Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joel Shepherd on January 3, 2012 at 14:11

The greatest site for Worthing's future at the moment? Great use of food and energy supplies and I hope to engage with them & help as I can!

Occupy do the activism, Transition help with changing our environment! Win Win 

Permalink Reply by jess green on January 18, 2012 at 14:38

Joel Shepherd said:

The greatest site for Worthing's future at the moment? Great use of food and energy supplies and I hope to engage with them & help as I can!

Occupy do the activism, Transition help with changing our environment! Win Win 

Permalink Reply by jess green on January 18, 2012 at 14:40

jess green said: am pasting in a letter sent to the Occupy Times team, which seems to relate to this discussion. 

I wrote previously to ask whether Occupy had resources to post bundles of the Occupied Times to Transition Town groups across the UK? The person who responded (sorry I’ve lost the email) said they couldn’t help, but thanked me for my interest, commenting that not many people seem to ‘get’ the newspaper.
I realise this is a big ask to get consensus for funds, (though perhaps easier than getting it from transition groups!). I thought it was worth trying again however, to raise the point that most people from transition groups already ‘get’ the message of Occupy and have been putting ideas of sustainable local economies into practice for some time. They are positively building community networks, potentially… holding peoples assemblies in their public spaces. Paper copies of the OT to groups would be a good way to distribute beyond London.
As ecological crisis reaches tipping point, I strongly feel we need to reconnect ideas about ‘living off the grid’ and engaging in political action. Sometimes there seems to be a disconnect . Perhaps disillusionment with past political campaigning has led many to try doing things locally, gradually removing themselves and their communities from the grid. However, if we really want to prevent our communities from being destroyed by globalisation other actions are needed. For example in my local town Shoreham, we’d hope to set up a community supported agriculture project and at the same time campaign to prevent two new supermarket developments.
There is no doubt in my mind that the OT is a more interesting read than the Guardian, and its value of course, is to lead people to the Occupy website. Building links between Occupy and Transition could provide impetus for both movements. Whether or not there is consensus about the funds, an article in the OT about Transition Towns would be a good thing. Who knows if a fusion between the movements could lead to Finsbury Park or St Pauls becoming Transition villages?!

Joel Shepherd said:

The greatest site for Worthing's future at the moment? Great use of food and energy supplies and I hope to engage with them & help as I can!

Occupy do the activism, Transition help with changing our environment! Win Win