Local Future Organizer

 

Aaron Wissner

 

Welcome!

Whenever I visit a new organization, I wonder about the people behind it.  Who are they?  What is their motivation?

What follows is a short story of my journey, and how this Local Future nonprofit organization was born.

Local Future is an attempt to help people to move together toward a positive future.  Given the realities of energy and other resource constraints, it is reasonable to conclude that this future will be primarily local, no matter what we may or may not desire.

The transition between the current globalized economic system and the local future will likely occupy most of our lives.  It is a great challenge, and a great opportunity for advancement.

Unfortunately, now in 2010, we stand at the precipice.  The global credit bubble has started to collapse, the natural environment is being taxed to beyond its limits, and the non-renewable energy resources that have dominated our lives are now in terminal and rapid decline.

We have time to work together, at the local level, to transform this unsustainable global culture into sustainable local cultures.  It may not be easy, but it is the challenge we face, and we can either succumb or rise to the occasion.  Please join me in this effort to help individuals and communities move forward into this undiscovered country.

The idea for Local Future originated many years ago.  The first major step was when I read "Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer.  I was surprised and shocked that animals were treated so poorly in our economic system and this global civilization.  I was even more concerned that I was part of the problem and that in my ignorance, I was acting in a way contrary to my beliefs.  I choose to stop my direct participation in the animal agriculture industry by becoming vegan.  While this surprised some, it was the only way I could reconcile my feelings of empathy for all living things, with my new understanding of modern animal industry.

This marked an epiphany, in that I always thought that our press and education system would inform us of such failures of the system.  My eyes opened, and I began to see that what was reported in the press was very different from the reality that we all were experiencing.

The second major step in my awakening was my car accident.  I was a passenger, the car was cruising down the freeway, and the next minute, we were rolling sideways down the road at 75 miles per hour.  For a few seconds, I could see that my life had come to an end.  My perspective suddenly changed.  I realized that my life up to that point was devoid of lasting meaning.  I thought to myself, "I had better get cracking, because this life thing is pretty fragile".  I was amazed and delighted to come away from the wreck alive, and virtual unharmed.

The third big event occurred while driving on a long, lonely, quite drive home in August of 2005.  I began thinking about gasoline prices, and how the rising prices disproportionately impacted those with less money, especially the parents of my middle school students.  I did some Internet research, and ended up learning out about peak oil for the very first time.  It was like "Animal Liberation" all over again.  I was sort of in shock.  Here was another huge major truth about the world, that everyone should know about and understand, and yet it was totally unknown to me and anyone around me.

In the year that followed, I studied and wrote about peak oil using the Wikipedia under my Americanus account.  I studied several books on the topic, including "The Party's Over" and "The Long Emergency".  I attended conferences including the U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions and the ASPO-USA World Oil Conference.  I also organized film screenings and designed a custom audio-visual presentation to share my understanding of peak oil and its implications.

I spoke about peak oil to several large groups.  In July of 2006, I delivered a short 2-minute presentation to nearly 10,000 fellow educators at the National Education Association's annual meeting.  This was followed in August in which I integrated the themes of peak oil, climate change, globalization, animal welfare and a sustainable value system.

On the Internet, I started writing and publishing.  My Xanga blog, Michigan Teacher, was the home for a couple articles tailored to high school aged students.  I began using the social bookmarking tool Del.icio.us to keep track of useful web pages.  I published videos to YouTube and Google Video under New Culture, based on a peak oil talk of July 2006.  I also published various items to the Energy Bulletin, a site of compiled news on peak oil and sustainability topics.  That same summer, I designed the very first version of this web site, to help flesh out the concepts of an organizational path to local community sustainability.

Many of my writings are published on Live Journal at Value System.  Here, I've detailed very personal struggles with understanding the complexities of peak oil, and the bigger picture of what we can all do, now that peak oil had shattered my dreams for a magical technological future.

After a one year speaking hiatus due to various unbreakable leadership commitments, the Local Future nonprofit organization officially launched in January 2008 with a flagship film event, and soon hosted it's first major event, the "International Conference on Peak Oil and Climate Change: Paths to Sustainability".

Albert Bates and Thaddeus Owen agreed to join me as directors of Local Future.  Albert who lives in an intentional community has been on this road towards the local future for years.  Thaddeus was also already on the road and is currently working to create sustainable models in his community.

Over the following two years, and with the help of many dedicated and volunteer friends, Local Future organized the two "Conferences on Michigan's Future: Energy, Economy and Environment".

As I write this revision in August 2010, I'm currently in study of the global economic, monetary, banking, and finance system, which appears to be in a state of crisis.  I have updated a list of my study materials on my personal web page at AaronWissner.com.  You may find this of interest, as this area of study is not one with which most people are familiar.

I invite you to join the Local Future effort, whether officially, or in your own way.  This journey to the future is ripe with challenges, and working together, in community, we can face them. 

Thank you for learning about Local Future and best wishes,

Aaron Wissner
President
Local Future

P.S.  If you would like to read my writing, watch my videos, or email me, see below:

  • Articles: Value System: Energy, Economy, Environment and the Future - Most of my written reflections on my study are here, along with occasional additional pieces.
  • Videos:  New Culture: The Local Future Network - Here are hours of interesting videos from various presentations regarding energy, economy, environment, and the local future.
  • Social Networking:  A small group of friends and I are working to help me move forward with this work.  When we find an excellent link or essential information, we post it at the Local Future page on Facebook. I invite you to join us there.
  • Email:  aaron@localfuture.org - I read all emails, but will fall behind on responding, depending on the priority of the various Local Future projects and initiatives.