#64 Helena Norberg-Hodge - Resisting the Machine World and Turning Toward Life

On this episode of Death in The Garden, we’re sharing our most recent interview with Helena Norberg-Hodge that we did while we were in Ladakh, India. Helena is the director of Local Futures, the organization leading the global localization movement. This interview was recorded following the events of the Planet Local Summit, which was a profoundly inspiring event that brought brilliant people from all over the world to discuss the most pressing issues of the day. We learned so much from our time at this summit, and are filled with a renewed sense of common humanity and inspiration, knowing that there are people all over the world resisting the machinification of the world, and turning toward life.

In this episode, we discuss the problems of globalization, the global monoculture, and the breakdown of our relationships with each other and the living economy. We discuss how localization is an antidote to many of the complex problems we face in modernity, as localization prevents the invisibilization of negative externalities that has become commonplace since the creation of the global economy. We discuss how localization brings people back into contact with communities, with nature, and what it means to be a human being, allowing people to return to a life of meaning once again. We also talk about the relationship between cultural diversity and ecological diversity, and how protecting biodiversity is inextricably linked to protecting cultural diversity. We also discuss “big picture activism” and the importance of resisting the myth of a mechanical world. Near the end, we discuss the invention of greed under our modern economy and the artificial scarcity in engenders.

Be sure to check out the films Ancient Futures and The Economics of Happiness, and also we absolutely encourage you to read Helena’s book, Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh for a Globalizing World.*

Thank you as always to our paid subscribers who continue to make this project possible, and thank you to Local Futures for enabling us to be part of the Planet Local Summit. It was such an honor and privilege to be part of such a powerful event.

* This is an affiliate link. If you purchase the book through this link, we get a small kickback.

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