Transition Network a quiet insurgency in Cowichan
So, regarding Bob Rock’s retorts to my recent letters, exposing the Global Transition Network in our valley, I have to wonder; is a comprehension problem at play or is he purposely twisting and distorting my words to accommodate himself?
There are a few items we need to set straight though. No, the Commies aren’t coming, they are already here, with the Canadian chapter legally founded in 1921. No, I did not say the Network was communist, “but they appear to present as such”, and that communism is abhorrent to most hard working self-sufficient people. Yes, the Transition Network’s Transition Cowichan and One Cowichan have infiltrated many organizations in our valley, and even more connections have since surfaced. No, I did not say Rock’s straw-man, Asimov was a communist, but that Asimov “advocated for communism”. His name appeared on the U.S. Communist Party’s own member list as an advocate.
Also, there seems to be some confusion around the very word “communism/Communism”. There is a long-version definition ascribed through philosophy and critical theory but here is the short version; there is a lower-case “c” and an upper-case “C” definition. Lower case refers to the generality of how communism works: a system supporting the elimination of private property where goods are owned in-common and available to all as needed. Upper case refers to the doctrine and its implementation: based on Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism, it is a totalitarian system of government of a single authoritarian party that controls the goods and means of production. Communism is the implementation of Marxist theory. From reading the Transition Network’s many source documents it is evident that their ideology follows this framework. Chumsa/Slade take note.
As our community at large was not made privy to the details on what was transpiring, the Transition Network’s implementation in our town can be viewed as one of quiet insurgency, and that very concept makes it anti-democratic to everyone except those involved in its implementation. (In case anyone gets their hair on fire over the word “insurgency” here is the definition: “a condition of revolt against a government that is less than an organized revolution and that is not recognized as belligerency” —Merriam Webster) Also, the Transition Network’s external prescriptive criteria that had to be fulfilled in order for our town to be accepted as a Transition Town raises questions about our community’s own anonymity. In the end this type of underground collectivism can prove unhealthy, as the growing and unchecked self-interests of these network groups have the ability to usurp total power of existing governing bodies, and here in the Cowichan Valley it appears they are well on their way to achieving that. Voting in council then becomes a mere formality.
Diane Moen
North Cowichan
