THE RESILIENT COMMUNITY

It should be clear, as we watch the gyrations and excesses of global markets, that no organization/state/group has any meaningful control over its direction. The same is true for almost every other aspect of globalization, from the environment to transnational crime to energy flows. In short, we've lost control and our collective future is in the hands of a morally neutral system that is operating in ways that we don't fully understand (nor will we). The best defense against this emerging situation is not to call for new Manhattan projects or global treaties or Marshall plans, which won't work since we can neither marshal the resources necessary nor collectively agree on anything other than the most basic rules of connectivity, it is to slowly introduce organic stability into out global system. The concept I've latched onto as a solution is what I call the resilient community.

This conceptual model creates a set of new services that allow the smallest viable subset of social systems, the community (however you define it), to enjoy the fruits of globalization without being completely vulnerable to its excesses. These services are configured to provide the ability to survive an extended disconnection from the global grid in the following areas (an incomplete list):

• Energy.
• Food.
• Security (both active and passive).
• Communications.
• Transportation.

The resilient community has broad applicability beyond just improving the ability of those of us in developed economies to preserve wealth and a quality of life despite severe system shocks. It can also be applied to the problems of counter-insurgency in semi-modern urban environment (to radically update a process that was built for the last century) and provide the potential for organic development in underdeveloped areas of the world. The key is that we need to support the open source efforts currently underway to expand this capability underway such as the transition towns movement to MIT's low tech solutions effort.

I touched on this concept in Brave New War and here on this blog. Might need to put out a short book that really explores the concept in a way that allows people to get their heads around it.

Comments

[SWIMMER21]

Dear Bob,
I agree with your very interesting vision linking resilience and community.
I have in mind that to built up those communities, some kind of free exchange will be at the root, just as a seed. I fell that people may be part of many of those communities All of those will have something in common different from traditional links (family, culture...). I look forward on having your thoughts about that.

[Duncan Kinder]

A resilient community that already exists is the Amish.

For an easily digestible intro to Amish life, the Ohio Amish mystery series, by P. L. Gaus, is good reading:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-1742088-6966202?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ohio+amish+gaus&x=0&y=0

( Based in Holmes County, in north eastern Ohio, Ohio's Amish community is the largest in the world. )

[John Robb]

Thanks Duncan, hopefully we can update the Amish experience. ;-> If we can crack the code to this model of resilience, it will have broad applicability to almost every aspect of global security.

[Flagg]

A short book would be useful. Perhaps you could solicit chapters from some of the folks who comment here and see what you could assemble - your own bazaar of ideas - with your globalguerrillas thesis provding the framework. Some of your regular readers and commenters are big-hitters in the realm of ideas. Just a thought.

[jeffvail]

John,

The notion of resilient community is critical to leverage the benefits of globalization while simultaneously achieving sustainability and human fulfillment. Whether in economics, security, or the environment, globalization threatens to marginalize the human input as it would any other economic "cost" unless this process is checked by communities that are minimally self-sufficient--that is, they can negotiate with the global marketplace from a position of independence, rather than be forced into the marginalization-or-isolation dichotomy. Communities can interact with the global market as as equals, rather than in a subservient-master relationship, only when they can meet their basic needs in a local and sustainable manner, and only interact globally to their benefit, not out of dependency. I've tried to approach this concept in the links below. I'm looking forward to your further explorations of this theme...

http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/envisioning-hamlet-economy-topology-of.html
http://www.jeffvail.net/2006/04/rhizome-central-place-theory.html

[gmoke]

Passive Survivability: The Other Reason to Go Green

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM Thursday, March 13, 2008
Session Chair: Alex Wilson, BuildingGreen, Inc.
Session Speaker: Christopher R. Schaffner, PE, LEED® AP, The Green Engineer, LLP
Peter Yost, BuildingGreen, Inc.

The concept of "passive survivability" is relatively new to the building community but had its debut in Environmental Building News two years ago. It involves what is the next generation of green buildings. They are distinguished from other green buildings in that they are not only environmentally excellent but also become more secure structures able to keep their occupants safe and reasonably comfortable under all conditions.

At NESEA's Building Green conference in Boston, MA.

[gmoke]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to add
Solar IS Civil Defense

The best current example I know of is the Bogolight (http://www.bogolight.com) which is a solar LED light and AA battery charger. The battery charger makes battery switching possible, charging one set of batteries while using another thus making it possible to operate multiple devices from one solar charger, is not mentioned by the manufacturers but is an obvious adaptation. $25 buys one for you and another for somebody in the developing world. Good deal and good product.

[Duncan Kinder]

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to add
Solar IS Civil Defense"

My MidEast policy: "Develop solar power and get the hell out of there."

Instead, we spend trillions on Iraq.

[perlmonger]

Add water to that list.

[stevelaudig]

A more elaborated theory of "fire breaks; pop off valves; fuses; borders, boundaries; governors and regulators" is what we are after.

[Duncan Kinder]

OK, let's suppose we have achieved our resilient community: an Arcadian paradise, a Constable painting with Beethoven's Sixth playing in the background, Tolkien's Shire writ large.

What to do when Panzer divisions and Stukas invade seeking to enslave the population; motorcycle gangs attempt to rape and pillage; or Blackwater thugs seek to seize land in order to strip mine it?

It seems that the sort of defensive measures Hezbollah has developed should be able to repel that sort of contingency. Basically pockmark the terrain with submerged defensive positions, pillboxes to which one could retreat, could turn our Arcadia into a briar patch.

[Elle]

Mr. Robb,

Would you envision a resilient community to resemble Deadwood,as in the HBO series?

Thank you!

[John Robb]

Elle, not in the slightest. The effort is to avoid outcomes like we saw in Gretna during Katrina.

[Hans]

John, please write it, may I suggest a title ?
All in my backyard.

[Elle]

Thank you for your response Mr. Robb,I'll just wait for your book to see how you envision this type of community!

Blessings

Elle

[Toby]

A major systems pertubation must occur before we see any semblence of a resilient community. Even with that we must still deal with the community(s) being able to trust one another with many things that we now take for granted. The need to instill system changers on each block or within ones enclave will be needed to show how we can sustain ourselves in the event of a major disruption.

[John Robb]

Actually, there is a way to do it within the current context by pushing for the use of platforms. These platforms can deliver economic value today and make it much easier to transition to the resilient model when the system shock occurs.

[adam]

I've been thinking about this one for a while and the questions that I have for the floor is: what is the resilient community for? And who makes it up?

A community has to have some kind of purpose. This is surely especially true for one that has to be very close knit. I grew up in a market town in the middle of nowhere. The purpose of the town was the market (every Wednesday and Saturday). Sounds pointless? Probably. But the town had been there since before 1066 and never been burnt out - now that's resilient.

But for the resilient community the purpose appears to be one of immediate survival as the West collapses into what can only be described as a new Dark Ages. Is that enough to get people acting now? Will it keep them together whilst they wait for "Armageddon"? What do the communities hope to do? How will such a community be able to handle the large numbers of refugees without being overrun?

And if the people that start acting are the same survivalists are they the right people to build a community successfully? A rather neat book on the subject that might show the people that make up a resilient community at the start is here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dancing-Armageddon-Survivalism-Chaos-Modern/dp/0226532445/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1202033121&sr=8-1

I do not know, its not really my area, these are just my questions.

[JHyde]

For resilient communications, I'd suggest looking at Wireless Mesh Networks. They'd only work in areas of sufficient density, but they're much more resistant to failure because of how decentralized they can be. If got a good network worked up you could be practically guaranteed wireless communications no matter how bad things got.

[James]

Mr. Robb,

I'd love to see this concept developed in much more detail. A book would be nice, but a wiki would be better, IMO. I've tossed around the idea of setting up such, but I'm having trouble deciding where and how to begin. Creating platforms to promote resilience at so many different levels is a daunting idea ... so many things that need to be addressed. I'm a simple person, I like the step-by-step How To. Do you think it's possible to create an 'encyclopedia of resilience' that would be in any way useful?

BTW, I loved your book, and enjoy your blog on a regular basis. Thank you for both!

[Ron Holmess]

I am a family man living in an ag town in Central California, a state of massive confusion and self-destruction. I design and build small electronic devices to assist musiciansand market thru an online dealer and also sell directly to the world. I know from my limited experience you can reach folks everywhere directly with a good idea and it is infinitely possible.

It is become clear that all of our government is basically either on the take, getting kickbacks, or is plain stupid. The financial market distortion is based on physcopaths using their Harvard MBAs to destroy any hope of a balance in business and survival of every small business thruought the world.

We have to think around these souless-less machines that merely look human to find sustainable ways around the heartless machine that now is destroying the world and its hope. Solutions do not reside in political ideologies. They reside in a spirit of good will and a belief that real humans with a concscience everywhere with any skin color can form networks together.
This means alternate trade, lots of positive thinking and a desire to form viable groupings to sustain/suport each other.

The Amish have their uniform belief system. They indeed work towards the common good. That model has limitations but the form is good and they are people of good will. It is our common belief in work ethic, desire to help less fortunate and injured, desire to help feed, clothe and suport our family that binds us. Everywhere. No matter what your God looks like, our mission is survival and to sustain our families. We will need to be clear on what matters. Its not about enough guns or laws that are now immaterial or useless political dogma.

This is about the survival of our kids, grandkids, even the nutsy aunt in the attic. It is about right and wrong. Since our leaders are completely incapable of this we must do it one at a time. Every transaction must be clear and balanced and kind. Don't steal or hustle from your neighbor. A fair profit is good. Theft, subterfuge, lying and empty words are not and when you leave this world that will become instantly and profoundly clear.

Please be thoughtful and kind above all. use good critical judgement to filter the well-crafted BS of Madison Avenue and the low-life thieves in Washington and Wall Street. We can survive in spite of men with no soul. We have to show ours and with courage. Everyday. Every business deal. Do them with love and a desire for balance.

Profit is good. Do that in balance. Be fair. Be critical. Support folks finding alternate ways of binding us together in new ways. Its fucking scarey but what else can we do? This is a good time for innovation and lower-tech ideas. Non-repairable equipment is a waste of landfill, money and effort. Go make a sustainable world. I will do my part to do that. Thanks.
Ronald L. Holmes
Holmes Engineering
Bakersfield, CA USA

[Fred Presley]

John,
You are certainly on the right track with this line of thinking. I have been working in the area of Community Resilience for the past 3 years with my colleagues in the Resilient Futures Network www.resilientfutures.org both here in the US and in Australia. Our work is based around the idea of communities as complex adaptive systems, understanding them from a whole systems perspective and developing the capabilities and policies required to create places that proactively transform with rapidly changing conditions (as apposed to the knee-jerk reactions that are currently displayed). I would love you share what we're doing with you and learn more about what your doing. Perhaps there is an opportunity to engage around this thinking.