Every year popular magazines and newspapers produce “In and Out” lists that make a claim to cultural prescience through boldly distinguishing what’s jumped the shark from what’s just about to become a break-out sensation.
Trouble is, too often the ins and outs are totally predictable, being driven by the mainstream corporate culture and so-called style makers. What they’re calling this year’s trends are more often yesterday’s news in underground, alternative and DIY circles. Thanks for catching up, People Magazine and Washington Post.
So we thought we’d do a little In and Out List of our own, with a take on the pulse of a nation dealing with the Great Recession and facing peak oil, climate change and the limits to economic growth. We give you the first annual Transition Voice In and Out List, 2012.
What’s Out |
What’s In |
McMansions | Yurts |
Cocktail Culture | Home Brewing |
Organic | Wild |
Free Range Chickens | Backyard Chickens |
Citizens United | Colbert Super PAC |
Cul de Sacs | Grid Streets |
Congress | The Citizenry |
Solyndra “Scandal” | Getting a Solar Installer to Return Your Call |
Bath Salts | Solar Hot Water Heaters |
Thomas Friedman | Chris Martenson |
Stevia | Molasses |
SOPA | Website Protest Blackouts |
Portland | Detroit |
Riding Mowers | Hand Tools |
Grass Fed Filet Mignon | Local Butter Shepherd’s Pie |
Keeping Up With The Kardashians | Downton Abbey |
Polar Fleece | Wool Blankets |
Bottled Water | Tap Water |
Outlandishness | Respectability |
Tweeting | Reading |
Ivy Leagues | Gap Years |
Cash | Barter |
Jobs | Free Time |
Collecting | Strategic Hoarding |
High School | Home School |
401(k) | Under the Mattress |
Space Exploration | Astrology |
Business School | Greenhorning |
Cable TV | Home Theatricals |
Lawns | Edible Landscaping |
Bakeries | Backyard Brick Ovens |
What’s Out |
What’s In |
FOX News | Rap News |
Ron Paul | The 99% National General Assembly |
Sierra Club | 350.org |
Permafrost | Torrential Flooding |
The Bakken Formation | Oxen Teams |
Evangelists | The Christian Left |
Seth Godin | Wendell Berry |
Texting | Calligraphy |
Photoshop | Letter Presses |
Steam Punk | Poetry |
Mountaintop Removal | Challenging Coal Company Charters |
Microwave Ovens | Storm Kettles |
Big Banks | Local Currency |
Wii | Climbing Trees |
Climate Science Deniers | The Great Texas Desert |
Disposable | Reusable |
Black Friday | Buy Nothing Day |
Local Food | Homegrown |
iPhones | Conversations |
Screen Time | Down Time |
New and Improved | Old and Repaired |
Healthcare | Being Healthy |
Priuses | Bicycles |
Eco-tourism | Downtown Camping |
Going Green | Prepping for the Peak-ocalypse |
Baby Einstein | Going Outside to Make Mud Pies |
Copyright | Mashup |
Euros | Cans in the Basement |
Corporate Social Responsibility | Post-corporate Economy |
Ronald Reagan | Jimmy Carter |
— Transition Voice
Love it! My favorite is “new and improved” to “Old and repaired” and “Cable TV” and “Home theatricals”
Thanks! Saving money and saving the Earth were never so entertaining…
This is so great. I had no idea I was quite so trendy…