[Revi]

We have some dairy farms like that. They are trying to be mini CAFO's.

These young farmers are smart and are doing a great job, though.

[Doly]

This is related to peak oil, but tangential enough that it's best to put it on the open topic forum, I think.

I have just started a blog called Ecological Transition. Let me quote myself on what it's about:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Ecological transition is just a name for a simple idea.

Einstein said once: "You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew."

The world has a big, serious problem right now, and it's so big that it doesn't have a single name. There are names for aspects of it. Some talk about climate change. Some talk about fossil fuel depletion. Those that see how big the problem is may tell you that we are reaching the limits to growth on our planet, and relate it to population figures, inequality, ecological imbalances... If you have read Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken, you have a rough idea of how big the whole issue is.

Many have noticed that you need a different mindset to deal with these problems. Many agree that some kind of collective action is needed to deal with them.

But you don't see very often a coherent framework, some place that helps you understand the theory, see how socio-ecosystems work, and apply that knowledge to your day-to-day actions when you are trying to find local solutions to the global problem.

This site is an attempt to provide that coherent framework. It will need your input to grow, especially your questions and showcases of your successful results.

[davep]

I've just skimmed through your blog and it looks very good.

I'll try to take a deeper look later. Thanks.

[mos6507]

Seems like you've got your work cut out for yourself. I've thought about drafting out a document sort of like this but it would just be lifted mostly from the transition and permaculture handbook so I didn't want to attempt to reinvent the wheel.

I think it's a healthy thing, though, to write down a sort of guiding principles document, a political platform or philosophy, if you will. A lot of us spend too much time criticizing the status quo and not enough time formulating alternatives.

[Ludi]

Looks good! I hope it will include a lot of action as well as theory.

[Doly]

A little bit from my last post there:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')What is a network? It's just a way of looking at any bunch of things or living creatures. If you decide that, instead of looking at each element, you are more interested in studying how they relate to each other in some way, you will call it a network. If the elements are computers, you call it a computer network; if they are living creatures, you may call it a food web; and if they are people, you call it a social network.

[MTO]

New opportunities for oil and gas investment blossomed yesterday as President Obama announced a plan to lift the long time ban on offshore drilling in the United States. The decision was not made lightly, the President said. He went on to assure Americans that “we’re going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.”

Max Tech Oil
www.maxtechoil.com

[Ayoob]

It's happening right before my eyes, this year. So much has happened since going down the rabbit hole about six years ago, knowing that the industrial age is temporary. It's still shocking that we're going to lose so much so fast and get so poor. It's going to be a hopeless age for many, I know I struggled with it quite a bit.

I'm not a greenie or a kumbayah specialist at all. I'm a capitalist pig, love the profit motive, pave the rainforest and put Americans to work, right wing Republican. I just recognize that we're actually fucked for real despite all the technological advances that are coming our way... we're still going to lose industrialized business and go back to the 1850s in the matter of about ten years. It's hard to asset-allocate a mutual fund portfolio to do well under those circumstances.

I want the best life for myself that I can have under any circumstances. That's my focus.

It's working out OK for the most part. The hardest work is yet to come, but I've made a lot of ground in the last few years. I've been gardening long enough in terra cotta pots to have had a bad year. And I've realized that my selection of pots was arbitrary and not the most productive, so I should update my selection of tools. That was interesting. I'm looking at greenhouses next.

I definitely owe the greenies an apology for bagging on the gardeners so much a couple years ago. You guys were right all along, it's true. It's geographically specific, but you can always move to an area that is geographically specific for gardening if you believe that's the way you should go. My decision to move was motivated heavily by the availability of water, but I'm sure that soil quality is going to be a primary indicator of life satisfaction years down the road.

My family is looking at the possibility of mating a greenhouse with a people house for purposes of feeding and heating. That could work well in our climate.

I've come to understand that the vehicle of the future is the bicycle, and that's OK. I'm not planning on trying to figure out how to build a battery powered minibus... hopefully somebody will figure it out. If not, that's OK. I'll bicycle to where I want to go.

I have a skill set and a book of papers that will buy me international passage to just about anywhere, and I can make a living wage at my job. That was a five year journey, and I lost everything I had during the course of it. Now on the other side I have everything I ever wanted and more. And, I could lose it all today and have it all again in six months.

I feel better today than I did five years ago when I learned about peak oil and the coming dark age. I wonder what I would be doing right now if I hadn't learned about resource depletion and population statistics and the inevitability of demographics.

I honestly feel much more prepared for the future now than I was back then. Even with a very modest investment in tools, I think I'm ahead of the game with regards to third world provisional living. I can harvest the high fruit, I can heat a structure, I can preserve food three different ways with a fourth on its way in two weeks, I have stored enough high quality protein and tasty sauces to maintain a luxurious diet for about six months. I could easily stretch that to a year by adding rice, and to two years with a high carbohydrate component.

Still, I have a long way to go. I would love to have 50K to blow on a trailer built to my own personal specifications and loaded with handpicked gear, customized in and out. I would love to own a piece of land to park my ass on. If things go my way for a couple more years, I think we could manage to pick up a 20 acre parcel of fertile valley farmland with water running through it. From there, I can guide my kids and grandkids through buying a nice 24 unit building in the nearest city. There will be ups and downs on the farm, and ups and downs in the city. The idea is to build on whatever's out of favor so it can outperform on the upswing. Over decades, the family can grow wealthy.

The Jews have the right idea. Take care of your own.

[Mesuge]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', ' ')I would love to own a piece of land to park my ass on. If things go my way for a couple more years, I think we could manage to pick up a 20 acre parcel of fertile valley farmland with water running through it.

[Expatriot]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', 'I') want the best life for myself that I can have under any circumstances. That's my focus.

Over decades, the family can grow wealthy.

The Jews have the right idea. Take care of your own.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Expatriot', '
')If the Jews have it right - and I agree with your implication as to how they, in fact, "have it" - then why have they been systematically murdered over the last 6,000 years? Why do the Jews in Israel live in constant fear in the blackening shadow of death from enemies? Why is anti-Jew sentiment on the strong increase all across the world?

[efarmer]

B.S. Everyone takes care of their own first and foremost, and those who do it well and the most often run the risk of everyone else wishing to wring their necks. People who play well as part of a team prevail against those who do not. Get used to it, it is a long running theme of human existence.

[Expatriot]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'B').S. Everyone takes care of their own first and foremost, and those who do it well and the most often run the risk of everyone else wishing to wring their necks.

[Ayoob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Expatriot', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'B').S. Everyone takes care of their own first and foremost, and those who do it well and the most often run the risk of everyone else wishing to wring their necks.

[Expatriot]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Expatriot', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'B').S. Everyone takes care of their own first and foremost, and those who do it well and the most often run the risk of everyone else wishing to wring their necks.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('efarmer', 'B').S. Everyone takes care of their own first and foremost

[Pops]

I know we all want to talk about our prejudices but please stay on the topic, which I think was "My Transition".


I'm a lot like Ayoob in that I'm pretty happy with our changes so far. Granted we were more CA. R.E. "expats" than PO refugees in that we "knew" the RE crash was looming and would be bad (though maybe not as bad as it's turning out) whereas PO is still a mystery. I think when I first started posting here I wasn't looking for PO trouble till sometime around the early teens, from a couple of my first posts here in early '04:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') short-term political or terrorist induced oil crunch could be devastating to this [economic] house of cards. Long term I’m still worried about the economy and my non-expert energy outlook is flat and even declining prices for maybe 5-8 years, then at first gradual then accelerating increases thereafter.

[PrestonSturges]

Wow....all this Jew bashing sure makes it sound like one of the big challenges post peak will be dealing with a populism morphing into a flabby fascism resembling the Invisible Empire era of the Klan. I'm lily white going back to the 1700s, so it doesn't worry me, but don't make any assumptions about what side I'll be on.

[Expatriot]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', ' ')I'm lily white going back to the 1700s, so it doesn't worry me, but don't make any assumptions about what side I'll be on.