New Years Resolution
Greetings Fans and Followers of the God of War.
I am not really THAT infamous Ares, but I am his weaker cousin, and he likes me, so I hope you'll be civil.
It took me a little while to get my purpose for this blog, but as the New Year approaches, I have found a resolution that needs lots of reflection.
I make this resolution in response to continued anxiety over numerous issues about the future - my individual future, as well as the larger collective future of the United States and the wider the modern world.
It is easy enough to find rational fears that are easier to ignore because we apparently have no control. So RATHER than simply continuing to obsess over trying to sort out problems - whether world Peak Oil (production) will send the global economy into a downward spiral in 2008, or the rest of the world gets tired of supporting U.S. debt and spirals the value of the dollar down, or Terrorism actually becomes what Bush claims and someone explodes a WMD somewhere across the U.S. Lots of worries between hitting natural limits, economic stupidity, and military stupidity.
Okay, so I decided the BEST use to direct this USELESS worry is into evaluating the conditions of my dependency and to imagine what can be done to reduce or eliminate them as external circumstances demand.
I decided my HOME is my strongest resource - shelter against the storm. I know the MODERN home has little value beyond a bed to sleep on and storage, but these are important assets to start with. What I want is to "declutter" it to the point that space is available for making the house more as needed.
Overall I will imagine some external resource is suddenly gone and what short term and long term defenses exist to replace it.
I will also imagine OTHERS also have similar needs as me and the government is not in a position to help EVERYONE. Therefore individual households become places to organize local action to help others as well.
It might be as simple as "a depression that raises unemployment to 25% for 5 years", while basic necessities remain overall available, even if some rationing occurs. It might be a natural or war disaster that destroys homes or makes other parts of my metro area unlivable.
Oh, I won't be sharing my true identity at all (as you might expect), but for the sake of clarity, I'll just admit I live in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. Large metro area - maybe 3 million people within 50 miles or so. Lots of farm and undeveloped land around. VERY little energy resources - a little wind power on Buffalo Ridge near South Dakota, and some ethanol production from corn (all gas sold in Minnesota has a 10% ethanol mixture), but overall totally dependent upon imported gasoline from far way, Natural Gas from Canada, Coal for power plants from out west somewhere. Winters are cold. Lots of Lakes, although mercury pollution (from coal power plants) limits consumption of fish. Land is good, but farms still expanding into Agribusiness - bottom line - maximum chemical input - polluting rivers and depleting soils. Very little of modern farming appears to be able to pass through a disruption of fossil fuels. We're NOT prepared for anything - high personal DEBT - low savings - high consumption - high dependence upon high energy usage. Overall, America at it's best and worst - as everywhere else.
So, let the experiment begin. I'm not sure how forceful I can be with lots of competing concerns, but I'll do what I can and hopefully set some goals that will move me forward.
I am not really THAT infamous Ares, but I am his weaker cousin, and he likes me, so I hope you'll be civil.
It took me a little while to get my purpose for this blog, but as the New Year approaches, I have found a resolution that needs lots of reflection.
I make this resolution in response to continued anxiety over numerous issues about the future - my individual future, as well as the larger collective future of the United States and the wider the modern world.
It is easy enough to find rational fears that are easier to ignore because we apparently have no control. So RATHER than simply continuing to obsess over trying to sort out problems - whether world Peak Oil (production) will send the global economy into a downward spiral in 2008, or the rest of the world gets tired of supporting U.S. debt and spirals the value of the dollar down, or Terrorism actually becomes what Bush claims and someone explodes a WMD somewhere across the U.S. Lots of worries between hitting natural limits, economic stupidity, and military stupidity.
Okay, so I decided the BEST use to direct this USELESS worry is into evaluating the conditions of my dependency and to imagine what can be done to reduce or eliminate them as external circumstances demand.
I decided my HOME is my strongest resource - shelter against the storm. I know the MODERN home has little value beyond a bed to sleep on and storage, but these are important assets to start with. What I want is to "declutter" it to the point that space is available for making the house more as needed.
Overall I will imagine some external resource is suddenly gone and what short term and long term defenses exist to replace it.
I will also imagine OTHERS also have similar needs as me and the government is not in a position to help EVERYONE. Therefore individual households become places to organize local action to help others as well.
It might be as simple as "a depression that raises unemployment to 25% for 5 years", while basic necessities remain overall available, even if some rationing occurs. It might be a natural or war disaster that destroys homes or makes other parts of my metro area unlivable.
Oh, I won't be sharing my true identity at all (as you might expect), but for the sake of clarity, I'll just admit I live in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. Large metro area - maybe 3 million people within 50 miles or so. Lots of farm and undeveloped land around. VERY little energy resources - a little wind power on Buffalo Ridge near South Dakota, and some ethanol production from corn (all gas sold in Minnesota has a 10% ethanol mixture), but overall totally dependent upon imported gasoline from far way, Natural Gas from Canada, Coal for power plants from out west somewhere. Winters are cold. Lots of Lakes, although mercury pollution (from coal power plants) limits consumption of fish. Land is good, but farms still expanding into Agribusiness - bottom line - maximum chemical input - polluting rivers and depleting soils. Very little of modern farming appears to be able to pass through a disruption of fossil fuels. We're NOT prepared for anything - high personal DEBT - low savings - high consumption - high dependence upon high energy usage. Overall, America at it's best and worst - as everywhere else.
So, let the experiment begin. I'm not sure how forceful I can be with lots of competing concerns, but I'll do what I can and hopefully set some goals that will move me forward.
posted by Ares Olympus at 1:43 AM
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