Hello and welcome to my Blog!

It's tempting to begin with "Testing..1..2..3.." since I'm new to
blogging... Let me explain: I'm far from new to technology -- I was
one of the more well known and active online activists back in 1989
and the early 90s (stay tuned to future entries for more about those
days including activism and social interactions before the web as we
know it existed).

I tend to avoid the clutter of technology until I'm convinced it's
helpful (example: got my first cellphone, reluctantly, summer 2005),
while jumping into other technologies avidly at other times (examples:
one of earlier adopters of Internet Usenet activism; present day user
of Emacs and a fan of GNU/Linux.

Rather than try to include a full introduction about myself as an
"electronic activist" back then and now, or as a university
mathematics professor, or someone whose lived without a TV for 20
years and with a vegan diet (i.e., without meat/eggs/dairy) for 11
years, I'll just let those aspects of me and my life emerge naturally
(organically?) as they come up.

Though I'm not fully sure what the fancy title means, I am very happy
to be a Postcarbon Fellow, and you are invited to have a peek at my
profile at

http://www.postcarbon.org/thinktank/fellows/harelb

Essentially it means that I have been active in areas that overlap
significantly with PCI's (Post Carbon Institute's) mission, and that I
do think a lot about those issues, occasionally writing what I hope is
a useful "think piece" or strategy piece, or, dare I call it, a
"strategic vision" article for fellow concerned citizens and activists
(see http://EconomicDemocracy.org under "projects", for example).

What will the main themes of this blog be? First I must warn you that
posts will be at irregular times: I may post frequently for a while,
then have to disappear for some weeks to keep up with my teaching and
other professional work as a university faculty member. Secondly the
quality (or at least depth) of posts may be irregular too: some "off
the top of my head" reflections and reaction, and some, hopefully,
more organized pieces or even short essays (or links to longer
ones...)

As for the main themes of this Blog, that may be hard to predict but
they will probably include:

* The unsustainability of the U.S. economic system (and why I don't
call it a capitalist one...)

* The unsustainability of not just our but of any economic or social
model based on "exponential growths forever"

* The importance of creating new institutions to "build the world we
want" rather than waiting for the current to collapse, and rather than
spending too much of our time on fighting what we're against --
focusing on building what we're for (I'm not saying we shouldn't spend
any time fighting what we're against...certainly trying to
stop a war that will lead to the killing of thousands is important!
I'm talking about emphasis in our day to day, week to week, month to
month activism and social action)

* Ways in which technology can be used to help us be more successful
in our efforts to make the world a better place (enough has been
written about ways in which technology is already being used by the
powerful for harmful purposes). It's too easy and sometimes too much
fun to just complain about how nasty the ways in which technology has
been used have been. We need to be imaginative instead and dream of
ways that it could be used for good. Technology is not evil; it is a
tool (in fact, a pencil is a piece of technology, and so is your cup)
and as such it is neutral...though it's not surprising that
in the hands of a violent, dysfunctional economic, political, social
and cultural systems, the tool gets used mostly towards, well,
violent, and dysfunctional ends..

For more on the last two points, see http://EconomicDemocracy.org/ and
click on the Projects section.

* I'll comment on recent events from time to time, or things that
caught my ear or eye in mainstream media coverage. Mostly this will
be to try to highlight the "Big picture" themes, some of which are
listed above.

*In as respectful and constructive a way as I can, I will try to
critique what fellow progressives, fellow "peak oilers" , fellow
"permaculturists" and fellow "postcarbonists" are doing and saying.

* Aspects of art, poetry, or culture may be touched upon from time to
time. For example, Nonviolent Communication (google for "NVC") is
something worth paying attention to, as are non-hierarchical
spirituality (we don't have to give up spirituality and morality, in
fact we need them -- even as we reject dogmatic right wing or
traditional 'religion' per se) and intentional communities, and
sex-positive culture and the links between repression of the
individual (or alienating us from our fellow human beings, our work,
our body, or the food we eat) is linked to things like war, opression, and other
familiar 'big problems'.

By now it should be clear to anyone who's read this far, whether this
blog will interest you. If not, I wish you well. If you think you may
be a 'fellow traveller', save the link to my blog or my Fellows page
http://www.postcarbon.org/thinktank/fellows/harelb which links to it,
and please do come by visiting from time to time.

Harel