posted videos

[David]

hey folks,

any feed back on the posted videos?

[Lisa Patterson]

Dear David and members,
Please forgive this girl's lack of access to a high speed internet connection. My slow dial-up connection makes it impractical for me to view videos and such. Many apps are the same way for me. I am very happy to be connected here even if it is slow!

[Edward Krall]

hey,I watched E2M,video and it was very good, the information was the pattern on how to go about the transition we seek.

[Lisa Patterson]

Thanks Edward!

Edward Krall said:

hey,I watched E2M,video and it was very good, the information was the pattern on how to go about the transition we seek.

[Kat]

Hi, I just joined and watched the E2M video. Wow! This rocks.

For those of you without video, you can visit the web site: E2M.org

This guy has created an economic *community* in Massachusettes as a non-profit organization for the purpose of generating community wealth.... Here's some more info he gives to set up his story:

First and foremost, he quotes: "It's a healthy thing now to hang a question mark on the things you've long taken for granted." Amen and amen. Everything we know is about to change. Not a little: *TOTALLY* change. So we may as well get on with it now and start doing what it takes to stretch our minds and our efforts. This is not something to put off until we literally see the sky falling, so-to-speak. This is very, very real and by getting involved now, we give ourselves an edge and we transition far more gracefully.

I love the stuff he says. He points out that when economic power is in the hands of the few, democracy suffers, as we have proven.

Moreso, concentration of wealth produces debt. To have a healthy economy, people (that would be *us*) have to buy stuff. Soon it became evident that we the populace don't spend enough money buying stuff at the level they need us to in order to show a "healthy" economy. So credit cards, loans, tax breaks, etc. were designed to keep us spending so that our economy looks healthy. Saying the economy is growing nowadays just means we are more and more in debt. This is not sustainable, and we are now getting a glimpse of the end of this racket.

So, he asks, if it's not sustainable, what does the "end" look like? We can sink and burn, or we can look at how we the people literally have the power to change it.

First we need new standards of investment: sustainable growth for the good of ALL. Secondly, we need an investor with literally trillions of dollars to spend in order to turn this thing around.

Who is that investor? It is *us* -- we spend 9 trillion a year! We have all of this wealth and we can channel it *away* from this artificial and selfish economy that has been set up and instead put it where it truly does something for the good of all. It's all controllable by where the money goes -- the power is in our hands.

He goes on to list amazing things that a community with money can do for housing, for business, and for how the entire economic system operates. He poses some great questions about the good and wonderful things that could (and are) being invented but which cannot enter our current system because they do not fit the elite profit model. He also points out with inspiring examples that there is no need for homelessness!

So he has created E2M -- "an innovative economic solution that enables communities as entities to use the tool of capitalism to create enormous amounts of wealth for themselves just as individuals and corporations have been doing for centuries."

Let's do it! :-) I'm excited to see people thinking like this and I hope we can round up a bunch of us in Tennessee cities who are ready to figure out what we can do ourselves to come together with similar ideals and plans.

You might feel like you personally can't go out and start a mass chapter 180 non profit organization. But you can start with this: stop buying stuff. Don't just ascribe to it with your mind -- look at every purchase and ask yourself if there is a different way to do it (including not needing it at all).

One fun little web site that helps drive this home in a more personal way is the Story of Stuff. It helps us see how it's all set up to keep us spending.

[David]

thanks for reminding you can watch the video on the web site *grins*. I like the plan cause its easy and already in place and operating.

I think if we can pool our collective resources and co-operate on the direction of that pool of resources we can all have a better place to live,work, and rest. What we need is committed individuals to start the ball rolling.

[Kat]

David said:

What we need is committed individuals to start the ball rolling.

I agree. Commitment is going to be important. I think the first step is ingesting enough education on the subject that one really gets it how real this is. It's not just an idea or an ideal. It's not "hey, we might have more solar energy someday" or "Gee, I'd like to grow my own food." We've heard environmental jargon for years now, to where it's part of our conditioning.

We are actually to a point where sitting by and letting someone else do it means it either 1) won't get done, or 2) won't get done in time. My urgency is not a negative urgency, but one of enthusiasm and seeing the reality of this and how close we are to literally *needing* to get moving because the power is right this minute in our hands to truly create the new economy on which the future will be based. Getting it done requires not just approval of the feel-good ideas, but real effort. I hope others will see this as well.

[Pam]

I have watched the E3M and Green Economy videos. I think that they were great. I am learning so much. I agree with Kat that it will take commitment and real effort on our part. But I am ready and excited. I plan to watch the other posted video this weekend and have found several more on Google video. I know that I have a lot to learn but I am hopeful that our numbers will grow, we will formulate a workable plan and we will work well together. >

[Kat]

Awesome, Pam!... I will watch the other vid this weekend too, and then perhaps we can meet back here to discuss? Would you mind posting somewhere the other vids you watched? You could just include the URL in a discussion post if that's easier (or send by email) and one of us can post them to the video area.

I think something that could help us all as we watch things is to pick something -- whether it's external or internal -- and act on it. Head knowledge is great, but the way to bring it into reality is to get it out of our heads and into our hearts and lives by taking some baby steps. This turns the head-knowledge into true wisdom we can live and share with others as we build this thing.

There's a lot of ground to cover, but we're all new to it and we're all learning together. :-)

Pam said:

I have watched the E3M and Green Economy videos. I think that they were great. I am learning so much. I agree with Kat that it will take commitment and real effort on our part. But I am ready and excited. I plan to watch the other posted video this weekend and have found several more on Google video. I know that I have a lot to learn but I am hopeful that our numbers will grow, we will formulate a workable plan and we will work well together. >

[Pam]

Kat said:

Awesome, Pam!... I will watch the other vid this weekend too, and then perhaps we can meet back here to discuss? Would you mind posting somewhere the other vids you watched? You could just include the URL in a discussion post if that's easier (or send by email) and one of us can post them to the video area.

I think something that could help us all as we watch things is to pick something -- whether it's external or internal -- and act on it. Head knowledge is great, but the way to bring it into reality is to get it out of our heads and into our hearts and lives by taking some baby steps. This turns the head-knowledge into true wisdom we can live and share with others as we build this thing.

There's a lot of ground to cover, but we're all new to it and we're all learning together. :-)

Pam said:

I have watched the E3M and Green Economy videos. I think that they were great. I am learning so much. I agree with Kat that it will take commitment and real effort on our part. But I am ready and excited. I plan to watch the other posted video this weekend and have found several more on Google video. I know that I have a lot to learn but I am hopeful that our numbers will grow, we will formulate a workable plan and we will work well together. >

[Pam]

OOPS! I hit the button before I had written my rely. I watched the vid "preparing for climate and energy change: All 3 of the vids are great places to start our discussion of where this group is going. The E2M vid provides an interesting model of how to use a non-profit structure to fund small sustainable local businesses. The Green Economy vid is great because it features people who have been working for change for years. If you don't have access to vids, check the E2M ,, Post Carbon Institute and Global Exchange websites. They are good if you want some extra info from the vids . I sometimes don't have an hour to watch a video, but I have found that Youtube has some great shorter videos . Just put in keywords like "voluntary simplicity:,:peak oil" or other interests ,then watch and learn. I typed in "Kevin Dahaher"(one of the authors of the Green Economy vid) and I got ton of stuff I willl be going through.

[Kat]

Oh yeah, voluntary simplicity is a good search term! Thanks for the reminder... I will go on a fresh video hunt soon. Like you, though, I have a ton of stuff to be going through!

If you want another possible few to add to your list, I've got several transition workshops and such on my StumbleUpon page (you're in my friend list... those who aren't, the link is in my profile page).

Thanks, Pam, for the inspiration. :D

Pam said:

Just put in keywords like "voluntary simplicity:,:peak oil" or other interests ,then watch and learn. I typed in "Kevin Dahaher"(one of the authors of the Green Economy vid) and I got ton of stuff I willl be going through.