The end of the world as we know it?

[chelidon]

This is very well-written, if pretty in-your-face stuff: How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth

I can't say that I agree with all the material in this essay, but there's a number of parts in it that grab me, too. Do I hope he's dead wrong? Absolutely. And despite the fact that many aspects of modern western society drive me crazy, I really really value things like (some aspects of ) modern medical care, toothpaste, the Internet, free libraries, and being able to afford to fly across the country or the Atlantic pond on occasion to visit friends and make trouble.

But you know, it does seem extremely plausible to me that we're running into overtime on this whole exploit the natural resources of the planet at an ever-increasing rate game, and it makes sense to me that we don't have 100 years, or even 50, to change our ways. Too many things are running out too quickly for that to happen, the signs are getting increasingly ominous, and the clue-taps of the planet are rapidly turning to clue-shoves and the occasional sudden rain of clue bricks. That means that Clue-by-fours and the Clue Bus probably aren't too far behind. And we're still, in general, not paying much attention. I have a 5-year-old, so I have a very personal reason to worry about what things are going to look like in 50 years, even if I'm not here myself, as is statistically quite likely. My gut instinct tells me that whatever else happens in the world, my son will likely have a very different world than we do.

The two things Prieur says that resonate most strongly for me are Learn Skills and Find your Tribe. No matter what happens in the coming years, I think those two things will serve us all very well indeed.

Comments

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

We are definitely in a culture of increasing dependency, and yes, some of that is by design. The more dependent we are, the more we get in the habit of being dependent. I was just reading an article titled "Self-reliance for women" and the first sentence is "Self-reliance is a mindset." Yes, and so is the opposite.

But really, we all adapt to the environments in which we exist. What point is there for an average city-dweller, or surburban resident for that matter, to know how to fell a tree, or even change a tire? You make a quick call on the cell phone, someone comes and does it for you, and you don't have to have the expertise or equipment to do it yourself, which gives you more time to devote to other things, at least in theory -- in fact, it could be seen as pretty wasteful to have all that equipment and knowledge yourself, just to use it once in a blue moon.

And for better or worse, we're in a largely service-oriented economy. We make very little of anything tangible in the U.S. -- most of the business is around services, so services are what gets pushed, and a lot of thought and money now goes into making things more "convenient" for you...so someone can make money selling you the new service, doing something for you that you probably used to do yourself. When I lived in D.C. I can tell you that we definitely used PeaPod (the service that delivers your groceries to your front door based on an online shopping list). Heck, why go out and shop yourself, that's a waste of time, right? Pretty soon, though, there are more and more things you can't do for yourself anymore. Which is probably fine...so long as those services never go away.