Reality Reality

I just have to share with you the text conversation that went on this morning between Hubby and I, while I was writing in outrage over the news of still more government interference in the Raw Milk business – sans illness or complaints.

Me: TGIF or S!  Morning (cute little heart)

Him: Yep.  Morning.  How are you?

Me: Okay.  3 more raw milk dairies raided yesterday, no illness, no complaints, but milk and computers confiscated anyways.

Him: I guess they don’t have to worry about the national id since the fda already knows about them.

Me: U realize if we’re blown back to survivor status only my love and willingness to fight r going to save u from being voted off the farm…

Him: lol

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I should be pleased he actually listened while I was explaining about the horrors of the  biometric National ID system (both for animals and us) and remembers who the FDA is and what I said they did.

But no, I must press for more…

For better or worse, I’ve hitched myself for life to an honorable, hard working fellow…who is also a city-slicker. A man who loves my passionate nature, but still rolls his eyes a lot whenever I get all “hepped up” over subjects he deems ‘does not affect us in any way”.

On the flip side, I’m sure he would tell you I’m a country hick who’s always looking for an underdog to support and the opportunity for a fight.

Thick and Thin we’ve argued, laughed, frowned or rolled eyes at each other for over 15 years.  Who says mixed marriages don’t work?

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I was born with a ‘take the bull by the horns and give it a black eye’ personality.   Having a Dad both known as a “Good Guy” by neighbors and a “Hard Ass” by boys brave enough to take me on a date, I received  early and continual training in how to speak up and loud when evil is afoot.

Those who despair of my tendency to get excited over social causes, point out I often see Evil where in fact, none exists.

I inform them it does, I just have better long range vision than they do.

In my world, evil manifests one slippery mis-step at a time.

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I’ve watched films of Hitler’s early political campaign speeches.  Heck, I probably would have voted for him.  Promising an end to unemployment and hunger, he enthusiastically stirs the crowd with visions of a restored German society (without defining who exactly gets to be a citizen), great public works,  hard work rewarded with abundance and a return to moral values and national pride.

I assume you know how that story turned out…

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I must confess I went to bed discouraged last night.   The slow erosion turned flash-flood, stripping our Liberties and Freedoms, is seen as “That’s just how things are.” by some around me.

There are times in the middle of the night when I feel like I’ve somehow drifted into a Reality TV show – where insane activities go on, but I’m cautioned to remember, “It’s just TV.  They do that stuff for the ratings.”

Only, it’s not TV.  It’s my reality.

There are times when I try to come up with solutions.  Be productive instead of just crying “Foul”.   In my search, I find our society so complex, built on such an unsustainable foundation, I really cannot see how to correct anything, short of scratching the whole plan and starting over.

Which means the possibility of several someones getting hurt or suffering in the process.

I’m not really into that.  I’d prefer we find a legal, non-violent, no-one-starves way.

History tells me that rarely works.  Somewhere along the line of great social change, careers get destroyed, folks go hungry or get imprisoned.  Sometimes those crying for change die.

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But every morning, I awaken to renewed energy and hope.  I try once more to explain why trading Liberty for Safety is not your best bet.

And that continual trading of your freedoms in the hopes you won’t die often places you at the mercy of those who can enforce, “my way or the highway…to hell…”.

Which means acquiescing or starting over.   Sometimes I think we may end up starting over via national collapse, revolution or natural catastrophes (mother nature’s version of revolt).

Oh well.   Hubby is safe.  As long as he learns dandelions are not weeds to be killed with poison.

I mean, really, I don’t want to have to vote him out of the tribe because he killed the only fresh, nutritious food available in April….

Food and Chemicals

Lynne McTaggart’s blog this morning, citing the work of Dr. Grace E. Jackson, highlights the increasing volume of evidence linking some pharmaceutical medications to dementia.

The list of medicines cited as the biggest offenders against our brain matter:

• Cholesterol lowering or blocking
• High Blood Pressure
• Anti-depressants
• Sleeping pills
• Certain Medications for ADHD

All have been shown to have debilitating effects on our grey matter, often resulting in some form of dementia.

Now I know why the recent elections in my area went the way they did.

Silly me, I thought people were just too lazy to research – turns out, they are probably suffering from some stage of dementia.

I feel bad about my previous harsh thoughts towards my fellow citizen voters.

Sick people deserve compassion.

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I’m also concerned about Dr. Jackson’s career.   History tells me she’s on a path that ends in being ostracized from the Lodge of Modern Medicine.  I’m awaiting her being added to the Quackwatch list.

(No, you don’t get a link for quackwatch.   This guy doesn’t do his homework.  I only know about him because he came out with egg on his face when the Weston A. Price foundation refuted his findings on a point-by-point basis.   Those folks know how to research and footnote, therefore are link-worthy. )

Maybe I should send her Mr. 11 Dimensions’ address – they can hang out in seclusion together.   Although I think he may be currently enjoying genius status….his status in the world of Physicists has changed frequently – so not sure if he’s in seclusion or not.

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I’ve always held that modern medicine has gotten very good at keeping the body alive while what’s wrong is figured out.   Broken bones, gun shot wounds, blocked airways…hey!  Modern is where it’s at.

I’m still convinced that daily health and quality of life comes from ingesting properly prepared, nutritious food and seeking assistance from a holistic provider when you’ve gotten yourself ‘jacked up’ (Politely referred to as ‘out of balance’ by the holistic circle.)

And taking supplements if you’re not getting nutritious food.

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When I first entered the Traditional Diet world, I ran my mouth to friends, family and neighbors nearly 24 hours a day.   The changes I observed in my own body were so significant I could hardly wait to share.   So many things became clear on why I had suffered from various health problems for so long.

I turned my back on USDA and FDA guidelines.   My new guidelines were: “Was this available to my ancestors who lived 40,000 years ago?  In this form?  If not, how much would they have to eat in order to get that amount?”

(Did you know that to get a cup of corn oil into your system, you would need to ingest 1/2 bushel of corn or more, at one sitting?)

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I’m a big fan of ‘experiential data’ – I’ve seen what happens to data when the graph doesn’t look just like someone wants it to…especially if that graph is directly tied to that someone’s paycheck.

I’m also a big fan of ‘natural selection’ – even though completely adhering to that would mean I would be dead by now…and wouldn’t have lived long enough to procreate….

My brain full of history tells me that if physical bodies evolve slowly to survive in new conditions, our bodies haven’t had enough time to catch up with all the wondrous food products that come to us via the Industrial Revolution.

I can trust my brain – I’m not on pharmaceuticals.

I can go crazy all by myself, thank you very much…

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I have my own set of data on whether to believe Modern medicine or Age-Old practices.   I’m not afraid to experiment on myself.   And I’m not afraid to say, “oops!  that didn’t go well, let’s try something else”.

I think my ‘all or nothing’ personality combined with a healthy skepticism of anyone who makes grand promises with a similarly attached price tag, along with personal mishandling by both modern and holistic practitioners,  has placed me in a position to be rather open to views that go against the majority consensus.

I also refuse to knowingly purchase anything with Aspartame in it.   My son sorely misses chewing gum.    We haven’t been able to find one that doesn’t contain aspartame.

If you do a search of Aspartame, you’ll find plenty of people crying “Poison!” and about the same number shouting, “Shut up, quacks!  It’s fine!”

My deductive reasoning says, “If it’s ‘fine’ then why do your footnotes (if you have any) contain studies 20 years old and dissenters cite numerous studies conducted almost non-stop for the last 10?”

Until proponents indicate to me they are willing to back up their claims with current, 3rd party performed, non-grant funded research, then I’ll stick with avoiding it.

(Maybe they are suffering from dementia and can’t remember to put footnotes in….)

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I changed over to ‘good fats’ in 2006.   As of January, 2010, blood tests revealed my Cholesterol (good, bad and trigs) to be in normal ranges.   2 modern medicine doctors, a chiropractor and an acupuncturist all stated they couldn’t see any problems there. (although one of the modern medicine folks suggested I should start medicine, to keep the number good…arggghhh!)

I’m over 40, my exercise entails typing and doing housework, I’m a smoker with a kitchen devoid of ‘fats’ except for the following: homemade lard, real butter, coconut oil, olive oil, tea oil and a smidge of peanut oil.

I’ve stubbornly ingested in large quantities the very fats the FDA, USDA, AHA and AMA have all told me to avoid like the plague.

Hmmm….still here.    Good Cholesterol levels.   Brain functioning (okay, maybe not to your standards, but I do not leave my house only to be found 6 hours later, wandering around in the woods, unable to tell you what my name is or where I live…)

I don’t take my blood pressure.   I don’t have any scales in my house except for those to weigh food (Uniformity in homemade dinner rolls necessitates this piece of equipment….)

I look over each day and ask: “Did my health prevent me from doing something I wanted to?  Do I have clothes that fit?” (I hate to shop – I still have the nightgown I wore on my wedding night…and yes, it still fits….)

I check in with my body after I eat.   Is my tummy happy?   How’s the digestive process going?  Painful?  Loud?  Smelly?

I also analyze my sleep patterns and dreaming.   If those are unusual, then I know something has gone astray either in my brain or my body.

(day 2 of no coffee…. day 3 of no Tylenol pm…..tummy is happier, body still not sure how to sleep 8 hours straight, on its’ own…but I did get to 4 last night….)

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In short, I come back to the same thinking.   I’m not particularly afraid to die, nor am I trying to extend my life as long as I can.   I instead am trying to enjoy whatever time I do have.

Home cooked meals with Hubby and son, made from food purchased direct from farmer/rancher satisfy my nose, heart and tummy in a way McDonalds can’t.

Pain pills, anti-depressants, and hormone therapy side effects made me decide the original symptoms were the lessor of two evils.

Extra Vitamin C, various Chinese herbal blends and aromatherapy make me feel better when I’ve overindulged in thoughts or substances I should have left alone.

Day after day, I practice medicine on myself…

Some things are just better left out of the hands of ‘experts’.

The Price and Value of Chaos

“…and chaos among kings.  If they had to grow their own corn, mill their own flour and bake their own bread they might have no time left for all the squabbling and killing.”

This morning’s quote is courtesy of Hugh Beringar, Sheriff of Shrewsbury, comrade through thick and thin to one blessed Brother Cadfael.   (An Excellent Mystery, Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, by Ellis Peters.)

I’ve often pondered on the Excellent Mystery regarding the production of food.   As mentioned earlier, I really marvel at how quickly those who raise/grow/tend/harvest food fall down the social scale as complex society evolves.

I’ve also pondered upon how many wars would be started if those who initiated them were also stationed at the front lines.

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The Dark Ages were filled with skirmishes and full-scale battles across the European theatre, all in a tug-of-war regarding land, resources and power.

Those who always lost (no matter which army emerged victorious) were the peasant farmers.

Why some nobles and lords could not figure out their abundance was directly tied, short and long-term, to how successful the crops and herds of their serfs were is another Excellent Mystery.

Hope came for peasants following the 1340′s wave of Black Death.  Recent conflict (i.e. trampling by war horses and burning of crop fields) combined with a standard of living guaranteeing malnutrition (hence, little immune resistance) among those expected to provide the daily bread resulted in a vastly reduced work force, compliments the Grim Reaper.

Naturally, a  ‘name your own price’ heyday for those still alive and able to work ensued.   In wake of disaster, Lords and Ladies really got the simple truth; they could earn their own keep or pay premiums to hire those who already knew how feed the masses.

Feudal Monarchs depended upon the loyalty (and knights) of the nobility.   To keep crown and throne, comfortable lifestyles for supporters must be maintained.

Hence, laws making it illegal for any who labored for a noble to take to the road in search of better wages, work hours or living conditions were quickly enacted.

Consequences for those who hired laborers courageous (or desperate) enough to search for better offerings, were oft-times stiffer than those levied against the laborer who dared to better himself.  Remember, labor is in short supply – we can’t have work-able peasants rotting in jail.

But for the most part, historians pinpoint the Black Death as the beginning of the End of Serfdom.

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I’ve had occasion these past few years to speak with farmers, ranchers and dairymen who aren’t switched over to ‘certified organic’ systems yet.

The number one reason often given: “Do you know how much it costs to get certified?”

No, I don’t – I’ve been told it can run as high as $10,000, but a search of local governmental websites indicates to me the truth is hidden until you’re actually ready to purchase.  Or at least identified by email, phone number and home address as a likely target (I mean, customer.)

(This search reminded me of trying to find actual costs for advertising in yellow page publications… Lots of graphs, pictures and stats to indicate you are a fool if you don’t, but no $ information given – just a phone number to link you with someone very good at selling.)

I did discover rebates available in 2008-2009 for up to 75% of organic certification costs.   However, the maximum to request rebate on was $750.

Organic farming is becoming big business – but not necessarily for those who actually farm.   Permit, certification, inspection and regulatory agencies, me thinks, are the real profiteers here.  And I suspect, if a booming enterprise is not contributing to the local coffers enough, campaigns to shut them down ensue. (one example, which really shows how far I let my prejudices against regulation lead me.)

My guess is one massive pandemic will straighten things out.

I’d prefer we fix it ourselves, instead of waiting for Mother Nature to restore balance.

Fear of Change

A couple of winters ago I was wandering around the local library – snow signals marathon reading at my house.   On a front display, I noticed The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins.   The subtitle, “From oil dependency to local resilience” intrigued me – 20 minutes later, there I am, in front of the Ben Franklin wood stove, educating myself.

Interestingly, the book is portioned into three sections – Head, Heart and Hands.

Head deals with the combined observations of both peak oil and climate change.   Looking at both of these, it becomes abundantly clear that just cutting carbon emissions is not enough.  Rebuilding local resilience is a must in order for us not to degrade ourselves back to Neanderthal status, once Oil is no more.

Heart deals with finding the personal and community tools, as well as the courage and confidence, to deal with what sometimes seems like overwhelming obstacles in the journey from ‘here’ to ‘there’.

And Hands places the flourishing touch on showing, by way of example, how towns in the UK have made their own transitions – a blueprint and honest appraisal of what worked and what didn’t.

As you guessed, my post today will focus on the Heart portion….

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Rob Hopkins reports that any successful transition from oil dependence to local resilience starts with a local town meeting that includes, as one of the initial activities, attendees sharing their thoughts regarding what the end of cheap oil really means to their daily lives.  In other words, an external dialogue about our deepest fears regarding the loss of our only known way of life.

“Change is the only constant” is most commonly attributed to Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher – we are all familiar with this quote.

Our heads and rational souls acknowledge this.

The beliefs and motivations driving our daily actions, are often, however, some 180 degrees the other way.  We strive to maintain what is known and comfortable.

In my own humble analysis, I believe the “fear of change” monster is kept well-fed by complex society.

When the amount and variety of information available as to how things really work is so staggering that one average lifespan is not enough to learn it all – it becomes oh-so-easy to feel inadequately informed about what is actually causing the problems and therefore, not very confident in coming forth with solutions.

Add to this internal disquiet caused by ‘not knowing’, unstable economic times, the responsibility and duty to provide for those who depend on you and the stress of wondering if you will have a job tomorrow, self-defense and coping mechanisms quickly come to the rescue.

Self-defense/coping can take many forms – but the most common seen in a society faced with serious issues is ‘”Delusion”,  “Distraction”, “Ostrich Syndrome” and last, but not least, “Scapegoating”.

Delusion

Definition: A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence

Currently, we have a lot of this going on.   In the face of changing climate, massive oil spills and scientific evidence that fossil fuels are being consumed waaaayyyy faster than they will ever be replenished, we (myself included) tend to continue in a lifestyle that is not even close to being fossil fuel free.

Delusion #1 “Somehow, someway, off-grid living and renewable energy will become affordable and obtainable for all soon – until then, it’s our civic duty to keep working (even if that means a 50 mile commute) , producing and consuming.”

As Americans, for the most part, we are slowly losing ground every day in sustaining what’s touted as the American Dream, but we are so sure, given our freedoms, ingenuity and inherent work ethic that we can turn it around. (which is delusion #2. Please see Ostrich Syndrome and Distraction for details)

I do not know of Anyone in my circle in a position to say, “Ya know what?   I’m going to force industry to get us to solar sooner by not buying gas today, tomorrow or even next week.  That will get ‘em moving. Nope, I don’t even need to own a car”, without really facing some very uncomfortable adjustments.  Course, I’ve been known to hang out with the wrong group at times…

I’m not judging…Remember me saying I’m included in the “We” group?   If there were no fossil fuels (or energy generated by such)  available 20 minutes from now, I’d be screwed.   Not like, “right away” screwed, but “fire drill have to do something soon” screwed.  (Plus, you wouldn’t even be able to read this commentary I’ve spent loads of personal energy on…)

I have dehydrators to process all the frozen meat in my freezer (meat faithfully purchased directly from a somewhat local-to-me producer) but, oops, I don’t have a way to generate electricity to run the durn drying things.

I have a lot of canning jars and salt in my garage, along with vinegar – maybe just maybe, I can get all my food stores preserved via fermentation in time  – but I’m not betting on it.

I also know my family is going to have to be facing starvation before they’ll eat my fermenting projects.  Subtle accusations regarding ‘poisoning’ and doubts regarding ‘food safety’ have permeated my home since my endeavors started.

Who cares that up until about 100 years ago, this was the way our ancestors prepared for winter in a culture that didn’t have Frigidaire…we now know it’s a miracle anyone survived long enough to reproduce without  pasteurization, antibacterial soap and modern preservatives…or so we’re told…

I have my year’s supply of wheat, again faithfully purchased direct from the farmer, but that doesn’t do me a lot of good, since my grain grinder works off electricity and even if I possessed a hand-cranked one, I probably don’t have the muscles or energy to grind out my daily bread.

I also am drinking my daily coffee while writing this… to my knowledge, coffee does not grow in Colorado…

My view of what the withdrawal process from TV and Xbox looks like probably echoes my family’s view of my quitting smoking experiments….

My household is not willingly ready to endure such commotion, at least not yet.

So along we drift, with our one car, energy saving lite-bulbs and Farmer’s Market produce, hoping total collapse waits for us to be prepared for it -  all the while quietly aware we probably won’t adjust to new ways until we absolutely have too.

This is known as Acknowledged Self-Delusion.

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The increase in “For Rent”, “For Sale” and “Bank Owned” signage in my area, coupled with seeing these same properties remain empty for months, tells me the mortgage and real estate industry, along with private property owners would rather let a house sit unoccupied for 3 – 6 months or more, rather than reduce their sales price or rent requirements.

History has deluded us into believing that both up and downturns are par for the course and if you have managed your affairs properly, you will survive the downturn and really make a killing when the upturn arrives.

I truly question the possibility of an ‘upturn’ being accomplished by elected officials and big business.   Most of my circle agrees – yet still, the debates rage on about how stimulus packages should really be spent, what’s needed to stem unemployment rates rising, etc….

Which leads me to the next evil ….

Distraction

Okay, if you’re a girl, ignore this next part.    I look like a girl, but somehow did not inherit the ‘need shoes and purse to match every outfit’ gene.  So my recent epiphany on what I choose to spend my money on is no big surprise.  I somehow was graced with defective genes that make it much easier for me to focus on food, local needed services and products as the bulk of my expenditures and give up the luxuries (more shoes and clothes than I can wear in a week, books than I can read in a lifetime or computer software and cars that depreciate by 3000% the moment I hand over my debit card.)

I’ve been Distracted into thinking that solely by amending what I purchase, from whom and in what quantities,  I can save the world.   But note, I live in an economic system that relies on unlimited growth and expansion in order to survive.   I’m not sure ‘no limits’ and ‘sustainable’ can simultaneously be linked with the word ‘lifestyle’ in my current plane of existence.

Already, news stories are touting the gloom and doom attached to Americans ‘saving more’ and ‘spending less’ – remember that Capitalism needs to realize 3% growth every year in order to be a viable system.   3% growth does not occur when people are not buying.

My brother calls weathering uncertain economic storms as ‘hunkering down’.   As a nation, it seems, we’re in ‘hunker down’ mode.    Cries of  ‘smaller government’ and ‘less spending’ and ‘save for the future’ lead many current grassroots movements.

The problem is, we have been Distracted from the fact that erasing the government debt will actually be the death blow to our system.   Remember that 3% growth thingee?   Well, monetizing government debt is one way to create new money (and expanding government counts as new growth and new jobs, no matter how violently it is opposed.)

I will also note that Public Works projects during the Great Depression did result in useful infrastructure creation and repairs.  (think dams and nationwide highway systems).   Our current Public Works project to create new jobs is called the US Census.   We spent a lot of money to count people.   So we know where to spend money we don’t have.

Interesting side note – the gain of 71,000 new jobs in July was quickly lost by the 143,000 temporary Census workers whose jobs ended.

I can think of a lot of other ways to spend the money flushed on the Census – but then, hey, remember, I’m a political non-sophisticate.  I’m too dumb to understand the finer nuances regarding government, finances and economy.   Right…..

So successfully have we been distracted from how our economic system really works, if our pleas for smaller government and no debt were actually answered, our whole way of life will collapse like the proverbial house of cards.

(If you think I’m crazy, then please take some time to read the following: How Money Is Created)

We are all aware of debt – ours, the government’s etc…  But realize that in the 70′s, when a ceiling was put on the Labor Market (hence, limiting earned income that could be spent and therefore, threatening the stability of Capitalism)  the source of our current woes WAS the solution.

In short, here’s the overview:

“Yes, in order to make new business ventures profitable and investment in such desirable, then we must limit what is spent on labor, in order to maximize profits.   Oops…if the laborers aren’t earning, they can’t purchase the newly created products and services.   How do we solve this?  Oh, give ‘em credit cards.  Problem solved…. “

Again, if you do not believe me, take a gander at this perspective of Capitalism.

I’m reminded of Loretta Spark’s observation: “Every Problem used to be a Solution”

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Ostrich Syndrome

In a nation  raised on the tenets of individual freedom,  hard work coupled with perseverance equals success and anyone can make it if they are determined, actions I label as “Ostrich Syndrome” coping,  are touted as our greatest strengths and saving grace by others.

So many in my circle put their nose to the grindstone and persevere in working harder, working smarter or working more – secure in the fact that hard work and ingenuity will win the day.

Not so.

When you are not in a position to independently set the value of your own labor (value of the US Dollar) or possessions -  when the fruits of your labor must pass through numerous hands before making their way back to you (taxation, debt interest and regulatory fees), when your local supply and demand formula can be ruthlessly exploited by the non-local, (tax breaks for big business and business travel), then you can work yourself into the ground,  producing the best product for the best true price and still go under.

Being a ‘good worker’ is laudable, but if the system you labor within is a complex and cleverly disguised version of serfdom, your dreams of being rewarded for hard-work will never be realized.  Short term illusion, yes.  Long term reality, not possible.

So instead of depending on working longer and harder, spend some of your time getting real clear on exactly what system you labor under.   See how much control and empowerment you have within that system.  And then decide if it’s worth putting your back into…

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Scapegoating

Definition – The act of singling out an individual or group for unmerited treatment or blame.

This will be a short section – really, a historical list is all I have to say about it (I’m just hitting quick-to-type highlights, this is by no means all inclusive):

• Salem witch trials
• Nazi Regime
• Most modern political campaigns
• The start of most wars

When folks are scared on a deep level, it becomes very easy to point fingers (and believe) where the root of all their troubles lies.

Scapegoating wastes a lot of time that could be spent on figuring out solutions, but it continues to be a favorite activity of those who wish to gain converts to their way of thinking.

I’m less interested in who is to blame and more interested in how do we fix it?   Trust me, in your quest to identify “how-to-correct” actions, you will discover any and all contributing factors to the problem, your own actions included.

As Forest Gump said, “And that’s about all I have to say about that.”

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I’m not denouncing us as blind idiots or sheeple.   I am certain though, we are all, to some extent, easily led by grand misinformation campaigns, which flourish in a complex system.

My new mantra is, “It’s only as complex as I buy into.”

Simplicity is focusing on what’s needed for daily survival,  how to fulfill those needs via your own local backyard and then taking steps towards working within that system or creating that system if needs be.

Remember, there are plenty of folks around you who wish to do the same.   Some just aren’t sure where to start.  Others are fearful of what drastic change will mean to their daily life.

Lunch at the Farmer’s Market while discussing what’s really important to you and how deep your fear and insecurities run, with your neighbors is a beginning….

Identifying where you and yours do have power and what you’re willing to support via your energy is the next.

One step at a time, We The People can persevere.

As I once told a discouraged process improvement team; “Change is coming down the pike.   Let’s get our two cents in now and direct how that change occurs.”

The New Robin Hood

Okay, brace yourself.   The following information will contain contradictions galore.   It is not going to be an answer or solution for anything, but will raise a lot of questions…

You’re still reading?   Okay, but never say I didn’t warn you.

Fresh off the presses some days back (I have a bookmark file labeled “To Blog About”) was the following story: Credit Card Fees transfer Wealth from the Poor to the Rich.

Not any shocker there.   Any thinking person realizes that merchants must raise their prices in order to sustain profit margins in the face of per-swipe and transaction fees.   Credit card companies with the best ‘customer rewards’ also charge merchants the highest fees – c’mon, those ‘free’ plane tickets have to come from somewhere and you can bet your boots it’s not from the credit card company’s profits.

The not-so-well-qualified buyers pay the same price or more for something than the well-qualified buyers.

Because of my first hand knowledge of the exorbitant merchant fees by Discover and American Express and the lower (yet still costly) fees by other brands, I have tried very hard to limit my use of debit/credit cards.   Cash is how I like to deal and have done so for years.

This does, of course, cut off my nose to spite my face – not using credit means your score becomes the subterranean level of the whole building.   On the plus side, you’re naturally safe from identity theft without paying $39.95 per month for protection.

On the other hand, I have a sneaking feeling that if everyone did this, the banks would have the same problem they encountered in 1929 and other well-known years.   We’ve been lured into the ‘electronic, paperless’ banking system for so long, I really wonder if there is enough printed money for everyone to function off cash alone.

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Which brings me to my next thought.   IF we all went to paying cash for expenditures, would there be a rash of DEA seizures and arrests?    ‘Cuz, ya know, one of the first alarm bells for those folks regarding where to search for large scale happy plant growing is when a local corn farmer pays cash for a new John Deere tractor with all the bells and whistles….

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And ultimately, my brain winds it way back to what ‘cash’ really represents.

It represents the ingenuity and labor of workers who take raw materials and turn them into something life sustaining, useful, beautiful or entertaining.

Which leads me to thinking, if unemployment is so high, and people aren’t working, then the symbols that represent that work should be in short supply too.

And if fewer people are working, there should, by mathematics, be less to oversee, manage, regulate and invest in, meaning government, CEO’s and stockbrokers as well as gamblers (I mean ‘investors’) should be hunkering down with everyone else.

I don’t observe  this to be happening.  It seems government, regulations and the financial services markets are expanding.

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I see too, that I’m a day late/dollar short on starting a local community exchange currency system.   Apparently, California is starting to issue voucher money.   (translation, their own currency)  If they have followed in the footsteps of South American communities who did the same in the ’80s and ’90s, and have done their homework, I suspect they will realize success.

Other states will follow – soon communities everywhere will have wrested back the control of their economy via their own efforts, instead of waiting for Washington to decide if they are worthy of the fruits of their own labor or not.

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I still question how much the Free Market movement will save us, given the basic fact that for Capitalism to work, it must gain 3% growth each and every year, which means, it’s a system that cannot function within limits.  As much as sustainability efforts try for a goal of 100%, it’s a goal that is, to our current way of viewing the world, unattainable.

On the flip side, the metaphysical groups will cite “Energy can neither be destroyed nor created, only transformed” and that we need only function within the laws of the universe in order to realize untold abundance. (aka, “No Limit Living”)

**********

My friend Tish, owner of The Good American Post and That’s Natural, has been quietly encouraging me to get off my duff and get started with the Create A Community Exchange system.   I

‘m hesitating.   Primarily because I’m focusing on getting well so I have enough energy to pull off this endeavor.   I hate starting something and petering out before it’s realized. (Which I’ve done many times in the past years – remember my tendency for my mind to write checks my body can’t cash?)

I’ve also hesitated because initial conversations with local merchants didn’t show much interest.   Can’t figure out if I didn’t communicate properly, if it really sounds to good to be true, or if in this day and age, anything suggesting that you really can be the master of your own domain is so unbelievable that I just sound like a charlatan.

Also, for those who are busy actually running a business or working for a living, there isn’t a lot of free time to do all the researching and reading I do.   And the concept of having your own local currency and how to make it work is not something I’ve figured out how to succinctly explain in 500 words or less.  (I am working on it – 2 drafts sit in my “in progress” folder as you read this…)

So in the end, I decided to start writing short little ditties with links to the full story.   I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps my job is not to realize anything, only raise the interest and point people in the direction of further information.

If it is, then I’m up to the challenge, right now.

The Sustainable Dream Home

I live in Colorado.  For years, I’ve wondered why we aren’t the leader in off-grid homes.   Because quite frankly, the areas of Colorado I have inhabited all have one thing in common:

If the sun ain’t shining, you can bet the wind is blowing like a banshee.   And often, they both do their best at the same time.

Since we have solar and wind-generated power technologies, why isn’t the whole durn eastern side of the state off-grid?   (I’ve never lived on the western slope, so I can’t speak on that)

In the ’80′s, my dad, a devout Mother Earth News and New Shelter subscriber (and a very informed member of the home construction trade) told me the cost of solar systems was out of the price range of most people.

Yet recently, I read that the innovation making solar panels affordable had also given new, extended life to the Technology Industry. (something about some thin filmy thingee – - I’m not a techie…..)  So apparently, it’s getting more affordable all the time.  (and in my cynicism, I forecast that it will become very affordable the instant  profits aren’t possible in the oil industry…but I could be wrong.)

Perhaps the cost has to do with the batteries used to store extra generated energy.   My local mechanic told me that to recoup the environmental losses created by producing the battery in the new hybrid cars, you need to drive your environment-friendly car at least 5 years.   Since my perspective is that we have been trained to want a new car every 2 years, I’m not sure how this is going to work out.

Course, this same source also told me that anyone who has a million dollars to invest in wind farm projects receives 14 million back via government grants, tax subsidies, etc., but that consistent 40 mph winds are needed before those big turbines even do what they are designed to do.    Haven’t been able to confirm or contradict that, as I don’t have a million dollars sitting around to invest.  But the story stuck in my head and I realized that if true, there will be loads of wind farms, whether they actually are doing all they tout or not.

A few years back, I heard, second-hand, about an off-grid home in the area where I live.   Seems those folks (as of 2002) had only had to turn on their generators once since owning their solar home (1980′s).   During the infamous October blizzard of ’97.   Three days of snowing/no sunshine.    But, I argue, if they had wind-generated power too, their system would have been deeply in the plus side.  (all you locals know of the phenomena of sideways snow.)

I inherited the cache of off-grid living magazines when my Dad passed away.   My brother got his set of Engineering encyclopedias.   I’m figuring if we both read our collections in their entirety and then put our brains together, we could probably build an off-grid home.   Maybe… I’m not as good with tools as he is.  Maybe I’ll just stupavise….

**********

Over the years I’ve collected an array of books and articles -  “Life in a concrete dome home”, given to me by a neighbor almost 2 years ago, How to grow more vegetables….than you ever thought, The Four Season Harvest,  Lasagna Gardening, 6 herb garden books, ten years worth of Farmer’s Almanacs, the same or more of New Shelter and Mother Earth News, the entire Foxfire Series….the list goes on and on.

I’ve been reading about the sustainable life for a long time.   The actual doing is, optimistically, 1/64th of the way there…

So here I sit  in my town-home, with its manicured lawns and no gardening spots (except for the pretty, non-edible/healing).   Where dandelions, the super spring-tonic food of our ancestors, are religiously destroyed every year.  (Bless their little pea-picking hearts, every spring they try once more.)

My container garden, scattered around, seated on decorative rock landscaping, looks, in places, vibrant and green and in others, dead empty save the soil I finally got properly mixed the 3rd time around.

Part of this story unfolds because I don’t have the cash money sitting around to go secretly build my dream compound and then invite hubby over and say, “See?  You can watch TV without having to unplug the refrigerator – I installed plenty of batteries…”

Part of it is because dreaming at my desk takes much less energy than actually searching through all the possible grants and loans available to see if I could get my dream home built and paid for just by carefully documenting and sharing the results of living such a way.

But the biggest part is my own hesitance.

I’ve been steeped in what I call ‘city-life’ for quite a few years now.   As the fantasy of my ‘dream home’ unfolds before my eyes, I truly question if my body can actually cash the checks my mind is writing.   Caring for other living things and designing your life to depend mainly upon your own efforts for your daily bread is a big gamble, given my daily life now.   And though I have the desire, I’m not completely sure if the Master Plan in my mind will actually work in the real world.

I’m well aware of how many things look good on paper and not-so-hot in reality.

**********

Older friends who have spent years gardening get quite a chuckle out of me.   I’ve read numerous books in the past 3 years.   I built a database to efficiently collect and retrieve data concerning companion planting, proper crop rotation, separate annuals from perennials, who likes full sun and who does not, what is a heavy feeder and what is a heavy giver, proper planting by the moon, how much water each plant needs to thrive, and the inherent dangers from pests and how to take care of them without chemical fallout.

Instead of recycling empty plastic jugs, I carefully washed and saved all of them, to use for water wicking systems.

I started a worm-composting bin.  (Which was going fine, with 3 worms carefully removed from a house plant my mother gave me.   Yes, I ignored the caution to only use worms designed expressly for this purpose.   I figured they’ve been surviving in a small houseplant container, why not roomy digs with lots of newspaper and veggie scraps?   But then I left on sabbatical and forgot to tell hubby the worms needed watered.    I came home to find the horror of worms who had escaped their waterless home only to die on the cold concrete of my garage floor.    Three deaths lay at the doorstep of my own neglect.   I still feel bad.)

I spent a lot of time the year of 2008/2009 making the rounds and asking the old timers about companion planting, raised beds, sub-surface watering systems, etc.    They just shook their heads and pointed to their flat, tilled, planted in rows, garden spaces and said, “That’s how I do it.”

Granted, they eat out of their garden every year and share with neighbors, but how they do it is in complete disagreement with most of the books I read.   Many a time, I thought, “Quit reading about organic, sustainable and just start out the way they do it.”

But I didn’t want to give up just quite yet.

This spring, I finally got around to actually ‘doing’.   Even with my planning, knowledge and best efforts, it’s July and I might have some leaf lettuce ready to eat sometime in September.   Improper mixing of container soils, too much water, not enough sunlight while indoors, hail, local bird population that feasted on my re-plantings and lord knows what else I did wrong, has resulted in greenery in my back yard, but not much hope that I will be harvesting loads for our supper table unless the growing season extends well past what it historically does and nothing else goes wrong.

(When I was a waitress at the local sale barn, I dubbed the majority of my customers as ‘crusty old farts’.   Now I know why they have the personality they do.  I’ve become one.)

The bright side of this whole story is my brother is happy.   As I related my disappointments and four, count them four, plantings between March and May, he said, “Well, I would have been pissed if you had just jumped in your first year and everything went perfect.  I’ve been farming for years and it still doesn’t always go right.”

Secretly, I’m tired of disappointment.   He told me to appreciate the wealth of knowledge I gain from every failure.   He also reminded me that in the planning and doing, all that information now resides in my brain, ready for retrieval in the years to come.  He’s been a farmer for going on almost 20 years now.   He’s learned to be patient and roll with the punches.

“But I wanted to eat out of my own garden this summer….” I whine.

**********

If all my planning, reading and learning failed so miserably in a little ole container garden, do I truly want to place my whole life in the hands of my master planned home?

Not so sure anymore.

My family is a big fan of, “Plan for the worst, hope for the best.”

So I figure, if everything collapses and my family’s survival depends on me learning how to be self-sufficient, then I’ll either succeed or I won’t.  Baptism by fire if you will.   At least I will have locked into my brain some of the basics about what is poisonous and what isn’t of my local fauna.

If everything doesn’t collapse anytime soon, then I have plenty of time to learn by trial and error what works and what doesn’t.   I can waste growing seasons trying out new combinations of gardening ideas – secure that I can at least go buy food if my experiments fail.

I can also keep reading and bit-by-bit add new ideas into the floor plan of my dream home.

(Did you know you can build a solar cooker right into a south facing kitchen wall?  A useful bay window…)

Sustainable Home Decor

Last Christmas I was in Hobby Lobby, desperately trying to find something that was:

• Blue and white to match my mother’s kitchen decor
• Either a rooster or a rooster design, also to match said kitchen
• Useful (does something more than collect dust)

As usual, I wondered just how much profit is made by items which I consider to be pure wastes of money.   “Please, let it be pretty AND useful”, is my fervent prayer.  As I wandered through the store, my inner committee was once again debating:

Miss Math: “Well, it HAS to be 300% or more profit, because they always have something marked down by 40%, 50% or 60%.   They can’t do that all the time and stay in business.”

Mr. Grumpy: “Who the heck buys all this useless stuff anyways?”

**********

Granted, I’m not what you would call a good home decorator or even a passable shopper.   Put me in the farmer’s market, a nursery or second-hand bookstore and I can outshop Paris Hilton.   (She shops, right?   I have to be careful – because there are a lot of current events I’m clueless about – she looks like she spends a lot of time shopping…. and Paris, if you’re reading this, please understand I don’t personally begrudge you your lifestyle and choices – I just needed some point of reference and I thought you would be a good one…)

**********

Back to my original story.   I did find a blue and white rooster.   That just sat there.   Didn’t hold cream, sugar, salt, tea or recipe cards.   Just sat there and collected dust.   $36 for something that doesn’t do anything except cause more work.

Understand I’m on a time-crunch.   Responsible people give great gifts, on time and Christmas is only days away.   The rooster recipe box I wanted to order online is out of stock until sometime AFTER christmas and by then, what’s the point?   I can’t show up with a gift-wrapped, printed screen capture of the item and it’s “Out of Stock” label; as a good daughter,  I’m not going to make my mom wait til February to have Christmas – Trying to be good and responsible in a culture that places value on the unnecessary can create a lot of stress…

(Oh, I know what’s afoot – they just want me to spend twice what I planned on – my civic duty in keeping our economy going…buy something now and then buy what I really wanted later. Two prices paid for one goal.)

It’s not that I’m against Christmas.   I just think we need to restructure it some.   I tried to talk my family into getting together, sharing a meal and spending the day together.   And then taking the money we would have spent on each other and gift wrap and going shopping at the after-holiday, before inventory counting sales instead.    That way, everyone gets what they really want/need, at a good price, there’s no hurt feelings when someone finds out you either exchanged what you got, or heaven forbid, the ‘perfect gift’ you found Uncle Tom is produced as the white elephant gift next year…..

It would solve a lot of problems, plus, it would give me back what I love about the holidays the most – food, laughter, family stories and the chance to be together, having fun.  I have been unsuccessful so far, but I’m thinking economic troubles may add credence to my plan…

Sorry – back, again, to the story -

In my wanderings around what has become more of a home decorating emporium and less a place for crafters, I saw a beautiful large bound book covered with maps and old time ships.  Aha!   Perfect for my brother.  And it’s on the sale rack.   I pick it up and about throw it through the roof.   Quite a bit lighter than I expected.  Turns out it’s made of material just a shade heavier than poster board.  I turn it over to peek at the price tag.   I’m sure you won’t believe me (I hardly believed it) but here’s what it said:

$40.00

Made In China

If they marked it down to 99% off, I might have been tempted to purchase.   I mean it did have cool graphics.  As it was, there was no way it was worth $40, $20 (sale price) or even $5, at least not to me.  If something has been invented to clean the dust off of poster board that doesn’t stain or ruin it, I’m not aware of it.   And yet, here sits a poster board fake book, at the unbelievable sales price of $20.

I could get a real book about ships at my local bookstore for that.

In an instant,  I could see the business lunch where it all began played out before my mind’s eye:

Foreign CEO1 – “See?  It’s perfect.  Not only are they raised to expect a higher standard of living, but they are convinced that to have a ‘nice home’ you must decorate it.    Extensively.   And you should re-decorate every season or so.   And put out extra decorations for holidays.   And in their culture, it’s a sign of prosperity and abundance if you have lots of expensive useless things sitting around, waiting to be dusted.   If we make them out of posterboard or lightweight ceramics, they will deteriorate or break easily – so they’ll have to be replaced often.  We will make a fortune!”

Foreign CEO2 – “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this opportunity.  What do you think?”

US Politician (who owns controlling stock in an advertising agency and a popular magazine on Lifestyle): “Wellll, it will take some groundwork, but I’m sure we can convince people they really need these things.  If we make regulations and taxes stiff enough at home, they’ll have to be manufactured abroad.  Yes, I think we can make it happen.”

**********

Okay, I’ll admit, that’s probably not the way it really all came about.    But I couldn’t get that picture out of my mind.

I left without purchasing a single thing.

Back in the car,  I monologued to my husband my disappointment in a craft store becoming a home decor store,  the ever increasing space given to over-priced, non-locally produced junk, which just proves how many people buy this @#!$ because if no one was buying, they wouldn’t keep stocking more of it.   I ranted on about this being an example of why things in this country are going to you-know-where in a handbasket.

This was all received with eye-rolling and the ever-patient commentary, “Why do you let these things upset you?”

Bless his heart for sticking with me and my soapbox.

(Bless mine for not pounding his head with a baseball bat while yelling, “This kind of obliviousness is WHY we’re in a mess….”)

**********

But that epiphany changed me.   I really got, at a deep cellular level, how much of the idealized American way of life is steeped in the constant consumption of the non-necessities.   Of how our culture of prosperity is, at it’s roots, the accumulation of the not needed.

**********

I’ve put off doing ‘home decorating’ most of my adult life, for the simple fact that my early attempts proved it’s not one of my natural talents, as well as the fact that while I enjoy pleasant surroundings, I’ve always thought  non-utilitarian goods were way overpriced.

Once married, it got delayed even further, given I’m a native-american-cowboy-wildlife-wood fan and Hubby is a rock-n-roll-technology-black-and-chrome fan.   A visit to our house will show you the initial blending of our two households with very few changes.   AC/DC and Chris LeDoux in concert together,  if you will…  I’m not willing to dust a lot of black household items and not selfish enough to just do it all the way I want it.

But I’m ready now.   I’m going to decorate my house in plants.   The only additional furniture I need buy is perhaps some more shelving units.  Quick, easy, multi-purpose and available from local suppliers.

I can grow the colorful, the edible and the healing.    I can benefit from their air cleaning abilities and they get the benefits of turning from an annual into a perennial.

I can pretend I’m sleeping in nature without enduring the discomforts of no toilet, bear attacks or exposure.  They get to live where they needn’t overcome the trauma of hail damage.

And if it’s really successful, I’m going to start dressing with plants too.   (I think I can weave a mini-skirt out of the potato stalks dead via hail stones….)

If I’m lucky and perform my activities correctly, I shall always have new plants or seeds to replace those who live out their cycle and return to dirt.   I needn’t worry whether they are in style, have re-sale value or need to be upgraded in 6 months or so.  Dusting them is worthwhile because it’s Health Care and Maintenance, not a useless activity designed to make something look good.

I’ll be closer and more aware of  the cycle of life and maybe not so overwhelmed with shock when something dies.

Yup, I’m thinking living in a green house is just the thing to do.

If I find a plant that comes in black and functions as a wireless router, I’m sure Hubby will be on board with my plan too…

Why Buy Locally?

We are all aware of the wide variation between plans that look good on paper vs. their real usefulness once they manifest in the world.   Communism, the 2010 Census and the master plans for my home-made solar cooker are all good examples.

There are those in my circle who scratch their heads, sigh or do eye-rolling when I share my thoughts on local community exchange currency, shopping locally, eating in season and organically, etc., etc.   But I will share with you a manifestation of the results of Not Buying Locally and what happens when we continue to do business as if gas is cheap, oil never-ending and getting the lowest price, always, makes you a savvy and responsible citizen.

My brother owns a sod farm.   He also harvests hay.   He’s splitting his ‘business bets’ between luxury, ecological  repair and food items.   I pointed out with very little change to his operations, he could maybe get some business from the Wheat Grass Juicing Health Food Craze.   (Insert eye rolling here.)

My brother loves what he does.   And he’s very good at it.   When he first took over operations, he already knew what his plan was to not only lower his production costs but also run his business in a more water conservation-friendly way.   He is realizing his plans.

If the economy had persevered, he would be in ‘tall cotton’ right about now.   Instead, he’s happy that all his work is going to make it possible for his farm to ride out this downturn, instead of going bankrupt.

Now, the economy immediately around him is doing okay.   There is a need for his product and he could easily sell it.    But the economy located approximately 2 1/2 hours away from him is not.   The sod farms there are trucking their salesmen and product over large distances and cutting their rates drastically, all in an effort to have some sales and keep from going under.

And as people love a good deal, my brother’s neighbors buy the lower-cost, non-local product – hey, they’re watching their pennies carefully too.

This last visit, he reported there were fencing companies traveling  almost 300 miles in order to under-bid the local companies.   No, they can’t afford to really do that , long term – but slowly spending more than you are taking in delays the starvation you have when you aren’t working at all and it will work for another reason – operating costs are tax-deductible.   Operating costs include vehicles and gas consumption.

For those of you familiar with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, you will realize these scenarios echo the example she so eloquently illustrated via buying local organic lettuce or corporate farm, non-local lettuce.    Yes, the big farm can grow it, harvest it, ship it and sell it to you for .97/head.   The local farmer wants $1.97.  “I can’t afford to eat locally/organically” you wail -

But that .97 lettuce is not REALLY that low price.  You have paid the same or more than you would for the local lettuce, but You Don’t Know that you have, because the savings comes out of tax subsidies – meaning, you are subsidizing that big farm with your tax dollars – but since you lose those tax dollars whether you buy local or not, it’s not really apparent to you just how much you are paying for the .97 lettuce.

Buying locally is also environmentally and economically advantageous.   Since I don’t believe I can be more succinct or eloquent, I’ll share a quote from Steven L. Hopp regarding this:

“A quick way to improve food-related fuel economy would be to buy a quart of motor oil and drink it.  More palatable options are available.  If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels.” (Read full  “Oily Food” commentary here)

The other obvious but often disregarded truth regarding supporting local businesses – If they aren’t supported enough to survive – they are gone.   I wonder how low these traveling sod and fence salesmen will lower their prices when the market is good and they know their customers no longer have an option of buying locally?   Do you think they will reward their far-flung customers with low prices as a thank you for buying from them when times were hard?   Me thinks they will take advantage of their position and get all the money they can.

Because our current system is built on thriving through careful mining of profits through supply and demand mathematics.   Undercutting and driving out of business the smaller local operations during hard times is a great way to have an open field for charging whatever price you want when demand increases.

**********

While we’re on the subject of cutting off the short-term nose to spite our long-term face, let’s discuss layoffs.

About a year ago I was visiting with a fourth generation family member of a local well-works business.    He related how his great-grandad had handled the employee side of the business during the Depression.   All hands were assembled and he told them bluntly, “We have a choice.   We can all go to fewer hours, work with each other regarding scheduling so we cover what work we do have here and enable all of us to seek work in other ways too, or I can lay off all but two of you and the two left will have steady, full-time work.”

They chose for all to take less and work with each other to help meet everyone’s needs.

And when the Depression had faded away and work was once again plentiful, this man had a trained, experienced crew that was happy to return to full-time work.

When I read about bonus and dividend checks handed out to CEO’s and investors right on the heels of layoff announcements, I remember this story.    And I’m sure you know which course of action finds favor in my eyes.

**********

I probably haven’t shared with you anything you don’t already know.   And you may be rolling your eyes and thanking me for wasting your time telling you this.

But as we continue to face stimulus packages spent to expand regulatory agencies, (not on getting the average working American back to work, producing needed items and services) and we all realize we can’t just consume forever in expansionist mode, it pays to remember that salvation is often in the daily details.

It means spending the extra $1 on your weekly head of lettuce to keep your local farmer in business and waiting awhile for that new Xbox game or designer shoes.

If you are a business owner,  it means offering a reasonable schedule to your now part-time employees, so they have a chance in hell of getting another part-time job to supplement what they lost by staying loyal to you, instead of saying, “Take it or leave it, there are thousands that would just jump at the chance to work for minimum wage at whatever schedule or tasks I give ‘em”.

(I have an acquaintance who now works 6 days a week, 2 or 3 hours at a time after commuting 15 miles, just to keep the job she does have.  Her schedule is posted weekly and can change at any time.   Her employers want full-time loyalty for a part-time position.    She sheepishly confesses, “Yeah, I’m looking for another position, but any work is better than unemployment or welfare.”   Her attitude is a noble one, and a prime example of how the idiotic and selfish take advantage of the honorable.)

It also means being very proactive in supporting the businesses that you really want to see still in business a day, month or year from now.    Putting food, shelter, healthcare should be the top of your list.   And if you have some extra to spend on the luxurious and beautiful, maybe something from a local artist or entertainer?    They may not be deemed as necessary to your survival, but if they choose to buy local too, then you are getting your quality of life via an expenditure that will also be spent in keeping your local food producer in business.

I’m not trying to be simplistic or naive.   Just buying locally and cutting back on non-necessities produced from outside your community is not all that’s needed.   But it is something that is completely within your control; action that does not have to wait for the next election, a new law to be passed, or dependent upon your government officials approving or supporting.   It’s ‘hunkering down’ not only with your family and friends, but your immediate neighbors too.

And, since I’m a control freak (according to some) I like plans of action that depend on nothing more than me choosing.

Capitalism, In Crisis?

David Harvey’s “Crisis of Capitalism” got the grey matter (stardust) between my ears going.  It really filled in some gaps in my thought processes that had been going full-throttle since entering Thomas H. Greco Jr.’s world of “New Money for Healthy Communities”.  (I read it in May.   Still filling in the blanks.   Should have a workable plan soon… if my stardust doesn’t blow away)

(I highly recommend viewing Mr. Harvey’s full lecture (31 minutes).  And don’t tell me you don’t have time…I Facebook – I know how much time you spend on reality TV and computer games… lol)

The material jam-packed into this little clip will get you from “Capitalism is Great!” to “Is It Sustainable?” in 11 minutes or less.

Now, before you fly into a tizzy of disbelief, please remember I’m not a socialist or communist or ….what have you.   But I am a firm believer that what we ARE doing is not working and is not sustainable.  Therefore, it’s time to look at why and can it be fixed, or do we need to start anew?

Some of Mr. Harvey’s observations on what is needed to make Capitalism (in its current form) a viable system are:

1. Investment of capital needs to take place at precisely the right time, in the right area, in the right amount – everytime
2. Investment must move continuously through geographical and industry sectors, in order to keep stability.
3. We must realize at least 3% growth each year.

Investment of capital needs to take place at precisely the right time, in the right area, in the right amount

If it was possible to consistently invest in needed products and services, in the appropriate place and amount, at the right time, it wouldn’t be called gambling ( I mean Wall Street)  Therefore, I believe hoping for this to come true should be placed on the Utopian blueprint, for future reference.

Investment must move continuously through geographical and industry sectors, in order to keep stability.

This is just an educated and financial sounding way of saying, “Spread the Wealth.”   Again, historically, we are very piss-poor at doing this.   We also have natural forces to contend with.  For example, in order to move large amounts of people, goods and services to the Sahara, we need to wait for the next shift of the earth’s axis, guesstimate is 6,000 to 15,000 years from now (or in 2012, if you’re a doomsdayer…and if you are, you’re not reading this, cuz, hey! you only need enough money to last the next 26 months or so.)

So I think we can place “spreading the wealth” in the Kumbaya world too.

3% growth every year

That’s easy.   It’s called population growth.   New consumers are born every minute.

Until you realize that population growth peaked at 2.2% in 1963 and is now at about 1.1% growth, with a continued decline expected.  (Since most Americans don’t need all those extra hands for working a farm they don’t own  AND  a $40,000 college education is expected for each child unit, me thinks the decline will continue.)

(I know all you Ph.der’s out there wondering why I’m drawing a direct correlation between population growth and the needed 3% growth needed for capitalism to work.   I’m not going to explain, because this is really just an asinine way to draw attention to our propensity to expand unchecked in a variety of areas.)

So, just to be optimistic, let’s say that even-stevens, we get 1.1% of our needed growth from newborn consumers.   That leaves us with a 1.9% shortfall.

How much can you eat, wear, do, in a day?   C’mon people, 3% growth isn’t easy (unless it concerns my weight and waistline.)   In order for capitalism to work, we must all do our effort to consume 3% more of viable goods/services each year.

Let’s look at some of the creative ways we have realized gains in the past decades.

Technology

Technology has carried the ‘growth-load’ for some time.  Given Moore’s law of accurately predicting double the transistor capacity every 2 years or so, innovative folks  learned how to design new devices that weren’t even possible at the time they were brainstorming, but were by the time  manufacturing began.   The boosts to the advertising market is just icing on the cake. (I mean really, who would actually buy a Furby without their kids being blitzed by the media?)

But this trend will not continue – projections expect the peak around 2015 or so.  (I can’t wait!   I’m really tired of having to figure out how to work all the bells and whistles on a new phone, software or computer every year or so!  Remind me to tell you the story about converting from Access 2003 to 2007 in the middle of building a database sometime. User-friendly Ribbon Bars my arse…)

On the bright side, technology and space travel should continue to see some growth – we need to find a way to rocket off to the moon or Mars, once we’ve made Earth uninhabitable.  And there are those optimists who are working on space travel just in case we don’t destroy ourselves prior to the sun turning into a red giant.

Housing

My brother and I were raised in a five room home. (yes, we did have an indoor privvy…)  Neither of us joined gangs, went to wrack and ruin via drugs, alcohol, etc.   My family of 3 currently resides in a home nearly 5 times the square footage.  (I say we need to downgrade – males in the house like all the extra floor space to drop socks and set dirty dishes on…)

My dad, a plumber, said that in his experience, people who ‘added on’ to their house because their current one was overflowing with ‘stuff’ didn’t keep the nice, organized environment for long.   They just filled the new empty space with more stuff.   (See?  We are trained well to do our part in realizing 3% growth in spending every year.)

The ‘mortgage industry crisis’ is, in a word, funny.   No, not ha-ha-look-you’re-homeless funny, but how-did-they-think-loaning-more-than-a-house-is-worth-was-going-to-work funny.

Apparently, there wasn’t a dependable Moore’s Law for doubling of home value every 2 years or so.   And how much living space do we really need?   And if we have some extra space, does it just drive us to spend, spend, spend to fill it up?   And can we sustain both the increasing house payments and the decorating expenses non-stop on our current employment?

I also find it entertaining how greatly house prices vary from different perspectives.   From an individual viewpoint, I’d be fine if the realtor and mortgage company of a potential buyer thought my house was worth what the county assessor and my insurance agent have valued it at.    Heck, I’d even be happy if what my insurance agent said I should insure it for was what the insurance adjustor states they will pay when I’m standing next to rubble.

Mr. Harvey states that capitalism is a never-ending race to get past ‘ceilings’ – it functions only in an environment of no limits.   Our recent housing and mortgage industry woes are excellent examples of what happens when we try building a stand-alone staircase to skirt the ceiling.

Financial Services

The financial services industry is, in a word, ludicrous.   That you need an entire industry to oversee and manage a symbol of actual goods and services seems ridiculous to me.    Bottom line, our Washingtons, Lincolns and Franklins are simply a symbol for goods and services which are either currently or shortly (about 60 days)  available for consumption.    (See Money, The Great Hoax, coming soon, for more on this topic.)

We have become so detached from what money actually is that we see It as a commodity.    And many an industry has been built on this commodity.

When you spend your money to make more money, then you are spending a symbol to make a symbol.  But what does it symbolize?   Gold?  Um, no.   Many of the world’s countries that were on a gold standard suspended it to finance wars and found out they couldn’t afford to re-instate it later (I reiterate, wars are pricey).    I also cannot resist adding that having a gold standard is silly.   If you’re hungry, you can’t eat gold.   I’d prefer to see food crops as the standard of money.   But, hey, what do I know?

The financial sector is big business.   Like politics, only those immersed knee deep in that world can actually keep a straight face while expounding on how the system works.   The day I found out that people can actually place bets (oops, sorry, “invest money” is what I should have said) on whether another person or company will actually pay off their loans, and those who bet against people making good made more money than the flip side, was the day I realized we’ve all gone insane.

Granted, I’m sure there are some who would be happy to loudly and aggressively explain to me how this betting (sorry, “investing”) works, why I’m naive and how I should learn more before downing the system.   In my defense, I do not enter the political or financial worlds often – I’m afraid if I read enough to learn all there is to know about them, I’ll become hypnotized into believing their dream world is a good reality.

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Now I’m going to go out on a limb and say I believe our most recent attempt to create 3% growth is in the Insurance industries.   Maybe it’s always been this way, but seems to me I see way more insurance commercials now than I used to.  I can insure my car, house, pet, computer, life, long-term care……..you name it, I can insure it.

There are several things about the insurance industry that bother me.    First, they are in the business to make a profit – just like casinos.   Making a profit means taking in less than you pay out.   Since they are both in the business of telling you what the value is when they are collecting the premiums and what the value is when they cut the check to replace/fix the insured item, or compensate for the loss, seems to me there is quite a bit of  space for the Company to make decisions in their financial favor.  Health insurance premiums vs. when they will release the money and to whom they will release it to for your well-being is a prime example.

Second, I’m required, by either law (car) or to make some purchases (financed home/car) to have.   Yet there doesn’t seem to be legislation in place to keep them from raking you over the coals any chance they get.

Car insurance is a good example.   Years ago, I  worked a short walk away from my lodgings.   Engine in my car blew and I thought, heck, why don’t I just walk for awhile?   So I canceled my insurance, since I no longer had a car to insure.

BIG Mistake!  Huge!   About 18 months later, when I decided get a car, off I went to visit my insurance agent (of course I went back to my old one, like a good neighbor, they are there?  right?)   Imagine my shock and surprise when I found out that although my driving record was even better than before (not driving greatly reduces the chances of speeding tickets!) my premium had almost tripled in size.  Why?   Well, because obviously, I was Uninsured for a reason and there are penalties for that.   (Not owning a car, is apparently, not a good reason.)

Third, most policies have an exclusion for ‘acts of god/nature’ – - if the industry gets into deep financial trouble, I’m thinking a deer running in front of my car or lightening striking my house can probably be placed under that exclusion, even though those scenarios are precisely why I got insurance in the first place.  Add to that the exclusion of life insurance payments, ‘during a time of war’ – and our current inability to solve differences peaceably, and you’ll see why I also place insurance in the ‘heavy house favor’ category of bets.

Fourth, when you take out insurance, you are actually placing a cover bet that something traumatic, devastating and catastrophic is going to happen to you.   The insurance company is betting it won’t.  In essence, you are betting against yourself.  I mean really, who wants to live with that world view?

But I’ll share with you the real (secret) reason why I’m not into insurance being our new way of gaining 3% growth.   On my dark days (yes, I have them often, can’t you tell?) I enter a Twilight Zone state where I’m pretty convinced we are wobbling towards total destruction.   Mother Earth shedding a few pounds, if you will.    And I ponder on who all Knows that’s what’s going to happen.   Just imagine raking in billions in premiums and there not being anyone left to pay out to…

That can finance a pretty good life for the short time we’ve got left. (if you believe it’s all going to end in 2012…)

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I’ll close with repeating the sentiments expressed by Mr. Harvey.   No, I don’t have the solution.

But I do think we can explore other ways to either A.)Move to a different system, or B.)Find better ways to realize our needed growth.

Given our history, we love to gamble.

Maybe we could open a chain of casino/spas.    Combine our love of wagering with the trend towards being healthier (reducing our need for health insurance).   Just think, acupuncture followed by blackjack.

Works for me.

The Slow Money Campaign

Thanks to Tisha Casida, editor and publisher of  The Good American Post, I was made aware of the Slow Money campaign.

Aligned with the ideals of Slow Food, this movement is dedicated to recapturing of our freedom and quality of life through rebuilding our local communities and health person by person, one step at a time.

YES!

Change does not have to be drastic, painful or sacrificial.  It can be as easy as choosing to combine your resources with one or more neighbors and purchasing a whole beef from a neighbor who ranches – and having it butchered/processed by a local locker plant.

It means meeting your buddy at the Farmer’s Market for coffee and a chat, instead of the national chain restaurant. (and perhaps walking to the market, instead of driving?)

It can also take the form of investing in the expansion, new equipment or facilities of local businesses, rather than buying gold from a broker 3,000 miles away.

Or finding a neighbor who has an herb garden and supplementing their income in exchange for fresh cut herbs for your favorite recipe.

Or trading your fresh baked bread and some $’s with a neighbor who knows how to fix that leaky shower head, rather than hiring a repairman that is routed by the 1-800 dispatcher from a town 2 1/2 hours drive from you.  (just think of the savings you gain by not paying the ‘trip charge’!)

I look at my own life and know I’m a far cry from being a totally organic eating, locavore.   I buy my wheat, beef and pork direct from the rancher/farmer, but they are about 84 miles from me.  Still, it’s a step in the right direction.

I also usually purchase more than my family can eat in a year, so my freezer/garage storage area becomes a grocery store for older friends who have small households and no room to store a full beef or pig or 5-gallon buckets of wheat.    They get great food at the same price I paid (no mark-ups) and it allows me to bolster my bank account when there is more month than money – exchanging what I do have of value for that which I may be running short on!  :>)

I’ve traded or lowered my fees for database and website design in exchange for mentoring, the sharing of a booth at a conference, etc.  I provide sprouted whole wheat bread for 6 families (doable in my ‘bachelor sized kitchen’ – not doable on a commercial sized scale!)

While I still dream of living in solar/wind powered home, with garden space, a chicken coop and a milk barn, where all I need for the health and security of my family is available in walking distance, I’ve finally realized I don’t need to do it all, Today! (unless, of course, I do finally hit Powerball – bonus to the local contractor who can get me installed in my dream home in 3 months or less………..LOL)

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Mike Dooley, author of Infinite Possibilities and founder of Totally Unique Thoughts (TUT), organized the charity of his devotees into a doable practice – $1, each month, and the proceeds go to different works.

(And I highly recommend signing up for his daily “Notes from the Universe” – there are days when these uplifting messages have been my saving grace………………)

How many people live in your community?  If everyone contributed $1, per family member, each month, how fast would that youth center get put up?   How quickly would the space for a weekly mutual trade exchange fair be realized?

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My recent foray into the world of political campaigning, via donation of my time/expertise to support a local candidate for the Office of Sheriff, has once again proven to me how effective grass roots movements are.

There’s a reason why.

My favorite metaphor for explaining why grass roots efforts are so effective is the Pyramid Story.

Think of the Great Pyramid in its’ heyday.  Beautifully encased in white limestone, with a gold capstone – archeologists surmise it could be seen from miles away.

But without the thousands of tons of plain, perhaps even dull, base stones, the blood sweat and tears of visionaries, engineers and laborers, that casing and gold capstone could not have been displayed to such great advantage.

Our individual freedom and creativity, the health and quality of life experienced by ourselves and our families, the resiliency and strength of our local communities – Those are the base stones that make the shiny casing and capstone called America.

Here’s to the Foundation that supports it all…………..

You and me.