I actually spend a lot of time thinking about resiliency. When I am evaluation people regarding their level of need of care for drug and alcohol abuse, I really look at their resiliency. Which, in this context, means their ability to bounce back from adversity without turning to substances.

What I’ve noticed is that people who are resilient recovery more quickly. And I’d be willing to bet that extends well beyond substance abuse. Also, that resiliency is hereditary. Rigid parents who break under pressure tend to raise children who do the same.

Anyway, resiliency is important enough to mental health that it’s something I really really focus on building in myself.

In my opinion, your question is the question of the year, and I don’t know if anyone has a good answer. Transition talks about an “End of Suburbia” moment, and really focuses on how to best cushion and support people through what fundamentally can be a traumatic shift in awareness. I like that about the Transition approach. But at the same time, I don’t know that their framing is necessarily helpful on the front end. Even the words “The End of Suburbia” are not necessarily constructive. Pretty confrontational and scary.

I wonder if maybe some piece of the answer lies in the fact that many people are fundamentally unhappy right now. Particularly with the recession, I think people are detaching from the “American Dream” en masse. When you ask many Gen Y’ers what they want, they say “quality of life.” That is a change.

I don’t know that we necessarily gain much from focusing on the end of the “old dream.” If the internal discontent people are feeling can be associated with a failing system, then maybe people will willingly and optimistically let go, rather than have to be scared and/or wrenched away. I think we’re already seeing some of this, and I want to think it’s possible on a broader level.

Visiting the USSR must have been an incredible experience! I have to say, I’m really envious.

I’m so glad I found your blog. It’s interesting to read about things like this from a thoughtful urbanite and not just our wacky right wing uncle bob.

I remember in the 70′s the oil crisis. Society stopped and everyone lined their cars up at every gas station for hours hoping to get gas. It was my dad’s gas station and I was probably 5. People were sitting there honking horns and shouting at each other and when I looked they were lined up for miles. It was really frightening to me.

I think if the government and the oil companies were more honest people would lose faith in the system that is working for government and the oil companies. When people start to panic things go south very quickly (like a run on a bank.)

The question is, how can we honestly and openly discuss and plan for things like peak oil and resilience without imparting so much fear that it makes people panic? And then if we are calmly and rationally discussing this people don’t believe in it because if it were true everyone would be panicking.

There are probably lots of reasons why this isn’t discussed more in the U.S. One reason, I believe, is that it doesn’t benefit big business. Another is that the U.S., more than most cultures, places a strong emphasis on individuality and less emphasis on community. I *think* (hope?) that is slowly starting to change.

In high school, I had the opportunity to visit the USSR (yes, before the fall of communism there). One of the things that really stuck with me was leaving the hotel early in the morning and seeing what looked like (to me) a long line outside the grocery. It was actually the end of the line, where you didn’t want to find yourself because the store routinely sold out early. Sold out.

I think that one of the strengths of the Transition Initiative is that (as you said) it really empowers people from a grassroots standpoint to change their own reality. The focus is not governmental involvement, and they specifically suggest that the Transition movement should not be too closely connected to the local government. It is a different kind of grassroots – less lobbying and hoping the leadership will change, more creating change yourself. It’s a very appealing idea, and easy to sell in a political space where people are increasingly disillusioned with the central government. Transition also bridges political gaps that many environmental movements fail to address effectively.

I’ll be doing a giveaway of my copy of The Transition Handbook in a week or two, if you are not desperate to read it right away .

It would be great to see state and city-wide systems in place designed for regional food production and sustainability. You could have sub groups within every major climate zone. But then I don’t see this as something that would have enough mass support for the government to take a leadership role. If we see people working towards greater sustainability and resilience, it’ll likely be through independent grassroots efforts.

Thanks for writing about this. I’m probably going to download the handbook now.