The Third Industrial Revolution - Jeremy Rifkin

Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution, is quietly working away to get the foundations of a new energy policy in place in Europe and elsewhere in the next few years. Renewable energy produced in every building allowing millions of people to own and exchange on an 'energy internet', requiring huge investment and providing millions of jobs.

'Today, Internet technology and renewable energies are beginning to merge to create a new industrial infrastructure for a Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) that will change the way power is distributed in the 21st century. In the coming era, hundreds of millions of people will produce their own green energy in their homes, offices, and factories and share it with each other in an “Energy Internet,” a distributed smart grid just like we now generate and share information online. The establishment of a Third Industrial Revolution industrial infrastructure will create thousands of new businesses and millions of jobs and lay the basis for a sustainable global economy in the 21st century. The democratization of energy will also bring with it a fundamental reordering of human relationships, impacting the very way we conduct business, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.

Like every other communication and energy infrastructure in history, the various pillars of a Third Industrial Revolution must be laid down simultaneously or the foundation will not hold. That’s because each pillar can only function in relationship to the others. The five pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution, all of which are detailed in the Industrial Policy Communication Update, are (1) shifting to renewable energy; (2) transforming the building stock of every continent into green energy efficient micropower plants to collect renewable energies onsite; (3) deploying hydrogen and other storage technologies in every building and throughout theinfrastructure to store intermittent energies; (4) using Internet technology to transform the power grid of every continent into an energy Internet a distributed smart grid that acts just like the Internet (when millions of buildings are generating a small amount of energy locally, onsite, they can sell surplus back to the grid and share electricity with their continental neighbors); and (5) transitioning the transport fleet to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles that can buy and sell electricity on a smart, continental, interactive power grid.'

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/initiatives/mission-growth/files/jeremy-rifkin-industrial-policy-communication-update-executive-summary_en.pdf

Join me in suporting this project. email anna@shsh.co.uk phone 07954345550

Zapatistas Silent Mobilization - December 21 2012

The 'Gap' - between where we are and where we want to be. The importance of grieving in the process of maturation.

(Or How do we get there from here?)

(Or Is it too late?)

Wanting things to be different from the way that they are probably starts very early in life. Melanie Klein saw the young baby coping with anxiety and frustration by splitting, and then bringing good and bad together in what she called the Depressive Position. She saw this dynamic continuing throughout developmental life. The awareness that our needs may not be met immediately or at all can arouse reactions of anger but underlying that are feelings of grief and loss which need to be acknowledged and accepted before we can work with the reality of what is achievable and what is not. Klein sees maturity in bringing the good and bad object together allowing for an internal life in which conflicts can be experienced without having to destroy one another.

Roberto Gonzales describes the deep pain which often remains even when people have worked on themselves for years, and which contributes to attempts to change others or ourselves which often end in frustration. He describes reaching a spaciousness inside where there is full acceptance of what is. In this place there is no pressure to change. Here we can feel true empathy towards ourselves and others without the need for change. In order to reach this spaciousness there is a period of mourning to go through which corresponds to the 'Gap' between where we are and where we want to be, acknowledging unmet needs, and grieving for possibilities which have not yet, or cannot materialise. This recognition and the struggle to accept, can lead to feelings of helplessness and impotence, depths of despair and unbearable loss and dread which lie deep in the soul, possibly underlying severe depression and suicide. Our judgemental feelings towards self and others, appear to offer a way out by separating the good and the bad, but in fact contribute to our suffering. In this spacious field the only value is in what is, experienced fully in this moment, not experienced as a fact, but as a feeling, only subjectively verifiable. Self empathy together with empathic support from others, can allow this process to continue to a more wholistic appreciation of the self. For Roberto this is the recognition of the beauty of the needs themselves. Through allowing the process of mourning our unmet needs with compassion, we free ourselves from the constrictions which come through blame and fear, and become empowered to find ways to fulfill them.

For my teacher Maharaji, and many others like Eckhart Tolle, coming into the 'moment called Now' is the only place where reality truly exists. It is the marriage of the finite and the infinite, allowing space for the Unknown to enter. This is the beginning of radical transformation. With that understanding, reality is beyond concepts and therefore cannot be grasped by the mind, only experienced when we can lay aside the need for the security of knowing, based on the past or the future, which is so much part of our culture. To do so runs the risk of causing confusion and pain. Accepting our inability to know, we can become receptive, tuned in to resonances beyond our everyday world. With compassion and self empathy, fear of the unknown can be transformed into trust and gratitude.

This dynamic can be seen at the individual and the global level. The inability of the human race as a whole to confront its own destructive tendencies may arise from reluctance to face the inevitable grief and loss implicit in acknowledging what we have done to this beautiful planet, where we are headed and the risk of despair that is entailed. For Joanna Macy awareness of this 'pain for the world' is an essential stage in the Great Turning, the process of reconnecting to ourselves, each-other, and the natural world.

Cyprus Bail Out

‘If your bank deposits could be confiscated’
Money held in Bank deposits is like the stuff we store in the garage, or in those big warehouses that specialise in storing stuff you don’t immmediately need. If the storage unit burnt down we could still survive. We accumulate stuff like we accumulate money…. in case we might need it later. Our attachment to property or money is a substitute for community, it allows us to feel we can manage alone. It is a denial of our interdependence. If the financial system breaks down, as seems inevitable according to Paul Craig Roberts : http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Paul-Craig-Roberts-Transcr-by-Rob-Kall-130330-454.html
we need to turn to each other. All the signs are that we are in the middle of a system breakdown. No good trying to hold on to it or patch it up. It never really served us anyway. Young Kim is right. We need to find true value in community, in sharing. It is not going to be easy to shift from a competetive economy to a collaborative one, but we really have no choice.The hard bit is recognising that there is a real alternative, and that actually is what we have always wanted but never believed possible. ‘A civilization in which socially and environmentally friendly free association between autonomous producers and citizens becomes the norm’ – Michel Bauwens p2p-foundation.

Notes to a Collaborative Community

Community collaboration will need to involve unifying our inner selves, and visa versa. Positive social change includes the heart and compassionate union with the other, which implies a commitment to care for others and their vision of what they need.

This Easter I was present at my grand-daughter's primary school end of term assembly. The children portrayed in detail the trial of Jesus and his crucifixion, and the words they recited kept emphasising the role of the Jewish religious leaders in accusing Jesus. Then the vicar(?) joined in, got the children shouting 'crucify him', and emphasised again the role of the Jewish religious leaders. As he finished I asked to make a comment, and said we need to remember Jesus was Jewish, his mother was Jewish, and I am Jewish, and many Jewish people would not have wanted to crucify Jesus, that we have to be careful not to encourage anti-Semitism by the words we use. The headmistress and the vicar denied that was what they wanted to do. But several of the parents expressed their support for what I said. And later the assistant head said she would pursue this with the children to make sure they were clear, and it would be a good focus for discussion for the older children.

However, what I was aware of in myself was my antagonism towards the vicar. I would love to have offered what I said with love rather than antagonism. I wasn't angry, but I didn't, couldn't see him in a positive light. I disliked his face and his eyes seemed empty. I tried to imagine his dedication to god that took him to that position, and I couldn't feel it. I felt completely protected and I had no fear. But I couldn't feel him as a human being. Even now.

With the help of the NVC Social Change Telesummit   A Path with Heart   I am seeing that in order to get to that place of genuine joyful engagement, I need to be in touch with the deep grief and anger around injustice to nature and humanity, that results from realising that things are not the way I want them to be. These inner demands, judgements, can be an obstacle to getting in touch with the sadness and deep mourning, which is en route to allowing the fullness of life to flow in its vitality, bringing with it unimagined possibilities.

It is this inner divisiveness which separates us from each other. Martin Luther King -It's a good thing I don't have to like people in order to love them (paraphrase) 

Iceland Myths debunked

http://studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland/

Yorkshire Retreat for Schumacher North

Dear All,

Yesterday I went to look at the venue for our weekend away June 14/15/16 – Currer Laithe. http://www.currerlaithe.co.uk/ 
 I was greeted by Jean (age 83) who runs the farm and holiday cottages with her sister (age 74). Neither of them is much above 5ft. The property was derelict when they moved in 50 years ago. Most of the renovation they did themselves, parquet floor, mullioned windows, etc. as well as providing breakfast and an evening meal for 20 guests for over 27 years, while running the farm, and rebuilding stone walls to bring it up to the standard required by the National Trust, so that the property could be covenanted. (Neither married, so there are no heirs, and they were anxious that what they started should be continued after their demise) Jean who was a local headmistress before she took over the farm full time when her dad died, has also found time to write 5 books charting the progress, and describing the sort of life they led, as well as their annual holidays taking the girl guides to the Hebrides. As I left she presented me with the first book of the series – 'We'll see the Cuckoo', which is full of the joy they both emanated at being given the opportunity to devote their lives to this work.

Both sisters were highly critical of a government that does not acknowledge the value of farmers, and the work they do to protect our heritage. They were interested in the theme of our weekend. They bemoaned the loss of birds since their childhood, the inactivity of children who spend their time in front of a screen, and even the lack of spiders in the house. We agreed that to turn this trend around is not going to be easy. Nevertheless there was no thought of giving up. This attitude, I think, provides a good backdrop for our discussions. ( Unfortunately they will be away that weekend in their beloved Hebrides)

The house itself has a 'homespun' feel. It is a working farm, so at the moment the smells and mud of the cattle tend to predominate. Calves are reared and they keep a few donkeys and goats. By June they will be out in the fields. This is not the open country of the Dales. The built up areas of Keighley are clearly seen across the valley. But the house is surrounded by the farm's 200 acres, and inside the house feels quiet and remote.

We are being offered an extended weekend, from Friday afternoon through to Monday morning, so we will have 2 full days. (Jean said “People don't seem to want to leave on Sunday”) Most rooms are twin, with bathrooms and toilets close to each room. It would be helpful if you would let me know if there is someone you would prefer to share with. Also if there are any special dietary requirements.

If you can offer to cook a meal or a dessert, either beforehand, or on-site, that would be splendid. (We can provide money for ingredients) Since there will be 8 meals including breakfasts, you should reckon to be washing up or helping to prepare a meal at least once during our stay. (Nearer the time a rota may be helpful).

In general this is a do-it yourself retreat, so please feel free to volunteer or make suggestions to add anything you would like to see. There are 2 sitting rooms, allowing for a variety of activities. An upright piano in one, suggests a musical evening so other musical instruments will be welcome.

Cost : Between £50 - £80

A £10 deposit will secure your place. Maximum of 16 places.

If you can afford to pay the higher amount it will allow others with less funds to be included.

I look forward to communing with you all.