Transition Town - Part of the solution?
Many hundreds of man-hours are being invested in preparation for a hypothetical situation that is extremely unlikely to occur any time in the forseeable future. Why are so many people being 'focused' on a hypothetical scenario when there are other, more tangible threats to our Communities? The ethos of Transition Town is internally focused, yet global legislation is currently being drawn up, which will potentially 'flush away' the local initiatives that TT is driving forward.
Is there more to 'Transition Town' than is currently being disclosed ... or is it simply a case of well-meaning ecologists dreaming of sustainable community while being oblivious to the geo-political realities. E.g. Codex Alimentarius and the GMO agenda
This concern is exacerbated by Rob Hopkins
(founder and self-appointed leader of the Transition Town initiative) absolute refusal to acknowledge the significance of Codex Alimentarius, as evidenced by his comments in the final few minutes of the Glastonbury Radio debate.
Only time ...
and a greater regard for intellectual transparency ... will tell.
In 2005, I attended a presentation by Naresh Giangrande
(Rob Hopkins sidekick) on 'Peak Oil'. The presentation incorporated the standard Campbell/Simmons/Ruppert hypothesis on 'Peak Oil' but was presented as FACT. During the Q&A session, it became apparent that Naresh possessed limited oilfield knowledge. At the end of the evening, I approached Naresh and suggested that perhaps the issue of 'Peak Oil' should be opened up for debate. He declined the invitation. Subsequent suggestion, to both Naresh Giangrande & Rob Hopkins, that the issue be debated publicly were rejected.
Over the next two years Transition Town trotted out a series of 'Peak Oil' protagonists
(not an oil industry representative amongst them), to promote the eschatological scenario of a world without oil.
Eventually, Changing Times, a Lewes based organisation who focus on providing a vehicle for questioning received wisdom, arranged the debate that Transition Town Totnes had successfully avoided for the previous two years.
In the aftermath of the Lewes debate, I tried once again, to encourage the Transition Town founder, Rob Hopkins, to participate in a similar event, so that the population of Totnes may have the opportunity to hear an alternative view on the issue of 'Peak Oil'.
The following Email was sent to Rob Hopkins (cc: Naresh Giangrande) on Friday 14th September 2007.
Hi Rob,
I believe it is now more than two years since I first broached the proposal of a public debate with either yourself (or Naresh) on the subject of Peak Oil. Although the basic premise of TT philosophy is based upon “an understanding of Peak Oil and Climate Change as twin drivers …”, you have (perhaps understandably) been reluctant to acknowledge the validity of counter proposition. However, I am sure that you will be aware of my participation in the recent Peak Oil debate, hosted by Changing Times, in Lewes, Sussex, on Tuesday September 4th.
Mike Grenville, representing the Transition Town Community, made some very interesting comments and observations during the course of the evening but it was very apparent that some of the information which I presented was new (by his own admission) to at least one of the three TT members who had come along in support of Mike. It was interesting, if rather surprising, to learn that, according to the event organisers, both Mike Grenville and the Lewes TT community had elected not to promote awareness of this debate, either on their respective websites or via their respective mailing lists. If this is the case, it is really quite startling and raises the question as to whether those who actively seek to promote the hypothesis of Peak Oil are wary of their hypotheses being placed under scrutiny!
As Lewes is but a satellite of the Totnes initiative, it would seem most pertinent to continue this debate in Totnes. Consequently, I propose to hold a similar event in Totnes on the evening of Friday 18th October at St. John’s Church, Bridgetown. As prime movers in the TT movement, I would like to invite either yourself or Naresh to present the case for Peak Oil; I would then present the counter view.
If either of you are unable to participate in this event, perhaps you would like to recommend an alternative Peak Oil or TT campaigner to present the case for Peak Oil.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, if you would like to discuss the proposition further.
Meanwhile, I look forward to hearing from you.
The exchange of Emails which followed this invitation
... speak volumes!
It should also be noted that Rob Hopkins banned me from posting on his Blog immediately after the Glastonbury Radio debate, spreading the word that I was attacking him! In reality, I was asking the hard questions and pointing out the self-harm that Rob was potentially inflicting by his dogmatic stance on his 'Twin Drivers' of Peak Oil and anthropogenic Climate Change. I have expressed my preference for all Email exchanges bewteen myself and Rob Hopkins to be posted in the public domain ...
but strangely enough he seems reluctant for his responses to be subjected to public scrutiny.
As I have stated on many occasions, I absolutely support many of the Transition Town initiatives but until such time as the TT leadership are prepared to come out from behind their totalitarian stance
(disguised as 'non-confrontational' politics), and acknowledge the imperative of stepping beyond the simplistic ideology of
'Thinking and Acting Locally ... to the exclusion of all else, I will continue to question the role and integrity of the Transition Town agenda.
By the way, I am not alone in experiencing the full-force of the Transition Town 'attack dogs', for questioning the TT dogma. Ross Hemsworth of Glastonbury Radio and Andy Thomas in Lewes have both been subjected to vitriol for daring to question the TT dogma. Don't forget that the Transition Initiative Group have gone corporate and Rob Hopkins was recently quoted in
The Guardian as saying
"It's like a racehorse owner cheering his horse. The things I want to see happen only happen in times of high oil prices..."
What exactly does Rob Hopkins want to see happen? Well, if you attend one of Rob presentations, you could be forgiven for perceiving that his ideal 'sustainable society' bears a remarkable resemblence to fuedalism. He is quick to dismiss alternative technologies and seems content with returning to a pre-industrial revolution type existence.
One major concern is that this dogma is now being presented in schools
... as fact! Of course, we need to move the world away from burning 90million barrels of hydro-carbons every single day ... but our best hope of doing this is to encourage the intellectual and scientific curiosity of the younger generation ... not by going into schools and telling them that they're f*cked, 'cos their parents and grandparents lacked the ingenuity to move beyond the age of oil ...
so their best hope is to start learning how to plough fields with horses!
Rob Hopkins is too young to remember the last Kissinger induced 'Oil Crisis' of 1973/74; however, a few minutes research would enable any interested party to realise that Kissinger took the opportunity to tag on a 'global food crisis'. Back then the agenda was to destroy the American family farmer and allow the embryonic agri-business to make a (successful)
Land-Grab.
The contrived 'Food Crisis' being tagged on to the current 'Oil Crisis' is all about the introduction of GMO. Meanwhile Transition Town is keeping people's eye's off the bigger picture by focusing on planting nut trees.
The potential of Transition Town is enormous but until such time as the TT leadership demonstrates a willingness to research the bigger picture and open their philosophy to wider scrutiny, this 'non-confrontational' top-down community organisation will not be part of the longer term solution
... indeed, it may even become part of the problem!
Ian R. Crane
