Introduction:
As communities are facing high unemployment, economic hardship and deteriorating infrastructure, they will be left even more vulnerable when fossil fuel once again rises in price. In the early stages of distress, appeals to the “common good” or “cooperative engagement” may be met warmly and enthusiastically by townspeople.
However, there are predictable changes as hardship, deprivation and even violence escalates, which impacts on this spirit of altruism. One size does not fit all when working within a community setting. It is a skill to recognize the level of community functioning, or at what stage of collapse the system is functioning, and to work within these circumstances skillfully. Is an important skill for concerned citizens and community activists alike.
In this first of a multi-part series, I will outline the ways in which researchers have dissected the elements of community deterioration, and outlined the ways in which this cooperative effort between external forces, leadership, and individuals, contributes to its escalating violence trajectory. In later writings, I’ll look at the way researchers have actually worked with communities experiencing high levels of violence and social deterioration, both in the US and in other countries.
Read on...
Peacenik survived another weekend battling the elements and isolation. There was a severe wind chill up north, but it was sunny which allowed Peacenik the opportunity to test Peacenik's beer case solar oven. Peacenik lined the inside of an empty beer case with Reynolds tin foil....shiny side out. Peacenik could adjust the flaps of the beer case to maximize and focus the reflected sun on Peacenik's hotdog. The experiment was successful, the hotdog was cooking, but some cloud moved in and Peacenik got hungry and ate the cold hotdog. Peacenik is encouraged for the future. When Peacenik got home Peacenik tried to assess Guelph's place on the community collapse scale that the above post is about. This is an ongoing project .....the community collapse scale.
However, there are predictable changes as hardship, deprivation and even violence escalates, which impacts on this spirit of altruism. One size does not fit all when working within a community setting. It is a skill to recognize the level of community functioning, or at what stage of collapse the system is functioning, and to work within these circumstances skillfully. Is an important skill for concerned citizens and community activists alike.
In this first of a multi-part series, I will outline the ways in which researchers have dissected the elements of community deterioration, and outlined the ways in which this cooperative effort between external forces, leadership, and individuals, contributes to its escalating violence trajectory. In later writings, I’ll look at the way researchers have actually worked with communities experiencing high levels of violence and social deterioration, both in the US and in other countries.
Read on...
Peacenik survived another weekend battling the elements and isolation. There was a severe wind chill up north, but it was sunny which allowed Peacenik the opportunity to test Peacenik's beer case solar oven. Peacenik lined the inside of an empty beer case with Reynolds tin foil....shiny side out. Peacenik could adjust the flaps of the beer case to maximize and focus the reflected sun on Peacenik's hotdog. The experiment was successful, the hotdog was cooking, but some cloud moved in and Peacenik got hungry and ate the cold hotdog. Peacenik is encouraged for the future. When Peacenik got home Peacenik tried to assess Guelph's place on the community collapse scale that the above post is about. This is an ongoing project .....the community collapse scale.
