<p>Two weeks ago I was in my hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey, wading waist deep in a murky combination of floodwater, oil and sewage. More than a week later, after finally getting unstuck from New Jersey (even the deepest Jersey pride has its limits…), I found myself in a van full of Occupy Sandy activists delivering hot meals to housing-project high rises in Coney Island during a Nor’easter.</p>

<p>-Narcissism, Consumerism and the End of Growth<br />
-Spain's next threat: Losing 20% of its economy<br />
-How Transition is starting to rebuild Ontario<br />
-Amid the Echoes of an Economic Crash, the Sounds of Greek Society Being Torn</p>
<p><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-10-26/economics-oct-26">read more</a></p>

<p>This fourth part of a five-part series uses the tools of narrative fiction to explore some of the ways in which America's global empire might come apart.

<p>The wealth gap in this country is huge and growing larger. What surprises me is that we’re not looking more deeply into the issue. We don’t really understand how big the wealth gap is and what wealth inequality does to us.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2012-10-18/inequality-or-equality">read more</a></p>

<p>The election is now just weeks away, and I want to urge those whose values are generally in line with mine -- progressives, especially activists -- to make this goal one of your priorities during this period.</p>
<p>An activist colleague recently said to me: “I hear you’re supporting Obama.”</p>
<p>I was startled, and took offense. “Supporting Obama? Me?!”</p>

<p>The presidential campaign offers a great deal of material concerning what liberals believe and expect. I am especially interested and troubled by the constant focus on the middle class. By comparing itself only to Romney’s 1% (or whatever), the middle class has developed a self-image of itself as the victims of a great economic heist and oligarchical conspiracy.

<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/image_large_12.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="63" /></span>Since its founding in 1996, the Community Food Security Coalition has been the leading voice for people of color and the poor in a food movement that often marginalizes them in favor of w

<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/plante-leah.n.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="75" /></span>-Keystone XL: Texas Farmer Battles TransCanada’s “Tainted Money”<br>-Nonviolent Protester of Drone Wars Sentenced to Federal Prison

<p>-How To Destroy Rivers Communities Softly, Softly<br />
-Nigeria oil spills: Shell rejects liability claim<br />
-Top Kill [Afternoon Drama]<br />
-Invasion of Iraq causes epidemic of birth defects<br />
-Ecuador Oil Pollution Case Only Grows Murkier<br />
-Richmond Refinery Fire Unites Communities Divided</p>

<p>Occupy is part of a wide range of subterranean movements that explore ways to complement representative democracy and empower citizenship. Some citizens want to build stronger democratic institutions: others don’t trust elected representatives any more and promote a change that starts at a local level and in daily life.</p>

<p>People around the country have been forming small groups like Resilience Circles and social action affinity groups. These groups are a way to relearn skills of mutuality, consensus-building, story-sharing, and real listening. They form an essential piece of the architecture of social movements built on solidarity and relatedness.</p>

<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/jpg.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="73" height="100" /></span>Peter Alexeyevich Kropotkin is our prince's name, and he eventually became a renowned scientist who advanced the understanding of the history of glaciers, an historian of revolutionary movements, fo

<p>Democracy, individualism , liberalism and many of the dimensions of modern societies that we most cherish and take for granted, emerged on the back of high energy throughput and growth. The pacified, individuated personality structure which allows the 'I' to be partially dissociated from the 'We' is itself historically and metabolically specific.

<p>Thousands of people surrounded the Spanish Parliament in Madrid on Tuesday to protest austerity measures and the loss of public confidence in elected leaders. The &quot;Occupy Congress&quot; protest came as the conservative administration of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy prepares to unveil further austerity measures on Thursday.

<p><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.energybulletin.net/sites/default/files/images/global-land-grab-sm.thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-thumbnail" width="100" height="72" /></span>-Land grabbing and food sovereignty in West and Central Africa<br />
-Africa: Land, Water and Resource-Grabbing and Its Impact on Food Security