We TreeHuggers have long been inspired by the Transition Movement's positive response to peak oil. From planting nut trees for food security to launching local currencies, Transition Initiatives are promoting real, boots-on-the-ground action. But they have not been without their critics, arguing that Transition feels like a rebranding of the back-to-the-land movement, or hinting that it is deeply skewed to the left-leaning, hippy end of the cultural spectrum. Now Alex Steffen of Worldchanging has weighed into the debate, claiming that Transitioners exhibit a "casual eagerness for the death of others."
Alex Steffen's piece, entitled Transition Towns or Bright Green Cities, argues that while the movement has inspired many to take action, its sights remain woefully low. In face of impending environmental and social catastrophe, says Steffen, "all over the world, groups of people with graduate degrees, affluence, decades of work experience, varieties of advanced training and technological capacities beyond the imagining of our great-grandparents are coming together, looking into the face of apocalypse... and deciding to start a seed exchange or a kids clothing swap."
He also cites an alleged current of gleeful anticipation for a collapse of the status quo inherent in the movement. He claims that movement founder Rob Hopkins (see my interview with Rob Hopkins for more on his philosophy) talks "almost cheerfully about passing peak oil, widespread food shortages and the idea of globalization crashing suddenly" and he quotes Jennifer Gray, founder of the US arm of Transition, as telling the New York Times that she expects a "a big population die-off."
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We TreeHuggers have long been inspired by the Transition Movement's positive response to peak oil. From planting nut trees for food security to launching local currencies, Transition Initiatives are promoting real, boots-on-the-ground action. But they have not been without their critics, arguing that Transition feels like a rebranding of the back-to-the-land movement, or hinting that it is deeply skewed to the left-leaning, hippy end of the cultural spectrum. Now Alex Steffen of Worldchanging has weighed into the debate, claiming that Transitioners exhibit a "casual eagerness for the death of others."