The Reason We Are Mad

FOOLS AND SAGES podcast interviewed me about my book with Eduardo Subirats and Christopher Britt Arredondo, ENLIGHTENMENT IN AN AGE OF DESTRUCTION

These Fools are joined by Paul Fenn, Founder of Local Power and inventor of “Community Choice Aggregation” for municipal energy procurement. Paul shares his fascinating background that includes a deep relationship to philosophy, political theory, psychology, energy policy and municipal engagement, leading to a discussion of the state of the American psyche, (for which Paul has a fearless diagnosis,) and a discourse on “what we should do.” You won’t want to miss this one!

Chapters:

00:00 Paul Fenn and His Journey

08:57 The Shift from Criticism to Law in Energy Policy

11:55 Community Choice Aggregation

14:52 Deregulation and the California Energy Crisis

18:12 Success of Local Power and Green Bonds

21:03 Microgrids and Local Control

23:49 Philosophical Insights on Enlightenment and Ethics

26:56 Living with Awareness

30:02 Energy and Human Identity

36:13 Owning Land and Self-Sufficiency

39:01 Empowerment of the Individual in Democracy

43:26 The Burden of Individual Responsibility

44:44 The Dialectic of State and Individual

46:40 Crisis of Representation in Democracy

48:24 Governance and Power

49:41 Localism as a Universal Political Concept

51:38 The Boredom of Political Participation

54:03 Selflessness vs. Self-Interest in Politics

01:00:16 The Dynamics of Local Democracy

01:02:26 Cycles of Political Disillusionment

01:07:08 The Failures of the Nation-State

01:18:39 Critique of the Energy Industry

01:27:11 The Illusion of Renewable Energy Certificates

01:34:10 Navigating the Madness of Modern Systems

01:48:27 Reconnecting with Nature and Local Communities

01:57:18 Personal Responsibility and Action