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Index of Subjects Dear Pat, Thanks for raising this question, I think it is an important one and will become increasingly so in the next thirty years. We will be entering a phase in which everything to do with oil--locating it, extracting it, transporting it, refining it, distributing it, and burning it, will come with increasing dire effects for humans and the rest of the earth. I think the American "take over" of Afghanistan is a case in point---the energy megalith will do what it will with whatever opportunity to get oil under its control. So I see any efforts to get off oil dependency as political acts; both from the perspective of human peace and earth well-being. I find it very useful to think about the three main dimensions of the Great Turning, as Joanna Macy calls it, the moving toward sustainable living with justice. First, all "holding actions", basically the efforts to stop bad things from happening, which have been the main focus of mainstream environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, and peace groups such as End the Arms Race. Secondly, are efforts to create new institutions and appropriate technologies, examples would be local currencies, the GPI, all efforts to educate youth in conflict resolution skills, and wind power generation, and local democratic institutions. Thirdly, is the work of transforming basic beliefs or worldviews away from the materialism, nationalism, and militarism that is so rampant, toward the direction of a new cosmology that celebrates diversity and the place of the human within the larger earth process. The best example that I know of in this area is the work referred to as The Universe Story, following the work of Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Joanna Macy, and many others. All three dimensions are needed for a Great Turning, and all of us are called in different ways to work in a way that grabs our fascination and passion. Thomas Berry says there is an awakening spirit he calls the desire for Pax Gaia, the peace of Earth, and I believe that this is so. Not that the Earth will become a benign place, it will always have it's turbulent and destructive/reformation aspect, but there seems to be a pulling toward this peace that transcends the purely human into something much larger...this is the spiritual dimension of the Great Turning. Just as growing and purchasing local organic food is a political act toward political well-being and peace, so too are efforts to get off oil dependency and in tune with local energy systems, the wind for example, and to reduce energy consumption and find meaning in celebration in more benign ways. There is much more to say about all this, but there are a few thoughts this morning. For Peace with Justice (for all Earth being), Roger -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca To submit a message to sust-mar (subscribers only!), please send it to: mailto:sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca PLEASE SEND MESSAGES TO SUST-MAR IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY MESSAGES CONTAINING HTML (MIME) CANNOT BE POSTED
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