SUBHEAD: Our alternative universe is an illusion on a fossil fuel diet. Time to detox.
By Juan Wilson on 2 July 2017 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/07/kicking-and-sreaming.html)
Image above: Our current alternative universe "social media" is an illusion projected at us from corporations. From (https://www.fastforwardunlimited.com/importance-of-social-media/).
Comfy?
We are too comfortable to face the truth at this point. We stare into the tiny colorful screens we carry all the time and see a Candy Cane illusion. That way we don't have to witness the destruction of the living world around us.
For many people the only escape is into Cognitive Dissonance: The state of having inconsistent thoughts and beliefs, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
There are no other ways to understand the self delusion that seems to engulf America this Fourth of July holiday. The family sits at he Denny's on the highway each staring into their own personal media universe alive on a glistening colorful screen.
On one hand there are those with no understanding of the resource constraints we face and no idea of the implications of our overuse of them want to claw their way back to the America of the 50's when we felt high on the hog and the envy of the world.
On the other hand are those who understand the problems but have techno-utopian dreams of running America's 24/7/365 levels of 21st century consumption on zephyr breezes and sunny afternoon skies.
Kicking and Screaming
It is true that we will be making a rapid transition towards 100% renewable energy. The problem is it won't be supporting the way we live now. We face an existential dilemma.
What reality is whispering in our ears is that its already too late to bring anything close the 21st century another generation... It would require destroying the Earth. I think the Earth would rather do without us.
It is time to abandon the hopes and dreams it fostered in us and grasp the necessity for facing the storm approaching. In sailing terms that means battening the hatches, reducing sails and checking equipment and supplies.
As more people are realizing now, we'll be lucky to maintain a mid to late 19th century level of technology and population (that was less than 1.5 billion people). But that might be sustainable for a long time into the future.
Remember that included the electric light bulb, photography, phonographs, motion pictures, as well as continental telegram and local telephone service. We'll just have to run those technologies not on coal but wind and solar power.
Get with the Program
If you are not preparing now for the end of Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Whole Foods and civilian commercial airline service you are betting on the wrong horse.
I'm not saying you should not use the above mentioned services, but that you should being using them to get off your dependency on them.
Use them to to acquire the tools and equipment you need to get off The Grid and provide local food for those you love. Build a raised bed garden, and get solar panels with some storage batteries.
It also means getting expertise in a variety of skills needed to keep your shelter intact and personally make the area around you flourish with life. Build your own oasis. You will need it soon
It's not that "Winter is coming!" It's that "Eaarth is coming!"
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Planet Kaauai 2/26/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Oases of the future 6/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: The New Game 11/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: A case for autonomy 6/4/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Food, Water, Energy, Shelter 1/31/13
Ea O Ka Aina: The Titanic or Noah's Ark 3/4/12
Ea O Ka Aina: The Hero's Way 1/13/12
Ea O Ka Aina: All Aboard! 12/9/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Here's the deal 7/5/09
Ea O Ka Aina: The American Century 12/31/08
.
By Juan Wilson on 2 July 2017 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/07/kicking-and-sreaming.html)
Image above: Our current alternative universe "social media" is an illusion projected at us from corporations. From (https://www.fastforwardunlimited.com/importance-of-social-media/).
Comfy?
We are too comfortable to face the truth at this point. We stare into the tiny colorful screens we carry all the time and see a Candy Cane illusion. That way we don't have to witness the destruction of the living world around us.
For many people the only escape is into Cognitive Dissonance: The state of having inconsistent thoughts and beliefs, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
There are no other ways to understand the self delusion that seems to engulf America this Fourth of July holiday. The family sits at he Denny's on the highway each staring into their own personal media universe alive on a glistening colorful screen.
On one hand there are those with no understanding of the resource constraints we face and no idea of the implications of our overuse of them want to claw their way back to the America of the 50's when we felt high on the hog and the envy of the world.
On the other hand are those who understand the problems but have techno-utopian dreams of running America's 24/7/365 levels of 21st century consumption on zephyr breezes and sunny afternoon skies.
Kicking and Screaming
It is true that we will be making a rapid transition towards 100% renewable energy. The problem is it won't be supporting the way we live now. We face an existential dilemma.
A) We humans can continue living as we do at a high level of consumption of the Earth for a short while and then face extinction.There are no alternatives, such as coming up with desktop fusion energy or another reachable inhabitable planet. Those are unreachable goals. Sticking with reality is important.
or
B) We humans can adjust now to a greatly reduced level of consumption of the Earth's resources for a long time into the future.
What reality is whispering in our ears is that its already too late to bring anything close the 21st century another generation... It would require destroying the Earth. I think the Earth would rather do without us.
It is time to abandon the hopes and dreams it fostered in us and grasp the necessity for facing the storm approaching. In sailing terms that means battening the hatches, reducing sails and checking equipment and supplies.
As more people are realizing now, we'll be lucky to maintain a mid to late 19th century level of technology and population (that was less than 1.5 billion people). But that might be sustainable for a long time into the future.
Remember that included the electric light bulb, photography, phonographs, motion pictures, as well as continental telegram and local telephone service. We'll just have to run those technologies not on coal but wind and solar power.
Get with the Program
If you are not preparing now for the end of Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Whole Foods and civilian commercial airline service you are betting on the wrong horse.
I'm not saying you should not use the above mentioned services, but that you should being using them to get off your dependency on them.
Use them to to acquire the tools and equipment you need to get off The Grid and provide local food for those you love. Build a raised bed garden, and get solar panels with some storage batteries.
It also means getting expertise in a variety of skills needed to keep your shelter intact and personally make the area around you flourish with life. Build your own oasis. You will need it soon
It's not that "Winter is coming!" It's that "Eaarth is coming!"
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Planet Kaauai 2/26/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Oases of the future 6/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: The New Game 11/10/13
Ea O Ka Aina: A case for autonomy 6/4/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Food, Water, Energy, Shelter 1/31/13
Ea O Ka Aina: The Titanic or Noah's Ark 3/4/12
Ea O Ka Aina: The Hero's Way 1/13/12
Ea O Ka Aina: All Aboard! 12/9/09
Ea O Ka Aina: Here's the deal 7/5/09
Ea O Ka Aina: The American Century 12/31/08
.
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