[Ibon]

Since I have recently been labeled more optimistic regarding the future when humans will suffer the consequences of having become a rogue global parasite I thought I would accept that role of optimist and start a thread on some of the silver linings coming our way later this century.

I am approaching 60 years old and I remember in my early childhood that only once a year the movie Wizard of Oz would be shown on network television. For those youngins reading this there wasn't even Betamax back then and that was your one shot every year of seeing this movie and my siblings and I along with our parents looked forward to this lovely family event. In the same way back then no fruits from the southern hemisphere arrived in grocery stores in January or February and as late spring turned into the first hot days of summer we would feel the presence of the holy spirit as we bit into that first ripe peach of the season. Perfectly ripe peaches were around for maybe 20 days at most and then you waited a whole year again for that pleasure to return. Why is there such joy at peering out the window on an early winter morning seeing the first fresh snow transform the landscape? Why does this scene almost invoke a sense of the magical?

In these couple of examples finding great joy in an event or eating a fruit is directly related to the fact that it’s availability was constrained to a date or season. Let’s hang on to this thought a minute. That well being and happiness is related to something having limited availability. This is exactly the opposite message that advertisements, consumerism and modern cultural values promote. That you can have what you want when you want it. That you are empowered to satiate your desires and that your happiness is directly related to the abundance of choice and control. The internet takes this concept of self-empowerment through instant gratification to narcissistic heights of self entitlement as hundreds of millions of individuals spend solitary hours every day wanking into their little screens. Contrast a moment that wholesome family image in my youth watching The Wizard of Oz as a family compared to today’s average household where every adult and child are glued to their individual digital devices.

So, one of those silver linings with the upcoming cyclical correction of human overshoot is that we are going to re-introduce ourselves with the pleasures of savoring limited availability.

This thread is about good things that are coming our way later this century as the consequences of human overshoot start reintroducing us to limits. Only silver linings and positive comments about what we can look forward to are permitted on this thread. Any comments about human suffering will be deleted or moved to an appropriate thread.

They say good news doesn't sell. If that is true I guess there will be very few posts on this thread since its so much more interesting to dwell on the gory details of 6 billion humans dying later this century.

I look forward to reading your positive contributions.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', ' ')Did they rejoice in peaches

[dinopello]

I had four strawberries this morning from my garden. They were delicious. Now I'm on the Internet while flying at 30000 ft . I appreciate the strawberries more, but this is still pretty cool.

[onlooker]

I would like to digress to another facet of this Great Transition. From what Ibon is saying about silver linings, I feel that a silver lining is to have an objective and goal which is more noble and lofty then any most have today. Part of this mundane world we have created is this dwelling on petty egoistic pleasures and material gratifications. In fact, are we not at our happiest and most satisfied when we are engaged in activities that truly have meaning and worth to us. Instead what we have today is mindless work ,mindless TV watching and mindless commuting with little true satisfaction. So my silver lining is about humans finally having some common purpose and meaning. The purpose being part of creating a better world going forward. At some point we can transcend ourselves and our needs/wants and see something more important and being part of that more important pursuit. In doing so we can also discover within ourselves self esteem or self worth.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', ' ') At some point we can transcend ourselves and our needs/wants and see something more important and being part of that more important pursuit. In doing so we can also discover within ourselves self esteem or self worth.

[onlooker]

Amen to that Ibon.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', ' ')

They say good news doesn't sell. If that is true I guess there will be very few posts on this thread since its so much more interesting to dwell on the gory details of 6 billion humans dying later this century.

[SeaGypsy]

In my first few months living in the Philippines I had a flood of business ideas. One now feeds my children's widowed grandmother & her sister, profiting about $100 a week to the family. I started this business for $1800 nearly 3 years ago, (lollies & lingerie) Another concept I let go to a local Barangay Captain, who has done very well with (photographic t shirt printing) a business he started on less than a grand. I learned about how the rules support local micro business & how very cheaply a business can get started.

Of all the things I have done to make a living, the most satisfying were these which I made nothing out of, merely manifesting a drive & inspiration at the local level in a community where a $5kpa income is very significant & handing them on.

I know Ibon has been involved in numerous business initiatives in the developing world & I believe has the same buzz from seeing people do well from his inspiration.

Honestly I feel sorry for people scared to travel outside the confines of their familiar environment. When you break through that & get out there & immerse yourself somewhere that is a big deal, it's life changing for you & everyone around you.

[onlooker]

this is in keeping Sea with what we talked about in reference to doing something that you have a passion for. My girlfriend is from Phil and she makes me understand a little of what life is like there. Perhaps someday soon I can travel to her country of birth. Yes any activity which interests a person can be fulfilling. Maybe it is helping others maybe not, but still it is better then being some programmed consuming zombie and thinking that is the path to happiness.

[SeaGypsy]

I'm split with my PI wife, much to do with money management issues between us I won't go into detail on, but I have my kids every weekend & we are setting up a family trust which will allow me to do business there for benefit of our children. We married in the Philippines & I'm not sure her live in boyfriend here realizes there is no divorce in the Philippines except for Catholics & Muslims lol.

[SeaGypsy]

Directly what I'm getting at is the thing I'm most upbeat about is the simple equation that my income as an ordinary worker is enough to either tourist or develop business in countries adjacent to mine.

From experience, doing projects in these environments is a lot more engaging & fun than sipping pinacoladas by a pool. They also ingrain you into the community in a way tourism never does.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', '
')Stewardship and self regulation for the health of the biosphere is an ideal. I am of the most humble opinion that we will indeed see splinter groups of humans following what very well might be a new theology along these lines.

That is one church I would join.

[onlooker]

Tremendous post Ibon. Mankind has so strayed from the path of sustainability and also from the path of being a just and equitable race that this purging that will come with the era of breakdown is welcomed by some, me included. To frame this momentous transition into the context of values and ethics which is what theology is at it's root is precisely what is needed. I have referred in some posts to confronting the absurdity of our culture and appealed to simple reasoning and logic. Yet what is coming will be a purging that will leave us utterly adrift as a species. We can no longer via intellectual persuasion think we can change hearts and minds. The change must be within the essence of what we consider ourselves to be and wish to be. So the period of breakdown will sorely test all persons. In the midst of tribulations we can unite in the aspiration of attempting to go forward with values that encompass a respect for all life, a love for existence and harmony and peace. We will understand how precious life and the Earth are if we truly appreciate and revere all this. Only by a profound desire to be as you said Ibon good stewards to our Mother Earth and being good humans to each other can we begin to reformulate communities that are worthy of surviving the coming maelstrom. This passion may be termed a theology in the sense that we be fervent in this desire.

[Ibon]

Another silver lining can be added: A nature based religion worshiping our mother earth will rise from the rubble.

[SeaGypsy]

DMT has become much more widely experienced & as Terrence McKenna said, this substance should be central exhibit to the temple of proof of the 'other' to the human world. Ayhuasca, it's sister source plants around the world, knowledge of a reality so sublime & overwhelmingly defeating of the ordinary states of mind, control of the ordinary shrinking in significance to ridiculous. The revolution has begun, just not where most people are looking.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'D')MT has become much more widely experienced & as Terrence McKenna said, this substance should be central exhibit to the temple of proof of the 'other' to the human world. Ayhuasca, it's sister source plants around the world, knowledge of a reality so sublime & overwhelmingly defeating of the ordinary states of mind, control of the ordinary shrinking in significance to ridiculous. The revolution has begun, just not where most people are looking.

[Timo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'H')onestly I feel sorry for people scared to travel outside the confines of their familiar environment. When you break through that & get out there & immerse yourself somewhere that is a big deal, it's life changing for you & everyone around you.

[Timo]

Also, continuing with the appreciation of fresh peaches, my wife and i are set on planting a peach tree in our back yard this fall. We just harvested nearly 75 lbs of fresh cherries from our ONE cherry tree. Actually, the final harvest should be tonight. Add another 5+ lbs to the total. Not much better in the world than a fresh, homegrown cherry pie. Except maybe a homegrown peach pie.

The only downside to harvesting that many cherries is the obligatory extraction of the pits. That is the pits! I just wish there was some use for that seed, like maybe roasting it for coffee!!

That might be worth a try, actually.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Timo', '
')The only downside to harvesting that many cherries is the obligatory extraction of the pits. That is the pits! I just wish there was some use for that seed, like maybe roasting it for coffee!!