason for an online debate!!). We all only have so much time and energy in the day, use it in the way thats most effective (or at least enjoyable to you!) Have faith in 'the process' and trust that others will effectively fill the niches opened up by the discussions and debates that are emerging. Unless of course you WANT to get stuck in, r have a deadline you are anxious to ignore :)</p> Hi Rob, I think the discussion between TT and Trapese/Climate Camp/etc, etc is highly important and valuable in the crucible of ideas and responses that are emerging in this most challenging of times, but equally I don’t think that you should feel dutifully bound to personally respond to the criticisms (whether valid or otherwise). Bearing in mind 2 of criteria of how to successfully form a transition project, ie, “a group of 4-5 people willing to step into leadership roles (not just the boundless enthusiasm of a single person)” and “let it go where it wants to go”, maybe it is time to begin considering uncoupling yourself from TT at least in terms of being a ‘personality’ that is seen to be ‘driving’ (and by implication is seen to have’all the answers’)

Personally I used to spend alot of time debating issues around permaculture, veganism, etc, etc, on various online forums, chatrooms, etc, Although some was the kind of waste of time you’ve alluded to in other posts, much of it was also valid, interesting, thought provoking, challenging to my own thinking and made me seriously reconsider my own stand on certain subjects, etc, But now find I simply don’t have the time or energy for such pursuits (apart from today of course!! But at the moment I’m procrastinating from an important bit of work i’m getting paid for and really should be cracking on with, which is always a valid reason for an online debate!!). We all only have so much time and energy in the day, use it in the way thats most effective (or at least enjoyable to you!) Have faith in ‘the process’ and trust that others will effectively fill the niches opened up by the discussions and debates that are emerging. Unless of course you WANT to get stuck in, r have a deadline you are anxious to ignore :)

]]> By: Pat Driscoll http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59240 Pat Driscoll Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:39:06 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59240 <p>I am a member of a Permaculture Guild in Oregon, and also member of several progressive groups. They all suffer from the same problems: inability to express themselves simply, exclusiveness, arrogance, and an acute avoidance of organization, politics, business, money, and hard work (all attributes of "the system"). There's also a fair amount of discrimination against older folks ("they made the mess we're in"). As a result, these groups are marginalized and mostly ineffective at achieving their stated goals. It's rather ironic, they are incapable of thinking outside their box, which is exactly the accusation they make about the rest of society.</p> I am a member of a Permaculture Guild in Oregon, and also member of several progressive groups. They all suffer from the same problems: inability to express themselves simply, exclusiveness, arrogance, and an acute avoidance of organization, politics, business, money, and hard work (all attributes of “the system”). There’s also a fair amount of discrimination against older folks (“they made the mess we’re in”). As a result, these groups are marginalized and mostly ineffective at achieving their stated goals. It’s rather ironic, they are incapable of thinking outside their box, which is exactly the accusation they make about the rest of society.

]]> By: PostCarbon Rhode Island » Blog Archive » Rob Hopkins on critiques of the Transition Movement http://transitionculture.org/2008/09/05/wading-through-various-critiques-of-transition/comment-page-1/#comment-59237 PostCarbon Rhode Island » Blog Archive » Rob Hopkins on critiques of the Transition Movement Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:15:57 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=1480#comment-59237 <p>[...] Hopkins and friends are way out ahead of the curve in the UK, developing community responses to climate change and peak oil, and building local resilience in the process. They’ve also drawn strong criticism. We can learn a lot from Hopkins’ response to the critics. Read his piece here. [...]</p> [...] Hopkins and friends are way out ahead of the curve in the UK, developing community responses to climate change and peak oil, and building local resilience in the process. They’ve also drawn strong criticism. We can learn a lot from Hopkins’ response to the critics. Read his piece here. [...]

]]>