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Holidays as a benchmark

By February 6, 2013
Reflection

Another holiday season is behind us. As I reflect on mine, I get a strong sense that holidays can be seen as a sort of benchmark. We tend to remember certain traditions and how they played out throughout the years. On needles and pins Take the Christmas tree, for example. Let’s face it, there's nothing that can bring out the worst in any of us than the tree. Remember the year that the kids knocked it over? Or, the year that the cat tore all of the ornaments off of the bottom tiers? Or the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Consumerism, Economy Tagged With: , , ,

Transition Voice Holiday

By December 14, 2012
Homeless-Santa-Arctic-Oil-Drilling

'Tis the season when peak oilers everywhere join in a chorus of reflection that goes something like, "Why, why, why?" For people intimately tuned in to connecting the dots between the oil driven economy, consumer excess, and a planetary ecosystem under assault from the cancerous growth paradigm, the host of end-of-year festivities can be touched with more than a little melancholy. In some cases it's touched with down right venom. And each year I step in to the fray with your guide to a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , ,

Climate change: Obama needs to turn talk into action

By December 5, 2012
OSAKABIKE19

Something's been troubling me ever since I listened to President Obama's first post-reëlection press conference. Perhaps as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the now two-term president was finally asked a question about global warming, a topic conveniently avoided by both sides throughout the seemingly interminable campaign. The question came from New York Times White House correspondent Mark Lander: "What specifically do you plan to do in a second term to tackle the issue of climate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Climate Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Eros and economy

By December 4, 2012
Eros

Everybody loves a good story. Especially this time of year. In Plato’s Symposium, Diotima recounts the story of Eros. She tells us that on the day of Aphrodite’s birth, the gods had a banquet. Penia—that is, “Poverty”— came begging at the end of the meal. There she espied Poros — that is, “Wealth” — drunk on nectar and asleep in Zeus’ garden. As a way out of her destitution, Penia decided to have a child by Poros, so she lay with him while he slept, and conceived … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , ,

The Capitalism Papers: Fatal flaws of an obsolete system

By November 29, 2012
register

Self-interest lies at the root of capitalism. This self-interest is a thoroughly predictable, steadily consistent feature of the human landscape and can reasonably be viewed as a solid foundation upon which to build. Self- interest can serve as both motivation and a salve for weary spirits. Kept within commonly-accepted bounds, it acts as a spur against laziness, and a hopeful haven for unrealized dreams. When happiness is the goal, self-interest makes an unerring guide, almost never … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

It’s time to change

By November 28, 2012
An upcycled Bike Wheel Clock by pixelthis via Etsy.

Today I'm participating in my first hOUR Economy time bank exchange. I'm giddy with excitement about it, feeling like I've taken another giant leap away from the industrial economy. Not only that, I feel I'm taking a giant leap into the new economy that's developing all around us. These are exciting times. Time is on our side, yes it is If you've never heard of a time bank, let me tell you a bit about it. Basically it's a community organization (there's hundreds across the US and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , ,

Learning what works in community sustainability education

By November 14, 2012
sos

In the last five months, our small city has had the privilege of hosting two of the most outspoken voices on the Internet regarding peak oil, climate change and financial collapse. In April, Nicole Foss spoke to an overflow crowd on debt deflation and building ‘lifeboats.’ In July, Guy McPherson spoke to a capacity crowd on climate change and some predicted consequences. Both talks had the following in common: • the dominant hair colors of audience members were white and grey; • most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , ,

Soil, soul, and society

By October 29, 2012
Farm store

On July 30, 2012, Hawthorne Valley Association marked the 40th anniversary of working the soil of agriculture on its land in the Hudson Valley of New York. In all that time it has been Hawthorne Valley’s mission to inspire by example social and cultural renewal through the integration of education, agriculture, and the arts. The significance of place and the ability to connect intimately to and through place provide compelling evidence as to why our localized agriculture can be understood … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gardening, Transition Tagged With: , , , , ,

Getting my pilot’s license

By October 24, 2012
A Letterpress Bike

Ever since we first got together my husband and I have talked about how to respond to one of our key shared interests — peak oil. For us this means, first of all, a conservation-minded approach to life — using less energy, wasting less, and relying on reusable materials such as hankies and eco-cups, carrying our own grocery bags, and growing much of our own food and cooking it ourselves. But after we began to practice aggressive conservation approaches we also wondered what kinds of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Transition Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Homemade Halloween

By October 18, 2012
costumes

We're running this piece from 2010 again in celebration of the upcoming Halloween. One of my worst parenting memories happened when I took my daughters trick-or-treating on the vaunted Lawn of the University of Virginia campus one year. The girls were about six and four at the time, and the picturesque associations of the annual UVa. Halloween tradition conjured up by friends made it sound incomparable to other activities. This was easy: show up around 4:30pm and go by Lawn dorms to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Small World Tagged With: , , , , , ,