Community and the Collapse... thoughts from Edmonton

Went and watched Michael Moore’s ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ the other day with some Edmonton folks. Once we navigated the irony of IMAX and saturated our senses with fake butter and popcorn, I gotta say, the film was pretty good (minus the Catholic/Obama worship stuff). Moore manages to breech ‘isms’, highlights the power of resistance and cultivates an appeal for action that both resonates and empowers. However, Moore’s empowerment is rooted in disempowerment by the state, and while socialism certainly appeals to the alternative, Moore misses a critical element of resistance: the culture of resistance itself.

Narratives of collapsing ‘civilizations’ dominate environmental and social justice discourse today and are strange paradoxes given we implicitly mourn our ‘fall from grace’ while criticizing corporate statism. Indeed, Moore prefaces his film with Roman collapse… I think we need to look bigger: the collapse has already happened – we have one billion hungry and can light water on fire from pollution – it’s been happening for a while. Moreover, narrative of collapse disempowers individuals and small communities, allowing the commodification of ‘green’ and ‘justice’ to gain popular support.

I think it is important to celebrate who we are. Many folks working on social movements are actively decolonizing, learing skills of community and have picked up some legitimate earth skills. Seriously, many folks can plant and maintain a garden, some can hunt, fish or keep livestock and most importantly: many have a deep appreciation for our place with nature (not to get too new age-ish). If we acknowledge the voices saying a collapse is coming, then arguably, we have been preparing some. I am not downplaying the severity of a collapse, nor suggesting we start a new cult in Texas or something… but having awareness of how ‘things’ operate has given us all something unique.

Three Canadian cities have shown me how vibrant and healing these communities are. But there are important movements going on in rural places as well. Please take the time to watch this clip and see one community, Clearwater, Manitoba that still has my heart. This is what community can look like ☺.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPJSXMM7B4