When Zen farmer Masanobu Fukuoka proposed that military bombers of his native Japan be used to drop balls made of seeds for hundreds of plant species over the world's desert areas in order to revegetate them, housewives and children around the country started sending Fukuoka donations of seeds. Though his dream of a vegetation air force has yet to become a reality, Fukuoka's … [Read more...]
Weekly Wisdom: EF Schumacher on non-violent economics
Modern economics does not distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable materials, as its very method is to equalize and quantify everything by means of a money price. Thus, taking various alternative fuels, like coal, oil, wood, or water-power: the only difference between them recognized by modern economics is relative cost per equivalent unit. The cheapest is automatically … [Read more...]
#21: Not ashamed to admit we’re Christian. Or Jewish. Or whatever.
Just like Texas Governor Rick Perry, Transition Voice isn't ashamed to admit that we're Christian. And Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Wiccan, Druidic, humanist and straight-up atheist. Unlike some folks who care about environmental sustainability and energy depletion, we're also not ashamed to talk about religion at the dinner table. We mean, on our website. That's … [Read more...]
The faith movie we’ve all been waiting for
If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it - faith leaders speaking with one voice on the ecological and social crises of our time. I was lucky enough to get invited to an exclusive "rough cut" screening of a 45 minute film that will, in my view, have a dramatic impact well beyond the rainbow of faith communities represented by the faith leaders in this … [Read more...]
We get the power but future generations get the waste
Fukushima now enters the lexicon of nuclear catastrophes alongside Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. No amount of official downplaying of the current levels of radiation leaking from Fukushima can gloss over the fact that the hinterland of Fukushima will be contaminated for many years to come. A new wasteland in which human habitation and agricultural production becomes … [Read more...]