Concerned About the Future Yet?
Explore Transitioning to a Sustainable Life
By Hina Pendle, PhD, Facilitator, Community Organizer
October 2008
The fact that we are on a descent is no longer in question, but how we land is. As I write, we are living in a financial crisis, which will soon mean diminishing resources for most of us. This is the tip of the iceberg by many accounts including Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics this past week. The world is also facing a massively disturbed climate and environment, in an oil-dependent world, with an increasing world population creating rising demand for food, water, and shelter. And our national leadership has been busily dumbing-down education on issues and public education for our youth — while grabbing tighter control on power.
Changing the way we live in our modern societies is no longer optional. How we make the change is. Those of us with foresight can seize the opportunity today to use the resources we still have to build a sustainable tomorrow—if we act smart and quickly. New technology and a “Green Deal” cannot be the panacea people hope for. There are no magic wands. We are not going to invent our way out of this mess. Green strategies can certainly help stem the slide but, we have to realize how deep our society’s need for fossil fuels is. Almost everything we use and do every day depends on oil.
We don’t know what the future looks like. What we are witnessing is the breakdown of all the old ways that not longer serve us. It doesn’t have to be scary or scarce. The transition into a new era is being born out of the rubble and lessons of the old. Yes, it can be unnerving to watch the breakdowns. But we can’t afford to let fear to zap our power to design and birth our future. We were impregnated with the vision of love, peace and environmental sanity in the sixties. That baby has been gestating, wising up and now becoming our reality. Just like adolescents, we are emerging from our cultural evolution to question and rethink everything. Let’s reconsider together what we value from agriculture to health care, from economic systems to building community, from science to spirituality, from low to no carbon building to useful, green retirement. David Korten, businessman and writer and Joanna Macy, environmentalist and Buddhist, call this the time of “The Great Turning.” David says we’re evolving from empire to earth community. Our fears can help to propel us forward faster.
The Foundation of Sustainable Living (FOSL) www.thefosl.org has been ushering in this transition for several years. We are preparing for self-reliant, resilient communities. That means we are planning to be able to provide all of our basic and comfort needs within our local community. In modern society, living isolated many of us have lost critical contact with each other and with nature’s bounty. FOSL’s vision is to have many multi-generational, multi-racial, multi-cultural communities sharing resources and talent. Resilient communities are based on principles that support life. We respect nature, learning how natural systems have solve problems for ages. We will teach what we know and learn what we don’t, according to Parker, FOSL’s primary founder. The future may not be crystal clear but our values for the journey forward are.
George Soros speaking with Bill Moyers said, that for humanity to survive the calamity of our ways, we have to learn how to govern ourselves. To FOSL that means building caring, smart communities now. Together we can transition through the perfect storm and global chaos by designing a better future. FOSL is calling for more people of all ages who are interested in creating a vibrant, abundant future guided by our wisdom, intelligence, heart and fun to join in. We still have the time and resources to transition into a comfortable, sensible future for ourselves, our children and prepare for “green” retirement. The time is now.
Check out a great inspiring resource “The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency To Local Resilience” by Rob Hopkins. It tells of towns in England, Japan and around the world that are transitioning, each in their own way. FOSL is now building its first transition community. How we do it is up to us.
Hina Pendle, PhD is a facilitator, community and organizational evolutionary, and on the Leadership Council of the Foundation of Sustainable Living. hina@thefosl.org, 831.662.2232.