[MonteQuest]

Thought I would bump this thread up as it seems the players are once again taking positions.

MQ

[Gary]

I've read through this thread in light of the local political scene here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

We are in the middle of the political race for mayor and for city council representatives. Minneapolis is a big "city" in Minnesota, and a part of the biggest "metropolitan" area in the state.

Right now the Democratic party has two candidates running. both are argueing about strategy for "law and order" and "fiscal responsibility" and both very much support a new regressive (sales) tax to pay for a new (half million-dollar, plus financing over 30 years) baseball stadium in town. Next year the Minnesota Vikings plan to propose that a new football stadium be built, also partly at taxpayer expense. Local and state politicos seem receptive to that. Meanwhile, the local University of Minnesota campus states that their sports stadium also needs to be replaced -- long overdue, in fact.

A Green Party candidate and an independant candidate both have brought up the need to focus on developing sustainable infratructure, but both get fairly shut out of the discussion in the local media. I participate in an e-democracy online forum for Minneapolis issues and often find that people simply refuse to process ideas or information that does not easily assimilate into the worldview they have developed, which is centered on the belief that the consumerism of American life is normal, and that we are entitled to continue this lifestyle forever.

The worldview that this "American consumerism" is stuck in seems to me to be that of the 19th century robber barrons. The planet is an infinite supply of free resources and also an infinite sink for waste. That this view is in any way naive or rapacious simply does not occur to most (US) Americans. That we are bumping up against any limits in supply of resources or in terms of fouling our own nest with waste is simply not acceptable in polite philosophical, religious, or especially political discussion.

Our local leaders prefer to mumble on about various budgets, scary poor (mostly black) urban neighborhoods riddled with violent crime, and promises of "economic development" with each new stadium freeway renovation, new highway bridge, or added luxury condo. The future is bright if we will only go deeper into debt to finance all these "economic development" projects.

My worldview is very different from the world view which dominates my nation's culture and also our national and local politcs.

(Didn't they spend lots on the superdome in New Orleans while the flood control system needed work?)

In the next few days one of our local papers (The Southwest Journal of Minneapolis) will put out an issue including an article on "peak oil awareness" activism in Minneapolis. The reporter spoke with me and others at length. I hope we create enough creative disequilibrium in people's minds to cause them to see that the old worldview needs to be changed.

I am so tired....I have worked off of worktrikes for nearly 5 years now, and have tried to raise awareness one-on-one with people I encounter. The process is discouragingly slow and painful.

We will not survive, it seems to me, unless we find our way to a new world view. Or will the process of navigating the "bottleneck" of the next 20 years shape that new world view?

[holmes]

Bump for a good thread. OOwolf I am doing the same brother. And I agree with Monte 100% from looking at the resources and movements. I say around 2015 at least before real changes start rearing their ugly head. Nothing really new though. I figured as much.