spend less, work less

Paul Gilding, former head of Greenpeace International, writes that "the ecological system that supports human society is hitting its limits, groaning under the strain of an economy simply too big for the planet.  The coming years won't be pleasant, as our society and economy hit the wall and then realign around [the fact that] you cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet.  In response to the now inevitable crisis, we will have to adopt  policies like encouraging community, greater equality and a steady-state economy.  Change is going to start coming fast - change that will be challenging, but that will ultimately lead us to a better place."

This is the Reader's Digest version of Paul's essay - for the full-length article, go to his website, or better yet, read his book.  I heard Paul speak at the Illahee Lecture Series in Portland - he is a very powerful speaker, with a more positive outlook about the future than Heinberg or Kunstler.

OK, I've been writing a lot about depressing topics like peak oil and TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it).  So, let's turn to a more positive topic.  The New Economics Foundation, a government agency in the UK, has been working to understand and promote the well-being of its citizens.  They've identified the 5 Ways to Well-Being, actions people can take to achieve greater happiness and satisfaction in their lives: connect, be active, take notice, keep learning, give.

Curious about peak oil?  Want to know the basics without being bored to tears with graphs and statistics?  Transition Voice offers Peak Oil 101: A Snarky Guide to Peak Oil.

James Howard Kunstler writes in The Long Emergency that the decreasing availability of cheap oil will cause massive disruptions in our economy.  As oil becomes more scarce, its price will continue to increase, causing prices to rise for all of the goods we purchase - food, clothing, appliances, electronics, cars, you name it.  That's because it takes lots of oil to grow, produce and transport everything we consume.  Our daily commuting costs will climb, too.  As the cost of everything increases, we'll buy fewer non-essentials, and businesses will suffer from decreased sales.  To reduce their operating costs, they will outsource and automate wherever they can, and they will lay off employees, further reducing consumer demand.  As oil prices continue to climb, many companies will go out of business, causing more lay-offs.  You get the picture.  I won't try to summarize the evidence behind Kunstler's conclusions - you can read the book if you're interested.  He doesn't offer any solutions, because there aren't any.  Instead, he attempts to describe the disruptions and disorder that will occur as the economy contracts.  He paints a picture of a less globalized, more locally-based economy, where people consume a lot less, and are more directly engaged in producing what they consume.

It's depressing to read stuff like this, but by becoming informed, you have the opportunity to plan and prepare for the changes ahead.  For myself, I'm trying to build up my savings, so I can weather financial hardships.  I'm also trying to reduce my dependence on my car.  That means looking for a job that I can get to by bus or by walking.  This spring, I'll increase the size of my vegie garden to eat healthier and reduce my food bills.  Those are all things I want to do anyway - reading Kunstler keeps me motivated and focused.

I just finished reading a funny and thoughtful book about the disconnect between our stated values and the way we live. The book is Farewell, My Subaru and the author is Doug Fine, a journalist who decided to see if he could live more sustainably. He bought a small ranch in rural New Mexico and gamely tackled his petroleum dependencies, one at a time. He bought miniature dairy goats and learned how to make his own cheese, yogurt and ice cream. He converted a diesel truck to run on used vegetable oil from the local fast food restaurants. He installed solar panels and a solar-powered water well.  He fought off coyotes and hawks to keep his chickens alive. His stories are entertaining and will make you want to move to the country, or at least rethink the choices you make each day.

Americans live in the richest country in the world, but we're told we can't afford things like health care for everyone, better schools, clean water, renewable energy and jobs that pay a living wage.  Right now, social services are being cut back, on the premise that we're broke.  But, at the same time, our taxes are being spent on endless wars, subsidies for agribusiness and tax breaks for oil companies.  As Annie Leonard explains, we can and should stop propping up the "dinosaur economy" and start investing in a better future...

We know that the earth's resources are limited, yet we continue to live like there's no tomorrow.  A new documentary called Growthbusters "examines the cultural barriers that prevent us from reacting rationally to the evidence" that our lifestyle is unsustainable.  It looks like an excellent film - I may break down and buy a copy.  I'm trying not to spend money on non-essentials, but I want to support the writers and filmmakers who help us understand what's happening and figure out how to respond.  Here's the website and the trailer...

I always thought that the government created money by printing it.  Turns out, it doesn't really work that way.  The money printed by the federal government is just a small fraction of all the money in our economy.  The majority of our money is created when banks make loans.  The money didn't exist until the bank created it by loaning it.  Here's a simple explanation of how banks create money, from Yes! magazine.

Banks make a profit by collecting fees and interest on the loans they make.  Apparently, they didn't think they were making enough profit, so they cranked up their lending machines and began making risky loans to rake in more profits.  When everything collapsed, the largest banks received massive bailouts from the American taxpayers, and used the funds to pay bonuses to their executives, the people who had caused the economic collapse.  The PBS show, Frontline, has a couple of good documentaries about this, called Breaking the Bank and Inside the Meltdown.

Some consumer advocates have fought for increased regulation of the banks, but these attempts have failed, due to resistance from their allies in Congress.  Does that mean we have to sit back and let the banks play Russian roulette with our economy?  No, we can take individual action by moving our money out of the big banks into smaller community-based banks and non-profit credit unions.  Here's more info about the Move Your Money project.

Richard Heinberg was here in Portland last week, speaking about the current economic crisis and why endless growth is not sustainable.  Heinberg's point is that our economy has been based on debt-driven growth, with Americans buying things we don't need and can't afford.  While we've been going deeper and deeper into debt, our incomes have stagnated or decreased.  Americans are being laid off because of mechanization and because of jobs being shifted overseas, where labor is cheaper.  With millions unemployed, there is downward pressure on wages, as people compete against each other for jobs.  So, as more Americans become unemployed or employed at lower wages, we are less able to engage in excess consumption, which results in reduced sales of consumer goods, more lay-offs and more economic contraction.  At the same time, the era of cheap fossil fuels is coming to an end, driving up prices of everything that requires energy to make or transport, which is basically everything.

Most economists and almost all politicians talk about getting the economy back on track, back to the way it was before the bubble burst.  But, clearly, that's not going to happen.  We need to figure out how to create a new economy, that is not based on endless growth, debt and cheap oil.  I'll discuss these topics further in future posts.  In the meantime, here's a video of Heinberg from earlier this year, explaining why things can't go back to the way they were...

By the way, I haven't read Heinberg's new book yet, but I plan to...

Here's a short animated video from the Post Carbon Institute, explaining how our economy became so dependent upon cheap fossil fuels, and why that era is coming to an end...