We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Envisioning sustainable communities

 from Energy Bulletin.  This is parts 1 and 2 of a 4 part series, zeros in on the concept of "community", and asks the important question:
What features need to be built into a community for it to be sustainable against the juggernaut of forces that would co-opt it back into in-egalitarian and exploitative economic and cultural patterns?