How Can We Talk About Transformational Change Without Losing Hope?

In a recent interview on a progressive radio station supported by listeners like me, I am confounded by the news that Peruvians will run out of water in five years. "And it's worse in Bolivia," the guest adds. Does she mean they have only two years left? That's tomorrow. The radio host drops the distressing fact on his listeners based solely on one guest's opinion.

I wake up in the middle of the night with a large chunk of the Andes stuck in my chest, choking at the thought of the Peruvian and Bolivian people dying because we all know humans can't survive more than five days without liquids. If it's true, how come the Peruvian and Bolivian presidents are not calling an emergency meeting at the United Nations to solve the crisis? But is it true? Depending on whom I read or listen to, the dire state of our planet is either overblown or underreported, a disaster waiting to happen or a conspiracy theory. I'm a working woman with a cat and a car I wish I could claim as dependents on my income tax return, and I don't know what to do with all this information. And I don't believe anybody truly cares, except maybe Rob Hopkins.

The father of England's Transition Initiatives, self-described as "the fastest growing community scale initiatives in the world," aimed at reducing carbon emissions, building resilience and strengthening local economies, Rob Hopkins disagrees with environmental tactics that attempt to shock us into action like helpless Pavlov dogs. He wants us to avoid "the extremes of climate change." He believes the Great Turning that has been shifting our identity from mindless consumers of the planet's resources to conscious protectors "offers the potential of an extraordinary renaissance—economic, cultural and spiritual." But Hopkins is also aware of the traumatic effect change has on people who lack coping skills; a crucial fact overlooked in the larger climate change/peak oil debate.

The birth of trauma takes place when harm is coming to us and we realize we are powerless to stop it and neither God nor Superman is going to save us. The combined experience of unbearable helplessness and shattered trust causes our foundation to collapse and leaves us spiritually, emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically and sexually handicapped. The longer the exposure to risk, the more severe the trauma, hence Post Traumatic Stress Disorder's long association with war veterans.

Every time we're subjected to more dramatic predictions of global warming without being given solutions, a seed of helplessness is planted in our souls. Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh urges his followers to avoid ingesting information that is toxic food for our consciousness. In a world where access to global information is just a click away and most news is based on the latest crimes, disasters or scandals, weeding out fear-based information as well as resisting our own questionable attraction to destruction is a tedious and never-ending task.

If "The Head" portion of Rob Hopkins' book, The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, educates people on the combined effects of climate change and peak oil in our lives, "The Heart" advocates the importance of compassionately leading people into an uncertain future. Influenced by Richard Heinberg's book Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, Hopkins uses recent events like the 2000 UK truck drivers' dispute to make his point that without oil the country was "a day away from food rationing and civil unrest." He cites psychologists D.D. Winter and S.M. Kroger who in their book The Psychology of Environmental Problems, warn that "Damaged trust can lead to four neurotic reactions: narcissism, depression, paranoia, and compulsion." Hopkins argues a nation suffering from what he calls "Post Petroleum Stress Disorder" will not be able to cope with uncertainty. Hopkins advocates addiction recovery methods to help wean ourselves off of oil dependency (no wonder his plan has 12 steps), reclaim our well-being and a sense of control over our lives.