Creating Alternatives To The Car and Consumer Culture
by Jan Spencer
Cars are a big part of the consumer culture. When we push back on cars, we push back on the consumer culture.
The 100-minute presentation, “Creating Alternatives to the Car and Consumer Culture,” is now available on YouTube. The presentation includes a brief look at transportation and urban land use history, the “externalities” that are not measured by our economic system, and a short why and how for reducing eco-footprints.
Join me for a discussion of: allies and assets in the community, home economics, prioritizing time and money, paying for transformation with what are now externalized costs; and the wisdom of the world’s great spiritual traditions.
The presentation describes several great examples of cities—including Paris, New York City, and Barcelona—taking public space away from cars and returning it to people, bikes, and nature.
There are many benefits to be gained by creating alternatives to the car culture.
You will find a great deal of fascinating and practical content for your own lifestyle, including one of my favorite tools, the block plan. The City of Eugene recognizes block planning, which allows the people who own property and live on a block to cooperatively make changes to that block.
Invite your neighbors over for a viewing of the presentation, and then discuss how you might start working together to transform your own block.
Oregon teachers: This 100-minute presentation can also be used to introduce the concepts of system change and paradigm shift.
