This piece strikes such an interesting balance between being depressing and hopeful. Like, it definitely addresses doom and gloom, but also manages to be affirming in some ways? Not in a scalable...
This piece strikes such an interesting balance between being depressing and hopeful. Like, it definitely addresses doom and gloom, but also manages to be affirming in some ways? Not in a scalable sense (we can’t all move to Ireland!) but definitely on an individual one.
This was very thoughtful, and I appreciate you sharing your thinking with us, scissortail.
Also, you mentioned Portugal, so one thing I can maybe put on your radar if it isn’t already there: the Azores. They’re islands in the middle of the Atlantic, so, not necessarily ideal in that I assume they’re dependent on having a lot of stuff flown out to them. I assume they’re similar to Hawaii though, in that regard.
Anyway, when I visited there, they had a vibrant local farming scene and a lot of stuff was done right on the island (I visited the main one, São Miguel). We visited a tea plantation (Gorreana brand, the best green tea I’ve ever had), and one of the workers explained that they don’t have to use traditional pesticides simply because, by virtue of being an island out in the middle of the ocean, many traditional pests simply don’t exist there. This could have simply been a good marketing item masquerading as earnest disclosure, but it didn’t feel like that.
We also visited a pineapple plantation. All my life I’ve disliked pineapple, and it wasn’t until I had fresh, non-factory-farmed pineapple in the Azores that I realized it could actually be mouth-wateringly delicious.
Anyway, I’m tossing this out there simply because it might be one more place you can add to your list. I definitely had pangs of “oh my god I could LIVE here” while visiting, and that isn’t usually something I feel when I travel somewhere.
Thank you for the kind words, and for the suggestion! I'll absolutely look into the Azores. The way you've written about them certainly makes them sound appealing. Fresh fruit just hits different...
Thank you for the kind words, and for the suggestion! I'll absolutely look into the Azores. The way you've written about them certainly makes them sound appealing. Fresh fruit just hits different when it's grown right on the island. I've been spoiled for great bananas here in Hawai'i, and have gotten to try fruits I never even knew existed. The eggfruit and star apple may be my favorites of the new-to-me fruits.
I wrote this post for my blog a little while ago, and the recent discussion on The Guardian's piece about the Sami prompted me to share. I think moving towards lifestyles that enable degrowth will...
I wrote this post for my blog a little while ago, and the recent discussion on The Guardian's piece about the Sami prompted me to share.
I think moving towards lifestyles that enable degrowth will be critical in the near-term, and in this piece I lay out a little bit of the whys and hows as they pertain to my own life.
I liked that you mentioned the world’s dependence on fertilizers. You seem to have a realistic idea of the difficulty of the challenge. I’m not sure what a realistic attitude towards trade should...
I liked that you mentioned the world’s dependence on fertilizers. You seem to have a realistic idea of the difficulty of the challenge.
I’m not sure what a realistic attitude towards trade should be, though? Even if basics like food could be handled locally, there is still going to be dependence on trade goods. It doesn’t seem realistic to refine metals yourself or build your own fabs. Salvage only goes so far. It seems reasonable to prepare for temporary supply disruptions, but this seems more like camping, where the plan is to reconnect by the time supplies run out.
Island economies seem worth studying. My general impression is that tend to be very dependent on foreign trade? Smaller countries have to worry more about the balance of trade, which means having a good export industry. Resilience is more about having diverse industries and trading partners. These issues are too big for individuals or even for small communities.
Trade is absolutely a sticky wicket. Each future community will doubtless handle things differently, but my thought would be to view salvage technology as a transitional step. As you point out, it...
Trade is absolutely a sticky wicket. Each future community will doubtless handle things differently, but my thought would be to view salvage technology as a transitional step. As you point out, it only goes so far, and in my opinion should be used for the establishment of systems where that level of technology is no longer necessary. If a community can handle the basics--food, water, shelter, clothing (and I might add arts/crafts/culture here)--sustainably and internally, trade becomes primarily a vehicle for luxury goods and cultural exchange. This probably involves a lot of tools, techniques, and lifeways that we would associate with the medieval period, pre-contact America, or even the Stone Age.
I am actually living on an island right now. It seems to me that in terms of contemporary economies, you're totally correct--most islands are very dependent on foreign trade (and often tourism) to make ends meet. Here in Hawai'i, the islands grew only about fifteen percent of their food in 2016. This is not for lack of arable land, either--short of recent lava flows, food can be grown easily almost anywhere on the islands (and even the lava flows have little plants trying their best). I think the sort of autonomy of necessities I'm spitballing about would be achievable here, though it would obviously necessitate huge changes in lifestyle for everyone involved.
Resilience is more about having diverse industries and trading partners. These issues are too big for individuals or even for small communities.
One of my premises implied that industrial capitalism will eventually fail--I think the first part of this only really holds if that premise is incorrect, though I do agree completely that resilience is beyond the scope of the individual. I think a small set of modestly-sized communities, though, could achieve effective resilience with the right attitudes and strategies.
This piece strikes such an interesting balance between being depressing and hopeful. Like, it definitely addresses doom and gloom, but also manages to be affirming in some ways? Not in a scalable sense (we can’t all move to Ireland!) but definitely on an individual one.
This was very thoughtful, and I appreciate you sharing your thinking with us, scissortail.
Also, you mentioned Portugal, so one thing I can maybe put on your radar if it isn’t already there: the Azores. They’re islands in the middle of the Atlantic, so, not necessarily ideal in that I assume they’re dependent on having a lot of stuff flown out to them. I assume they’re similar to Hawaii though, in that regard.
Anyway, when I visited there, they had a vibrant local farming scene and a lot of stuff was done right on the island (I visited the main one, São Miguel). We visited a tea plantation (Gorreana brand, the best green tea I’ve ever had), and one of the workers explained that they don’t have to use traditional pesticides simply because, by virtue of being an island out in the middle of the ocean, many traditional pests simply don’t exist there. This could have simply been a good marketing item masquerading as earnest disclosure, but it didn’t feel like that.
We also visited a pineapple plantation. All my life I’ve disliked pineapple, and it wasn’t until I had fresh, non-factory-farmed pineapple in the Azores that I realized it could actually be mouth-wateringly delicious.
Anyway, I’m tossing this out there simply because it might be one more place you can add to your list. I definitely had pangs of “oh my god I could LIVE here” while visiting, and that isn’t usually something I feel when I travel somewhere.
Thank you for the kind words, and for the suggestion! I'll absolutely look into the Azores. The way you've written about them certainly makes them sound appealing. Fresh fruit just hits different when it's grown right on the island. I've been spoiled for great bananas here in Hawai'i, and have gotten to try fruits I never even knew existed. The eggfruit and star apple may be my favorites of the new-to-me fruits.
I wrote this post for my blog a little while ago, and the recent discussion on The Guardian's piece about the Sami prompted me to share.
I think moving towards lifestyles that enable degrowth will be critical in the near-term, and in this piece I lay out a little bit of the whys and hows as they pertain to my own life.
I liked that you mentioned the world’s dependence on fertilizers. You seem to have a realistic idea of the difficulty of the challenge.
I’m not sure what a realistic attitude towards trade should be, though? Even if basics like food could be handled locally, there is still going to be dependence on trade goods. It doesn’t seem realistic to refine metals yourself or build your own fabs. Salvage only goes so far. It seems reasonable to prepare for temporary supply disruptions, but this seems more like camping, where the plan is to reconnect by the time supplies run out.
Island economies seem worth studying. My general impression is that tend to be very dependent on foreign trade? Smaller countries have to worry more about the balance of trade, which means having a good export industry. Resilience is more about having diverse industries and trading partners. These issues are too big for individuals or even for small communities.
Trade is absolutely a sticky wicket. Each future community will doubtless handle things differently, but my thought would be to view salvage technology as a transitional step. As you point out, it only goes so far, and in my opinion should be used for the establishment of systems where that level of technology is no longer necessary. If a community can handle the basics--food, water, shelter, clothing (and I might add arts/crafts/culture here)--sustainably and internally, trade becomes primarily a vehicle for luxury goods and cultural exchange. This probably involves a lot of tools, techniques, and lifeways that we would associate with the medieval period, pre-contact America, or even the Stone Age.
I am actually living on an island right now. It seems to me that in terms of contemporary economies, you're totally correct--most islands are very dependent on foreign trade (and often tourism) to make ends meet. Here in Hawai'i, the islands grew only about fifteen percent of their food in 2016. This is not for lack of arable land, either--short of recent lava flows, food can be grown easily almost anywhere on the islands (and even the lava flows have little plants trying their best). I think the sort of autonomy of necessities I'm spitballing about would be achievable here, though it would obviously necessitate huge changes in lifestyle for everyone involved.
One of my premises implied that industrial capitalism will eventually fail--I think the first part of this only really holds if that premise is incorrect, though I do agree completely that resilience is beyond the scope of the individual. I think a small set of modestly-sized communities, though, could achieve effective resilience with the right attitudes and strategies.