Material Innovations

So I have to say, after reading many of these blog entries and the readings for this week, I am once again finding myself grateful that I attended the progressive liberal activist institution of UVM.   Much of the research presented in Brand’s article was covered over and over again in the environmental science and biology classes I took.   As a resident of Slade Hall ( a dorm where we grew our own food, ate bio-regionally, purchased in bulk from a co-op, prepared communal meals together and made community decisions by consensus) I was introduced to the fundamental principals of permaculture and to the professor John Todd and his work developing a water filtration system he calls a living machine which are now found all over the world including here in Portland.  The point is, while being inundated with dire information, I was also surrounded by people who were actively engaged in creating solutions to these issues.  This balance is vital to preventing severe depression in the face of overwhelming statistics.

Malaise sets in when we recognize the enormity and complexity of the system we are a part of.  Revolution is intimidating.  The corporatocracy and the military industrial complex which backs it, has grown to an unintelligible  and inhuman scale.  Is it possible to design our way out of this comfortable but increasingly imprisoning box?  Can the peaceful people of the world, of which I believe make-up the vast majority,  regain control of the systems and governments which stand in the way?  And can it be done with out the loss of life?   With considered design, appropriate technology and attention to whole systems I think it is possible.