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| <back | home Solutions to the Al Gore Film by Bob Banner The Al Gore film is the best power point presentation I have ever seen. Its like a power point presentation on steroids for sure. This essay is about the solutions. The film was weak around the solutions... but that’s okay because so many of the other expose investigative documentaries do the same thing. We have The Corporation, Wal-Mart, Outfoxed, The End of Suburbia, Why We Fight... all superbly explain the problem but are weak in solutions. I surmise the reason is that they need to express the problem well enough for people to really get it. We are used to be clobbered over the head to get it, to get that we have a problem. Well I think it might be safe to say that there’s a growing population that already agrees to a very large degree that we have problems. What we need is a vision and solutions. So after seeing the gory gore film I sat down and wrote out a litany of solutions. The film did list a number of solutions while the credits rolled but they were short and snappy. Actually at the website http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/ they go into more detail. Stop or slow down consumption. Check in really why we are buying? Do we really need it? Are we fighting terrorism by shopping endlessly? Or are we that insecure that we are defining our mode of happiness by accumulating more and more stuff? Stop or slow down working. Why are we working? To quote the comedian Ellen Goodman: “Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need to pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.” Does that fit us? If so perhaps not working ought to be on the top of the list for stopping global warming. Or perhaps we don’t have to be that rigid, we could start taking time off for something called citizenry or ones passion or to be with loved ones or to become a mystical activist. How can we be good citizens and activists if we have become a slave to a system where we need to have 2-3 jobs just to pay the rent or mortgage? Buy local. The buying local campaigns that are sprouting all over the country cannot be emphasized enough. Buy local foods, buy organic, buy local entertainment, support the genuine local economy. The less we have to have things trucked, railroaded, airplaned, overseas shipped... the better for lessening the burning of fossil fuels. Also check out the new and rapidly relocalization movement throughout the country and learn more and start implementing their policies and ordinances in the cities we live in. There are more than 100 relocalization groups in the country so far [more about this in the Sept/Oct issue of HopeDance]. Also there is the local currency movement and the LETS system movement that is creating our own money so we can guarantee that the money stays local. Investing in SRIs and Regenerative Investing is a good way to invest in our money, into the community, into technologies that will help create a more sustainable and socially just future. We also need to understand that there are numerous resources from which to spend our monies that support a future that we are seeking. The fair trade certificate is one example with coffee, chocolate, bananas and the numerous non-sweat shops where one can buy clothes and hats and shoes that are manufactured by a union or a living wage employer. Seek them out and support them (http://hopedance.org/new/issues/56/article4.html). We need to remember that people’s buying habits can make a difference. When the corporation’s (or the insurance companies) bottom line is being threatened, they will change. With the new activism by shareholders and simply people not buying their products, the corporations will have to change or die out. Remember the stats in the film about Toyota and Honda (rising) while GM and Ford were in the red (declining). Education. We need to review books and films and TV shows that deal with this subject. There are numerous media that is making a difference. If we need to turn the TV off go for it. However there are excellent quality shows, programs and films out there that we need to see with our friends and community to help each other in this time of urgency: LinkTV, FreeSpeechTV, UC, Colors on satellite TV (I prefer DISH over DirectTV since the conservative media mogul Rupert Murdock owns the latter). Get off cable. Support TV that’s making a difference while saving money. Most of our daily papers are from the old paradigm where they focus mucho on advertising to pay for their high tech offices and equipment while giving us the same old same old. Its a closed loop of extravagance and old paradigm consciousness. We need to seek out the pioneers who are thinking and acting outside of the box and support them. There are numerous publications that are participating in this overhaul: Adbusters, The Ecologist, Ode, Parabola, Permaculture Activist, Mother Jones, Yes.. and of course google search can take us to so many solutions we cannot complain any longer that we don’t have the information. At our finger tips are answers to solving this crisis when it comes to specific solutions that we are capable of handling. Psychology. We need to wrap our minds around this thing called change and challenge. We are in a dire situation and we need to not panic and move from fear but with a vision and with the support of others so we don’t feel so alone and alienated. Community building is a wonderful way to meet people, get together with like-minded individuals, create neighborhood groups to clean up and work together to form alliances to the point of actually going to city councils and speaking to power to enact some change. City Repair started as a small group of people who wanted to take over the “public” space that ones finds at every city intersection. They simply used the “public” space but it was illegal. They ended up doing a direct action that was illegal, got arrested, got media attention, spoke about our need for public space and within a year brought it to the attention of the city council and won. Now the entire city of Portland has an ordinance that indeed the “public” space at city’s intersections are really for the public. Go to http://www.hopedance.org/new/issues/51/article2.html for details of this particular solution which can make for a large impact around such challenges as peak oil and global warming. The point to emphasize in this psychological empowerment of individuals is to know that we actually have the POWER to enact policy change. It’s very similar to what the 132 Mayors of cities in the US who have embraced the Kyoto Protocol. They simply cannot wait for an irresponsible federal government that refuses to sign on. The mayors took it upon themselves. People will have to take it upon themselves to create the solutions. Not just simple ones like recycling or buying a CFL lamp but to create and implement policies that are taking on the major contributors to global warming. Also part of the psychological arena includes HOW we are going to make these changes. Will the motivator be fear and guilt? Will the Al Gore film and all the other ones listed above motivate us because we will be scared shitless.. and our efforts will be motivated by that? Yes it might work for a few and it might work for awhile; but for how long? Without a vision and some solid evidence that these changes we are talking about are not necessarily motivated by sacrifice but out of JOY. We will have more time gardening, hanging out with people and become closer to nature because our needs are going to become more basic. With less driving and flying we will become more creative in our neighborhoods. And our sense of security will need to be grounded in nature not one that is isolated and fearful of nature or in need of more weapons and violence. If and when we see more models of sustainable communities; when we see more and more models of a green economy then it will spread because of the joy and smiles on peoples faces, not because we are behaving out of panic and fear. Also, with all the various problems and challenges we cannot pick one that we think is dutiful and out of obligation. We need to pick a cause that resonates with our passion and purpose in order to sustain our inspiration and energy so we don’t burn out. I cannot emphasize how important this is. If we are going to do activist work with a stick up our butt or out of anger and resentment, who’s going to want to change and follow us. If they see our smiling faces, and can see that our hearts are into it and can taste the fresh vegetables we are eating and feel how we communicate, and smell the joy in our activism, they will be drawn to the vision we are creating... and that kind of change will be long-lasting and sustainable. Transportation. Why are we traveling? Where are we going and why? It’s not just a matter of choosing a different mode of vehicle. If we do it superficially it will not take root. We need to go deeper into the reasons WHY we do things as well as the HOWs of behaving in certain ways. Are we traveling to get to a job that we might not need? When will it get to that point where being in traffic for hours to get to a job that still keeps us in debt simply no longer is sane? Is it now? Are we in denial now? How deep do our habits really go? I recall reading somewhere that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results. This might be a good time to investigate our levels of insanity. Bikes, electric cars, electric bikes, rickshaws and walking and carpooling and trains and buses are all going to help out and they are all good. If we live far away, we need to move closer to town. Calculate and orchestrate our car trips if we need to. Become smarter, become greener. Go to restaurants that use local produce, if we are going to eat out. There are numerous changes ahead of us. Most of us, definitely including me, resist change. We usually wait until the crisis is right in front of our noses before we change, before we act, and sometimes it’s too late. Many people during the Depression opted to commit suicide rather than change. I’m sure there will be a number of us who will do the same. The inevitable changes may be too overwhelming... and because we have become obese and complacent and lethargic and apathetic, suicide may look easier than pursuing a changed life. We have become the frog in luke warm water and we will die when the water heats up. The time for energetic change (jumping out of the hot water) may have passed for some. I wonder if it’s possible to become comfortable with change and chaos. Imagine the patience and tenacity and resilience the people affected by Katrina had. When we look at those photos imagine where we will be, HOW we will be? The message of those documentaries are not about going back to sleep and hiding under the blanket of delusion and despair but one of awakening to what we are really here for. This is our time. We were born for this transition. The earth and our friends need us. As Alice Walker wrote: “Every small, positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.” I think she also wrote, “We are the change we have been waiting for.” So, what are we waiting for? Bob Banner publishes HopeDance, screens progressive films, washes windows and runs a Film Library. He can be reached at info@hopedance.org. This just in: Lloyd’s of London [a major insurance carrier] produced this Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document on the subject of Global Warming: http://tinyurl.com/fybmd They believe it’s happening! <back | top^ |