Library of Liberty -&- Colloquium Model for Puna

[AlohaSteven]

Reading the economic and political arguments advanced in the Punaweb thread titled "A Question" as they relate to Puna currently and to Hawaii in future, it occurred to me folks might find useful a free online resource I have enjoyed using: the Online Library of Liberty.

http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php

This tremendous collection of foundational works, available free of charge, is keyword searchable (as with the term "Hawaii") and indexed variously by topic, author, and period. One may also request "...a complimentary copy of the 2006 Edition of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD which contains 750 titles from the OLL in EBook PDF format and 25 hours of MP3 audio from the Intellectual Portrait Series: Conversations with Leading Classical Liberal Figures of Our Time." Such a deal.

Liberty Fund ( http://www.libertyfund.org/ ) maintains the site and also publishes excellent quality hard-copy books, selling and mailing them out at the cost of production. Liberty Fund also conducts highly rewarding colloquia on a wide range of fascinating topics (it has been my good fortune to have participated in several different Liberty Fund colloquia); their model is one we could adopt and use ourselves in Puna for local community groups interested in exploring specific topics.

Part of the process used in a Liberty Fund colloquium is for members of the group which will come together for exploring and discussing an issue to have each all read the same foundational documents and viewed the same films on DVD. The free online Library can serve as a resource in this regard. Sharing the common ground of being prepared by the readings, participants can then tackle a specific local issue and in a sense all be speaking the same language, understanding each others' perspectives much better. It is tremendously rewarding experience.

For example, one colloquium I participated in focused on the broad considerations of environmental issues and economics (e.g., sale of "free good" public resources such as water, timber on public lands, grazing rights, etc) vis a vis the specific local context. Another colloquium focused on historical economic "bubbles" (e.g., the Dutch tulip craze, railroad bond schemes) and how those episodes informed the housing valuation bubble (which has since burst, exactly as we predicted). In another colloquium we considered the life and political thought of John Adams and then considered what advice he might have for us regarding several current issues, were he here today.

Since the individuals coming together for these discussions had, during the previous several months, all read the same set of books and papers in preparation and also all held strong views of their own, these discussions were quite vigorous, enjoyable, and productive. This is a model where having people of sharply differing political viewpoints and very different walks of life all come together for discussion can yield excellent insights into each others' perspectives, mutual understanding & respect, and wonderful practical progress on pressing current local community issues. Much more mutually beneficial in the long run than the hackneyed monkeys-flinging-pooh-at-each-other-from-their-different-branches-of-the-tree model; as colorful and fun as this approach may at times be, if the roots of that tree are being gnawed away by some real threat and the distracted monkeys do not unify and act effectively together, then they and their children all fall together when the tree topples and crashes to the ground.

More cool resource links here:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=2&Itemid=309

PS: sittall, thanks for sharing the good Worldchanging.com resource "Individual Action vs Collective Action" by Colin Beavan ( http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009204.html ). Much appreciated!


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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman


"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."

NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt

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[JWFITZ]

Amen, and thanks, that's very cool stuff.

[Guest]

This isn't my subject, but I'd like to bring attention to Punaweb member Richard Ha's Blog entitled: Peak Oil & Monetary System Collapse.

If that tickles your feather, Richard has a few topics on the subject here if you really want to bring the subject locally.

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My Blog

[AlohaSteven]

Denmark has a time-honored community institution called the folkehøjskole (loosely translated, "folk school by-and-for adults") which also seems entirely compatible with the culture of Puna.

Over 50,000 people in communities all across Denmark annually come together to study issues of local relevance via the folkehøjskole; there are hundreds of folkehøjskole located throughout tiny Denmark. Folkehøjskole are an affordable alternative to the university system and with a significantly different focus and purpose than universities. Folkehøjskole provide an opportunity for ongoing lifelong learning; they are also an effective way for empowering local people to come together and figure out local solutions to local issues. A group may briefly consider an issue for a week, or study and experiment in depth for years before issuing a recommendation. Folkehøjskole study group recommendations have significantly influenced policy and local decision-making on a wide diversity of issues ranging from technical questions (waste management, roads, land use, agricultural techniques) to social challenges (youth programs, crime and rehabilitation, job creation, substance abuse treatment) as well as providing a venue for individual adult education in practical skills and personal enrichment areas.

A Danish folkehøjskole...is
(a) open to all those above eighteen years of age;
(b) avowedly and by law not competence-giving;
© not academically competitive, with no grades or marks at all given; and
(d) outside of the mainstream Danish educational system.

...The diversity of the [folkehøjskole]...is quite extraordinary. There are perhaps half a dozen schools with a radical communist or feminist orientation. There are, on the other hand, at least the same number of schools that teach some particular brand of ultraconservative Christian theology. Side by side with these can be found [folkehøjskole] that specialize in ecology and biodynamic agriculture, [folkehøjskole] for athletic instruction, [folkehøjskole] for instruction in music, and [folkehøjskole] for various kinds of travel abroad. There are [folkehøjskole] for the study of foreign languages, [folkehøjskole] for retired people, and at least one folk high school for teenagers under the age of eighteen. There are several "[folkehøjskole] for consciousness development," one of which teaches the Maharishi's transcendental meditation techniques and philosophy.

[from http://afs.ahrchk.net/mainfile.php/background/16/]

So, folkehøjskole lend themselves flexibly to community advancement and personal enrichment. Sounds Puna-friendly to me.

The long tradition of folkehøjskole in Denmark must account in part for the remarkably progressive Danish character, their robust economy, leadership in innovative and sustainable farming, and the fact the Danes do better than anyone else in wind power generation. Hawaii geographically being in a much better position than Denmark for wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal energy for power production we should be doing at least as well as Denmark, but are far behind.

Cultivating and participating in some local Puna-specific version of Liberty Fund colloquia or Danish folkehøjskole could be beneficial, imho.


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"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

Pres. John Adams, Scholar and Statesman


"There's a scientific reason to be concerned and there's a scientific reason to push for action. But there's no scientific reason to despair."

NASA climate analyst Gavin Schmidt

)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(

[JWFITZ]

As well there may be a tendency among Danes to value informed positions, rather than to attempt to alienate them. While our political debate retains its ultra stupid focus, we can expect ultra stupid policy.