"Survival of the Greenest?" GreenSource Knowledge Paper Series #5. From the ongoing Event Circle Interviews at PlanetShifter.com
Submitted by Willi on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 - 16:33
"Survival of the Greenest?" GreenSource Knowledge Paper Series #5
From the ongoing Event Circle Interviews at PlanetShifter.com
Introduction:
Chapters from LAO from GreenLoc, CA - A Story for Our Youth by Willi Paul (2009)
*VI*
There are plenty of other coops and non-profits in the GreenLoc business array. In addition to the food and garden coop, there is the jam, flowers and honey coop; fruit trees and bees, dig? Another key group in this time of scarce water is the Grey Water Company who designs and implements water re-use projects for the area. Students from UC – Davis took over the old water works company in 2011 in a bloodless coup when the rains stopped and the CEO ran off for moister land.
The schools and spirituality coop is flourishing. It's taken a little bit from most of the religions puttering around on the planet. A sort of greatest hits from the heavy hitters, including Jesus, Gandhi, King, Yogananda, Buddha and Allah.
But the kids and their parents also enjoy song prophets like Lennon, Marley, Stipe, Hitchcock and other rock musicians who sang about the fall and the re-birth of post-carbon culture long before the tanker hit the can.
The love of music – and the community spirit it fosters - has often been the one lasting source of strength in the trouble times.
*X.*
What happened to the Bank? The old NorCal Savings and Loan is now the School for a Sustainable Future and Day Care Coop.
At the new Credits and Barter Coop, debit cards have been replaced by barter cards. Cash, loans and credit lines are pitch forks from the BlackLight mob.
Bricks and mortar have now morphed into handshakes, vegetables for home remodeling. Dig? Piper and his pals are getting the word out for the next barter faire - this time with a discount barter pass on recycled card stock. They will hand drop the invite via bikes to the community. Sometimes offline announcements get more peeps.
A barter faire (or fair) is a communal experience. It is a peaceful gathering of people coming together to share the fire and their wares and trade with each other. Some are more like flea markets, some are more like villages. A barter faire is a time to get back to nature, camp out with friends, and experience the best of the barter system. It can feel like a counter culture revival; or just a simple and peaceful gathering open to all. A barter faire will give you a taste of a communal, peaceful, and possibly revolutionary lifestyle that you may not find elsewhere.
"Hey Green Man, its Piper on the text box."
"Must be about that hot tub gig," Taza shouted.
"Ask him about the south array data set ok?"
Banana in mouth, he quickly text Piper back and kissed his groovy girlfriend on the cheek and hit the pedals.
"I need to check the energy grid and see how much fun heat we can drop," he mumbled.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We asked our thought leaders about their concerns for the future and how life and basic values might change on the planet. Key points include:- What I see in the next 2-5 years is a worldwide restructuring of the perception of time, a major collapse of fear, and a catastrophic period of angry and hungry people overcoming their limited personalities to be one with their unlimited god-selves
- The big shift starts within as awareness of the corruption of our entire Consumer Culture, military industrial complex, entertainment corporations, failed educational system, morally bankrupt economy-the whole syndrome of unwise structures that are actually collapsing all around us right now. The new paradigm must be grounded in genuine empathy for the sanctity of all living beings
- Goals: Be more thrifty, self-reliant, and conservative in one's use of resources
- Learning to live sustainably or equitably in a steady-state or even a contracting economy - need to be more self-reliant
- Need to shape our own regional conditions, especially concerning energy and food production and distribution
- We are in a hybrid period , transitioning out of years of indifference and selfishness into a time of understanding the world we live in, and finding our rightful place in it
- Make profit the secondary parameter
- Catastrophic events may shake governments and cause instabilities in many vulnerable regions around the world
- The greater good is a building block of many small positive movements
- The world will have the infrastructure needed for the greater change
- The existing system of suppression and abuse will collapse and a new world to come forth
- Mother Nature needs a lot of cleansing
- Collapse and destruction are not necessary
- What seems to be happening is that the companies who "do the right thing" are succeeding and companies whose driving force is purely greed and profit are failing. Evolution at its best supports green business by selling re-usable items and re-use means jobs
- The Tower and the Devil have already afflicted Earth. If there is something more coming, the cards in the fortune teller's deck probably don't go far enough
- Previous periods of sunspot disappearance have been marked by unusually cold temperatures. The Maunder Minimum, from 1645 to 1715, was known as the Little Ice Age. The lesson here is that the actual dangers we face are seldom the ones we plan for.
- Our personal investments in cleaner technologies and less consumptive living and the outcome of the current health debate are going to have a huge impact
- The shift is a mental attitude towards the condition of the planet and the action that needs to be taken. Now, for me the most difficult item during this mental transition is not necessarily the economy, although this is critical, but the shift from linear thinking over to integral thinking. There will be those in society that will choose resist
- Businesses will be operating differently, for example reducing energy wastage and incorporating new technologies in packaging that allow them to reduce the amount of materials used as well as reusing recycled resource to help close the loop. New products will also be developed thanks to up-cycled innovations
- We need to reconstruct how we view race relations (on Bermuda) from collecting statistics based on skin color and shift towards looking at race from a socio-economic perspective and look at how people are surviving economically and socially (i.e., education, spiritually, family, culturally)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
GreenSource Knowledge Paper Series #5 Source Material
In some ways, aspiring to be thrifty, self-reliant, and conservative in one's use of resources are quintessentially American traits that have a time-honored tradition in our nation's history. It was only in the post-World War II period that these values were almost thoroughly cast aside in favor of a kind of live-for-today, me-first consumerism.
That said, we've strayed so far from being a self-reliant and sustainable economy – especially since the early 1970s when the US peaked in its own domestic oil production – that economic localization now amounts to a radical paradigm shift in our thinking. You can see in the debates that are going on nationally and internationally about "resuscitating" our collapsing economy that the only thinkable strategy is "stimulating" our economy in order to get the global consumer growth-fest back on track. No one in high office within the major industrialized economies is talking about learning to live sustainably or equitably in a steady-state or even a contracting economy -- much less in one that relies less and less on the shipping of fossil fuel-based good half-way across the globe. But that's the kind of shift we must begin to accept, prepare for, and shape to our own regional conditions if we ever hope to thrive within the post-petroleum economy that's coming.
Aaron Lehmer Interview
We are in a hybrid period. Out of necessity (climate change, growing environmental awareness, global financial meltdown, compromised health, increasingly expensive health care, etc.) humanity is transitioning out of years of indifference and selfishness into a time of understanding the world we live in, and finding our rightful place in it.
Interview with Linda Delair
(A) Well, I would like to think more positive and hope that in the upcoming year the economy would start its slow rebound, as for the period of anger and hunger, this is not something new, not to be ignored but not new. Throughout every decade the world has faced these extreme challenges. My hope is that we have grown enough where we can start taking into consideration these events in our business decisions, where corporations can add people into their decision making. And I am not referring to only adding this human equation only in their marketing campaigns, but to put that where it really counts - bottom line. Make profit the secondary parameter. We all can hope, right?
As I said I would like to hope that we, human race, as short term residents of this planet have matured. I would like to be more hopeful and see that we would start taking the steps necessary to protect our planet.
(Z) I sure hope not, but I think the world is heading into a period of great uncertainties driven not only by the unneeded wars and the collapse of economy but also by the major climate changes. Catastrophic events may shake governments and cause instabilities in many vulnerable regions around the world. Unfortunately, I also think that people who will suffer the most are probably not the ones spending their time online right now. I do not believe that the greater good happens all at once, it is a building block of many small positive movements. So if all of us who are capable of a positive contribution began implementing progressive ideas today, I'm certain that when time comes, the world will have the infrastructure needed for the greater change.
Interview with Favorpal.com's Founders Amir Razmara and Zeo Solomon
DIVINA:
Some call it "The Last Waltz of the Tyrants", and I believe that there is multiple parallel realities, and that we personally choose more or less consciously which one we are to experience. I wish to see the existing system of suppression and abuse to collapse and a new world to come forth. Also Mother Nature needs a lot of cleansing, and yes, I believe that that involves some destruction, how much, I don't know. However, if you are aligned with nature, it will preserve you.
DOUGLAS:
If enough people envision a major collapse, catastrophes, anger, and hunger, then of course it must come to pass. I think a lot of people want that, because their view of reality is that something must be torn down in order to build something new; that destruction must come before creation. That mind set can be seen in healing one's own body. The "western" idea of removing organs that do not function properly is counter to traditional Chinese medicine that shows clearly that the effects of the disease in that organ will simply move on to the next organ in the pentagram of the elements. Collapse and destruction are not necessary, just as removing the failed organ is not necessary. To truly heal, either a body or a society, one must enter a mind state of absolute health. The cells in your body are controlled by your mind. They respond appropriately to your thoughts. Nothing happens to you, only through you.
Regardless of the events that happen throughout the world, I will continue to transform myself into the unlimited being that I have always been. When I have mastered myself, then the whole world will be a reflection of my sweetest dreams. What I see in the next 2-5 years is a worldwide restructuring of the perception of time, a major collapse of fear, and a catastrophic period of angry and hungry people overcoming their limited personalities to be one with their unlimited god-selves.
Interview with Divina Klein and Douglas Mackar of La Forza
We aren't quite as pessimistic about the future of the world economy and disposition. In fact, I actually believe that the "minor" collapse of the world economy that we have seen over the past year is forcing business to be kinder and more sincere to their customers. In the U.S. it is also stabilizing prices which were formerly based on what people would pay for a product rather than what it was worth. So what seems to be happening is that the companies who "do the right thing" are succeeding and companies whose driving force is purely greed and profit are failing. Evolution at it's best!
Interview with Jennie Redwine of The Colorado Yurt Company
Yes, about 35 million Americans regularly buy green products, according to research group Mintel. The target demographic for green marketing represents 66 percent of all US adults and more than 80 percent of consumers believe it's important to buy from green companies. Goodwill supports green business by selling re-usable items and re-use means jobs.
Interview with Lauren Lawson, Media Relations Manager with Goodwill Industries International
Prognostication is ever-popular, especially the doomsday kind. George Orwell's 1984, computer date failures at 2000, Clarke's 2001, and the soon upon us Mayan long count rollover on December 21, 2012 have all spawned copious texts full of millennial dread and warnings. I can read Tarot cards, tea leaves, and cast the I Ching; they will entertain, and may tell me something. But the Tower and the Devil have already afflicted Earth. If there is something more coming, the cards in the fortune teller's deck probably don't go far enough.
Strangely, I'm optimistic. I believe Man will survive.
Money won't be the biggest problem. It may not be global warming either. I'm struck by the fact that the sun has gone lame. It's lost its spots. Sunspots are at a hundred year low, and show no clear sign of returning. As a consequence, and somewhat paradoxically, the sun's is radiating less heat. Previous periods of sunspot disappearance have been marked by unusually cold temperatures. The Maunder Minimum, from 1645 to 1715, was known as the Little Ice Age. The lesson here is that the actual dangers we face are seldom the ones we plan for.
Interview with PlanetShifter.com Drupal engineer Cheth Rowe
I tend not to focus on the doomsday scenarios. I strongly believe in the power of the free market to make adjustments based on new information. I see EcoLogo standards and certification as a way of bringing environmental factors into consumer decision-making. As new information is introduced about the hidden human health, environmental, and social impacts of purchasing decisions, consumers will shift behavior and reward those companies that are addressing the biggest global issues while continuing to provide consumers with immediate value.
Interview with Scot Case, VP, TerraChoice
Haven't you heard? Green jobs are all the rage. I think the green jobs movement is a powerful one - lifting people out of poverty while moving our economy toward environmentally sound investments and practices. This creates a ripple effect of positive change that will lead to cleaner, healthier communities that empower previously disadvantaged groups. I think our personal investments in cleaner technologies and less consumptive living and the outcome of the current health debate are going to have a huge impact.
5 Questions for Inna Leavitt
Well, I do believe there is definitely a role for the Latino-Indigenous people to play in the days to come and have done so already. Just like hip hop has been such an incredible voice for young people in helping shape the consciousness of society for better or for worse, there is also an indigenous influence that once again has not been recognized.
Just take a look at public transportation. It is full of people of color and specifically Latinos who are already doing their part in cutting down the carbon footprint. Day laborers ride their bicycles to and from work if and when they are lucky to get it. Remember, our grandmothers recycled jelly jars for drinking glasses instead of buying new ones. So the so called "Latino" contribution which to a massive extent is Native, has already had a tremendous influence in U.S. culture. I believe the numbers of Southern people in the U.S. cannot be ignored any longer. They will play a pivotal role at both the grassroots level and the international level in what will be done to improve the condition of the Earth.
The "shift" that your asking about is really a shift that the elders throughout "Indian country" as we say, have known for hundreds of years. Look at the Hopi and Maya prophesies. They knew to exactly the time when this so called technological phase of human development was to take place. They have also known that there is a mental shift that is to take place. This shift is a mental attitude towards the condition of the planet and the action that needs to be taken. Now, for me the most difficult item during this mental transition is not necessarily the economy, although this is critical, but the shift from linear thinking over to integral thinking. There will be those in society that will choose resist. Their education perhaps is so linear and closed that they will choose not to recognize of all the contributions our elders have made to humanity as a whole. This in turn sets them up be even more closed and unwilling to work together to help our planet. They will surely suffer in isolation. So to reiterate this is indigenous values system thinking. This is nothing new to us.
Interview with David Ecobar, leader of Viviendo Verde and Viviendo Verde Ya!
We are currently experiencing a major industrial revolution and social evolution that is focused on changing habits and processes that have become second nature to society. However, the power of social media and influential characters such as Franny Armstrong, (director of Age of Stupid) are raising the profile of the issues that need addressing and are empowering individuals to contribute in in their own way. Learning is everything at the moment and there is still lots to do in influencing public perception, supporting the enthusiastic and encouraging governments to have the strength of conviction to make the changes needed.
The face of "Green" is changing at a significant rate and in five years time, I believe that what would have once been considered fringe habits and attitudes will be integrated into mainstream lifestyles. Businesses will be operating differently, for example reducing energy wastage and incorporating new technologies in packaging that allow them to reduce the amount of materials used as well as reusing recycled resource to help close the loop. New products will also be developed thanks to upcycled innovations. We have companies such as TerraCycle to thank for that. Globalism will still exist, but local production will be valued more greatly, with an increasing number of people growing their own food.
Interview with UK's Karen Cannard
I believe that this administration is committed to moving the United States in a leadership position when it comes to combating climate change and I look forward to seeing the manifestation of that in December at Copenhagen. The economic situation is something that will take longer to straighten out and that will require concessions on all parts.
Five Questions for Anca Novacovici - Eco-Coach, Inc
Change is certain and the opportunity to form wiser multicultural contexts is at hand. Every motive is being activated, from fear to green greed. But the one I value most is what I've been calling our ETHICAL IMAGINATION. That force for good is something we all have within, and it's the ultimate energy for making a better world.
The big shift starts within as awareness of the corruption of our entire Consumer Culture, military industrial complex, entertainment corporations, failed educational system, morally bankrupt economy-the whole syndrome of unwise structures that are actually collapsing all around us right now. The new paradigm must be grounded in genuine empathy for the sanctity of all living beings. The intrinsic worth of every being can be perceived. Heaven is all around us, but we are blinded to its presence by ideas that imprison our minds into patterns that have no heart or soulfulness.
Interview with Allen Green, of Allen Green Planning
Well, our slogan is 'changing the mindset' so Greenrock acts as a catalyst for creating paradigm shifts in Bermuda. I think in some sense the top 3 challenges are noted in question #2. If you needed a fourth, I would say that we need to reconstruct how we view race relations on the island from collecting statistics based on skin color and shift towards looking at race from a socio-economic perspective and look at how people are surviving economically and socially (i.e., education, spiritually, family, culturally).
Interview with Andrew Vaucrosson, President of Greenrock.org
