Why did we chose the term "transformational community" to frame our #NatGat dialogue?  First, the concept is very near and dear to our own hearts--indeed it IS the heart of what we seek to create and model here at Occupy Cafe. Second, we have heard repeated expressions of the world's need for this during our many conversations with both Occupiers and other change agents around the globe.

Bucky Fuller and Bill Moyer provided us with some of the early direction towards this theme as well, with words written long before Occupy emerged.  Fuller wrote:

You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

And in "History as a Weapon," veteran organizer and social change theorist Bill Moyer talks about the critical need for new paradigms to emerge as well:

Beyond reforms:propose alternatives, larger demands, and a new paradigm. The movement now needs not only to protest present policies but also to propose specific alternatives.In the process of struggle, people act their way into thinking, and they learn that the problem is much bigger than they had thought. They come to realize that their original concerns were merely symptoms of much bigger and deeper problems; consequently, the movement needs to make larger demands. This ultimately includes the necessity for a whole new worldview or paradigm.

So... how do we translate this concept into language that resonates broadly and deeply with all those who are looking for ways to offer their gifts in service to a shift away from the status quo and "business as usual?"

The GroupWorks card on the right suggests that the idea of translation is about much more than English versus Spanish.  It is about overcoming that which divides us along many other dimensions.  And this of course, is the essence of community as well.  Especially if we are looking for globally transformative community, where we need to be modeling a process that welcomes all of us as one human tribe.

Tools like metaphor and story are powerful, and that might be a great place to start this discussion.  As we think about the patterns that keep us stuck, and the containers we are stuck in, what images can help us to see the possibility for something different as so real and tangible that we are ready to take personal ownership for helping to create it?

What is your personal story of transformation?  Why do you care about this conversation enough to be here now, reading this?  Are you ready to get real with others--even strangers?  Can you trust that it is safe to do so, and that the world is waiting to welcome you into the tribe of community builders?  What could happen (or has already) that would enable you to feel fully engaged and energized in this work?

Views: 252

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Sea; detoxit here. I thought maybe I would add a comment or two on the phrases used in your posting.  I'm in the process of introducing a new technology.  As the engineering, control systems and application concepts are novel.  I have had to come up with some innovative ways to explain how this technology works, what it does and what it can accomplish that makes it better than the current technology.  You know the ins and outs of business as usual.

  It would be easier to understand if you had some insight on the technology I am introducing a revolutionary new approach to spatial manipulation that can be used for the most amazing decontamination process that anybody has ever seen. Unlike current technology. This process has a visual presence that makes it easy recognizable as something different.  I call this technology Space Clean.

 Let me give you an example; Space Clean represents a vast leap in technology over what is currently being used today.  It is remarkable in the multiplicity of facets, forms, functions and scale, (regardless of the complexities of structure or the intricacies of the application).  It uses novel engineering and control systems that provide it with an unprecedented freedom of movement within the environment.  Even in an uncharted field, like the reciprocal interactions between organisms and their community.

Unique in the industry Space Clean has a recognizable visual presentation, setting it apart from current trends.  Once in the mainstream use of day-to-day it will render many of our current pollution problems, into just a Memory.  Its ability to remove HAZMAT to below detectable levels, at an industrial pace will have an impact the Permissible Exposure Level, PEL (pollution regulations) currently being used, rendering them OBSOLETE as well!

Every Space Clean operation reintroduces thousands of cubic feet of super clean air back into the environment.  Providing fundamental support to the phrase, dilution is the pollution solution.  It can be reengineered and used again, playing the leading role in the green detoxification and remediation of an unsafe space.

Space Cleans strategically creates a harmonious interaction between all existing equipment and technology like a conductor to his symphony, thus, changing the “CHAOTIC MULTIPLICITY” of pollution collection concepts, into a system of precise calculable extremes with decisive distinguishable results.

In fact there are no circumstances anywhere there is life, that the introduction of Space Clean technologies will not improve the standard of living.  Conversely; where life does not exist Space Clean technologies could establish and maintain a space capable of supporting life.

 Space Clean

Safety Features

Space Clean decontamination deployments offer a long list of innovative advantages where safety features lead the way in product performance.   It establishes a safe clean staging area deep into the heart of a contaminated area.   Allowing up-front observations for strategic project planning, specific targets of interest identification, worker protection issues and establishes a safe observation platform for monitoring progress and activities during the cleanup activities.

Worker safety plays an important part of any clean-up project.  Space Clean introduces novel concept here too.  Each worker inside a hot zone is supplied with a fresh clean air bubble surrounding their entire body during HAZMAT situations. That provides a safer and more comfortable work environment, increasing productivity and efficiency during operations.

The significance of these safety improvements are only surpassed by the Space Cleans efficiency during decontamination activities. Another of Space Cleans innovative features is its ability be deployed at various scales and still preform at the same safe efficient industrial pace.

Space Clean can also be used as emergency clean air evacuation station providing a safe haven from contaminants being introduced atmospherically.  Then a smaller unit can be put into a bus and then be used for evacuating that emergency clean air station safely and efficiently without exposing the occupants to hazardous materials during the evacuation activities.

Space Clean technologies can also be deployed as a safety feature.  For example if on the day a Space Clean equipped generator room had been in place At BP oil still in the Gulf of Mexico the explosion that started the fire would have never occurred.  If on the day of the tsunami in Japan the buildings that house the fuel storage areas were equipped with Space Clean safety features. They never would've exploded due to accumulations of hydrogen gas.

Below detectable level removal of chaotically distributed pollutants using this process is 100% effective every-time.   The physics of aggressive aerodynamics dictate the final solution. Space Clean: Scientifically Accomplished, Magical Rresults!

 

These are just a few examples of the ways I use those phrases to demonstrate the difference in what this technology does compare to the existing technology.  However, that doesn't mean this technology explaination can't apply to lifes interactions as well itself.  

For example, when I responded to your blog on the woman's Council.  I use my life on the reservation to explain the smooth and flowing events that I participated in with the tribe.  I use innovative synchronization to maximize the efficiency of my process.  The tribe uses innovative synchronization to put on a smooth and flowing event using teamwork and having everybody knowing their place and time.  For them it just seemed automatic nobody had to be told what to do.  Everybody just knew and did what they needed to.  I saw the same things happening at occupy Sacramento, Ca.

 

I hope this clarifies what is meant by these expressions.

 

-Engineering unprecedented local and central realignments of place and time;

-Reciprocal interactions between organisms and community;

-Alter chaotic multiplicity into a smooth flow;

-Harmonic conducting of the People symphony;

-Now all is permitted;

-Innovative synchronization;

-Systematize precise calculable extremes.

till next time

 detoxit

.

 

Gosh, that's fascinating, detoxit. Particularly the way that this new technology can either transform pollutants into nonpollutants or simply eliminate pollutants from the universe. I'd ask what the Space Clean generator runs on, but it probably runs on pollutants and would simply no longer be necessary once it had used up all the pollutants it uses for fuel. And I'm sure your business model has appropriate roles for the sexes, such as males doing the manufacturing, sales, and executive jobs, while females remain in the background as consultants, assistants, and secretaries. Who could oppose anything that transformational and innovative?

Of course Space Clean, had it existed at the time, couldn't have been used to create safe places on buses to evacuate people from New Orleans, because there were no evacuation buses. And it couldn't have been used on the BP oil rig, at least not if it cost more than $10 to install, as BP was cutting every penny it could on safety measures. Still, you've got a great sales pitch and you might be able to find a vulture, uh, no, sorry, I mean venture capitalist to fund it if there was the potential of unlimited growth and sufficient return on their investment.

Hello,

I'm new to the topic of transformational community. I'm very interested in many of the details and comments made here.  I'll resound more when i've had a chance to more deeply reflect on Transformation, but the thought does leave me hopeful.  than counts for  a lot!   ~Kelly

You're welcome!

Here's a wonderful, compelling and superbly presented vision of transformational community from Andrew Mangold, a very engaged young man who grew up in my town here in CT:

 

 

Thank you, Andrew.  SO impressive.  And toally aligned with a great deal of other visions I encounter almost daily.

I'm wondering how you might merge this rural vision with the possibility of living sustainably in cities too.  Urban farming is an interesting movement that offers one piece I think--met a guy doing that at scale in Brooklyn recently.  Also lots of opportunities for energy generation.

Thank you too, Ben.

Yes, it is about moving from consumptive society to productive society (some people even say, regenerative); from global exploitation to global restoration. As in the past: This means independently reliant communities. As in the future: They are globally networked [for sharing, support, resilience, fun, ect].

Transitioned settlements, whether urban, suburban, or some shade of rural, are all among the network and each will enlist different strategies to produce and manage resources. 

City infrastructure is not going to disappear. Any sustainable vision for the future should include urban, suburban and every shade of rural environments (and recognize the wild places between). As many people who can reasonably live within existing buildings could and should do so. No need to build a cob house when there are steel and concrete jungles... Rooftop gardens, aquaponics, windows, solar panels, raised beds, rainwater catchment, hens, worms, composting and all the rest should absolutely be applied for all they're worth. Rural encampments will have to make up the difference.. 

...This movement is asking for massive changes in economics and government. What does the world look like once those changes are made? That's what we build:

I know for sure that those changes mean no more industrial food and transport system... Such are what feed cities... Industrial agriculture provides high yield immediatly, and rapidly decreases. Organic and sustainable ag systems usually start with low yields and increase over time. Better to start these sust. production networks asap. If you live in the city, definitely catch as much sun as you can, but 99% revolution or not, the country needs a new food system which will enlist land and laborers. :)

Yes! Thank you, Andrew!

I am not as certain as you that city infrastructure is not going to disappear. I've seen pictures of Baghdad in Iraq before and after the US invasion. It was a sleek, beautiful, modern city. It is now rubble. But fragile systems like electrical grids are not just vulnerable to war, they are also vulnerable to nature, as we learned from Fukushima. And after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans it would be foolish to trust in the government to help. What happens to a dam built to withstand a two foot overflow when there is a four foot overflow? It happened in India. It collapses. What happens to buildings built to withstand a 7.0 earthquake when there is a 9.0 earthquake? It happened in Japan. Must of the east coast has recently endured a record-breaking heat wave, but many people went for nine days without electricity for air conditioning or refrigeration because the power grid failed. Most cities get their food from trucks that use fossil fuels, so any disruption of the fuel supply or even price spikes could easily cause many city dwellers to starve. My point is simply that unsustainable systems are not sustainable.

There is no longer a frontier for homesteading. When a group acquires land, they may or may not have supportive neighbors and they will certainly be investigated by local authorities to ensure that their housing meets zoning codes. But there is no longer any place on earth where man-made pollutants cannot be detected in the air. Not in the deepest jungles, the remotest arctic zones, or the tops of the highest mountains. So our precious organic farms are inundated daily with all sorts of carcinogens from industrialized activities, including radiation not just from Fukushima, Chernobyl, and the residues from above-ground nuclear testing that went on for decades, but also from routine radioactive releases from nuclear weapons factories and power plants. Authorities insist that each of these releases is "safe," ignoring the fact that the effects of radiation are cumulative.

Those who abandon industrial civilization before it collapses have the greatest chance of surviving. I lived off the grid and on simple, basic foodstuffs for many years and I know from that experience that I do not need a car, a phone, a refrigerator, or a computer to be happy. I now live in a small city apartment and for the past few days I've been taking great pleasure in watching some newly acquired indoor plants start to grow and unfurl new leaves. It is like watching a birth, and, of course, these plants are cleaning the chemical pollutants from my air and providing me with oxygen. Part of my diet is from sprouts, but I cannot provide the seeds to sprout--I have to buy them at my local organic co-op. Our tap water is highly polluted and fluoridated, so I have spring water delivered--in any catastrophe I would only have access to polluted water if I had access to water at all. Oh, I get a nice brochure from the local water authority every year, and every year, as the level of pollution increases, they raise the levels of what are considered "safe" amounts of pollution. Food Not Bombs and Food Not Lawns are two groups trying to provide healthy nutrition in urban and suburban areas, but most people still shop at Wal-Mart and eat at McDonald's.

Successful organic food production is under constant attack from Monsanto, but the agents of these attacks are not Monsanto employees, they are tax-payer funded law enforcement agents, acting illegally but shielded by government immunity.

My local Occupy here in San Diego devotes a lot of energy to making demands on government and registering voters. They might accept some minor changes in government, but not the massive changes necessary for human and planetary survival. A small group, Occupy Garden, has been growing food with permission from a City College, but that permission could be revoked any time that the local government the majority of Occupiers here vote for, decides they are becoming too successful. Our City Council legalized urban gardens, including chickens and bees, but appropriate sites not already paved over for buildings and parking lots are few and far between.

You have the right vision, Andrew, and I hope you can find the land to realize it. You and your video are inspiring. Please provide links to whatever you write, film, and do in the future. Thank you for bringing your clarity of vision and purpose to Occupy Cafe.

RSS

Weekly Cafe Calls

Regular Calls are no longer being held.  Below is the schedule that was maintained from the Fall of 2011 through Jan 10, 2013.

Mondays
"Vital Conversations" 

8-10a PDT | 11a-1p EDT | 3-5p GMT 

Tuesdays (except 10/16)
"Connect 2012"

1-3p PDT | 4-6p EDT | 8-10p GMT


Thursdays
"Occupy Heart" 

3-5p PDT | 6-8p EDT | 10p-12a GMT

Latest Activity

Clay Forsberg posted a blog post

"Happy Birthday Occupy Wall Street ... thoughts on Year One"

Fifteen years ago, I ran across a book, "100 Most Influential People in History," during one of my dalliances to my local Marin County bookstore. "Influential People" was one man's assessment on exactly that. But how he determined his rankings was the interesting part. They weren't always the reasons you would think. But after thinking about it, they made complete sense. For example:George Washington was ranked in the top 40 of all time. Understandable. But the reason why ... not so much. You…See More
Sep 20, 2012
Clay Forsberg is now a member of Occupy Cafe
Sep 20, 2012
Vic Desotelle posted a group
Thumbnail

Leadership Ecology

When a Leadership Ecology occurs, a web of relationships emerges revealing each person’s authentic leadership qualities through the transfer of their power to others. When done in a conscious way – a shared collaborative awakening happens.See More
Feb 6, 2012
Vic Desotelle posted a blog post
Feb 3, 2012

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

© 2024   Created by Occupy Cafe Stewards.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service