A fascinating retrospective by Kathy McMahon, a clinical psychologist who blogs as “Dr. K., the Peak [oil] Shrink,” details the little known (in this country) and little remembered (anywhere) story of what happened when the oil supply of some industrial European countries was briefly interrupted by their own citizens. The breathtaking speed with which the grocery stores … [Read more...]
A new financial system, for the people
Over the past four years we’ve been let down by our banks. A better system would be a democratic finance model, thinks British anthropologist Bruce Davis. After developing peer-lending platform Zopa, Bruce teamed up with renewable energy expert Karl Harder to launch Abundance Generation in the U.K. earlier in 2012. The idea was to go one step further than just lending, and … [Read more...]
Today’s distress is blocking the economy of tomorrow
If you still know anybody who thinks the economy is in "recovery," just lay this one single statistic on them: one in two recent U.S. college graduates today is unemployed or underemployed, unable to find work in his or her chosen field. "Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs – waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or … [Read more...]
Peak kitsch: “The Crisis of Civilization”
An ongoing issue in the peak oil world is how to tell the story of declining non-renewable resources in a way that's accessible to a wider audience, while remaining credible to experts. To reach out without dumbing down. Most experts on energy and the economy have already made up their minds on the financial crisis, global warming and peak oil and no one documentary is going … [Read more...]
From Totnes with love
“What would it look like if the best responses to peak oil and climate change came not from committees and Acts of Parliament, but from you and me and the people around us?" asks Rob Hopkins at the outset of his new book, The Transition Companion: Making Your Community More Resilient in Uncertain Times. This opener encapsulates both the massive ambition and the humility of the … [Read more...]