Xerces Society Solutions
Sharing Xerces Tools & Techniques
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GROUP DETAILS
Created: Nov 09, 2008
Updated: Mar 10, 2009
Membership: Invitation Only
Semi-Private
Comments (1 - 13 of 13)
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Flag comment for removal JudithN 6 days ago
Another great way of thinking about this: The Blind Spot of Economic Thought: Seven Acupuncture Points for Shifting to Capitalism 3.0 . I've gotta run, but wanted to post this.... Look forward to further conversation/action here.
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Yes we need more pioneers showing what forward gear means locally and a few pioneers working globally - let's go for it Cliff! |
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It's time we learned and began practicing operating in forward gear. We can be deliberative about these important choices but only up to a point. Then it's time to start making progress because if we begin too late, it will be just that - too late.
We need more pioneers setting imperfect examples ahead of the rest of us. I happen to like being a pioneer.
I'm trying to make sense of all of the communication happening online and having to do with Transition Marin. I'm sure we could be moving forward by consolidating our conversations in one place. Anyone up for a technology discussion? |
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Let's try forward Gear! & Seven Policy Switches for Global Security ......James Grayson has given a brillant synopis of the stale and out-dated thinking used to correct the economy/environment and replaces them with new viable ideas and solutions that should be done immediately to solve the climate/financial crisis threating our planet.
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Thanks Geoff! Super quote from Thich Nhat Hanh "We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize". Any tips for offering this larger ethos to the world? Have you seen the related 'seven switches' work?
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I like the general path this is going. The problem is a much larger one and can't be tackled with minute developments. A larger ethos needs to be developed for success to occur. Leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh have been subscribing to general ethos changes for years, as opposed to carbon taxes and the like. Love it. Keep up the good worrk.
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Hi Phil, I'm happy to report that it's not 'my approach', or even my choice of words. I just wrote it up here. You'll see hopefully that it's all available for editing and you can list yourself in any capacity in the network. Others have edited already. I'm not clear though what you were proposing; starting from where we are in understanding or locality? Local action is necessary (I do a lot here) but not sufficient. As you rightly say, the agenda is not very open. Funny thing though, the global policy agenda is wide open, on account of nobody being responsible for making it work, no funding being available and the consequent ineffectual policy-making. "Small scale and gradual" has been the approach to all issues for decades and we see how well it's working. Take a look at my latest piece Seven Policy Switches for Global Security for thoughts on what we can actually do. Much else on wiserearth will be relevant too. Glad of your comments! Hi Charley, I love the tractor suggestion and your thinking about keylines etc. When we're building this vehicle (wiserearth perhaps) it would be fun to do something also about the nuts behind the wheel! Nice to picture it as a vehicle of encouragement. See if you reckon the new 'policy switches' paper helps with the mechanics that you have in mind? The idea is to change the game so players like you (and everyone else) get support instead of obstructions. |
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I like the gear metaphor, but to what transmission, engine and vehicle is it connected? The engine of change is going to be something that delivers a lot of low-end torque producing a massive amount of traction. Thus the gearshift should control something like a solar-powered, non-polluting, super-efficient tractor. But getting into the minds of consumers and politicians with things that are allegorical, rhetorical or metaphorical is like commercial marketing and can only get so far. Building an intentional discourse community is better. The people of the planet need seeds and tools for living - both the abstract and the physical ones. The discourse must inspire new thinking and extend the new language that has already begun to propagate across cultures and continents. Ways of speaking and communicating are involving and improving nearly globe-wide at an enormous rate. This is already one of the few human accomplishments moving in the right direction (forward). We need thinkers, writers and producers, but we also need a support network for people like farmers who are almost ready to experiment with a different way of tilling or for the urban technocrat who's almost ready to invest in a green venture. We need to build a vehicle (context) of encouragement. Single moms, farmers, politicians, plumbers, and anyone who wants to be the change will have to be bold within the confines of where they are. Some will be ridiculed, ostrasized, or even threatened for taking a stand. Countless people are on the verge of personal revolution in their very livelyhoods and willing to risk it all. These need good information and friends they can trust. Honor and discourse must replace folly and hype. You are right about the intensity that is needed. The power is in community. |
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Hi James, ta for this. Like the clarity & brevity. Looks promising, so here's me getting in touch and considering how it might be possible to help. If one starts from "So it's up to us" (tips), don't we have to start from where we are? Personally I feel a long way from being able to put anything on any agenda (action 5) even a local one, let alone *the policy agenda world-wide". I'm not without experience of trying to get stuff on agenda and finding them not to seem very open.
If "this (currently your) approach" has merit, is it possible for us to collectively author what it is (so that it becomes more 'ours') to the extent that in simple terms it sells itself? Or is this too simplistic? I may be missing the whole point but have to admit being fairly sceptical of "This approach cannot be tested on a small scale or gradually" (Assessment). I think I follow why you might say this, but wonder what it really means in terms of what we actually do? |
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Clear, Concise and action oriented. Like it. James, I'll be in touch directly before the summer is out....
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Thank you, James!
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Thanks Ray!
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This is an outsanding piece of work
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