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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] The Wok - was The specuator factor ..
  • Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 09:15:19 -0700


Whatever I may say, I have prodiginous faith in Gene.
I don't believe for a moment that he believes his own hype [much as I don't believe my own].

No, it's a real confusion, and thank the gods for that. If Gene didn't put
his Gene-isms on this list, I'm sure I'd unsub.

And here I am without my hip boots on.

Okay, I was not going to respond to the confusion thing even though I hold writers responsible for being understandable, but I suppose you have now earned a response. I will have to dig through the Trash folder to get my confusing statement, so hold a moment.

Here we go:

I wrote: > My message here is that we can focus on the doom and gloomers or we can find, become informed by and follow the examples and teachings of people who are out front on energy and environmental issues.

James responded:
I'm a bit confused by this. If the doom and gloomers are wrong, then we
don't need people out front on energy. However if the doom and gloomers have a valid point, we indeed better focus on them.

My message is one of pragmatism. Most of us on the homestead list know about and are concerned about the diminishing supply of cheap energy and how human activities are diminishing the supportive qualities of our planetary environment, not to mention local conditions. We are already serious about these issues and therefore derive little benefit from continuing to read the gloom and doomers who have been telling us for decades about the problems. I am perhaps more impatient with hearing the bad news rehashed because I have been hearing it for at least since about 1957, when I read The Population Explosion by Paul Ehrlich, did more research, and delivered a speech that earned me an A+ grade. So forgive me if I come across as jaded.

If anyone here is not yet convinced of the problems, by all means keep reading what I call the doom and gloomers. As for me, I want positive answers. I want not a rehashing of the problem; I want solutions. And I want those solutions to be realistic. The article that started this included the author's negative response to Amory Lovins'--what's it called, HyperCar?--is that it? Well, I think Lovins is being realistic. Moderns are simply not going to give up their cars any time soon, so he has developed something useful until that far day when society has evolved to a different lifestyle.

The sky is not falling, it is subsiding. The oil is not going to run out in 2006 or for decades beyond, it is simply going to rise increasingly in price. So it makes sense to drive less and, when necessary, to drive a vehicle that gets highest possible mileage. Lovins, the pragmatic physicist, has devised a solution that helps make the transition period more steady. He has contributed far more than simply writing about the problem.

Pragmatically, if one is already informed of a problem and the need for viable solutions, then one needs to become informed of ways to deal with the problem. We do that here with our sharing of homestead skills. The issue of heating/cooking/transportation energy for homesteaders is substantially different from that of the masses. A small woodlot can with a bit of labor keep us supplied with cooking and heating fuel. Becoming ever-more self-sufficient can reduce our need for transportation energy.

So now back to James' confusion. He wrote:
"If the doom and gloomers are wrong, then we
don't need people out front on energy. However if the doom and gloomers have a valid point, we indeed better focus on them."

James, the doom and gloomers are not wrong, they are right. So, accepting that they are right, why on earth should we continue to focus on them? I say we should focus on those with solutions.

I do hope that clears the confusion.






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