<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Paul Hawken on the remaking of the world]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Laurence Aurbach http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/ Thu, 03 May 2007 05:56:12 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/1 Hawken's video

The video on the Blessed Unrest website is good. That scrolling list is a powerful, memorable image.

Ped Shed Blog

]]> Hawken's video

The video on the Blessed Unrest website is good. That scrolling list is a powerful, memorable image.

Ped Shed Blog

]]> Comment #2 by David Roberts http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/ Thu, 03 May 2007 06:17:25 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/2 Movement

I just got done with the book a few days ago. I must say that I found the central argument -- that all these disparate groups constitute a movement, as opposed to just a bunch of disparate groups -- somewhat ... underargued. I suppose it's inspiring that all these groups exist, but given the trajectory of the world right now, they don't seem to be succeeding. So, I don't know, there just didn't seem to be much to it. What am I missing? I'll be talking with Hawken soon, so perhaps I'll more formally solicit questions soon.

grist.org

]]> Movement

I just got done with the book a few days ago. I must say that I found the central argument -- that all these disparate groups constitute a movement, as opposed to just a bunch of disparate groups -- somewhat ... underargued. I suppose it's inspiring that all these groups exist, but given the trajectory of the world right now, they don't seem to be succeeding. So, I don't know, there just didn't seem to be much to it. What am I missing? I'll be talking with Hawken soon, so perhaps I'll more formally solicit questions soon.

grist.org

]]> Comment #3 by d41295 http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/ Thu, 03 May 2007 06:26:07 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/3 Joke

> The movement has three basic roots: the
> environmental and social justice movements, and
> indigenous cultures' resistance to globalization
> -- all of which are intertwining.

What a joke. By any objective measure, liberals and progressives are getting their clocks cleaned on all of these issues. There is not overwhelming mass movement--on the contrary, the vast majority of the world wants only to become more consumeristic. They all want to live like Americans. Corporations have never been more powerful than they are today. Globalization has never been more interwoven into every aspect of society. Politics has never been more corrupt.

The only person benefiting from Hawken's point of view is Hawken, and that is only in the meager amount of books he will sell. This book will have the same effect as all of his other books, which is to say, no effect at all.




]]> Joke

> The movement has three basic roots: the
> environmental and social justice movements, and
> indigenous cultures' resistance to globalization
> -- all of which are intertwining.

What a joke. By any objective measure, liberals and progressives are getting their clocks cleaned on all of these issues. There is not overwhelming mass movement--on the contrary, the vast majority of the world wants only to become more consumeristic. They all want to live like Americans. Corporations have never been more powerful than they are today. Globalization has never been more interwoven into every aspect of society. Politics has never been more corrupt.

The only person benefiting from Hawken's point of view is Hawken, and that is only in the meager amount of books he will sell. This book will have the same effect as all of his other books, which is to say, no effect at all.




]]> Comment #4 by Erik Hoffner http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/ Thu, 03 May 2007 06:45:01 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/grassroots-good/4 data

The world's grassroots groups do constitute a movement, but it's not possible to pin it down without a leader or leaders, and little data on their cumulative effect. We have data on the cumulative effect of corporations in their earnings, in the markets, in discernible damage to the planet, etc. But no one tracks the grassroots. We keep our own counsel, tell our members and donors what their support helped us accomplish, and we're lucky for a mention in the local paper.

One of the next steps from this effort ought to be a way of telling the story of this movement. Hawken's done the first part, showing us what's there. And he tells some very powerful stories in the book. But the movement for people and planet's story is too huge for a book: how to quantify the number of miles of streams cleaned up by watershed groups all over the world, when there's no reporting mechanism? What's the cumulative effect of every mind that's been changed on an issue? Orion magazine's mission in large part has been to tell many of these stories over the last 25 years, but that's only so many pages of print. Wiserearth will have a role in this storytelling.

I think he took the argument as far as it can go at the moment.

The Orion Grassroots Network: 1000+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more

]]> data

The world's grassroots groups do constitute a movement, but it's not possible to pin it down without a leader or leaders, and little data on their cumulative effect. We have data on the cumulative effect of corporations in their earnings, in the markets, in discernible damage to the planet, etc. But no one tracks the grassroots. We keep our own counsel, tell our members and donors what their support helped us accomplish, and we're lucky for a mention in the local paper.

One of the next steps from this effort ought to be a way of telling the story of this movement. Hawken's done the first part, showing us what's there. And he tells some very powerful stories in the book. But the movement for people and planet's story is too huge for a book: how to quantify the number of miles of streams cleaned up by watershed groups all over the world, when there's no reporting mechanism? What's the cumulative effect of every mind that's been changed on an issue? Orion magazine's mission in large part has been to tell many of these stories over the last 25 years, but that's only so many pages of print. Wiserearth will have a role in this storytelling.

I think he took the argument as far as it can go at the moment.

The Orion Grassroots Network: 1000+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more

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