So I figure, why not give folks another reason to grumble about this site?

The short answer to the title question, obviously, is that they cheated. But the real problem was the reaction to the cheating; that is, a collective shrug. A big “who cares,” not just from the football establishment (and their ridiculous slap on the wrist), but from the fans as well. In fact, the attitude among many fans was that it somehow wasn’t cheating to break the rules and spy on your opponent, so long as you didn’t get caught – and even then, it’s the loser’s problem, and you’d better not penalize the beloved team, or – gasp – declare the game null and threaten the “historic” unbeaten season.

In other words, the way you might resolve the conflict as a parent is right out.

But what made me want to write about this is the emotional memory. I remember vividly the other times in the last year that I’ve had this feeling. The first time will surprise no one – that is, when Barry Bonds finally crossed Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record, despite wide acceptance that he has been using steroids. WIth one juiced-up swing, Bonds transformed the most sanctified record in all of sports into an asterisked irrelevance. It was not a delightful conversation to have to have with my son about his favorite sport.

The second time might seem a little more odd, but bear with me. It was when I went to see the film Fantastic Four: RIse of the Silver Surfer with my son. There’s a point where the good-hearted but misguided Silver Surfer is captured by the US Military, and is taken away to be tortured. While presented as a bad thing, it also felt very matter-of-fact, and certainly unsurprising. In other words, it simply reflected our new institutional attitude towards torture of accused “enemy combatants.” Believe me, that was another delightful parental conversation.

So what was the common theme between our newfound acceptance (even celebration) of cheating in sports, and the casual attitude towards torture? You could say it’s an “ends justify the means” mentality, a “win at all costs” one, or even a blindly accepting “you’re with us or your against us” zeitgeist. But I think it’s deeper than that.

I think the underlying legacy of the Bush era is his completing of the process (which had already begun) of destroying our concept of honor.

The dictionary defines honor as honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions. Honor is the pillar of our social contract, and underlies the concept of altruism, whether one’s sense of it stems from religious mandate or an evolutionary imperative. As a parent, honor is the most important concept we try to impart upon our children.

And our President has stomped on the very concept , grinding it into the dirt under his boot. Every institution that honor has been traditionally fundamental to has either abandoned it or redefined it beyond all recognition. It started with business and trade, where anti-trust laws and the right to organize are cast as socialist plots, and unless the word “fair” precedes the word “trade,” we can assume it’s not fair at all.

But to complete the task, the idea has to be discredited across the cultural spectrum. In the military, the idea of “honor” has become more and more about not snitching on your buddy, as opposed to reflecting the “proud soldier” archetype, and the complete deconstruction of military honor has lead to its inevitable result in companies like Blackwater, who now have no compunctions about using gas on civilians (and US Troops) just to clear traffic for themselves.

In government, we’ve all seen in recent years how much of our system is predicated on the honor system, and how easily Bush and the Republicans can simply ignore the law repeatedly with little or no consequences.

And then there’s sports. It’s supposed to matter when somebody cheats to win games and get rich. That’s what we tell our kids. We’re supposed to show that it matters by penalizing cheaters when they’re caught. That’s what we do with our kids.

Instead, cheaters are now routinely celebrated.

Not in my house.

If our kids fully internalize the new norm – if honor as a concept is disregarded or considered anachronistic, or maybe just “kid stuff” – than we are truly, truly screwed when the next generation comes to power. I have serious doubts as to whether a culture without a sense of honor can even survive in the long run.

And so, bearing that in mind:

Go Giants.

Crossposted @ www.rednalsiofvermont.blogspot.com

Over the last week I’ve been bombarded by adds and commentary, about the Super Bowl, and Super Tuesday.  Everything’s super this week, including the savings on a big new TV for the game.  Super savings at the grocery store on the food you’ll need to sustain the super long period you’ll be glued to the TV for the game.

Everything’s just super, but how much is it really?  The America that’s supposed to be the hope of the world has its problems.  How super is it that there are kids that go to bed hungry in the U.S.?  How super is it that most Americans can barely pay their bills, let alone put some money into savings for the future?  How super is it that we can’t balance our needs for energy and economics with the needs of the natural world?

You know what’d be super?  If America really was the greatest place to live in the world.  If other nations admired and looked up to us, instead of laughing at the most recent debacle we’ve gotten ourselves into.  If the United States became the super nation it was destined to be before somewhere along the way we got sidetracked.  What’d be super is if we were again the envy of the world.  We’re supposed to be its hope, the land of the free.

We’ve almost decided on the candidates for the next president, and still I have yet to really hear any good plan as to what they will do to make America super again.  Just super!

I’m live-blogging from a daylong conference on Peak Oil.

The room is full of people from all across the state, concerned about Global Warming’s evil twin – the time we switch from discovering more oil than we use, to using more oil than we discover.

One of the ost obvious impacts of this point is the increasing cost of oil.

In the full text, I’ll cover speeches from the day. ALL coverage will be paraphrased – I can’t type that fast.

[***Update: battery died, then we had lunch. I’ll fill in the asterisked parts later.]

Annie Dunn Watson

We’ll be discussing, among other things, what it’s like to attempt to educate others about something about which they don’t want to hear.

The silence that greets peak oil along with the naysayers who say “it’s not a production problem it’s an investment problem.”

We’ve helped create a greater interest in local food production, alternatives to dependence on the single occupant vehicle, green energy future, and community building. Energy and community projects around the state are being kicked off by peak oil-inspired people. We’re part of the work engagement instead of helplessness.

Our focus on communities has not deterred people in the network from partaking in statewide initiatives.

Home is going to become a lot more local than it used to be. We need to encourage one another, not criticize, because each of us will change as and when we can. Let’s offer courage to one another.

Carl Etnier

They are starting to pay attention to us. It’s happening not only globally, but here in the state. Peak oil task forces in Bennington, Brattleboro, Addision. There’s been testimony in the legislature – not only by VPON, but by John Kaufman from Portland Oregon’s Energy Department on their energy planning.

There’s a public forum on heating costs next week. Please, if you have time, the more the merrier: Wednesday, February 6, 2008 from 7:00 PM -8:30 PM in Room 11.

Also, Richard Hineburg will speak in VT, Symington and Shumlin co-sponsoring his visit in Montpelier.

As Ghandi said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

We’re not trying to convince people that peak oil is real, we’re trying to convince people to respond to the challenges presented by peak oil.

It’s like people floating on a raft, having a party. The raft is sinking, but not fast enough to cause them to panic and try to get into harbor. So they keep partying, and the raft keeps sinking. Exactly when it will go under is unknown, but by the time their feet are wet, it may be too late to save themselves.

We know where we need to go. We’re not sure about the timing. Even if we don’t know the timing, we need to move in the right direction. We’re here today to help us understand for ourselves what the right direction is.

Developing Capacities for Response to Peak Oil Presentation

The immediacy of climate change is coming to join the immediacy of peak oil. Scientists are beginning to speak out with what they really believe.

Presented by: SustainabilityInstitute.org

A “think do” tank. Not just think about the problems, but do something about them…

Did an energy retrofit last year on the building in which they work, giving it life into the future.

Our Climate Ourselves project (ourclimateourselves.org) – there are systemic traps that face us in climate change. Climate change activists feel great common purpose (and common problems) with the peak oil people.

Requires courage, independent thinking, and willingness to hold onto a vision. It’s hard to remember that when the media is “debunking” it, that’s the good news, because at least it’s being mentioned.

A bathtub analogy was used to illustrate global climate change at this point. Rather than describe it, try the Bath tub simulator.



Moving from Despair to Empowerment

Rather than wasting our energy in ignoring our feelings, learn how to harness what we feel about overwhelming issues and put it to work.  



Rigorous Analysis & Clear Communication

For whatever issue you’re working on, break it down to see which of the 3 main categories …[***fill in later***]

Acknowledge and look for the seeds that are around us.

It’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening all around us. It’s important to look around, see what’s happening around us, and point others to those things.



Be oriented toward a vision of what we want to see.

All actions happen when someone gets a vision, that vision is shared, people co-create based on that vision, then the vision is brought into being.

Check out the Dana Meadows video on vision.

Rubber band demo:

This is where we are now – pull the rubber band taut. The tension is the difference between where we are and where we want to be. There are two ways to relive the tension: lower your vision or increase your vision, to change reality in such a way that the fullest extent of rubber band is now less than the full extent of reality.

Two Senses of Vision:

1) Personal: inspiration, motivation, action, commitent, deep aspiration. If you choose a point far enough away, it can be used as a beacon. It can be a practical tool [quote from Dana Meadows): “If we haven’t specified where we want to go, it is hard to set our compass.

2) Leadership

Engage and inspire others, motivate others to work together, and sharing what we want with others in a purposeful way.

Sometimes we self-sabotage our visions via ambiguity, reduced aspirations, or focusing on what we want to avoid rather than what we want to create.

We can build our capacity for visioning. Envisioning is a skill that can be developed, like any other human skill.

Commit your vision – be open about how to achieve it.

When we play with large ideas, we make room for vision. Let it try its little sneakers on and see if it can move.

We don’t know how we are going to get to a sustainable society, but you can travel all over the world and see the pieces of it, today.

One thing cool about vision is you don’t need anything fancy to do it – just your imagination.

Get a clear picture in your mind of what it is you’re working toward. Be very open about how you’re going to get there. If you’re clear about where you want the world to go, then you’ll recognize the seeds when you see them. The path may not be exactly what you expect, but you’ll get there.

[group practice in visualizing happens here, sorry can’t type for this exercise.]

Visions:

I’ve agreed to blog only the official presentations, not individual participant’s statements, so I’ll just state the premise: Envision where you personally are 20 years from now. What does your community look like, your home? Envision the food people eat, the clothes they wear. Etc.

How Systems Change

Hint: It’s Not “You have a leader with a plan, and the leader makes you implement the plan.”

Networks

The world doesn’t change one person at a time. it changes when networks of relationships from among people who share a common cause and vision of what’s possible. (margaret wheatley)

Emergence

Interconnections new wholes: the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Upward Spirals

Someone does something and word spreads. Someone does a pilot project and others see that it really works and are inspired.

We can choose upward or downward sprials. (See Seeing Nature for explanations of how upward and downward spirals work)

Exercise: We answered a series of questions about a project vision, the obstacles we could throw in our own way, how we could overcome those, what resources we could apply to the project, and what we’re going to do in the next 24 hrs toward it.

There are all of these images of how we will accomplish the solutions we’ll need, but none of them have a single leader making it all happen. It’s all of us working together, on our own pieces, in our own ways. Good ideas will go viral. There will be spokespeople. We wouldn’t want to bet on just spokespeople, but also on a room full of our neighbors.

Quote from Paul Krafel, Seeing Nature, p.176: “Begin the work, even though you cannot see the path by which this work can lead to your goal. Do not block your power with your current understanding. Evolution is the process by which the impossible becomes possible through small, accumulating changes.”

Talking Plain Seminar

a conflict doesn’t have to be a problem unless you treat it like a problem.

Each of us have our personality, our vocabulary, experiences, and comfort level. What’s the hook that brought you into this discussion? Write that on a piece of paper. That’s your theme. Write 3 points that deal with that. Get me a personal story.

Book: Beyond Powerpoint.

In presentations, numbers and graphs won’t do it for everyone. You’ve gotta have human pictures. How does it impact the family down the road? How does it impact you?

You want a human-to-human connection. It’s preferable if it’s your personal story and you’re willing to share it.

Write down the things that happen during your day, and what peak oil implies for those things.

Don’t use passive verbs, make it happen right now.

Almost an entire industry of researchers figuring out what it will take to get the average american to understand about climate change…

ACEE Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference

3 categories of motivation:

Idealists

We do things because we know we should, so why wouldn’t we?



Achievement-based (by far the Largest Group)

The rest of the group is doing it, so why don’t I do it?

Most people have an OVERWHELMING urge to conform.

This group will respond if they see a reflection of themselves in others.

Social levers are more important than economic levers – “Everyone else is doing it vs you’ll save 50%.” Find something close to home.

Studies show that using fear, instead of motivating people, has the opposite effect.

The message: “We’re doing great! And we can do even more!” is MUCH more effective than “We’re not doing enough, we must do more!”

Individualists

Will do whatever they want whenever hey want regardless of everyone else.



Resources:

Transition Initiatives [warning: PDF]

Beyond Powerpoint.

World Without Us

ACEE Behavior Energy and Climate Change Conference

( – promoted by odum)

By the standards of this blog, I am fairly pro-business.  I tend to believe that the market, like government, can be an effective policy tool under the right circumstances.

So as a left-leaning free-marketeer, I want to express my opposition to the idea of leasing the lottery to a private firm.  Governor Douglas’ proposal makes little policy sense and even less economic sense.

The company that would lease the lottery (for an upfront payment of $55 million) would need to more than double lottery sales within 5 years to justify the upfront investment.  That will require aggressive marketing, new products, etc.

If sales do double, the state will only see the present-value of that $55 million (the difference being the gross margin for the company leasing the lottery).

I have nothing against gambling (I am possibly the world’s worst poker player).  Like most vices, it is part of the human character.   However, I am not a big fan of seeing them aggressively marketed or promoted because there is always a percentage of society that can not limit their urges.  Ultimately, society has to pay those costs in the form of lost wages, bankruptcies, broken families.  

Since the lottery is a pretty regressive form of income generation for the state to being with, I don’t think it is something we ought to be pushing on people.

Lastly, a one-time payment will  not deal with the underlying policy problem: either the state needs to increase taxes or it needs to decrease spending.  Leasing the lottery merely postpones that discussion for a year…. to a non-election year.