Doing It Ourselves is launching a new short animation on the 12th August at Noise Bar in Brunswick. The message is that it's not just peak oil and climate change we're dealing with, this economic crisis will come to be seen as the world's worst depression ever. Continuous growth and trying to solve debt issues with more debt, simply can't work on a finite planet. If we work at it though, we can turn this crisis into an opportunity and come out the other side better off than before.
The crisis, which will likely include a banking collapse, makes it probable that large scale renewable energy won't happen because the investment won't be available. It is also possible that governments will move towards fascism and war in order to keep the population under control as things get more difficult.
The economic crisis will just be the beginning of the decline. Peak oil, peak energy and peak resources will then kick in and spell the beginning of a system wide decline.
To put a positive twist on it, this collapse and decline allows us to completely shift the way we do things. Millions of people around the world are preparing for a life without much money or cheap energy and it turns out it's a much better way to live! Imagine living in a real community, growing your own healthy food, and working much less. All of this becomes achievable and necessary as we scale down, and if more of us start demonstrating it now, it's likely to eventually become mainstream.
So Doing It Ourselves has been set up to raise awareness in the broader community about these possibilities. Watch the twelve minute animation at the launch before it goes live on Youtube on August 13. The screening will be followed by discussion and improvised music and painting afterwards.
Doing It Ourselves are also available for talks on the topic, have a website and a collection of zines (available by donation on the night) with more information, and a directory listing all the ways you can get involved with this movement in Melbourne and beyond. This is a free event.