Monday 18 October 2010

Transition Town ... You Cannot Be Serious!

The story so far:

On 23rd September 2010, Rob Hopkins (Co-Founder of the Transition Town Movement and Trustee of the Transition Network Charity) sent an unsolicited Email attempting to defame Ian R Crane.

The previous Email exchanges can be reviewed via the following links:

Round 1: Rob Hopkins Opening Salvo.

Round 2: Rob Hopkins Continues His Libelous Attacks.

Round 3: Rob Hopkins ... Portrait of an Eco-Leader in Denial

As it is becoming evident that Rob Hopkins is behaving like a Pit Bull Terrier and isn't about to let up in his efforts to defame me, I have now copied Ben Brangwyn (the other Co-Founder of Transition Town) in on my replies and requested a meeting with the Transition Network Board of Trustees in the hope that we might find a more conducive and co-operative way forward.

Unfortunately the initial response from Ben Brangwyn is not particularly encouraging:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ben Brangwyn
To: Ian R Crane
Cc: Rob Hopkins
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 11:07 AM
Subject: Transition Network: board meeting request

Ian,

Thank you for your request to meet with the trustees of Transition Network. We'll discuss it at the next board meeting. If the request is agreed with, I'll send you an email with the dates. If you don't hear from me, that's because we won't be able to fit you into our very busy agendas.

Regards.


Ben Brangwyn


---------------

Ben Brangwyn
Transition Network: co-founder
address: 43 Fore St, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5HN, UK
website: http://transitionnetwork.org
email:
office:
uk registered charity:
1128675



My Comments:


Not a good start! Not only does this look like a stock administrative response, it is apparent that the issue only warrants being 'discussed' at the next Board Meeting ... and only then if they can 'fit me in to their very busy agendas!'


So let's get this right, the founder of Transition Town and Trustee of the Transition Network Charity (uk registered charity: 1128675) initiates an unsolicited attempt to smear a Researcher who has the audacity to call into question the Transition Town attachment to 'Peak Oil', yet the Board of Trustees barely consider it to be worthy of discussion!


So... here's my response to Ben Brangwyn:


----- Original Message -----
From: Ian R Crane
To: Ben Brangwyn
Cc: Peter Lipman (Chair of Transition Network); William Lana (Transition Network Trustee)
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:39 AM
Subject: Re: Transition Network: board meeting request

For the Attention Ben Brangwyn and all other Transtion Network Trustees:
CC: William Lana,

Dear Ben,

thanks for your response to my recent Email regarding the request to meet with the Trustees of the Transition Network... although I have my doubts that it is you who 'penned' the Email as it bears of the hallmarks of a standard administrative response!

The meeting with the Board of Trustees is requested specifically to discuss the recent exchange of Emails with Rob Hopkins. Your failure to take the request seriously would suggest that you and your fellow Transition Trustees condone the practice of attempting to defame and/or demonise those who have the audacity to question publicly the Transition Town attachment to the hypotheses of 'Peak Oil' & 'Anthropogenic Global Warming'.

Although the Emails received from Rob were from his gmail account, I draw your attention to the fact that the following statement appears at the end of each Email. Thereby putting the Email on the electronic equivalent of TT Headed Paper:



www.transitionculture.org
An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent.
Available now from Transition Culture: The Transition Handbook: from oil dependency to local resilience published by Green Books.
To subscribe to Transition Network's monthly newsletter go to http://tinyurl.com/44rasw


Could Rob Hopkins persistence in attempting to label me a a 'Holocaust denier' be related to him still harbouring antagonism following his poor performance in debate with Peter Taylor and myself, recorded in Glastonbury in March 2008? Having been acquainted with Rob since shortly after his arrival in South Devon, it has become increasingly apparent that Rob has great difficulty in separating the 'Political' from the 'Personal'!

I ask this question as I have effectively ignored Transition Town ever since a brief exchange of Emails with Rob in the aftermath of that debate! The exception being when I asked Rob to confirm a report that Julia Middleton (Chief Executive of 'Common Purpose') had given a presentation on Eugenics at a Transition Town Conference. Rob denied that this was the case.

However, I note that Transition Town has not distanced itself from an essay published by Colin Campbell which broaches the need for 'Population Reduction' ... and with significant Schumacher College Alumni presence in the Transition Town leadership, the TT association with Lovelockian philosophy on planetary population is rather more than tenuous! In addition, the following 10:10 awareness video does nothing to alleviate my disgust at the underlying Eugenics agenda amongst myopic 'Greens'.

As a number of people and TT Communities are associated with the 10:10 campaign, I think it is safe to assume that the Eugenics agenda is not too far from underlying TT philosophy!


The great tragedy is that I support many of the TT initiatives but the Cult-like attachment to the increasingly dubious hypotheses of 'Peak Oil' and 'Anthropogenic Global Warming', as indisputable facts, coupled with the failure to denounce Eugenics, does the Transition Town Leadership no credit. Indeed, it is this attachment which has lead to division within many of the communities where Transition Town has a presence.

I assume that your 'busy agendas' will no doubt prevent the TT Board of Trustees from acquiescing with my request for a meeting; this being the case I will take the opportunity to share this latest Transition Town outrage with the widest possible audience.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank you for providing me with further insight into the myopic and narcissistic worldview of the Transition Town Leadership. Another fine illustration of the TT approach to 'non-confrontational politics' in practice; i.e. Don't engage with anyone who refuses to buy-in to TT dogma! If this is your approach to 'Community Leadership' in the post-industrial world? May God help us all!

Regards,

Ian R Crane



I wonder if this might get somebody's attention?











8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep it up Ian this sort of for want of a better term Eco-nazi mentality is getting out of control . I have been on both sides of the argument being a member of Greenpeace and Sea Shepard and on many protests over the years i have seen how the movement was taken over by people with an agenda with no desire for the truth. I am open to debate which many will not and i will admit when I'm wrong ...... After researching the facts of Climate change and peak oil there is no agreement on what is the driver or if peak oil is happening at the rate they want us to believe......... So please keep up the fight for truth we need to put some common sense into the world."

Anonymous said...

I reckon Transition Towns are being used now as part as controlled opposition, there's no way they could have grown that rapidly.

They are quite big here in Totnes, but certainly not everyone here is buying it.

Has anyone heard this debate with Ian Crane, Rob Hopkins and Peter Taylor. I don't think Hopkins comes over very well

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/pe...ry-/1612307506

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/pe...two/3533631961

Apparently, Ian Crane had been challenging Rob Hopkins for years to do a debate like this. The other guy Peter Taylor also comes over very well and seems very convincing.

All is not as it seems.

Anonymous said...

Many of the points you raise originate from the dangerous nonsense that comes from the Steiner Waldorf schools (also known as Anthroposophy and Spiritual Science).

The core belief of Anthroposophy is that the soul reincarnates through many lifetimes from Black to Aryan as a consequence of a persons karma. Not only do the teachers believe they are clairvoyant, they believe they are able to assess the current position of the child's soul according to their physiognomy which they then classify into temperaments

The main purpose of the schools is to spread Anthroposophy in the belief that they can save humanity. The connections between transition and Anthroposophy has also been part of an ongoing discussion on the Rick Ross site.

There are hundreds of former parents and pupils across the world expressing serious concerns relating to the anti-scientific, occult and racist teachings that secretly underpin the pedagogy.

Anthroposophy and Ecofascism

Six Facts You Need to Know about Steiner Education

Anonymous said...

Totnes shares many similarities with a place outside Stockholm called Järna - both are Anthroposophical.

I've often wondered how the locals must feel about these particular 'blow-ins'. Some will be unaware, it is almost invisible except for those green memes that over time one instantly recognizes as Anthroposophical.

Many are not honest about their belief system, Anthroposophists believe they possess occult secrets that cannot be shared with the uninitiated. Following directions from Steiner, they lie, obfuscate and mislead intentionally thinking this is their occult duty.

Steiner Waldorf education, Triodos Bank, Camphill Movement, Biodynamic agriculture, Anthroposophical Medicine, Weleda, the Movement for Religious Renewal (also known as The Christian Community) and Eurythmy are all founded on Anthroposophy.

I suspect TT was able to spread so rapidly due to mobilizing the Steiner communities that were already in place. The schools describe themselves as the fastest growing independent school movement in the world, there are approximately 900 schools.

Totnes twinned with Jarna

I also understand that Rob Hopkins went to a Steiner Waldorf school, his use of the 'Heart, head, hands' motto is also used in Steiner schools worldwide.

Anonymous said...

Ian, you are the breath of fresh air to clense and awaking, your voice is and has been the voice of many, soon will come the voice of humanity,

jc

Anonymous said...

While I applaud your scepticism about the hoax that is the so-called holocaust, you manage to combine it with a seriously unrealistic denial of the reality of the end of cheap energy (which is now becoming sharply more obvious). And of the inevitability of massive population reduction, either planned or horrendously unplanned.

The bottom line is that nothing defames a person better than his own words. Rob's hostile words about holocaust denial establish him as yet another fascist opponent of free speech. And also far more egotistic than warranted. Meanwhile your own lengthy ad hom ranting here casts yourself in an outstandingly unflattering light and if you have any insight or sense you will delete it all. Cheers and sod bless you all.
PS- you should ask Rob to tell you the clear evidence on which he bases his strong words about the holocaust. You can rest assured you won't get a response, cos the Holocaust lobby people are incapable of actually presenting evidence rather than mere assertions that there is so many tons of it that the matter is beyond debate.

Anonymous said...

PS re "holocaust" - try the david cole videos for a start. How can a video have been retracted? Join the dot.

janie healey said...

Ian, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, your knowledge & intellect far surpass any attempt of character assassination directed at you from the likes of these nefarious individuals. God bless you.