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Page added on January 11, 2016
Your Basic Essentials
“Dish-washing is my balm and poultice.”—Robert Mifflin in The Haunted Bookshop
The wind is up outside the windows of my cozy study this morning. I hear tin tumbling across the ground near the wood yard. Something has come loose during the night, hopefully not a roof.
A well-attached roof is an essential for living comfortably. But other than competent shelter, what else is really essential to a good life? The New York Times recently ran a lengthy article on a young couple’s travails in finding an apartment within their budget ($3000 a month) that had a dishwasher. The unchallenged assumption was that a dishwasher in an apartment was one of those essentials. Anything less, the writer implied, and the couple might as well return to medieval times.
One landlord told the couple that they didn’t need a dishwasher because New Yorkers liked to eat out. That a couple would choose to eat at home and hand-wash their dishes was a non-starter, perhaps even inconceivable, for this spoiled and entitled young couple.
More than a hundred years of consumer capitalism and the free labor of fossil fuels have left most of us ill-equipped to contemplate the essentials of life and the value of work. We as a society have used the largesse of cheap fuel to devalue community and extol the individual, warping in the process our relationship to the daily rhythms of work, to the degree that simple hygiene gets farmed out to an appliance.
Is the struggle to wash dishes really such an onerous chore? In the days when we owned a dishwasher, we put almost the same amount of energy into loading and unloading the machine as into hand-washing the dirty dishes ourselves. Doing dishes together, we have found 15 years into living sans dishwasher, is a great way to catch up on the day, to reconnect over a shared task.
As moderns, our definition of what is truly essential includes computers and smartphones and dishwashers. What is truly essential is now defined as anything that helps us avoid what we perceive as work. And adhering to that definition clouds our understanding of what we need, unsettles fundamentally our ability to truly know what we can do ourselves, promotes our abdication of control and authentic participation in exchange for accessories to purchase, whether labor or goods.
Our journey, living on a small farm, is not unusual; it is one on a well-worn path of reasserting some measure of control over production and community. During these past 16 years, we have learned to do more for ourselves and to more fully embrace the life that as a friend who grew up on a farm described as “Do it yourself or do without.”
This life on the farm has taught us to be more thoughtful on what is essential, to value more dearly the help of a neighbor and recognize the need to cultivate those relationships. We’ve discovered that physically building fences enhances the metaphorical sense of the same: it indeed makes good neighbors.
I dare say that the generations to come, in dealing with the decline of fossil fuels and the ravages of climate change, will not find the struggle to wash dishes nightly a mighty inconvenience. Indeed, they may find that the essentials of a satisfying life come from shared toil, the fulfillment of building something with their hands, or the freedom of doing without.
36 Comments on "Your Basic Essentials"
onlooker on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 12:31 pm
Fine article about appreciating what really matters in life and not living in a superfluous manner. Rather attaining fulfillment from the simple act of living and being able to live one more day in a world that is not necessarily going to be easy to live in, in the future. It really is about having the right attitude and perspective. Also, acknowledging that life requires effort to live and not resenting that and that being able to master the art of surviving is a joy unto itself.
Go Speed Racer on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 12:58 pm
Wait a minute. With respect to author for sharing his story, others of us respectfully disagree. A dishwasher saves a huge amount of time, and people need their time for study and working. It does the job well. If you don’t have one, a lot of time is lost, potentially 20 minutes a day. Having lived with and without dishwashers, more is accomplished daily with the dish washer, than without. If mine breaks down for a week, the emergency antidote is paper plates.
Go Speed Racer on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 1:03 pm
Also the machines can be energy efficient, if chosen wisely. For most brands have been efforts to minimize their energy consumption. If we took this to the next step, shall we do away with clothes washers, toasters, and the electric range? If that happens due to a civilization collapse then splendid. But it should not be a goal.
Go Speed Racer on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 1:07 pm
If I was the guy in NY who found best deal on rent was $3000 but no dishwasher: then definitely $50 a month buys enough paper plates or get a small countertop dishwasher cause they make them.
ghung on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 1:29 pm
While I agree with the spirit of the article, doing dishes isn’t my favorite chore, and, as others here hint at, ignoring embedded energy and materials, our dishwasher is a resource saver. Takes less water and energy, especially on sunny days like today. Our dishwasher’s “sterilise” cycle also comes in handy when canning for keeping jars and implements clean and sterile.
My wife and I only do about two loads of dishes per week, generally when we have surplus solar and hot water. I would rather spend that time cutting firewood or in the garden. Besides, those of us who did KP in the military HATE doing dishes 😉
peakyeast on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 2:26 pm
@ghung: OT, but my wife has allowed me to build some polytunnels 🙂
So I plan to put up at least two of size W x L x H: 2m x 7.5m x 2m
HARM on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 2:45 pm
100% agree with the posters here. Yes, there is definitely a lot of needless modern crap out there widely considered “essential”, but the automatic dishwasher ain’t one of them, It really is a time and resource saver. Ditto for the refrigerator, washer & dryer.
There’s a good reason why women rarely used to work outside the home –they spent their days shopping for food (which would quickly spoil w/out a fridge), hand washing, wringing out and line-drying clothes (oh joy) and cooking and then cleaning up after every meal.
Anyone pining for the “good ‘ol days” of pre-electricity manual labor really needs to put down the laptop spend a month or two living in an unpowered yurt in the woods, chopping their own firewood, pumping their own water,a dn had-washing everything.
paulo1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 3:10 pm
Come on you guys, dish washing takes a few minutes. I take great pride when making a meal that there are almost no dishes to do other than the plates and silverware. Of course my window and sink looks out over the river which is quite pleasant to be honest. The secret? Don’t let them pile up. Don’t stack them in the sink.
Funny, my wife and I both worked full time, developed a small farm, grew and harvested our own food for years, bake our bread, renovated two houses, heat with wood cut on our property, and still managed to do dishes. We also read and sometimes watch tv…go figure. We wholeheartedly use the auto-matic washer, range, etc.
Anyone who pays $3000/month for apartment rental should think about moving to a new location and into a new life. It is unsustainable and impossible to get ahead with those extreme fixed costs. If there is a downturn such venues will be unsupportable. Just my free opinion, don’t take it personally.
HARM on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 3:25 pm
@paulo,
I agree about $3000/mo being high, but then again, I’ve never lived in Manhattan or downtown SF. From what I hear, that’s bargain entry level pricing. I guess that’s “affordable” if you are an executive at Google or a hedge fund manager. In upstate New York land might be very plentiful and cheap, but most jobs are not. Let’s not forget that Mr. Market (and the Fed) sets the price.
Davy on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 3:35 pm
Harm, cutting wood as we speak. Cold as a well digger’s ass but invigorating.
I got my wife a duel galvanized washtub with a hand wringer, hand agitator rod, and wash board for Christmas. I did it as a funny but with real doom and prep intentions. Of course there were some nice earrings in the mix. Washing cloths is another mechanical efficiency equation comparable to dishes.
I don’t like dishwashers but in certain applications they are actually more ecological considering water usage and water heating. The important point is embedded energy in manufacture. Don’t rip out a unit until you do the math. Any modern appliances we throw away represent a huge cost to nature in their manufacture. At least get a useful life out of them. This is the case if you have a situation where the dishwasher is the best efficiency option.
Dishes from one or two people may not make a dishwasher’s footprint pay but a big family likely yes. Personally I reuse some special measuring bowls with handles for my meals. I have three different sizes. I just wash out the food with cold water. There is little need for all the deep cleaning we do these days. I use vacuum sealed stainless canteens to drink out of. I clean these with cold water. My wife is normal but my special meals like breakfast with Ezekiel cereal, Greek yogurt with walnuts, and fruits I use my dishes my way.
I have renovated several houses and I never put dishwashers in. I always spent the money on a fine sink and faucet. Dishwashers take up too much shelf space in my opinion. Normally cabinet space is a premium in most kitchens I have been in. Dishwashers are something we can do without but if they are there do the footprint math.
frankthetank on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 6:00 pm
Hot water…that is essential to me.
It was -13F this morning. Just cold enough to put a light jacket on.
Bob Poulton on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 7:49 pm
I’ve been washing my own dishes for most of my life at least 50 years now. It’s not a bad chore, kind of finishes up the day, as in “It’s over now”. Besides it gets the grease from under the fingernails. We also heat our little home with wood, and we grow all of our meat, fruit, and vegetables. Life is good and we’re blessed to be able to live as we do.
Apneaman on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 8:16 pm
I just put my dishes on the floor and let the mice, rats and roaches clean them – it’s eco friendly.
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 8:19 pm
What a bunch of spoiled wooses!
That article is a blaring advertisement for what is wrong in the FSA. Spoiled, wasteful, lazy, and on and on with negative adjectives, perfectly describes why MOST Americans will be dead the first year after the SHTF.
What do they do with these 15 minutes they save not washing dishes? Do they use it in a positive manor? Education? Learning a skill? Visiting family/friends in person? Nope!
They either work longer to pay for the energy, water and a new machine every so many years, (plus maintenance} or they watch the brainwashing idiot tube or the latest I-gadget small screen fluff while posting selfies and pretending they are alive.
Fools!
Go Speed Racer on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 8:27 pm
You can take away my dishwasher, when you pry my cold dead fingers off the ‘Heated Dry’ selector.
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 8:27 pm
Ap, thanks for the chuckle. LOL
I have washed and dried dishes since I was tall enough to reach the sink. In my 71 years I only lived in one place that had a dishwasher and I never used it. A simple chore like that allows me to converse with whomever is helping me or to just think about life or look out the window at whatever the view is. It can be relaxing if the rest of your day was intense/stressful.
Anyone who thinks that life has to have electric attached to it in some way is missing the real world and all it has to offer. Their loss.
Apneaman on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 8:36 pm
I used to have a dishwasher, but we got divorced in 2010.
GregT on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:02 pm
We still have a dishwasher.
Me.
adonis on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:23 pm
if u want an analogy of where were gonna be in 5 years time think of the movie ‘the road’ starring viggo mortensen,so when anyone thinks of holing up in some remote area,well armed, stocked up in food or living somewhere they think is safe is gonna save them I believe their dreaming.if your within 50 miles of people that are not prepared everybody will be coming to your door to take whatever u have.thats why the only chance of surviving whats coming is mostly mental anyone on this site who has prepped and is asked to share what they have got and refuses will end up meeting with life-threatening violence.being mentally prepared means harbouring no fear and learning to share
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:46 pm
A nice story…
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/01/08/hogs-to-slaughter/#more-113006
Would that we all lived this way…
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:47 pm
Ap, another good one! ^_^ I got rid of mine in 2002. Never looked back.
GregT on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:47 pm
“if your within 50 miles of people that are not prepared everybody will be coming to your door to take whatever u have.”
Why would people bother to walk 50 miles to somewhere, when they don’t even know if there’s anything worth walking there for? Besides, I’m sure there’ll be plenty to loot and pillage within a several block radius in largely populated areas, to keep the unprepared life threatening violent people busy for quite some time.
I’ll take my chances “holing up in some remote area, well armed, and stocked up in food”. Thank you very much. 🙂
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 9:56 pm
adonis, you have a realistic picture of the post SHTF situation. Few arm chair generals think beyond their own gun rack. What you have will be what they don’t have and will want, over your dead body if no other way. Example of why:
“Criminal gang membership increased as much as 40 percent in the United States during the past three years (2008-2010), according to an FBI report released Friday …An estimated 1.4 million people are active in more than 33,000 street, prison and outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country, the report states.”
Today, that number is likely to be well over 2 million and growing. They don’t hesitate to kill or be killed for what they want. As the cities get emptied, they will move into the countryside. You are not out of their reach, eventually. Nor can you protect your place 24/7/365. Not without a small army of your own. And your neighbors will be busy protecting what they have and will NOT help you.
It will be a whole new world if any survive the few years after.
makati1 on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 10:00 pm
Ref for the quote: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/21/justice/gang-membership-increase/
or: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/03/06/gang-violence-is-on-the-rise-even-as-overall-violence-declines
or: http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-most-dangerous-gangs-in-america.html
or: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-29-ms13_N.htm
“FBI: Burgeoning gangs behind up to 80% of U.S. crime”
And on and on….
GregT on Mon, 11th Jan 2016 10:20 pm
“As the cities get emptied, they will move into the countryside.”
And why, pray tell, do you beleive that the cities will “get emptied” Mak?
makati1 on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 12:40 am
GregT, cities are not livable within a week of the trucks stopping. ALL cities are just piles of concrete and steel waiting to be recycled by Mother Nature.
The smallest town in much of the world requires truckloads of ‘stuff’ daily to exist. The big cities, hundreds/thousands of trucks daily. No drivers/fuel = no trucks. No trucks = no food and likely nothing else.
Gangs will spread out to where there is something they need/want, and they will find the fuel to get there, after they have raided all of the gun shops and armories for weapons, liquor stores, warehouses, etc.
You don’t expect the military or the police to stay and protect you, do you? They will be protecting their families or be part of the gangs. A Mad Max movie in real life? Maybe.
GregT on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 1:07 am
I completely agree with you Mak. Cities are not the place to be in a collapse scenario.
My question to you is; What do you believe that the Gangs would be looking for in rural areas? Not much here, other than physical labour. Maybe a chicken or two, or perhaps some goats? The compost heap? I guess if they arrived at the right time, they could always cash in on the tomato crop.
Sorry, I don’t see it. There would be plenty to keep them occupied in the cities for a very long time. There would be no point in travelling long distances for zero gain.
makati1 on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 7:24 am
GregT, do locusts check out the fields before they invade? No, they just eat everything they find. Humans are like locusts. If there is nothing there that the gangs might want, then there will be no way for anyone to live there. Not even you. Everything in their path will be scavenged. You might be killed just so they can stay in your house overnight. Rape your wife and kids while they wait. Then move on to your neighbor the next morning leaving you dead or wishing you were. If you think gangs are moral….
I can hear you thinking:
“No. No. That will not be the way it will be.”
Really? Tell me why not. In our own history, there were people who acted that way in the past and act that way even now. Some just like to kill. And if it is for survival of the fittest, there will be even more of those types than today. Wait and see.
Davy on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 8:21 am
We have this mad max discussion on a routine basis. We don’t know how this global status quo is going to unwind. It will likely be random and local with spreading contagions. There will likely be stability maintained or returned to different areas. We may enter a long emergency of what many would still consider status quo. This period could be a very difficult economic period but without widespread collapse of safety nets. This could be then initiate another cycle period with different locals spiraling into a collapse situation from loss of complexity and control. There will likely be some areas like we see currently that are failed locals and regions in civil conflict.
Collapse is a process and or an event. An event is extreme in nature. This would be widespread significant and dangerous drop in control and support. This is also possible but in my opinion, knowing this world as we do from so much study, this is less likely unless we have global Nuk war or the addition of a natural event. Nuk war is very possible. We could also have a solar storm event.
One thing we can be sure about and that is there are many locations who have serious exposed. An area with an urban megalopolis of for example 24 million Manila region people will be very difficult to support and control in a collapsing global economy. Eventually there will have to be migration. We would expect to see many people dying from safety net failure. We can expect places with food, water and fuel needs in harsh climates to be exposed. We have many other areas that can be classified by analysis of variables of resilience and sustainability with both comparative advantages and disadvantages depending on the unfolding of a collapse crisis.
We can know these scenarios. We can model different collapse potentials much like the weather. We can’t know how this will unfold because the particular unfolding of these events has a dramatic impact on who and where is most exposed. This makes the continues discussion on our board frivolous and speculative. Most of the time it serves those with an agenda of winner and losers and good and bad.
Everyone is exposed with some more than others. Location is critical in your survival odds. But be careful in making judgments because the randomness of these potential events and the severity is too difficult to predict. We can only model those areas that are worst off and say these areas are likely poor places to be in a unwind. Large urban areas are the worst. In some cases depending on the severity of an unwind they may initially have strength because power rests in the cities. Yet, as large urban areas see their support and control decay they will increasingly become dangerous places.
Talking about collapse is like going to the casino and choosing your game of chance. Some games have better or worse odds and some have higher or lower skill levels. They all have a chance outcome. Know your local and be alert to what is unfolding. Be prepared per your local. You are taking a chance just living. Life is about trade-offs. Worrying about collapse is just another gamble. You can take drastic action that hurts you because of unrealistic ideas of a coming collapse. Most of all it is in your head. That is where most of the prep needs to take place.
Most of all there is nowhere to hide. If anyone wants to be smug and aloof with their so called escape plans that is fine. I have seen none that are perfect. We all have a shit storm ahead to negotiate. Some will have luck and some won’t. Most of all we will all have to live through an unpredictable time of destructive change. There is no amount of prep or luck that will save anyone from that.
ghung on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 8:57 am
Mak said; “Today, that number is likely to be well over 2 million and growing. They don’t hesitate to kill or be killed for what they want. As the cities get emptied, they will move into the countryside. You are not out of their reach, eventually.”
Assumes that folks in the countryside won’t fight back. Here in the Southeast, that assumption would be very wrong. Before those evildoers get close to where I live, they will have had to fight their way through some of the most well-armed redneck counties in the US. Then they’ll have to deal with the mountain folks, many who are still fighting the Civil War.
Our county has one grocery store, two banks, 5 gun stores, and a strong sense of community. Lots of vets as well, here in rural America. Not such an easy target.
GregT on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 11:03 am
“If there is nothing there that the gangs might want, then there will be no way for anyone to live there. Really? Tell me why not.”
When it takes more energy to get somewhere, than what can be gained from going there, there won’t be any point in doing so. A zero sum game. Any roving gangs of thugs that did so, would not last very long. EROEI.
Apneaman on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 11:20 am
Well, if it gets to the point where governments collapse (Ukraine?) what happens to all the nuclear power plants? I think a melt down of 1 of them during collapse is going to be devastating. Chernobyl, Fukushima had massive government resources and manpower thrown at them and they were still disasters. People lost their lives to prevent the worst possible outcome. The thing about industrial civilization is that it requires constant vigilance – monitoring, inspection, maintenance, etc. Nuke plants, refineries, chemical plants (Bhopal), tailings ponds, and on and on. Most people are users of technology and the system and have no idea what it takes to build, run and maintain it (why would they?). A full blown collapse is not needed to start a chain reaction. Links in a chain.
Joe Clarkson on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 2:11 pm
“spend a month or two living in an unpowered yurt in the woods, chopping their own firewood, pumping their own water,and hand-washing everything”
Did that for two years, albeit on a tropical atoll in a little house fifty feet from a white sand beach. Had to carry all water in buckets from a cistern 150 feet from the house. My wife and I were just as happy there as we are now on our little farm. Dishwasher not required. We even drank beer warm (when we could get it).
I will say that the biggest time and energy saver from that period was the hand cranked wringer my mother sent us for wringing out hand washed laundry. I did the laundry in a small plastic garbage can by using a round piece of wood on the end of a stick as a plunger. One hundred strokes per batch. Wash, wring, rinse, wring, all purely by hand without a rolling wringer is a bitch. If one must do laundry by hand, get a wringer!
We do have electricity and indoor plumbing now, but I can attest that it’s not the end of the world without it.
My ranking of modern appliance luxuries for a tropical climate (temperate climate would start with a wood heater):
1) Wood cook stove (beats cooking over a campfire)
2) Pressurized water supply (water is very heavy to carry)
3) Freezer (for storing meat)
4) Washing machine
5) Refrigerator
6) Electric lights (higher priority in higher latitudes; lights typically come with any electric supply, but has a lower priority than food preservation)
7) Solar hot water (heating water for bucket showers is a real chore and waste of wood)
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 4:54 pm
Little boy at a wedding, he asks his dad a question.
,Dad why does the bride wear a white dress?’
His dad, who looks like Les Schwab, replies:
‘Son, when you buy a house, all the basic kitchen appliances are white’.
makati1 on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 7:22 pm
GregT, since when does logic mean anything to gangs? And they WILL have fuel to get to the places they want to go. If they can just grab everything as they go, they might cover the whole country in a year or so.
Two million plus ‘locusts’ will grow as they recruit new members and your neighbors will not be your protection. They will just be fuel for the fire.
Sure, the gangs will die out eventually, but you will likely not be here to see it unless you are well beyond their reach. How far is that? How many homes, farms, stores and towns are between you and the nearest city? Follow the trail.
I don’t give humans the ability to survive the collapse, if it is total. Am I wrong? I doubt it. I have no ‘touchy feely’ sentiments to block my perception of humanity’s inhumanity. Survival of the fittest will rule and the gangs are already living that code. Are you?
GregT on Tue, 12th Jan 2016 7:40 pm
“If they can just grab everything as they go, they might cover the whole country in a year or so.”
Canada is a very BIG country Mak, with a very low population density. From my back yard, I could walk for months and never see another person, because there isn’t anybody there. Nothing but wild animals, rivers, mountains, and trees. Tens of thousands of square kilometres worth. And if your gangs decide to come this way, they’d better trade their automobiles in for boats, because they sure as hell won’t be driving here, or swimming either.