peak oil preparedness, next phase

Here's the latest from Jan Lundberg.

- Alert: Send Jan Lundberg, oil-industry analyst and eco-activist, to the
annual meeting of Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas - USA in
Sacramento, California later this month. Even as a reporter the entry
cost is $200; there's bus and train tickets, plus lodging expense. So
please use our PayPal button on our website, or send a check to our
address below. Enjoy our latest dispatch:

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Off the sidelines and in the game: peak oil preparedness
by David Kost
<http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=205&Itemid=1>

When we embarked on this journey six years ago, I never would have
believed how difficult it has been to network with people considering the
amount of resources we have to work with. We have tried for the last five
years to work with people in our community, well over 100 and the list is
growing.

When we talk to people about peak oil/peak resources, climate and
ecosystems collapsing, collapse of the financial system and our
infrastructure, we find people think we're nuts. Some are aware of these
things, but they're not concerned because they think they won't be around
to see it happen. Others know it but just won’t do anything and are too
lazy, and then there are those who are in it for the money (capitalism
with a smile).

It is strange to me if I was to preach hatred and bigotry I would be a
valuable commodity and have people flocking to my doorstep. However,
offering people a chance to live self-sufficiently, responsibly,
peacefully in a sustainable manner is more difficult to accomplish. The
latter requires hard, physical work -- something most people don't know
how to do.

Even though we expected this to be our last move, now after retirement at
ages 52 and 50, we are once again thinking the unimaginable, relocating.
We know that with our skills and dedication we would be a welcomed
addition to someone who is trying to accomplish what we have failed to do.
We must begin to build avenues to connect people with certain skills and
assets; trying to educate people is not enough. Like the documentary Power
of Community states, what happened in Cuba in the '90s was not so much
technological change as it was human. Sharing responsibilities and costs
will be very important in our future, as well as utilizing our resources
wisely.

We have not been farmers all of our lives; we are somewhat new to this.
Our lives have been nothing like the stereotypical American way. We were
married at the ages of 21 and 19, not out of necessity, just young and in
love. We had our two daughters five years later, and our roles have been
reversed most of the time. I was “Mister Mom.” We lived on one meager
income because childcare in this country is deplorable. It was our
responsibility and no one else's to raise our children.

While at home I grew some of our food, did fundraising for kids activities
and field trips at school, volunteered in the classrooms as well as
coaching boys and girls basketball and girls soccer. Because of living on
one income, I learned to barter with men 25-30 years my senior in Rogue
River, Oregon where we lived at the time. One example: I roofed and
painted my friend's house and he and I built a 20' by 24' recreation
room
from start to finish. No money changed hands, just good times and
friendship.

Up until six years ago, most of my life I was what one would consider a
“Jock.” I loved sports, mostly hockey, football and basketball. I knew all
of the stats and trades, I watched for over 40 years of how championships
were won. I saw many types of styles and philosophies of play come and go.
They were always in the context that you are only as strong as your
weakest link. The teams' success depended on each individual player giving
his or her maximum effort, and no one player regardless of how great can
win by him/herself.

After 911 something changed in me and I gave up my addition to sports. In
the past seven years I have read hundreds of books by authors such as
Vandana Shiva, David Korten, Arundhati Roy, Kevin Phillips, Michael
Rupert, Eckhart Tolle, George Monbiot, James Lovelock, Richard Heinberg,
Matthew Simmons, James Howard Kunstler, Wendell Barry, Barbara Kingsolver,
Howard Zinn, Daniel Quinn and Kurt Vonnegut.

I realize now that we were lied to. As George Carlin said, they call it
the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it. All this
and more caused me to take direct action.

We downsized to one car, paid off our mortgage, turned off the “idiot
box,” installed an indoor clothes dryer (made by a local artisan that
works with iron), and our garden that started out for fun and food became
much more of a purpose and a way of life. We have hauled in tons of manure
and organic compost to build up the soil creating a working system based
on raised beds, crop rotation and cover cropping. We now have fifty 4' x
26' raised beds and a 10' x 15' greenhouse allowing us to do starts
and
grow more than enough food for three or four families, plus rows of
berries as well as fruit trees. Currently we grow and process 60% of our
food.

We knew all along that we would never be able to learn everything that was
needed as well as do all the work ourselves. That's why we have tried to
partner up or find other like-minded people to begin together the hard
work ahead of us.

I remember Richard Heinberg saying that some figured there was 1% of the
population who was woken up and they had hoped to wake up to 5%. He also
stated that we needed 50 million farmers for the long slog ahead.

I feel blessed that my wife of 31 years and I are on the same page. We had
always planned to work together after her retirement knowing that we
needed to have some income. We enjoy being around each other. We believe
that in this day and age when people are losing their homes, in debt,
bankrupt and pensions disappearing, we can and should be able to find
partners that are hard working, in good health and have some valuable
skills/resources that would help us become a complete team together. There
is so much to learn and adjust to, as climate change alone is already
affecting the way we grow food in Oregon.

Last year at this time, I processed well over 500 lbs of tomatoes, drying
and canning. As I sit and write on this Labor Day, I have not canned one
quart of tomatoes -- not many in the area to be found. This is one of the
main staples in our diet.

We would like to have partners living on the property that can help make
this work into a functioning way of living, saving resources and growing
food for five or six families. We would also like to incorporate
livestock, and renewable energy. But attracting willing partners has been
most difficult, to the point that we despair and might move away. Neither
of us wants to leave what we have built thus far, but if we can't find
others who can help, then maybe it's time for a different arena with some
new players who wants this team.

As life as we know it begins to collapse, we need a prototype system that
can be easily duplicated to show others how to grow, process and store
food. People will begin to act irrationally when they or their families
have little to no food, so I would like to give them a choice on how to
feed themselves without the violence.

In all of my years of watching and playing sports, I have never felt the
sheer joy and fulfillment that I do while working in the garden. Watching
a butterfly as it lands on me or feeling a hummingbird zing past my ear.
The great wins I chalk up now in the CHAMPIONSHIP column are at the end of
fall when cupboards are jammed to capacity, standing room only with filled
canning jars, the garage walls draped with garlic and onions, and the
freezer stuffed full with berries and nuts. What a SWEET VICTORY! It is
time for us all to give up our additions, and live the life we were meant
to live.

I have no illusions about saving the world. I would just like to be able
to have a chance of living in peace and sharing before Mother Nature kicks
our ass.

- - - - -

Ideas to ponder

Connecting people that have different assets:
1) Resumé Bank of people's assets, skills, knowledge and ideas.
2) Such as:
- Land, money, water, resources
With people that don't have this but have technical knowledge
- Such as:
Knowledge on farming, solar, sustainable building
3) People moving from one area of the country/state
- Such as:
A person moving from metropolitan area wanting to relocate
to an area that's more sustainable, trading work for his or her stay.
4) Sharing tools/resources
5) Sharing skills such as:
- Preserving of food, cooking, sewing, repairs (home), survival skills

Investment
1) Such as:
- Someone with money that they would like to get out of the stock
market/retirement funds and invest in local businesses, someone
starting a business, solar energy, alternative energy and farming and
manufacturing.
2) People with money who want to set up old style mercantile involving
local farms and artisans for manufactured goods, clothing, etc.
3) Advising people on how best to utilize their land/resources.
_______________

To contact David Kost, email him: slipperyslope "at" earthlink "dot"
net

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CULTURE CHANGE
P.O. Box 4347
Arcata, CA 95518 USA
Telephone and fax: 1-215-243-3144
<http://culturechange.org>

We look forward to your feedback via info@culturechange.org (not to the
list). Please let us know what you think. Submissions on "the big
picture" are welcome.

The founder and publisher of Culture Change is Jan Lundberg, who was a
well-known oil-industry analyst when he changed over to nonprofit
environmental activism in 1988. His work has since been profiled in The
Washington Post, Sun Magazine, Associated Press, and he has broadcast his
ideas on CBS Radio Network, the Pacifica Radio Network, NPR, and
elsewhere. He is available for presentations and will take public
transportation: "Car free for 19 years!"

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