Monthly Archives: May 2008

What I Learned from Whole Village Intentional Community

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Dave Pollard

I spent this afternoon at an orientation session at Whole Village, a very successful 25-person, 200-acre Intentional Community and Eco-Village about a half hour drive from where I live North-West of Toronto. It was a blustery, rainy day but the … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse Watch | 7 Comments

Saturday Links for the Week — May 17, 2008

Posted on May 17, 2008 by Dave Pollard

All Over But the Shouting: A new and exhaustive joint scientific study shows that species biodiversity on Earth has plummeted almost a third in the past 35 years, and the pace of extinction is accelerating. Transition Towns as Model Intentional … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 1 Comment

Friday Flashback: Living Outside Ourselves

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Dave Pollard

In February 2004, it began to dawn on me why I was so unhappy, why I felt trapped and disengaged inside what I was coming to perceive as civilization’s prison walls. I was well along in absorbing the lessons I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse Watch | 1 Comment

Could Our Economy Survive in a Steady State?

Posted on May 15, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Chart by Stuart at Random Useless Info.For the previous 30 years, 1950-1979, price was steady at about $0.30 – 0.40/gallon before spiking near the end of the 1970s.Last week I wrote about Herman Daly’s 10-step prescription for a steady-state economy. … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works | 3 Comments

Ten Qualities of a Powerful Story

Posted on May 14, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Photo by Patti Digh. I’ll let her tell the story. Recently, the best presentations I’ve heard, and the most compelling business proposals, the most persuasive books, and the most effective blogs and blog posts I’ve read, have all featured very … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 2 Comments

Love, Conversation, Community vs Nobody But Yourself

Posted on May 12, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Stephen Downes, in response to my article If Not Intentional Community, Then What?, wrote, and then elaborated: Where did the idea that you’re missing something in your life come from? The reason I ask is, I wonder how much you … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse Watch | 7 Comments

Saturday Links of the Week — May 10, 2008

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Photo of an electrical storm that formed in the plume of the erupting Chilean volcano ChaitÈn. Photo (c) Terra Networks taken by Carlos Gutierrez for UPI. Thanks to Our Descent Into Madness for the link.Is EndGame’s Inevitability Beginning to Dawn … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 1 Comment

Friday Flashback — The Power and Danger of Metaphor

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Dave Pollard

From an article I wrote in September 2004:Metaphor is a comparative device used to assert substantive equivalence or similarity between something that is somewhat complex and abstract, and something that is much simpler or more concrete. Examples: Business is war … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 1 Comment

Towards a Steady-State Economy

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Herman Daly is recognized as a pioneer in Environmental & Social Economics, and I’ve reviewed his work in these pages before. Recently he submitted a paper “Toward a Steady-State Economy” to the UK government’s Sustainable Development Commission outlining and explaining … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse Watch | 3 Comments

If Not Intentional Community, Then What?

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Dave Pollard

Regular readers know that I’m infatuated with the idea of Intentional Community, and that I believe the only way we’re going to make major positive changes to our unsustainable culture is by creating ‘working models’ of a better way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse Watch | 18 Comments