Lifeboats?
Jan 3rd, 2007
12/3/2006
Lifeboats?
In a sane world, one fantasy is that we all realize the terrible threat we face with declining energy supplies, and all pull together to make it right. To make it sustainable.
Not to say necessarily that we do not live in a sane world, but really, we do not.
We, especially as Americans, the major consumers, are not ready to hear about a lessening of our consumption.
It flies in the face of sales.
Of volume, of profitability, of capitalism.
We are not ready to hear that conservation is a good and desirable thing. The corporate model is that conservation is not profitable.
Yet those of us who read intermittently, do know that conservation is indeed profitable.
Unfortunately, our culture is dominated by the business of selling more and more goodies, and our credit card companies do not believe in prudent spending, they encourage in many ways to spend more and more.
While this author had great hopes at one time for a re-awakening in our civilization, that hope is dimming.
We will not be ready to give up our toys until it is too late.
When the power system starts its intermittent and acceleratingly frequent blackouts and brownouts, when gas gets up to and over $5 a gallon, and when our economic system finally takes the big hit, then perhaps we will see some common sense. When our beloved internet starts misfiring and our servers and desktops start rebooting because of power fluctuations, then we will be ready.
Perhaps.
One thrust of this NNEMA site was to get our neighborhoods together and functioning before the blackouts.
The idea of individuals and small groups creating 'lifeboats' was not seen as an answer to our future problems.
But maybe it's time to think these thoughts.
Perhaps we should consider lifeboats.
The rest of the world wants to be like us, to consume like us, to use it up like us.
Don't blame them, advertising is very powerful and highly refined.
We certainly have been suckers for it.
And many of us still think that unlimited growth, crazy, unsound, wasteful growth is necessary for a 'healthy' economy. They think that all we have to do is make more and consume more and everything will be ok.
And they're certainly not shy about telling us that.
Lifeboats and Noah's Arc.
Maybe it's time.