60s Counter culture vs an environmental movement

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60s Counter culture vs an environmental movement

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Started 2 years ago by Bronte girl
Latest reply from rick sherman

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Bronte girl
Member

Hi,
Congrats on the site Tim and everyone. Really interesting animation, the 60s bit by World Leaders is hilarious...love it.

I read through the script and although you make a convincing argument for a grass-roots environmental movement, I'm not sure you can compare this to the counter-culture. For one thing, protesters in North America in the late 60s faced struggles which impacted heavily on their day to day lives; the Vietnam war, race inequality, gender inequality and so on. Although global warming is effecting us all and will continue to do so more and more, it's effects are more 'slow burn' and gradual. I think human kind needs sharp spikes of discomfort to spur them into action. Although climate change is the biggest challenge we've ever faced, it's kind of a hidden enemy. By the time its effects blight our lives (Water / food shortages, mass migration etc) and we're spurred into action, it could well be too late.

I'd be happy for anyone to tell me I'm wrong :)

BG

Posted 2 years ago #
Tim-Rayner
Administrator

This is a good point BG. The 60s counterculture was fired by anger and frustration against the status quo. While there is nothing to compare to this at the moment, our sense is that a big collective head of steam is building up right now and will break into the mainstream this decade. Check this article from yesterday's Guardian, for example.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/01/climate-change-deal-impossible-2010

So where does this leave us? The science is telling us that we're staring down the barrel of a major catastrophe, but international leaders can't achieve change. This means .we're in trouble. It is contradictions like that that get people upset. Assuming the problem isn't going to go away (I mean, I would love it if the IPCC made a statement tomorrow saying: "The sceptics are right! We got it all wrong!"), this is only going to become more of an issue as time goes by.

What we're trying to do is make a statement, or at least present an idea, that will grow in resonance in years to come. There is not enough long term thinking these days - it's all about the election cycle.

Posted 2 years ago #
rick sherman
Member

The movements of the sixties didn't die. The vision and energy of that time is what is driving much of the grass roots progressive movements that are being ignored by the media.
I was at a Thanksgiving gathering of the local Rainbow family and realized that we are in our third generation of Rainbows. My daughter was there with her 8 month old baby and we had my wife's 96 year old dad with us as well. He was a staunch Republican.
Now he is being cared for by his hippie daughter.
It has become obvious that we are pretty much on our own as the people of this planet. The governments are driven by the big money paradigm that is on the verge of collapse. It is going to be up to us, on small local community scale, to respond to the changes we are facing.
The social networking concept you are working with is brilliant and the educational potential is what will be needed to spread the changes at the pace needed.
Thank you,
Rick Sherman
sundogecovillage.org
rickshermadesigns.com

Posted 2 years ago #