Breakdown or Breakthrough?
![afinancebig2902799302_efcf845e11[1].JPG](http://www.realitysandwich.com/sites/realitysandwich.civicactions.net/files/imagecache/large/afinancebig2902799302_efcf845e11[1].JPG "afinancebig2902799302_efcf845e11[1].JPG")
Witnessing the unraveling of the global financial system, I find myself gripped by contrasting emotions. While part of me feels like heading for the hills and hoarding cans of sardines, another part of me is giddy, almost celebratory. The tyrannical rule of Wall Street is ending, along with the self-serving free market ideology of Neoconservatives. The massive amounts of fictitious capital created by our corrupt financial system must be destroyed, so we can address our immediate situation on this planet.
I feel sorry for the millions of people who may suffer during a transition that will be extremely difficult. On the other hand, our rapacious economic system is destroying the integrity of the biosphere, threatening our future as a species. Taking a wider perspective, we can see a new social structure that creates sustainable patterns of behavior is necessary, if we want our descendents to continue on the earth.
In my last book, I looked at many predictions of systemic financial dissolution at this time. I discussed the possibility that a financial H-bomb could melt down the economic system while leaving the "tangible assets" -- people, infrastructure, land -- still standing. I suggested this could be the best thing to happen to our world. Such a systemic collapse is a tremendous opportunity to change the direction of our society. Those who believe civilization can be run according to different principles -- humane, equitable, and collaborative ones -- need to step forward now with concrete proposals and put ideals into practice.
Several factors made the collapse of the global financial system inevitable. One problem with capitalism is that it is not self-sufficient, but depends on the constant availability of new markets, forcing expansion by creating ever-increasing amounts of debt. We now have a globalized world market, so exploitation of new territories can no longer take place. As Naomi Klein analyzed in The Shock Doctrine, this led to a policy of "disaster capitalism," where cataclysms like hurricanes and terrorist acts were seized as opportunities to redevelop internal markets. Such a practice is inherently unsustainable.
Another crucial element that is rarely discussed in the media is the connection between the current financial meltdown and peak oil. Just as our debt-based economic system needed new markets to penetrate, it also required an ever-increasing supply of cheap energy to fuel its expansion. The decreasing supply of fossil fuels relative to global demand has brought the second law of thermodynamics into play, breaking the delusionary spell cast by the financier-sorcerers, who decoupled financial value from real value back in the early 1970s. When we consider the permanent reduction in the supply of cheap energy combined with the lack of new markets, it is obvious the amassed debts will never be repaid.
Over the last decades, we have suffered through a massive transfer of financial assets from the poor and middle class to a tiny elite of the extremely wealthy. By a recent count, 691 billionaires had a combined net worth of $2.2 trillion. At the same time, an estimated 2.8 billion people survive on less than $2 a day. In the United States, fewer than 7,500 individuals control "almost three-quarters of the nation's industrial (nonfinancial) assets, almost two-thirds of all banking assets, and more than three-quarters of all insurance assets," according to Thomas Dye's Who's Running America? Members of this tiny group are found in the top echelons of our most exclusive law firms, investment banks, federal government posts and military commands. Our current system is one of financial apartheid that rewards the most ecologically destructive and sociopathic behavior.
We face the possibility that money will soon lose its value as a medium of exchange. Given this, we will need to develop alternative ways of creating, exchanging and sharing value. One interesting option is the potential for digital networks based on trust and reputation to replace many of the services now provided by our dollar-based economy. We may return to local currencies. Bernard Lietaer's proposal for a negative-interest currency linked to tangible assets that could act as a global trading medium should be taken seriously as an option.
In the near term, we face an increasingly turbulent and dangerous situation in the U.S. Demagogues may attempt to control the situation with force. Some form of martial law is a real option. However, any attempt to impose martial law will only accelerate the collapse of our financial system. The ruling elite faces insoluble paradoxes. There is the potential for a triggering event similar to the nonviolent populist revolt that overcame the Soviet Union in 1989, surprising political experts and think tank analysts.
Despite the financial meltdown, the decline of resources and the acceleration of climate change, we do not have to undergo a cataclysmic collapse. Through the new social technologies we have developed, we could quickly reorganize our society to allocate resources rationally. We could create collaborative networks that support a rapid evolution of collective intelligence. We could shift from oligarchy to a true democracy, the "rule of all by all," developing a society capable of rapid adaptation and resilient response.
This article originlly appeared in Conscious Choice.
Photo by canonsnapper, courtesy of Creative Commons.
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- 11-4-08
- Daniel Pinchbeck's blog
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This may be what's coming
I received the following link from a friend, but thought it was off the deep end. Then I did some research, and now tied to what Daniel is saying, it could just happen.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1954933468700958565&hl=es
Hal
Not only that, but the alleged Amero coin he's holding in that video is made by a guy named Daniel Carr and sold at this website:
http://www.dc-coin.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=8
On Hal Turner's blog he has a close-up photo of the coin, and you can even see the "DC" logo on the bottom. Don't trust this guy.
Trust.
Chaos Point
You refer again to the financial system's dependence on economic growth by tapping new markets (and possibly by raising profits too? - not sure about that), but I find myself wanting some sort of proof of this. I know that it's supposed to be inherent in the creation of money through debt which is how the fractional reserve system operates, but it would seem to me that a child of about 5 years old, upon learning the law of the conservation of mass-energy, would realise that a system based on constant growth cannot last forever. And I'm just getting this horrible feeling of "Surely if it were all as simple as that, then the governments would know about it and they'd already be trying to do something about it, instead of stupidly hoping to perpetuate the system".
"Those who believe civilization can be run according to different principles -- humane, equitable, and collaborative ones -- need to step forward now with concrete proposals and put ideals into practice."
Well, I meet that criterion, but how? How are they going to put ideals into practice?
Is "Breakdown of Breakthrough" a reference to the phrase that Ervin Laszlo uses in "The Chaos Point"?
Putting Ideals into practice
I have mentioned this other places however no one has responded yet, but I'll try again.
The answer is best said by Ghandi, " be the change you want to see in the world"
Ok now the steps to direct action.
1) Who you work for
2) Where you spend your money
These two actions are the ONLY actions of impact on the world. Politics, Religion, Governments, Federal Reserve have not held the key the solution to a better place. To preface I do not believe in uptopia but I do believe in a better way.
Money cannot solve this problem. This problem can however be solved by people that don't have to go along to get along.
Companies need to be started that have the premise of gift economies, and direct sharing between them to create a better place. Imagine a union of companies that the workers themselves own equally, and they equally trade in. For example Wendy's and Dell and Remax Homes get together and say we are going to directly share and so Dell gives computers to wendy's, wendy's gives to remax etc.
Basically start up businesses with this distinct purpose in mind... make money now to eventually segue into moneyless trading within its union.
These new companies will be purely democratic and small less then 150 people and inspired in true team work versus the hanging of the imaginary carrot out in front of the worker.
People will want to join the cause naturally from it's benefits. And we will let them because if this is to work the infrastructure must be reproducible and scalable.
I am willing to start a group in the Washington DC area/ internet (audio/video) to begin a think tank to solve these issues (Reality Sandwich is a good start but I have found that it is not solution driven)....
The Goals of these companies are transition to a of better way of life. None of these ideals will be forced, unlike the reiterations on a daily basis that Capitalism, democracy, America is the best way to live.
Some non-profits out there are on the right path however I think for this truly to take affect these organizations would have to have some profitability in almost every industry.
Also not every company would have to start with this purpose but could be allowed in with certain rules based on ethical, ecological, gift, karmatic morals.
The key is that people need to see direct results from their actions that are in it, Others will follow along by the success that is enabled.
If interested contact me through reality sandwich and I'll set up a wiki to start bouncing idea on how to make this happen or something like this.
--Bkind
Be the change
The internet is a communications medium. You will only ever see people talking on it. That doesn't mean that is all they are doing.
The question is this: is RS a community yet, in that sense? Or are we just a bunch of individuals who come here to gripe or rant?
I've said before, and I'll say again: I live in Athens, GA. I have no car, and must work a lot to make ends meet. But other than that, am always willing to work towards something with someone. =)
chibi.cory@gmail.com
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
has been my sig since I started coming here. ^_^
Pentagon Ready to Brief
Pentagon Ready to Brief Incoming Administration
"Immediately the argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can “throw the rascals out” at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy."
—Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in our Time
Via: AFP:
The Pentagon said it was prepared to begin briefing the president-elect’s team immediately, stressing the importance of a smooth wartime transition, as the US voted for a new president Tuesday.
“If somebody were to show up here tomorrow, we would start working with them tomorrow,” said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.
Changes of US administrations historically are periods of heightened risk, but wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an ever present danger of attack by Al-Qaeda make an orderly transition crucial this year.
Whitman said Defense Secretary Robert Gates has undertaken “pretty unprecedented early preparations to minimize disruption while ensuring we provide the most comprehensive guidance possible.
”A Pentagon task force has identified and is highlighting the most important events, milestones and actions that the new administration will face in the first 90 days, he said.
Among them are troop rotations and the presentation of the 2010 defense budget, which is due to go to Congress in February, just weeks after the new president — Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama — moves into the White House. The others were not disclosed.
“Obviously, they (the incoming administration) will give immediate attention to whatever it is they want to, whatever their priorities are,” Whitman said.
“But there are some things that in the natural course of this department have to be addressed, like the budget, or you’re not going to have money,” he said.
hopeful I am
I feel very good and am optimistic about some of the currency systems proposed by this fire. Coordination? Could lead to integration with out-of-date illusions...
eh? (;
Breakthrough the fnords?
Daniel, it's all breakthrough, man. That's what we're shooting for and nothing less, so there it is.
Maybe it won't happen.
Maybe breakdown will occur, but at least we tried. We'll have more "fuel" to rebuild anew than if we hadn't strived for anything at all.
It's obvious that there is only one real choice, and the only question is, "Will enough people see the obvious choice, the aha! in time to stave off the inevitable breakdown that is a natural result of the sort of way we've been living?" Will we learn enough in time to change our direction at the edge of the maelstrom?
The more the merrier in this boat, I say. . . so long as every traveler seeks new land, we can walk the path of the fool unharmed. I have faith in our potential.
I mean that.
Black Light in the Attic Podcast
http://blacklightattic.podomatic.com
Profits from the War on Drugs
This is what occurs to me
Been thinking on this article since I read it yesterday. These are the thoughts that have occurred to me, after reading it and the comments thus far.
1. If this occurs, most of the people around us will not be in the least prepared; either emotionally, physiologically, or ideologically. We will need to step up quickly to begin talking to whoever we live near about organizing and coming together as a community.
Even those neighbors you don't know at all, or that you might previously have been afraid of, should be approached: we don't want multiple 'gangs' to be patrolling the same 'turf' (or some kind of crazy Hatfields and MacCoys situation), if we can help it at all.
We will also need to begin talking about still going to work at the necessary tasks (electricity, for example, if we want to have computers so we can access the net). It might take time for that seed to ripen in some people at first, as they worry about the welfare of their immediate family.
2. There is little guarantee (or really, even likelihood) that the internet will be accessible, at least at first; for a time (depending, of course, on the scale of the event and the time it takes to unravel) there may be no one willing to run the equipment to keep it up and running. Short-wave and amateur radio will be crucial in this phase. If you know anyone that is into such things, go to his house. =P
Most of them have a back-up generator, and they actually practice for just such emergencies as these. The government has as standing plan to work with them in times of crisis where all other forms of communication go down. They create a chain across the continent, bucket-brigading information to and fro. They will know what is going on in the rest of the world, and will be able to organize communities across distance (until their diesel runs out =) ).
4. I also think it a good idea, if we really think this is going down (while I think it is a possibility, I have some reservations that I will finish the comment with), then I think it prudent to come up with some sort of RS emergency protocol. Meeting places, or something, for those here who have nowhere else to go when it hits the fan. Some place to gather and plan the next move, and pool resources. Maybe some of us already have a place they want to volunteer? Just a thought.
5. I will paraphrase Sun Tzu here: If you wish to hand your opponent victory, the very first thing you should do is underestimate his abilities. This is my reservation to the whole thing.
They have to know.
Every scrap of data we have, they have had longer. Count on it. These are not stupid people. Greedy? Yes. Arrogant? Yes. But not stupid. You don't get to where they are by being stupid.
I do not see any way in the world that this has not been heavily planned for by the elite. Think The Shock Doctrine -- taken to its logical extreme.
I know we would like to think they are scrambling, panicked...but that is most likely only happening in the middle echelons. Perhaps their arrogance really has blinded them. That would be nice. But lets not plan on it.
The upper echelons have put plenty of their money into hard commodities, such as food, weapons, and various necessities. Count on it. They will use this surplus to at least attempt to retain their dominance. Nicely, if they can, by offering aid and recompensation (once again setting up debt and obligation to get resources flowing back 'up'). By force, if necessary, to stop the 'violent, gang-like activity some victims have turned to'.
Or some slogan or another.
It is a possibility that this is an attempt to break the back of the United States and destroy the dollar, putting pressure on it and its citizens to join the North American Union. Not saying that is what is happening, but we shouldn't rule it out. I find Hal Turner as distasteful as anyone (and I agree that the Amero he presents is suspect, at best)...but, if a man who smokes 20 packs a day, and likes to kill infants, tells you that smoking is bad for you...well, he's still right.
No matter how much of a hypocritical bastard he is.
6. It will, therefore, be imperative that we begin organizing our communities ASAP (hey, maybe even start now!) -- and getting these memes out there to a populace that might suddenly be very ready to recieve them. There is no reason we cannot take advantage of The Shock Doctrine ourselves...and get there first!
Also, any who haven't already might find it enlightening to research the social movements during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War#Social_revolution Always a good place to start. =) ) and the Paris Commune of 1871 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune) for real-world examples of this type of thing being possible.
That's all I can think of for now. =P If anything else occurs to me, I'll post it as well. Comments, criticisms, and rude noises all welcome and appreciated. ^_^
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
amateur radio going to be vital..
Glad you brought this up chibi because its already happening.....i knew nothing bout ham radio until over a yr bk,my partner has been into it for yrs and in the small rural community where we live it is a vital back up to the internet,its free communication,very inexpensive and you get surprises coming through the airwaves...during the summer while cooking dinner i got talking to a guy who was working a combine harvester,cutting 600 acres of barley on the east coast of England,he was working right through the night,i hoped he was'nt gonna be cutting any circles and he just laughed,following evening,around the same time,he came in again...i think they call it "skip"!!I'm still learning but was amazed that sunspot activity and electromagnetics also influence this type of communication,imagine getting through to Austrailia from the west of Ireland....
Ithink its vital to keep learning new skills that will be relevant,worship the binmen and bin the banker,become the builder you want to be...
I spent Samhain tuning in with friends,there was no panic about the times that are in it,i asked a five yr old boy whats important in life and he answered very loudly......Fishing,Farming and Building!!!Theres no panic in that 5yr old,out of the mouths of babes comes truth,that wee fella is sorted....it made me smile so wide...reminded me that the Sanctuary is also widespread...
Solas
meeting places
I'm all for 4.
Meeting places, maybe a map of off-the-grid communities.
Has anyone made such a map?
RS is a little "all talk and no game" right now but I feel like it can transition easliy into half analog half digital networking.
The intentional community I am working with right now is called Terra Sante and is just outside of Tucson AZ. We're soon to start alternative building projects{sandbag houses and hexi-yurts}
There will also be some good places starting up in Eureka Springs AR. I went there for Coallesence Fest and the natives were extremely foward thinking people.
thank you for a response full of usefull ideas!
fascinating stuff
Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank white paper -
"The New Presidency and the Future of American Military Power"
http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,5116/typ...
These people are ready. Don't think for a moment that they'll be broadsided. Iraq, "the Afghan-Pakistan War", Iran, the financial crisis, energy policy, resource depletion. Its all there.
Say, that's a good link
Say, that's a good link there. Just finished reading it...and I hope President-elect Obama is doing the same.
And, btw (I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist (actually, I collect conspiracy theories like some people collect stamps (except in my brain!). I love them. I imagine there is some truth to most of them...somewhere. ^_~)) I was looking up the Electoral College, and I found this out: the Nov. 4 elections are not for the presidential candidates, per se. They are for the electors in the electoral college. Electors pledge to vote for a nominated candidate, and when we mark that candidate's name on the box (or press it on the screen, or whatever) we are voting for that bunch of electors, not for the presidential candidate per se.
Interestingly enough, if something happens to the President-elect before the Electoral College meets on Dec. 15, the electors have suprisingly broad authority as to whom they appoint.
Less than a one percent chance, but still interesting to know of the possibility.
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
You must be the change wiki
I have started a Wiki please feel free to add to it I have set little guidelines the only guideline I ask is that it be goal orientated Please!!
The main focus of this wiki should be goals on how to acheive an alliance of gift economies through funding, politics and (most important in my opinion)building communal corporations that can sustain profit now to support gift economies within it's alliance.
http://youmustbethechange.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
the wealth of networks
excellente bkind...way to put your wiki where your mouth is.
here's some initial research for ya:
the wealth of networks -- yochai benkler
http://yupnet.org/benkler/
and this article has some chewy food for thought on the potential for creative conversation over boolean arguments in online discourse:
http://tinyurl.com/5ug6nm
enjoy the read and see you over there sometime soon.
mo good stuff for ya
michael milken and muhammed yunus on charlie rose talking about bringing microcredit to america --
http://tinyurl.com/5w5cep
strange but true
actually the yunus solo interviews on the right are a little better, as mike has a tendency to dominate the conversation (like some others we know & love).
Breathing prophetic profit
thanks for the laetner tip daniel
reading this paper is blowing my mind: http://tinyurl.com/6gqsrs
what really struck me is the copious references to keynes. it doesn't seem so radical (as opposed to mises and the austrians) now does it?
after listening to Mr.O's press conference today, it seems best to get up to speed on this as quickly as possible. never know, he might pull a reverse FDR and open the door, even if only just a crack.
SOMETHING radical is in store though, one can sense it in his voice & his word choice.
and after being out in the NYC streets amidst the happy anarchic explosions tuesday nite, i personally don't think martial law is the immediate answer. goodwill is the best asset they have right now.
call me too hopeful if u wish...guilty as charged, as long as i can reserve the right to balance it accordingly. too much gloom & doom rots the soul.
sum mo hystery
courtesy of the dismantle civilization blog --
a tale of an austrian town & their local currency in the 30's
http://tinyurl.com/48umar
nova
Daniel - I dig the happy ending of this piece!
"We could shift from oligarchy to a true democracy, the "rule of all by all," developing a society capable of rapid adaptation and resilient response."
i think we can totally do it. there is no reason this transition would not occur. this is the real american destiny - the ideals of liberty and justice for all were never realized by the american project, couldn't be - until it failed! like a star collapsing in on itself and birthing new elements, america's collapse will be the true beginning of democracy. reminds me of whitman, or of the bible - "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." From one, many! and vice versa...
i have a feeling obama is our gorbachev... only better because he's a 'community organizer' and has brought the notion of grassroots organizing into the mainstream in a big way. so he'll preside over the collapse of the american empire, (that is not his intention of course - he wants to begin a process of reforms that, like in gorbachev's ussr, will only reveal the impossibly corrupt foundation of our system. a 'free country' can not be governed from a house built by slaves, after all.) - but he'll also preside over a transition to true democracy - ground up, community organizer style, expedited, as you say, by our new social technologies.
that, at least, is my fond hope.
peace,D
www.myspace.com/thedeclineofthewest
Obama = Gobachev = I Hope!
I keep hearing this comparison of Obama being our Gorbechev. Man, I really hope so. Some kind of true, systemic collapse is just what the doctor ordered (even if I happen to be a casuality of it).
Just, you know...I hate to beat a dead horse...but the elite aren't stupid. They have to have plans for this situation. If nothing more, they will try to wipe the board clean so they can start a new game of monopoly.
And, hey, if not...you can all hit me in the face with a cream pie and call me a silly-head. I will gladly eat my crow raw, and with a smile on my face. ^_^
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
hey chibi - the elite
hey chibi - the elite aren't stupid, but they are only smart at being crooks. when enough eyes are on them, when their actions are seen for what they are and people understand the nature of the con - especially as it relates right now to these bank bailouts, which are basically ensuring a lasting corporate state unless we act against that - their smarts won't be worth anything anymore.
i remember in another thread you said that you couldn't believe that the elites were stupid enough to not see that a philosophy of endless growth and new markets would lead to collapse. their actions seem to show that they see now a new path to profit - cannibalizing government by infiltrating it with their operatives (paulson, robert rubin), and then using tax money to guarantee corporate debt in perpetuity... (see naomi klein's article in the nation, http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2008/10/bailout-bush-s-final-pillage or today's democracy now) the end result of this can only be a people bled to the point where the insidious nature of the elites is obvious and revolt becomes the only option.
obama is not what people believe he is. he is a smart and good man, but he is basically conservative. he is not hope & change. but those are the ideas he awakened in people's hearts and minds & and once awakened - and mobilized - they will (unlike the 'surge') have success far beyond obama's wildest dreams. it wasn't gorbachev who caused the fall of the USSR, it was the pro-democracy movement which seized the day that was his premiership. that is what i foresee happening in america. 'community organizer' has become a sexy word to people all of a sudden. that gives me hope for change, even if obama himself, in terms of his policies and appointees, doesn't.
We are definitely at a
We are definitely at a major juncture here, I agree. I also agree, as I said in a comment on a different thread, it is not Obama that I have much faith in. I don't think he's a bad guy, don't get me wrong.
What I am most interested in, however, is the fact that the populace elected him. There are so many things about him that should have caused him to be immediately 'unelectable', based upon everyone else who has ever been elected to president.
Basically, what I am saying is that I think you could be right; and, indeed, I hope you are. I just want to keep some awareness of the fact that you should never underestimate your opponent or his abilities. I still say that at least a few of them will have squirelled away a surplus of necessities and weapons. If a crisis occurs of the proportions typically discussed here, they will use this stored surplus to once again begin to make people beholden to them. They will swoop in, offer aid, and begin to once again set up a sense of debt or obilgation, and get the resources flowing back up.
Just wipe the board clean, and start playing a new game of Monopoly.
An awareness of the possibility of this will help us to avoid it.
That's all I'm saying. These is some crafty-ass bastards. We underestimate their desire -- or ability -- to retain dominance at our peril.
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
Popol Vuh
It's all about truth!
I'm glad I listened
Hey I couldn't have saved my losses, but I'm glad I read your predictions (daniel and mayan calender) so did get some home upgrades done (this year) while money was worth something. hahahahahHad I waited I would not have gotten the value I needed to get certain projects done, so THANK YOU we have a good bathroom, and a great outdoor room connected to nature.
jez
The Next Steps
What next? It's late fall/early winter, depending on where you might be in the Northern Hemisphere. Time to get ready to feed yourself and others next year. If we see a near catastrophic breakdown in monetary exchange in the US (and I am not saying the whole world, just the US), a lot of things that most folks count on happening, seamlessly, just won't happen.
The elites chose to save lots of money and maximize profits by chopping away mid-layers in the system of systems. They've done away with most localized inventories, regional inventories, etc., and gone for Just In Time (JIT) delivery systems. Great idea, if energy is cheap, and society is stable, and information and goods flow rapidly for long distances (and financial info / digicurrency flows smoothly, as well.) But what if that paradigm all changes? What if energy is NOT cheap, and digital information does NOT flow smoothly, and society is NOT stable? Big problems. BIG problems. JIT then seems like a curse, not a blessing.
And that, friends and fellow travellers, is what is about to hit us. Baltic Dry Goods rates have dropped thru the floor. Global shipping is down dramatically. Trucking comes next. Diesel price hikes and far fewer goods to transport will make the truckers park the big rigs. Cross country trains will keep rolling, for a while, albeit with smaller loads. Those Maine potatoes in California? Those Salinas Valley and Imperial Valley crops in Maine in the winter? Yah, right.
Food, folks. Food. Your first step in localizing must be taking steps to ensure the provision of adequate supplies of food for yourself and your loved ones, and then for those in your community, and then for those who were not wise enough to prepare. How? Get ready to garden, big time, and then be prepared to can and put food by. A lot of work, folks. So don't do it by yourselves. Best place to look? Church. Yep. Most congregations have some older folks who have canned goods before. And there is usually a quality kitchen of some size in a parish house or meeting hall, or whatever your denomimation calls your gathering hall. That kitchen becomes your source for community canning. Intentional community? They are all over America. Meet on Sundays, usually. We have scattered our land with congregations of believers, and just attenders, and well, churches. Now is the time. Now. Thanksgiving. Advent season.
Get involved. Pick a group of folks you might enjoy spending some time with. Diverse. Start taking the conversations towards self sufficiency, or at least, growing some food "for the food banks" next summer. Food banks need food badly already, and are going to need more. Folks in church, a lot of them, know more about raising vegetables and fruit and putting food by than you'd imagine. Great way to engage the older generation. Engage them. Ask them what crops work best locally, and why. And where. Look for open pollenated, heritage seeds, so you can save seed, and won't be beholden to Monsanto.
"You can't do no proper planting, if you don't plan ahead" Agatha Christie had one of her characters say, and she is quite right. Winter is not the time for planting, usually, but it is the time for planning next year's planting, and food saving. And it's a good time to buy canning supplies - low demand. Save those quart sized glass jars all winter, and you'll have a stock already. Buy prepared tomato based pasta sauce, do you? Consider paying a few cents more and buying that brand that comes in canning jars - real canning jars - all ready to wash, and clean the labels off, and use again.
Now's the time to do it. By next summer, if worse comes to worst, there may not BE canning supplies in your local grocery store. And the shelves may be mostly bare, anyway. And you may not even have a valid currency to pay for stuff with anyway! Christmas presents? Good quality garden tools make great presents. So do books on gardening. Don't forget canning supplies. A big pressure canner is not cheap. But it will last a lifetime. Beats the heck out of plastic junk that will be gone from your life in months. Try a Lehmans catalog for a look at life in a different manner. Great toys for kids, too. Real Slinkies, for example! But I digress...
Anyway, getting together with others in your neighborhood and planning and making happen a community garden (or gardens) and food saving program is the most important first step you could take this winter.
Next step, mostly for you and your family? Chickens. Look into getting a few laying hens. A little hen house will fit in a backyard almost anywhere in the USA. And no, you don't need any roosters. Hens lay eggs without a rooster around, just fine. And they don't make a lot of noise, either. Four to six hens raised from chicks will be providing you with a steady stream of eggs in five to six months. Don't think you can? Go to http://www.chickenvideo.com/ and discover that indeed you can. And you should. Soon. Get your chicks early next Spring and you'll have eggs by Halloween. Tractor Supply stores usually sell individual chicks. Or several of you and your neighbors could get together and order some. (Most mail order chick raisers won't mail less than 25 day old chicks at a time - not enought to keep each other warm, you see. But 4 folks ordering a total of 25 or so, and each of you shoul have 4 or 5 or even maybe 6, even after minor shipping losses.)
Between chickens and a garden, you will have a steady source of protein and vegetables. Put in a few rows of potatoes, and you have starches, as well. Consider Jerusalem artichokes (also called sunchokes) as well. They are about as easy care a plant as can be imagined, and yield a steady supply of tasty tuberous roots similar to potatoes, but some think even tastier.
If the economic melt down goes as badly as it may well, here in the old US of A, steps taken now, within the next couple of months, to ensure not just you and your loved ones, but a broader communities' potential food self sufficienty (or even partial self sufficiency, which is nothing to sneeze at, either, folks), may make all the difference between truly tough times, and just times that make you tough. Human beings have always been about community survival. Solo survivalists mostly won't last long. Healthy communities - congregations, intentional communities, neighborhood associations, whatever - will last. Always have in the past, probably will this time too.
Time to take action? Time to organize and/or join? Now. Thanksgiving. It's truly America's holiday. Famed for bringing us together. So let's make it so. Act now to find or build your local food community. Please. Before it is too late. Your time is short. Act now. You'll be glad you did.
Food
I have a garden, and a chicken (which, by the way, also make amazingly affectionate and loyal companions). These foods are definitely the most nutrient rich, and I agree with everything you have said.
Something to keep in mind, however, is this (and I have said this before, but it bears repeating): food is everywhere. There are hundreds of edible plants in the northern hemisphere that we have simply not been taught to recognize as food.
A few of the more common examples: Dandelions (root, leaf, and flower), all bladed grasses (roots, leaf, and seeds (roast the seeds first, a very few species are poisonous raw)), field plantains (root and leaf), clover (flower, leaf, and root), Pine trees (inner bark, nuts from cones, and the needles can be used to make a tea with more vitamin C than OJ), Beech trees (inner bark, nuts), Oak trees (a handful of Acorns has the equivalent nutrition to about a pound of hamuberger meat. Boil in 3 changes of water first to get rid of tannic acid. Save the water, as you can use it as a very potent antisceptic/mouthwash), cattails (root), elm (inner bark), willow (inner bark), spruce (inner bark), birch trees (inner bark).
Plus bugs and hunting for animals. If a bug looks poisonous (yellow or red markings, and/or a bad smell usually) don't eat it. Pretty much all others are safe. Err on the side of caution.
Anyway, this is just a small sampling of some of the most common. You can begin to see that there is really no reason for people to starve, if they plan ahead and arm themselves with some knowledge...and are willing to swallow a bit of pride and eat food that they may not consider 'real food'.
Between intentionally planting our own, and going to nature to make up the deficit, we can do better than is feared.
Pick up Tom Brown, Jr.'s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival for a wonderful text to get you started on this sort of thing.
"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi
I agree with so much of this but ....
the apocolypse never comes....Through out every generation and time people have thought the end was near. Christians originally thought it would be within one generation after the death of christ... by the way it didn't happen...
it's funny how quickly people forget the Y2K bug and now the Mayan calendar..... I smell bullocks for some fun reading about this look here: http://www.abhota.info/end2.htm anyways my personal opinion is that things will change, not blow up but change....
transition is a journey that begins with the first stroke of the keyboard that is.... http://youmustbethechange.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
I like your sincerity but...
In all honesty..
.. are you really not going to not plan for 2013??
Because If I truly believed the world was going to end in 2012 I would quit working entirely borrow 200k get 40 credit cards and just relax sit back and take in the show.
I am interested if you have done anything like this??? Or are you sad that you missed your ride on Comet Hale-Bopp...
If I am wrong I will apologize..
Catalyst?
Future society
Jigsaw
Everything is going according to Plan. Keep the faith, Mr. Pinchbeck. I await your imminent correspondence.
-A.T.Z.
Democracy
Hi Daniel
Just got your Reality 2.0 off Sounds True . Lots of thought provoking stuff ! So here I am . I hear what you are saying we are poised on a knifes edge, the more evolved we become, the better solutions that we can offer.Transcend and include is what we need to be doing.
If you have not listened to Kosmic Consciousness which Sounds True is also selling, from Ken Wilber. You really should do. It believe it will help you A LOT Piecing your experiences together .
A few interviews of interest from Ken in Integral naked . One with Alex Grey, which talks about his Amazon experiences. Another about the never ending apocalypse . The one on Democracy , I am not sure that we are evolved enough to take the power from Oligarchs. Maybe 5-10 % of usare evolved enough to handle it, but the 50% majority of fundamentalists running your and my life ? This website would be outside their paradigm. So good bye to that.
Anyway looking forward to watching the evolution of the evolution of thought unfold. As an eternal optimist I think that we will make it by the skin of our teeth . As Terrence says "It is not business as usual into the endless unfolding confines of the future" "
Namaste Al
www.yoga.org.nz