PeakOil is You
Time Goes "Doomer"
Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by onlooker » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 13:25:27
I think I will keep this line in inquiry here rather then create a new thread. Interesting Cog, yes their is the fact that this is around the time when some of the later baby boomers are retiring. So I am interested in input are others seeing people in a resilient and transitional type of mode, or are people simply trying to for economic reasons to cut costs and so live to some degree off grid? Meaning what does you instincts or gut feeling tell you, are people waking up in mass and beginning preparations for "consequences"?
"We are mortal beings doomed to die
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Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by Ibon » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 13:28:25
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'I') am wondering I have heard statistics about quite a number of people dropping out of the formal work force could this be a sign that people are deliberately seeking alternative ways to live or is this more reflective of a very weak economy?
A combination of a lot of factors but a great number of baby boomers like myself are retiring. I haven't retired yet to make room for a millennial because I want to increase my ability to weather future economic storms. Also the economy is weak depending, on the sector of course.
I really don't know too many people who are doing to the alternative life-style deal. No doubt I don't travel in their circles so don't really know.
Onlooker and Cog,
I am going to give you two examples, from different socio economic back grounds. The first is a family I visited on my recent trip out west.
1) A family lives in the rural suburbs of Portland. The wife works an office job as an accountant job bringing in a steady income. Their 2 acre lot raises chickens, has an experimental plot where the husband is testing organic fertlizers for a local supplier, they have a grow room and are certified to grow medical marijuana, have a huge garden where they grow perennials like blue berries, apples and pears as well as temperate crops like beans, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, etc. They go around and pick up compost waste from a local restaurant to feed their chickens. He raises in terrariums endangered tropical tree frogs that are scattered all through his house and workshops. The guy is a McGiver type who is also working on a new LED grow light set up with parts from a manufacturer who asked him to beta test their product. Their back yard is organized but also looks somewhat like a junkyard with storage rooms of all kinds of odds and ends that they recycle into their projects. He doesn't have much of a lawn on his property, that which he has is brown because of the drought. His garden is all drip irrigation and hydroponics using converted 5 gallon paint buckets.
The husband is putting an extension on the back side of their home, waiting for funds to build it out, he just changed the transmission on his pick up truck by himself. This example is of a family living a combination of mainstream along with being part of the informal economy, very resilient, never watches television, every day he wakes up to choose among 40 half finished or ongoing projects. This is a guy who doesn't know anything about peak oil. Doesn't spend time on computers. If you drove by his home you would think it is just a typical american suburb rural lot since everything I described above is behind a fence or row of trees.
2) I will use myself as the 2nd example. Successful international entrepreneur who worked almost 20 years in Latin America representing European manufacturers of medical devices who semi retired in 2005, pulled the plug and sold my business and went to Panama, bought 400 acres at 6500 feet above sea level bordering a national park, went off grid, grows coffee, raises cattle, generated power with a micro hydro pelton wheel, reforests previous pastures, build cabins and a lodge that we rent out to eco-tourists. Big garden, hydroponic greenhouse growing food for our restaurant. I work harder today than I ever have when I was running my own company, earn much less than I ever did, and feel more fulfilled in doing so. We supplement the income here in Panama doing short term rentals with two properties in South Florida , homes that we renovated ourselves, and yes, because I speak fluent spanish, I was able to do all those renovations inexpensive hiring undocumented latinos in South Florida. Participating thus in the informal black economy. As a side note related to this thread these two properties in South Florida are right across the street from The New River in a flood zone. Beautiful restored homes registered with the local historical society, one built in 1918, the fifth oldest residency in Fort Lauderdale http://www.vrbo.com/428299 . BUt we will sell these off very soon, within the next 2-4 years because I am convinced that this neighborhood and many others nearby are doomed in the mid term and we want to sell while denial is still resilient.
I use these two examples because the first is of a family of very modest financial resources that was able to realize an alternative to the mainstream. It can be done with very little resources. The 2nd example of myself is someone who choose to take net assets and apply them toward a more fulfilling life making a conscious choice to get out of the rat race and try to build more local resiliency.
It's possible no matter who you are, how much resources you have, to do this. It can be started in the most humble way in your own back yard, it's can be amazing how you can add knowledge slowly year by year as you start networking with others doing similar things. Some of these initial experiments can eventually lead to incomes. And you slowly start to feel yourself a little less enslaved by the mainstream. It is preparation both for the upcoming consequences as well as an exercise in increasing your well being by the gratification you get from creating this kind of life. You just have to be prepared to work harder then ever.. like a farmer.
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
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blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
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Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by onlooker » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 14:18:12
wow, this information is very useful and even inspirational to me Ibon. I have not done much to get off grid so far. My girlfriend is disabled and I spend half my time with her in upstate NY and half in the city where I do translation work for an agency both on site and also when I am upstate. I am also fluent in Spanish being of Colombian descent. Muy interesante Ibon, especial la referencia a la poca inversion necesaria para poder vivir en manera independiente y sin necesidad de estar conectado al sistema. Well that is enough Spanish haha. Very industrious and ingenious the first family and as for you Ibon, it seems the important thing is you are fulfilled and probably in no small part because you are trying to create a little haven where ecology matters and that probably has impressed every visitor to your refuge, so in that sense your spreading the word. I like being here to analyze different perspectives of this Great time of change. I am learning two skills, self healing and subsistence farming though I am doing it slowly. Hoping that you have continued success with your place in Panama.
"We are mortal beings doomed to die
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Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by Ibon » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 21:06:58
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'w')ow, this information is very useful and even inspirational to me Ibon. I have not done much to get off grid so far. My girlfriend is disabled and I spend half my time with her in upstate NY and half in the city where I do translation work for an agency both on site and also when I am upstate. I am also fluent in Spanish being of Colombian descent. Muy interesante Ibon, especial la referencia a la poca inversion necesaria para poder vivir en manera independiente y sin necesidad de estar conectado al sistema. Well that is enough Spanish haha. Very industrious and ingenious the first family and as for you Ibon, it seems the important thing is you are fulfilled and probably in no small part because you are trying to create a little haven where ecology matters and that probably has impressed every visitor to your refuge, so in that sense your spreading the word. I like being here to analyze different perspectives of this Great time of change. I am learning two skills, self healing and subsistence farming though I am doing it slowly. Hoping that you have continued success with your place in Panama.
Onlooker, gracias por tus comentarios. Your bilingual skills may be an important asset and bridge in your future as you build up stronger self reliance and integrate with others doing the same.
And now I will name another anecdotal example of an alternative to the mainstream that I have mentioned once in the past here on this site. My very good Cuban American friend in South Florida has been going to the same dentist for over 25 years. This dentist, a woman, immigrated from Cuba, was a dentist there, and once she settle in Florida she bought used dental equipment and opened a secret dental office in the back room of her suburban home. She never got licensed here in the US. She has hundreds of customers who go to get their cavities filled and root canals done and she charges a fraction of the cost of a legal certified dentist. She actually just retired a couple years ago and for a 25 years she did this and never got caught. This was illegal but she thrived in this informal economy and did very well for herself and for the community she served. Nobody ever reported her.
How many folks are out there hidden in the informal economy we never read or hear about???????
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
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Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by onlooker » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 22:33:36
Well I know and it seems quite apparent that in many countries Ibon, particularly in poorer countries the informal economy is a big chunk of the overall economy. So in a sense these people are more prepared for great practical changes then some people in rich countries. Haha, yes in NY they also do things not quite legal in renting out rooms and apartments whereby people are packed in like sardines. This is just a response to the demand from illegals and others for affordable housing in NY.
"We are mortal beings doomed to die
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onlooker - Fission
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Re: Time Goes "Doomer"
by Ibon » Sun 09 Aug 2015, 23:41:40
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'W')ell I know and it seems quite apparent that in many countries Ibon, particularly in poorer countries the informal economy is a big chunk of the overall economy. So in a sense these people are more prepared for great practical changes then some people in rich countries. .
Bingo. More prepared because they have not lost their cottage industry skills, they repair and fix instead of replace, they still have an agricultural sector not yet completely industrialized and last but not least they live in extended families in the same communities for generations.
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
blog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/
website: http://www.mounttotumas.com
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Ibon - Expert
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