| Who you calling a hippy? |
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| Keywords: guatemala, indigenous people, peak oil, plenty, rob hopkins, the farm, transition
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| Categories: Society, Soil, Soul
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| Published on: Sep 16, 2008 |
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| Last updated on: Sep 16, 2008 |
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 It was my huge privilege to hear Albert Bates talk last week. Albert was guest of Transition Town Totnes and, invited as I was by the folks at TTT to record the show for posterity, further distribution and extended listening pleasure, I turned up seeing it as something of a job. I should have known better.
First of all, Albert is a hero's hero; he was there at the request of Rob Hopkins – founding influence of the Transition movement and author of the Transition Handbook (the second edition of which you can help write*). And secondly – when it comes to hippy idealism – Albert's been there, done it and got the t-shirt (organic cotton, fair trade and tie-dyed, naturally). This turned out to be one hell, or should that be heaven?, of an evening.
Albert kicked off with the etymology of 'hippy'. Far from its now accepted status as a mild put down, or in some circles - term of abuse, a hippy is one who (according to its alleged West African origins) has opened their eyes or woken up. With this in mind, and after ninety minutes of pure inspirational storytelling – feel free to call me a hippy; I'll take it.
The story in question being Albert's journey with The Farm, a community that grew from next to nothing (apart from 70's hippy idealism) in Tennessee; as a lawyer, author and teacher, as well as a founder of the eco-village movement. Not only these, but also a participant in the wonderful work of Plenty International, for 18 years, focussing on relief and development work with indigenous peoples, human rights and the environment.
You can hear hear the whole talk on traydio, but here's the low-down: “Few recognize how close we are to human extinction, or even that we may have passed an irreversible line that could lead to that,” declares Albert. “History becomes nearly irrelevant in those circumstances, as do most of the plans we have laid for ourselves and our descendants.”
“We will not be colonizing Mars. In the centuries to come, we can speak of success if there are still human colonies on Earth. I believe we can and should make our own luck. When you are running out, it isn't enough to slow down. You have to stop. Much as you think you can make it just fine in a cave, saving the whole planet involves getting engaged with public policy, not digging a bunker in Idaho, or sitting on a cushion and chanting Om,“ he adds. Got it?!
“Peak oil is a horrible predicament,” says Albert on TTT's website, “it is also a wonderful opportunity to do a lot better. Let's not squander this moment. This will be the Great Change.” Just like Rob Hopkins' with his grasp of the light and the dark, Albert too tells it how it is (bad; very bad) and shows us what we can do (good, thankfully very good; and very inspiring). If a bunch of hippys (sic) can go re-build thousands of homes in post-earthquake Guatemala as Plenty did, we can sure as hell re-structure and re-fashion our spoilt lives in the West.
“We may just be a black smear in the rock,” he warned me, but “there's just a chance that we can get out of this mess, open our eyes a little bit and wake up - like a hippy”.
Further reading: “The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook” is a post-apocalypse guide cunningly disguised as a recipe book. It's great.
Further listening: www.traydio.com
Web resources: Wikipedia on Bates and The Farm
*Help Rob Hopkins re-write The Transition Handbook
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