Coping
Psychology for a Better World
University of Auckland / Niki Harre
This book contains numerous strategies for inspiring others to join with those of us who are trying to make a difference. It is for the teacher who updates her class on the latest climate change negotiations, the office manager who buys Fair Trade coffee, the student who cannot accept that our current way of life is the best we can do, the builder who suggests his clients install solar panels, the mother who refuses to provide take-home bags of plastic toys at the end of her child’s birthday party, the city counsellor who lobbies for cycle lanes. Whatever your social location, if you believe a more sustainable world is possible and desirable, then (I suggest) this book is for you.
A Conversation About Europe
Club Orlov / Dmitri Orlov, Tancrède Bastié / 15 December 2011
The severity of collapse will depend on how quickly societies can scale down their energy use, curtail their reliance on industry, grow their own food, go back to manual methods of production for fulfilling their immediate needs, and so forth. It is to be expected that large cities and industrial centers will depopulate the fastest. On the other hand, remote, land-locked, rural areas will not have the local resources to reboot into a post-industrial mode. But there is hope for small-to-middling towns that are surrounded by arable land and have access to a waterway. To see what will be survivable, one needs to look at ancient and medieval settlement patterns, ignoring places that became overdeveloped during the industrial era. Those are the places to move to, to ride out the coming events [...]
A far-reaching, fundamental transition, such as the one we are discussing, is impossible without the ability to improvise, to be flexible—in effect, to be able to abandon who you have been and to change who you are in favor of what the moment demands. Paradoxically, it is usually the young and the old, who have nothing to lose, who do the best, and it is the successful, productive people between 30 and 60 who do the worst. It takes a certain detachment from all that is abstract and impersonal, and a personal approach to everyone around you, to navigate the new landscape.
Ignorance is bliss when it comes to challenging issues
American Psychological Association / Press Release / 21 November 2011
By remaining unaware, people can justify trusting government, study finds
WASHINGTON -- The less people know about important complex issues such as the economy, energy consumption and the environment, the more they want to avoid becoming well-informed, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.
And the more urgent the issue, the more people want to remain unaware, according to a paper published online in APA's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The Snow Globe Crystal Ball
Peak Oil Blues / Kathy McMahon / 16 November 2011
Peering into this combo snow globe-crystal ball of the Oct 29 storm, what can we foresee? Well, I think we can see what the public reaction will be when we start having energy shortages in the fossil fuel sectors. First, there may be annoyed resignation over the service stations being out of fuel. After three or four days pass and still no fuel, annoyance may turn to anger. After seven or eight days, anger may give way to rage. The public won’t have the visual reminders that a snow storm has left behind. Instead, there won’t be any fuel energy, and the sky may be sunny, and the birds are chirping. The culprit for their discomfort won’t be anywhere in sight. Public and private leadership will be passing the same information, “Tomorrow, everything will be restored”.
We in the peak oil community keep wondering when someone in leadership, either in the government, or in industry will own up to the dilemmas of peak oil. The truth is, they never will utter the words “peak oil”. To do so would beg the questions of “Exactly what did you know, and when did you first learn of it?” and “Why have you done nothing to prepare for this situation?”
What comes after rage? It all depends on the individual, and their circumstances in life. You may have rage turn to action, such as the Occupy movement. That will probably not be as effective or visible, because the fuel won’t be as available for them to travel to a point of protest. I believe rage will morph into fear. As the realization that a “normal” tomorrow isn’t likely a part of our future, the fear will encroach on everyone’s lives. People with great fear are prone to making all sorts of bad decisions, even those in top levels of government.
Social Psychosis and Collective Sanity
Common Dreams / Winslow Myers / 10 November 2011
We know from the sad experience of Nazi Germany or Khmer Rouge Cambodia that it is possible for whole nations to become mentally ill, with horrendous consequences. At the time, however, the Nazis or the Khmers had no idea that they were deeply out of touch with the reality that all people are equally worthy of respect and care.
The population of the earth recently surpassed 7 billion. As we move further into the condition of global villagehood, it becomes more important than ever to assess our shared mental health. Collectively we can less and less afford the distortions that afflict the psyches of individual persons, such as denial, regression into infantile rage, fantasy ideation, or blind projection outward onto “enemies” of our unresolved inner tensions. Everyone is aware of the potential horror, for example, of a nuclear weapon falling into the hands of someone not in the clearest of minds.
The social psychosis of denial is one of the greatest of our temptations.
Video: Seneca on Anger
Narrated by Alain de Botton, this episode wraps up the excellent BBC series on Philosophy – A Guide To Happiness. In this episode we learn from Roman emperor Nero’s famous tutor Seneca on Anger, what seems to trigger it and one possible approach to overcome it. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger) (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor, later advisor to emperor Nero and was later executed by that emperor for complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate this last of the Julio-Claudian emperors; however, he was probably innocent.
Making a post-oil transition
Taranaki Daily News / Virginia Winder / 21 June 2011
When you mention phrases such as "peak oil" and "climate change" some people will switch off, others will scoff and a few will nod.
"It's a conspiracy theory," some say. "Not in my lifetime," others cry.
Then there are the "who cares?" lot, the "what can I do?" bunch, followed closely by the environmentally minded "let's take action" crew.
It's OK to think all of these things - after all, we are constantly encouraged to focus on the "now" and "live in the moment".
This is just a heads-up that, yes, things are going to change soon and we need to be prepared.
Think of the Scouts' motto or the ads about getting ready for retirement.
In this case, the "retirement" is crude oil and the "getting ready" plan is setting up a transition town, which is a plan for the future.
