  PREPARING FOR CIVILIZATION’S END. Diagnosis: Why Civilization is Unsustainable . Prescription: How to Save the World . Understanding How Gaia Works . Overpopulation: The Crash Catalyst . Let-Self-Change (LSC): Resilience & Self-Experimentation . Activism: What Else You Can Do Personally . Building a Community-Based Society . Creating a Gift Economy and Other Alternate Economies . Understanding and Caring for Our Animal Friends (* indicates key How to Save the World articles) updated Jan. 1, 2007 Diagnosis: Why Civilization is Unsustainable Root Causes (February, 2003) dealing with the disease, not the symptoms Losing the Game (April, 2003) a parable about today’s environmental madness Global Warming: A Tragedy of the Commons (December, 2003) Why there’s no political will to fix it A Language Older Than Words (January, 2004) Derrick Jensen tells us what’s wrong with the world and what to do The Fear of Nature (January, 2004) Its root cause, and how to overcome it * Living Outside Ourselves (February, 2004) remembering who we were until our culture made us like everyone else Global Warming & the Crime of Denial (March, 2004) Bush’s ostrich act on global warming threatens the planet The Empire Strikes Out (March, 2004) The eloquent environmentalism of Kenny Ausubel * The Only Life We Know: The Cost of Not Knowing (II) (April, 2004) we put up with a grim, monstrous existence because it’s the only life we know, the only life we can imagine We Share This Land (April, 2004) private property laws aggravate the Tragedy of the Commons and deprive us of contact with nature * How Nature Works and Why Civilization Doesn’t and The Real War Ahead (June, 2004) a systems view of Gaia – charts showing how both systems are self-reinforcing, with forty actions to help restore the natural one * Catastrophic Agriculture (July, 2004) Richard Manning explains how we discovered rather than invented agriculture, and how that discovery sent us down a wrong path and created most of rhe ills we face today * The Consequences of Failure (July, 2004) What ecological collapse might look like The Chemical Soup We Live In (August, 2004) the poisons in our midst The Real Issues, and Why No One Talks About Them (September, 2004) why vested interests avoid the complex and controversial issues * He Can’t Hear You Anymore (December, 2004) our addiction to consumption and debt, and how it’s made us homeless Simple Truths (January, 2005) putting the reality of modern life in simple terms Jared Diamond’s Collapse (January, 2005) a new book explains how societies collapse, but is a bit to rosy about how to avoid it happening again The Death of Environmentalism (January, 2005) two environmentalists explain why the movement has lost esteem, focus and direction In the Year 2045 (February, 2005) Ran Prieur predicts a slow crash, and I add my own predictions A Short History of Progress (March, 2005) Ronald Wright’s new book anticipates Jared Diamond’s Collapse, but puts a darker face on root causes Homo Sapiens, Gatherer (August 16, 2005) #1245 – Anthropologists and archeologists show we were originally vegetarians/gatherers and then became carnivores/hunters in such a big way we now can’t easily switch back Living on Borrowed Time (August 28, 2005) #1257 – James Kunstler’s The Long Emergency says we have a few years yet to learn to live with less Beginning Again (Sept. 6, 2005) #1265 – David Ehrenfeld’s prophetic 1993 book on civilization coming apart bit by bit The Bird Feeder and the Tragedy of the Commons (Sept. 12, 2005) #1271 – Conservation is unnatural, which is why bird feeders and other commons attract squabbling The Challenge of Wilderness Environmentalism and the Four Myths of Civilization (Dec. 18, 2005) #1377 – Why wilderness is so important, but its protection is espoused by so few * No Noble Savage (Jan. 12, 2006) #1404 – We’re not innately better or worse than gatherer-hunter humans, just more prone (due to stress) and more empowered (due to technology) to commit atrocities The End of Civilization as a ‘Software Crash’ (Jan. 22, 2006) #1414 – Are we headed for the Blue Screen of Death of civilization culture? Can Cities Become Resilient? (Feb. 7, 2006) #1430 – The short answer: no The End of Oil: Collapse vs Powerdown and the Choice of Economies (March 20, 2006) #1472 – Depression first, says Paula Hay; then, if we’re smart, replacing the economy with a more resilient one to handle the end of oil, but collapse is more likely Dreaming in Petrocolour: The End of Oil Dependency? (March 24, 2006) #1476 – Amory Lovins prescription falls victim, alas, to four common myths * Feeling Unbearable Grief for Gaia (March 29, 2006) #1481 – Richard Anderson explains that At the heart of the modern age is a core of grief, and describes that grief’s four stages The Weather Makers (April 5, 2006) #1488 – Tim Flannery’s new book erases the last doubts about the causes and dangers of global warming The Dark and Gathering Sameness of the World (April 19, 2006) #1501 – Terry Glavin’s Waiting for the Macaws: Stories of dawning extinction Lack of Presence (April 26, 2006) #1508 – We’re too busy living in the past and the future to realize what’s going on and what we have to do How Would We Behave in a Great Depression? (April 28, 2006) #1510 – The next great depression will likely precede civilization’s collapse, and give us an idea of how we will cope with that collapse Home-Free (July 4, 2006) #1578 – Our loss of place: The garden we cast ourselves out of is gone, and besides there are too many of us now to fit in it anyway About the Author, and About this Blog (July 5, 2006) #1579 – My credo, history and purpose for writing, as a bit of context for all these articles Endgame (August 10, 2006) #1609 – Derrick Jensen’s 2-volume epic describes the twenty operating principles that doom our civilization to self-annihilation This is Our Tomorrow, Today (Nov. 16, 2006) #1698 – The hell that is Lagos today foreshadows the overpopulated, overcrowded, economically depressed, crisis-ridden future of all of us Prescription: How to Save the World Five Elements of a New Culture (July, 2003) prerequisites for an environmentally friendly culture There’s Something Happening Here (July, 2003) adding a new politic to the new culture and economy * Writing Our New Story (January, 2004) want a new society, a new culture? write a new story Plan B (March, 2004) if moderate solutions don’t prevent eco-catastrophe, we might have to resort to this The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of (July, 2004) thinking with the gloves off about how we could radically reduce population and consumption * The Truth About Nature: How to Save the World (August, 2004) a substantially revised and updated version of this 2002 paper * A Theory of Knowledge (September, 2004) could a new story, attention to overpopulation and overconsumption, the wisdom of crowds and helping each other overcome obstacles, be the formula for saving the world? What are the Chances for our World? (September, 2004) applying Kotter’s theory of business change to saving the planet * A Global Think-Tank Based on the Wisdom of Crowds (October, 2004) could unbiased, vastly connected virtual think-tanks staffed by amateurs solve the world’s most intractible problems better than the grey-beards? Inventing a New Human Culture (January 2005) technology got us into this mess, could collaboratively-developed technology get us out? * Duties Beyond Borders: Towards a Society Built on Respect for All Life (February, 2005) Peter Brown’s pragmatic yet idealistic prescription for stewardship of the planet * Dyson’s Dream (February, 2005) Free Information, Freedom from the Grid, and Peer-to-Peer Bio-Innovation as components of a world-changing program to undermine the economy Could Social Networking Save the World? (March, 2005) Rob Paterson argues that social networks could allow us to connect and transact with each other so powerfully it could replace our economic system * Creating a Post-Civilization Culture (March, 2005) The ingredients: Principles, Learnings, Enablers and Infrastructure * Seeing the Big Picture (Building a Bigger Frame) (March, 2005) Looking for synthetic, non-parochial, transcendent ways of solving the world’s problems * The End of Philosophy (May 2, 2005) #1131 – John Gray’s extraordinary Straw Dogs tells us we cannot change who we are and we will not save the world, but that’s OK The Rogue Animal and Gaia Consciousness (May 4) #1134 – John Livingston’s 1994 Rogue primate tells us it is not too late to rediscover our true natural purpose and higher consciousness * Too Far Ahead (Oct. 11, 2005) #1300 – Civilization is on its last legs, and we can’t save it; the answer isn’t despair but personal responsibility to make the world better now, and striving to live a full, natural, joyful, purposeful, aware life What Good is Technology Anyway? (Dec. 20, 2005) #1380 – If deployed to the right ends, to make the world a better place to live, it is potentially very good The Hanover Principles (Dec. 24, 2005) #1385 – The principles for sustainable living drawn up by Bill McDonough for the World’s Fair How to Disrupt and Replace the (Distorted) ‘Market’ Economy (Dec. 6, 2005) #1364 – Building a new economy around Intentional Communities, Natural Enterprises, and information-powered consumer/citizen activism The Canadian Sustainability Movement: A Three-Part Plan for World-Changing (Feb. 3, 2006) #1426 – How the Suzuki Foundation’s sustainability plan, combined with grassroots actions, could yield a sustainable nation Sustainability, Cradle to Cradle (Feb. 12, 2006) #1435 – Bill McDonough explains how to make buildings and products in a completely sustainable way Taking Things Into Our Own Hands (Feb. 24, 2006) #1447 – Even problems like global warming might better be solved by grassroots, bottom-up action instead of relying on politicians or ‘the market’ The Sustainable Living Collaborative: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (March 12, 2006) #1463 – An elaboration on post #1426 above Beyond Hope: The Radicalization of Derrick Jensen (May 26, 2006) #1538 – Jensen’s new book ‘endgame’ advises us to live responsibly but without hope; I’m not sure this is possible for most of us The Great Turning (June 9, 2006) #1552 – David Korten’s new book contains interesting principles for a new political and economic order, but no practical roadmap Cultural Divergence After the Crash: Thoughts on The Only Life We Know (June 14, 2006) #1558 – The post-civilization cultural model around which my novel-in-progress in based What Progressives Are Missing (June 25, 2006) #1569 – The need and process to starve the status quo The Logic of Sufficiency (July 28, 2006) #1600 – Thomas Princen’s set of principles, assumptions and connecting theory for rationally and collectively self-managing complex adaptive systems George Monbiot’s Heat — Part One (Oct. 30, 2006) #1690 and Part Two (Nov. 3, 2006) #1692 – A specific plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 90%, but it requires everyone’s cooperation to work Getting Environmentally Friendly Transportation Back on the Rails (Dec. 14, 2006) #1725 – It’s no longer a practical solution on a large scale, but there are things we can do to attract energy-efficient transportation nevertheless Understanding How Gaia Works Common Sense (February, 2003) the wisdom of trusting your instincts The World We Want (February, 2003) Mark Kingwell’s book also says trust your instincts * The Third Way (March, 2003) why you should trust your instincts Dangerous Meme #1: Tribalism Works, #2: Why You Hate Your Jobw and #3: Advice for Advancing Radical Ideas (May, 2003) about tribes and tribal businesses How to be Human (September, 2003) three life lessons, from a duck How Hard it is to be Different (September, 2003) our culture’s homogeneity makes it harder for radical change to be accepted, and makes us more vulnerable The Perfect House (October, 2003) Farley Mowat explains the Inuit solution to the housing crisis The Truth About Stories and Our Story (December, 2003) Thomas King explains that stories are all we are, the essence of our culture, and what that means * We Are Each Our Own Culture (February, 2004) How we are each much more unique and alone than we might imagine * A Sacred Earth Culture (March, 2004) a recapitulation of my environmental philosopy, and an intro to psychologist Glenn Parton’s argument about why a Sacred Earth culture is so hard for us to imagine The Spell of the Sensuous Part One , Part Two and Part Three (April, 2004) David Abrams book on the importance of reawakening our senses and imagination and moving from our minds to our bodies, to reconnect with the Earth and its important knowledge Love Politics and Loving More Than One (April/May, 2004) Glenn Parton’s essay on how our culture of emotional and sexual exclusivity closes us off from each other and damages us psychologically, and my thoughts elaborating on this idea Cultural Metamorphosis (May, 2004) Elisabet Sahtouris and Gary Alexander say our next culture could emerge cocoon-like Sensualization (October, 2004) a ‘magical’ exercise to reconnect with nature and your senses Why I Sometimes Don’t Make ‘Sense’ (October, 2004) just because I can’t explain instinctive knowledge in rational or moral terms doesn’t mean it’s not the best guide for human behaviour Saving the Land (November, 2004) John Taylor Gatto talks about his eco-philosophy, and sets a great example The Three Principles (December, 2004) The Chumash teach that limitation, moderation and compensation make for a great culture A Lesson from the Gwaii Haanas (December, 2004) How the Haida tried to confront empire, and how Shoshana Zuboff says we should try again Exterminism by Glenn Parton (January, 2005) and Free Love (April, 2005) and The Great Refusal (May 21, 2005) #1153 the first two parts of Glenn’s 3-part essay, on the psychology of the US after Bush 2004, and the spiritual rationale for polyamory Ivan Illich: Progressive-Libertarian-Anarchist Priest (February, 2005) Illich’s ideas to reform education, de-institutionalize society and de-materialize values as steps to reintegrate ourselves into a balanced ecosystem Love Politics Revisited (March, 2005) Laura Kipnis’s Against Love argues that monogamy is the boot camp for compliant citizenship Is Emotional Neediness Destroying Our World? (April, 2005) abuse or neglect a child and he’ll grow up to wreak havoc on the world Ken Wilber vs Stan Rowe (April, 2005) contrasting ‘membership’ with ‘deep ecology’ environmental philosophy Making Peace With the End of Civilization (May 16, 2005) #1148 – Why I’m a happy diligent pessimist Is There Hope for Humanity?: A Conversation (June 5, 2005) #1169 – My idealistic and skeptical sides debate the future of the planet Eulogy: Learning to Let Go (August 22, 2005) #1251 – Four lessons our late beloved Chelsea taught me Environmentalists vs Environmentalists (August 23, 2005) #1252 – Bright green technophoria and dark green nihilism are tearing the movement apart Human Nature – An Unscientific Survey (August 29, 2005) #1258 – My readers weigh in on how we’d handle a civilizational collapse Presence (Oct. 13, 2005) #1302 – A new book by Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski & Flowers proposes a model for dealing with complex challenges that resonates with new thinking in other areas Close Your Eyes and Imagine (Dec. 22, 2005) #1383 – Why we need to learn to imagine a better world before we can build it Think More, Feel Less? (Dec. 26, 2005) #1386 – The more we think, the less purely we sense, and the less we really feel. * Forgive Yourself: Becoming a Care-Taker for Gaia (Feb. 5, 2006) #1428 – You can’t save the world if you’re consumed with guilt * Living On The Edge (April 2, 2006) #1485 – Future change leaders are going to come not from left or right, but from the edges, working in concert with a growing number of ‘marginalized’ constituencies; the van der Post philosophy March of the Penguins: Unbearable Truths (April 30, 2006) #1512 – This amazing film teaches that in a natural world, there are no rights, only responsibilities Overpopulation: The Crash Catalyst * The Dilemma of Overpopulation (August, 2003) it’s the one thing that can’t be fixed bottom up Warning: Controversial Ideas Ahead (August, 2003) the three issues that put radical environmentalists offside their moderate counterparts * The Cause of Violence (November, 2003) population pressure impacts how we mistreat our young, and what they become as a result One Billion Americans (December, 2003) The Center for Immigration Studies shows how far off the US census bureau forecasts are, and what it means Running out of Time, Running out of Room (December, 2003) A continuation of ‘One Billion Americans’ (above) revisits global population projections, consumption footprints, and the consequences of both Population – A Systems Approach (February, 2004) The Story of B excerpts that explain how food surplus produces overpopulation More Unpalatable Thoughts on Overpopulation (February, 2004) Edward Hall’s explanation of how overcrowding causes war, violence and most of the ills of modern society The Population Stress Index, and Some Solutions (March, 2004) Correlating population stress and violence, and some ways to reduce population stress Eating Our Young (May, 2004) war and violence are symptoms of a massive stress reaction to overcrowding and scarcity Taking Action Not Responsibility (May, 2004) does population stress lead governments and people to act irresponsibly? The Global Footprint Stress Index (December, 2004) a measure of the severity of the problem country by country New, Deadly, Easily Spread: the Avian Flu (February, 2005) history of a disease, and the futility of fighting it without reforming human behaviour and reducing population A Circular Argument (March, 2005) a conversation with myself about whether it’s essential to reduce human population to save the world Baby Boom Ahead (March, 2005) the forecasts of leveling-off population assumes people the world over will keep settling for fewer children than they want Immigration: The Environmentalist’s Dilemma (April 24, 2006) #1506 – We can’t let them suffer when we ruined their countries, but letting them in could ruin ours Let-Self-Change (LSC): Resilience & Self-Experimentation (See also Complexity & Discovery) The Shangri-La Diet (May 10, 2006) #1522 – A curious viral best-seller is not really about a diet, but rather about self-experimentation as a means of taking charge of your own well-being Self-Experimentation: For More Than Just Diets (May 19, 2006) #1531 – It’s the natural way of learning, especially about what’s unnatural about the way we live Self-Experimentation, Instant Feedback and the Freakonomics Game (May 23, 2006) #1535 – Self-Experimentation requires practicing unconventional imagining about what may be the causes of and cures for our lack of well-being * it’s never a good time (June 7, 2006) #1550 – Why we do what we must, then we do what’s easy, then we do what’s fun Re-Learning to Listen (June 8, 2006) #1551 – Ten ways to practice listening skills How to Change Hearts, Minds & Behaviours (June 11, 2006) #1554 – …and how you mostly can’t, other than your own Distance Running as Meditation (June 26, 2006) #1570 – Connection, accomplishment, relaxation or just endorphins, it seems to work Self-Experimentation: This Time it’s Serious (July 20, 2006) #1594 – My plan to find the cause and cure for my disease, which currently has neither The Intuitive Process: Emergent Understanding, Instinct, Imagination and Hypothesis (July 25, 2006) #1598 – My three hypotheses about the causes of ulcerative colitis and other auto-immune diseases Let-Self-Change: Learning About Approaches to Complexity from Gatherer-Hunter Cultures (August 6, 2006) #1606 – Hugh Brody’s The Other Side of Eden explains how inidgenous cultures work Principles of Self-Experimentation: Dave Strives to Help His Body Heal Itself (August 11, 2006) #1610 – My outline of 12 principles that can guide any self-experimentation program Dave’s Self-Change Journey (August 21, 2006) #1618 – A progress report on ‘taking my own medicine’ Self-Experimentation Update: Science vs Instinct, and The Stress Factor (August 29, 2006) #1626 – LSC activities fall into 4 categories: perspective, self-changeability, stress discharge outlets, and acceptance of complexity; is collective LSC possible, to share imagination about self-experimentation possibilities? Self-Experimentation Update (Continued): The Hundred-Year Lie, A Stress Management Program, and Questions on Probiotics (August 30, 2006) #1627 – How our food system is dysfunctional; how to manage stress; do probiotics really work? *Sigh* — The End of My Euphoria (Sept. 5, 2006) #1634 – As the urgency and crisis passes, so does the pace of Let-Self-Change? Three Paths to Let-Self-Change, and Learning to Breathe (Sept. 8, 2006) #1637 – Reconciling Indigo Ocean’s Being Bliss with Scharmer’s Presence, and practicing LSC Discharging Stress: Not That Simple (Sept. 13, 2006) #1642 – Stress reactions are somatic, and reducing them is hard, perhaps impossible We’re Not Aware of What We’re Not Aware of (Sept. 19, 2006) #1648 – We can’t LSC until we become aware of who and what we are now Self-Experimentation: What the Numbers Say (Sept. 25, 2006) #1654 – My correlations to date suggest what produces well-being in a UC sufferer, and what makes no difference at all Intentionality (Sept. 26, 2006) #1655 – No one is in control: the only person who has influence over our personal ability to Let-Self-Change is us Improving Your Capacity for Attention, Resilience, Intentionality & Imagination in Four Minutes Each Hour (Sept. 29, 2006) #1659 – My LSC practice routine How to Deal With Complexity Day-to-Day (Oct. 8, 2006) #1668 – A fifteen-step approach to cope with anything How to Cope With Bad Environmental (or Other) News (Oct. 12, 2006) #1672 – Being aware of our physical and emotional response to grief, building up our resilience, minimizing exposure to unactionable bad news, and engaging in lots of social activities The Four Preconditions for Let-Self-Change (Nov. 21, 2006) #1702 – Awareness & attention, openness, actionable information, and time & energy, are four successive doors every personal change has to navigate Workarounds (Dec.18, 2006) #1730 – The 10 steps to working around complex problems, and how to encourage workarounds through use of working models and stories Activism: What Else You Can Do Personally Ten Simple Ways to Help the Environment (February, 2003) not the obvious stuff you already know Volunteer (February, 2003) why it’s so important, and who to call to get started How to Be a Successful Activist (March, 2003) some steps from someone whose already done it Rights, Power & Revolution (March, 2003) Organize, Communicate, Investigate, to bring about change Becoming a Vegetarian (July, 2003) How to Change Anything (August, 2003) Dana Meadowa’ systems thinking approach to political change How to Stop Urban Sprawl (October, 2003) A toolkit that works * Radical Simplicity and A Second Look (December, 2003) Jim Merkel’s workbook to reduce your ecological footprint and free yourself from wage slavery What I’m Doing to Help Save the World (December, 2003) actions I’m working on Maybe One (December, 2003) Why reducing family size could be the most important decision of your life In Defense of Radical Environmentalism (February, 2004) a virtual conversation about the legitimacy of sabotage Our Energy Audit, and Space-Efficient Home Design (February, 2004) Ten Ways to Make a Difference (March, 2004) Peter Singer’s pragmatic advice on how to change people’s minds Thinking Out Loud (May, 2004) in which I talk to myself about my future goals as an environmentalist Taking Vegetarianism Mainstream (June, 2004) ten ways to make botanic cuisine ubiquitous Good Stuff (June, 2004) buying socially and environmentally friendly products How You Can Help Save the World (June, 2004) fifteen things anyone can do The How to Save the World Reading List (July, 2004) An updated bibliography of the 50 most important books and articles on the causes and solutions to our environmental crisis Life Choices (October, 2004) the 10 big choices, how they’ve evolved and how we could do much better Buying Green (December, 2004) where, how, and why to be a more conscientious consumer A Commitment to Radical Change (December, 2004) Readers tell me they like what I’ve done so far, loathe what I’m doing next The Green Movement: A Manifesto (December, 2004) seven steps to a mass cultural movement of greens Tom & Kenny’s Crazy Wisdom (January, 2005) it may be easier to persuade people by entertaining than lecturing them, and it may be healthier for the teacher to stay playful too A Better Way (February, 2005) another attempt at a manifesto for environmentalism that everyone can buy into What To Do If You Find an Injured Animal (March, 2005) detailed advice from Ingrid Newkirk Renaturalizing Your Community (April, 2005) replacing non-native and invasive species and brownfield ‘deserts’ with local native species could transform the world Chop Wood, Carry Water (May 3, 2005) #1132 – The importance of allotting time, every day, to stop thinking and just be Finding a Job with a Socially and Environmentally Responsible Organization (June 2, 2005) #1166 – Ten ideas that can help you find a meaningful job and make the world a better place at the same time It’s All About Attention (June 7, 2005) #1171 – We’re designed and indoctrinated to pay attention to the here and now, what’s urgent and consistent with our worldview, not what’s important and complex and far away. If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem (July 10, 2005) #1206 – I love my fellow environmental bloggers, but sometimes their faith in technology and human nature is unwarranted and unhelpful Learning to Pay Attention (July 11, 2005) #1207 – Why is it that we have have to teach adults to do something that every child knows how to do from birth? Lawn, Yawn (July 22, 2005) #1218 – Dealing with weeds, insects and other lawn problems effectively and responsibly Could You Live Without Money? (August 30, 2005) #1259 – An awful lot of what we spend is a direct result of the fact that we go out to work to earn money so we’ll have it to spend Cellular Organization (Sept. 26, 2005) #1285 – Are cells the best way to get people organized to get things done? We Only Pay for, and Retain, Information That’s ‘Durable’ (Sept. 30, 2005) #1289 – A proposal for a magazine of actionable news that you could pull out and file by topic in follow-up ‘workbook’ binders Three Necessary Capabilities for Becoming Aware (Oct. 25, 2005) #1318 – Suspension, redirection, letting go: if we can learn to do this, we’ll be much better at solving complex problems Language and the ‘Otherness’ of the Environment (Oct. 26, 2005) #1319 – To get around the limitations of language, use demonstration, the arts and creative linguistics to spread the message * The Boycott List (Nov. 3, 2005, updated from Dec. 2003) #1328 – The world’s most irresponsible corporations, and a few very good ones Ten Reasons to Halt All Trade With China (Nov. 29, 2005) #1355 – We are complicit in the disgraceful social and environmental behaviours of China when we support their regime and economy with our trade Fear of Volunteering (Dec. 5, 2005) #1362 – How to find the right place to volunteer and make it less uncomfortable an experience * How to Save the World Reading List – Revised and Updated (April 14, 2006) #1497 – An updated bibliography of the 50 most important books and articles on the causes and solutions to our environmental crisis * Saving the World: What You Can Do (April 17, 2006) #1499 – 15 things anyone can do, and how they dovetail with needed top-down and peer-to-peer collective actions (update of the June 2004 article above) What Should We Invest In If the Economy’s Going to Collapse? (May 29, 2006) #1541 – 10 ideas based on what has worked in previous serious recessions Escaping the Prison (June 30, 2006) #1574 – David Edwards’ 1995 book Burning All Illusions explains how we have been sucked into conformity, and offers 16 ‘tools’ for escaping to the Edge How Much Difference Does a Generation Make? (July 10, 2006) #1584 – Some hints about how to become more authentically human, as the first step for saving the world Living On the Edge, Comfortably (Sept. 14, 2006) #1643 – In the tension between the corporatist centre and the Edge, the centre is easier but the Edge is more fun How to Be a Model (Sept. 20, 2006) #1649 – Six ways to live up to Gandhi’s ‘be the change’ admonishment Ten Steps to a Radically Simpler Life, and a Scenario to Imagine (Sept. 22, 2006) #1651 – Simpler everything, and considering pursuing simplicity with others Ten Ways to Take Better Care of the Land (Oct. 16, 2006) #1676 – The first one is to plant lots of trees Too Much Talk, Not Enough Action: But What To Do? (Dec. 19, 2006) #1731 – Eventually it makes sense to stop talking and just listen, pay attention and then, perhaps, do something Building a Community-Based Society Community (August, 2003) the three types of community and how to make them work Exposing the Young to Nature (July, 2004) how Model Intentional Communities could show the way forward Creating Model Intentional Communities (August, 2004) how to do it, and how they could change the way we all live Small is Beautiful (October, 2004) making community-based organizations work won’t be easy, but it’s vital Creating a Life Together (January 2005) Diana Leafe Christian’s handbook on how to build intentional communities Collective Processes (January, 2005) link to a new resource that shows how to build consensus and make collaboration work The Importance of Place (June 13, 2005) #1178 – Place, the place we call home, the place we belong to, defines us. When we have lost our sense of place, we have lost our soul * How We Can Make Intentional Communities Work (August 2, 2005) #1229 – A scenario that shows the 3 challenges ICs face Sand Towns: Pueblos de Arena Strives for a Cultural Renaissance (Oct. 24, 2005) #1317 – An appeal for sponsors to support a project in Peru that would make aboriginal communities self-sufficient again Community Resource Management: Old Rules, and New Sustainable Ones (Nov. 4, 2005) #1329 – How to run a community with a light touch and an aim of self-sufficiency How to Disrupt and Replace the (Distorted) ‘Market’ Economy (Dec. 6, 2005) #1364 – Building a new economy around Intentional Communities, Natural Enterprises, and information-powered consumer/citizen activism Taking Things Into Our Own Hands (Feb. 24, 2006) #1447 – Proposing new global social and political ‘system’ based on personal responsibility and action at the cellular, microcommunity level Why Only a Local Community Based Economy Can Save Us (April 15, 2006) #1498 – Wendel Berry explains how neighbourhood + subsistence = sustainability The Challenge of Building Community (May 30, 2006) #1542 – Why we seem so incapable of doing what was natural for so long, and some ideas for regaining that capacity ‘Solving’ Complex Problems: The Networked Society vs the Hierarchical One (July 13, 2006) #1587 – If we want to displace our dysfunctional society, economy and politics, we need to offer real, immediate alternatives, starting with ‘working models’ My Ideal ‘Community House’ (August 22, 2006) #1619 – Designing a space for a group to live and make a living together Jeff Vail’s A Theory of Power (Dec. 4, 2006) #1716 – Vail says we need to confront hierarchy with its opposite — rhizome — whose working units are self-sufficient, egalitarian communities, and in which the concept of ‘ownership’ is eliminated Scenario Planning vs. Collective Vision: Imagining What’s Possible (Dec. 7, 2006) #1719 – The 8 steps in scenario planning, from Art of the Long View, and why collective visioning is a better way than scenarios to imagine what’s possible Creating a Gift Economy and Other Alternate Economies The Cost of Renewable Energy (February, 2003) rates per kwh, per Worldwatch Environmental & Social Economics (March, 2003) a primer on the work of Herman Daly and others Citizens Not Consumers (April, 2003) a prescription for a post-capitalist economy A Naive Tax System That Works (May, 2003) how a radically new tax system could change business and human behaviour The Hydrogen Economy (May, 2003) how it works, and how it helps, and the challenges Water: The Other Scarce Liquid (June, 2003) the extent of the global scarcity, per the BBC * The Post-Consumer Economy (June, 2003) how an economy based on collaboration & well-being, and a relater-sharer culture, could change everything Future of Business & the Next Economy (July, 2003) Zuboff’s Support Economy falls short, but could be a stepping stone to New Collaborative (Natural) Enterprises Brownfield Development vs. Urban Sprawl (September, 2003) how to save greenspace, revitalize inner cities and save energy at the same time The Coming Energy Crisis (September, 2004) Stan Goff explains why there are no simple, or clean, ways to avoid it Why Wilderness Conservation Won’t Happen (September, 2004) The law will readily wade into moral issues, but not if it interferes with commerce Taxing Bads (September, 2004) how a second parallel currency could save the environment and redistribute wealth Environmental Sustainability Index (January, 2005) a news survey rates countries on their environmental sustainability Renaissance of the Commons (January, 2005) two Harvard profs trash ‘free market dogma’ and show how the commons is getting new respect The Growth Illusion (February, 2005) Richard Douthwaite explains how growth objectives pervert the economy, and how an alternative sustainable community-based economy could work How to Make Money Giving Stuff Away Free (March, 2005) Some ways that work, and others that don’t The Gift Economy (April, 2005) if enough of us followed the lead of scientists, open source, bloggers and file-sharers and gave things away free, we could replace the market economy with a fairer one Generosity is Not the Same as Charity (April 26, 2005) #1124 – The Gift Economy is built on generosity, not charity. * Can We Make the Gift Economy Work? (July 31, 2005) #1227 – Some early successes and three strategies for building on them How About a Gift Economy Simulation? (August 1, 2005) #1228 – What a simulation of a large-scale Gift Economy might show us After the Crash: A Blueprint for a Community-Based Economy (Nov. 10, 2005) #1335 – Richard Douthwaite’s book Short Circuit tells us how such a community might work How to Disrupt and Replace the (Distorted) ‘Market’ Economy (Dec. 6, 2005) #1364 – Building a new economy around Intentional Communities, Natural Enterprises, and information-powered consumer/citizen activism The Virtuous Cycles of the Gift Economy (Dec. 6, 2006) #1718 – It all starts with acknowledging that our time is worth more than the money we sell it for The Wisdom of Crowds Ignored, and Buying Local for the Gift Economy (Dec. 22, 2006) #1734 – At Christmas, handmade and locally-made gifts recall the original purpose of gift exchange and contribute to the gift economy Understanding & Caring For Our Animal Friends Canada’s Shame: Pound Seizure (March, 2003) current laws on pound seizure, and how to deal with them Why Has the Anti-Smoking Movement Succeeded while the Animal Rights Movement Has Failed? (April, 2003) why PETA is so radical Still No Safe Place (August, 2003) Canada’s Senate blocks animal cruelty legislation Another Animal Cruelty Horror (October, 2003) A Canadian pig farm lets 10,000 die horribly A Crime of Stupefying Proportions (October, 2003) Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello wonders whether a holocaust is all around us It’s Not Funny (November, 2003) a new video The Meatrix explains the evils of factory farms If I Could Talk to the Animals (November, 2003) if they can learn to understand our language, but we can’t figure out their’s, which animal is smarter? Jeff Masson & The Virtue of Gentle Persuasion (January 2004) the argument for better treatment of farm animals, and a vegan diet Science Shorts (February 2004) animal communication, learning from nature, and erasable paper Ten Ways to Make a Difference (March, 2004) Peter Singer’s pragmatic advice on how to change people’s minds A Pragmatic Approach to Animal Rights (February, 2005) laws for protracted and extreme cruelty + innovations to reduce the need for victimization + 2 rights * The Real Difference Between Humans and Other Animals (April, 2005) we have a lower tolerance for pain, and a higher one for imprisonment ‘A Nation Wired for Everything Except the Truth’ (June 8, 2005) #1172 – The disgrace of industrial farming Fighting Factory Farms (June 12, 2005) #1177 – Seven things you can do What the Raven Said (Nov. 9, 2005) #1334 – Some intelligence on animal intelligence and the importance of wilderness Aphid Philosophy (Dec. 12, 2005) #1371 – Maybe the tiny creatures of the world are smarter and more sensitive than we think An Apology for Canada’s Treatment of Animals (March 5, 2006) #1456 – Not just seals: Canada’s treatment of all animals is a disgrace for a ‘civilized’ nation The Cause of Elephant Violence (Oct. 19, 2006) #1679 – It’s the same as the cause of violence in overcrowded, fear-dominated urban cores For the Love of a Dog (Nov. 29, 2006) #1711 – Patricia McConnell’s new book is one part training manual and one part love story |
