I've been dreaming of this moment for three years!

I spent the weekend at the Prairie Festival hosted by the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. While there I saw an amazing slate of speakers (Brian Donahue, Kamyar Enshayan, Lisa Grossman, Richard Heinberg, Wes Jackson, Naomi Klein, David Montgomery & Ann Zimmerman) discussing topics as seemingly diverse -- but in reality tightly related -- as dirt, the global economy, forests, engaging local government, climate change and peak oil. I highly recommend making the trek to Salina next September.

One of the many points that stuck with me was made by Richard Heinberg, the author of Peak Oil, Peak Everything & most recently, The End of Growth. In his talk, he made the statement that what we're seeing is "capitalism trying to profit from its collapse." I returned home with this in mind and the very next day saw incredibly brazen evidence to support Mr. Heinberg's statement:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/aC19fEqR5bA]

After watching the previous clip, the following came to mind.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0]

Fortunately, connecting with the speakers and attendees at the Prairie Festival has given me renewed hope. The problems we face are pushing us into a corner, but good people are working hard on solutions. As we continue to work towards those solutions, I'll hold on to my favorite the idea from the weekend: