Paul Ceinfuegos spoke June 3rd, 2010 at the Village Building Convergence in Portland. The essence of his talk is that these times call for very bold thinking and action to implement massive change. He says it is the citizens of a democracy, we the people, that have the right to a government where the people rule!
He points out that the emerging scientific consensus is that US needs to cut its greenhouse gases by 70 - 90% within 10 - 20 years or the world faces catastrophic climate disruption. Corporate power and profiteering stand in the way. Cienfuegos reminds us that corporate power has not always been so entrenched, and he provides examples of how communities are re-writing their charters to take their power back.
As Cienfuegos says, we need to stretch ourselves, imagine ourselves as the sovereign people who govern ourselves with no power or authority higher than ourselves!
- KBOO