Bereans Dig Into the Financial Crisis
The Crash Course is a 20-part series of free video clips that explains what’s going on with banks, debt, and the money system, but also relates the financial crisis to peaking energy supplies, resource scarcity, and shifting demographics. (A full description of The Crash Course is at the bottom of this page.)
On March 16 and 23, Sustainable Berea hosted viewing sessions where participants watched selected chapters of The Crash Course DVD and then talked about the content, discussing the real causes of the financial meltdown, how it’s affecting Berea, and what can be done about it.
More Sessions / Seeing It For Yourself
Thanks to all who participated in the first two Crash Course sessions. You can send feedback, pro or con, to Mark Jeantheau at mark@grinningplanet.com or (859) 985-5386.
There may be a third session sometime in April; contact Mark if you are interested.
In the meantime, all chapters of the Crash Course can be viewed for free here:
http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse
For anyone who prefers viewing on a TV, Sustainable Berea still has a couple dozen DVDs left out of the original 100. And you can’t beat the price of $5.00! Contact Mark, or email Sustainable Berea at info@sustainableberea.org. The DVDs are also available at Robie & Robie on Chestnut Street.
Getting More Truthful News
The nightly news and cable-news channels typically offer only superficial treatment of the issues related to banks, bailouts, and the rest of the financial mess. Some session participants wanted pointers to news sources that dig deeper and get at the truth of the matter. The section below lists a number of good news sources for that, as well as some resources that routinely provide good info on peak oil and how to “live more locally,” which in the end will prove our best solution for all of these problems.
Chris Martenson’s site
Chris’ site has a daily collection of blog comments and news stories related to economy, finance, bailouts, etc. (To get beyond the headline listings on the home page, click on the item titles.)
http://www.chrismartenson.com/
Solari Blog
A combination of news pointers and blog posts, all related to corruption and decay in the financial system.
http://solari.com/blog/
Grinning Planet’s MP3 News page
Weekly pointers to good audio clips on a variety of topics, including the financial mess, peak oil, and sustainable living solutions. You can just click and listen or you can download to an IPOD or other MP3 player.
http://www.grinningplanet.com/mp3-news/
Urban Survival
A daily running commentary on the markets and where all the craziness is headed.
http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm
Life After The Oil Crash (LATOC)
Pointers to articles about financial crisis, societal turmoil, peak oil, and threats to democracy.
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html
Energy Bulletin
Clearinghouse for current information regarding energy supply, related issues.
http://www.energybulletin.net/
Sharon Astyk / Casaubon’s Book
Explorations of a future that will be shaped by peak oil, climate change and economic instability.
http://sharonastyk.com/
Global Public Media
Videos, audio interviews, and essays about peak oil and sustainable living.
http://globalpublicmedia.com/
Post Carbon Institute
Working to prepare society for the coming lower-energy, climate-changed, localized world.
http://www.postcarbon.org/
You Bet Your Garden
Weekly radio shows on organic gardening.
http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/archive.html
Gardening by the Yard
Online video segments and full 1/2-hour shows on (mostly) organic gardening.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_gby
BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies)
Businesspeople dedicated to building local living economies.
http://livingeconomies.org/
Crash Course Overview
The Crash Course is a 20-part series of free video clips that explains the underlying reasons for the current economic crisis, with a focus on debt, the money system, and financial bubbles. It also shows the relationship of the financial problems to tight oil supplies and increasing scarcity of other critical resources.
The creator of this series, Chris Martenson, does a masterful job of making dry but important concepts easily understandable. The animated graphs and other features, combined with the clear explanations in the voiceovers, make this a top-notch presentation.
Sustainable Berea highly recommends The Crash Course to anyone who wants to understand the financial meltdown in the larger context of constrained energy supplies—and so we can better appreciate the risks we face in the near future. Martenson soft-peddles a little at the end, but if you look at the facts he presents throughout the course—all those colliding exponential curves—it’s pretty clear that something’s gonna give, and sooner rather than later.
The total run time of the 20 segments is 3.5 hours. Watching the chapters in batches of a few at a time helps keep it from seeming like a burden.
The series of clips is available for viewing free online: http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse/
For those who prefer to watch on their TV, Sustainable Berea also has limited quantities of Crash Course DVDs available for purchase for $5 each. Contact Mark Jeantheau – mark@grinningplanet.com / (859) 985-5386.
