I've been giving a lot of thought today to how we actually make change in the world, in time to address the #ClimateEmergency; and I've come to the conclusion that it's exceedingly unlikely that constitutional politics – parliaments and governments – can adapt in time to do anything useful.
Which means, we need a #PlanB of direct public action not to protest but to to build the structures of the new future. >>>
It's not that I think we should entirely give up on conventional politics: it's not impossible that it might work. But realistically, at least in the English-speeaking world, it's unlikely to. Our 'democratic' politics and our commercial media are too fossilised, too obsessed with game playing and tactics. I don't believe they can change in the time we have left.
@simon_brooke agreed that we're now at the point of planning what the future might be.
Check out Ben (Edin Uni student, same time as me) who owns The Barracks in Germany, where he is experimenting with what a post climate-catastrophe community looks like. https://www.thebarracks.de/
He hosted The Collapse Laboratory there this month, a 3 week residency looking at what comes after collapse. Also see his You Tube live on Saturday with guests talking about what next. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8_IVTm_OSE
@SiobhanVohn Thanks, I'll have a read.
@simon_brooke Oh and I kind of think we 'should entirely give up on conventional politics'. The majority won't do that, so conventional politics will continue regardless of what 'we' do, and trying to influence there drains too much energy from the people best placed to look at something different.
More people need to focus energy on things you are doing - raising awareness of what next, helping people to consider how they might plan to live differently, looking at whole community models.
@SiobhanVohn Well, I think I need to shift my focus more to sharing experience of building community and community solutions at local scale.
We need to house and feed people, which means we need far-reaching #LandReform.
The car industry will die when we stop buying cars, which means we need to build transport solutions; the hydrocarbon industry will die when we stop buying fuels and plastics, so we need to build power and packaging solutions.
All this can be done.
The UK is planning 15 minute cities. The idea is that all the services needed are within 15 minutes of where you live. This is a good idea. However as usual the conspiracy theorists have jumped on this to spread misinformation and the idea of a government hidden agenda.
It used to be like this, back in the 80s we could walk to the local row of shops, there was everything from a newsagent, butchers, fruit / veg shops, banks, mini supermarket etc all within easy reach, iirc the parking was also free.
@zleap @simon_brooke yes indeed. Use it or lose it.
@zleap @SiobhanVohn @simon_brooke I was explaining this to my son a few days ago, how everything changed with the advent of big out of town supermarkets and shopping centres.
@SiobhanVohn @zleap @simon_brooke I increasingly consider areas of London that don't have LTNs to be disadvantaged.
@sellathechemist @zleap @simon_brooke yes, I'd agree with that about any part of any city that has residents living there.
@SiobhanVohn @zleap @simon_brooke Have to say that I loved the idea of an LTN in my neighbourhood when it was proposed. And I love it even more now that it's been in place for two years and even some of my doubtful neighbours seem to like it now.
@sellathechemist @SiobhanVohn @simon_brooke
I think if implemented properly they are perhaps a good idea, but stopping emergency vehicles from getting to places just seems irresponsible..
@zleap @sellathechemist @SiobhanVohn What stops emergency vehicles getting places is traffic congestion. The solution is simple: get private cars off the roads.
@simon_brooke @sellathechemist @SiobhanVohn
There has been news reports of barriers in the road to control traffic also hinder emergency vehicle access, hence I said implemented properly.
@zleap @simon_brooke @SiobhanVohn There have been endless “reports” and over and over the Ambulance and Fire Services have issued statements saying that they have experienced no delays. Many LTNs have few barriers anyway. And within a few months as people get used to things, it all settles down and you even get children playing in the quiet streets.
@simon_brooke @zleap @SiobhanVohn Because of the strong non-linearity of traffic flows we know that even a 10% drop in vehicle numbers can cause huge drops in congestion. So any measure that favours active travel ends up benefiting both motorists and the walkers, cyclists, skaters and more. And there are benefits for the disabled - our pavements are a mess. Now people in wheelchairs and elderly people with walkers/mobility aids can use the smooth roadway.
@zleap @SiobhanVohn Ahhh... ish. I seriously think that big cities (more than, say, five million people, perhaps fewer) are simply going to have to be abandoned, because within fifty years we're not going to have enough energy to move enough food to feed them, or enough waste products to keep them healthy.
@simon_brooke @zleap Oh yeah, agreed. I always forget there are cities that huge. I've only been in a couple, Bangkok & New York, and could only get my head around them by splitting their districts up in my head as being separate places.
How will the village/community model cope with the influx of people as cities gradually decline, or are suddenly abandoned?
@simon_brooke @zleap @SiobhanVohn
Now I'm wondering what is going to be a sustainable size for a city - as my *uninformed* guess would be much less than 5 mil.
Dense cities with good infrastructure have economies of scale which save energy in the current/outgoing context of abundant long distance transport; but with the need to source supplies locally won't that put more of a limit on city sizes?
I tried a quick search but couldn't quickly find stats/projections. Would you happen to known?
@zleap @simon_brooke @SiobhanVohn How I wish my US authorities would do the same! Brilliant ...
@zleap @simon_brooke Yes great idea. Not just the UK. I think it was an urban planner in France who first coined the term and it is being implemented by many cities around the world.
Ridiculous conspiracy theories aside, care does need to be taken that disadvantaged areas are not left behind.