Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Calculus it is a-Changing

aka CG as Benign Dictator

aka Stop and Pick the Berries

I listened to W’s talk on energy today (thus “the calculus is changing” -- it was my favorite line), as oil shoots up to another new high, as does corn. I’ve also listened to our candidates vying to replace W. None of them, none, speaks the truth, or anywhere near to the truth.

Here I give you my plan for energy and the future of the US.

  • Stop all, that is ALL, subsidies. None to energy, none to agriculture, no more EIC, none to green anything, none to big business, no highways to nowhere, no around the bend mountain cooperatives, nothing.
  • Re-start government stockpiling of commodities, including energy but mostly food. You may be unaware that there are nigh unto no stockpiles currently. Last source I saw for it said there was enough wheat for ½ loaf of bread per person in the US and that’s all.
  • Once we have some commodities in, stop food stamps and start commodities. At a minimal level measured in calories. And make people work for them. Everyone can do something useful.
  • Stop the freaking mowing. And road building.
  • Ok, I’m going to try to not say “stop” anymore. Just assume stop everything.
  • By executive order I allow any direct consumer of anything (that is not otherwise illegal) to buy it from the direct producer. So milk and cheese and meat and such is legal, period, on a direct level. Buyer beware, but the buyer only need beware his neighbor, not a multinational corporation trying to stick it to him.
  • So is all health care legal and non-regulated on a direct level. If you want to see a quack and can afford to, go for it. But government needn’t pay for your high tech stuff either -- it is as much quackery as the other. And besides, we have to die of something.
  • But vaccinations and teeth cleaning, toothbrushes and soap are government provided.
  • As are “funeral home” fans -- cardboard on a wooden paddle. This replaces the “cooling assistance” program. That is a joke. The fans will once again be advertisement for funeral homes and churches, no doubt. Government should not do anything that can be done privately.
You get the idea. Don’t encourage anything except personal responsibility, and thus community responsibility.

What individual people have to do is, one, garden. Two, use less energy. Three, start seeing the possibilities.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that this will wreck our economy. Yes it will, so long as we are talking about the economy powered by oil in particular, and fossil fuels in general. But (and this is where “see the possibilities” comes in), it doesn’t have to be that way. People could take the economy and turn it to subsistence , manual labor based, human scaled, stable, community based economy, choosing to make things of real value. They could choose to stay home and pick the berries.

12 comments:

Ren Allen said...

Exactly...it wrecks the current economy but then it's going down the crapper anyway.

I especially like this part: ~~And besides, we have to die of something.~~

I think in their rush to safety coat life, people forget that one important truth.

Wendy said...

That's it. I'm writing in "Contrary Goddess" on my ballot in November. I'm so sick of Politicians. I wish we could have a "person" in the White House - someone with some damned sense!

Heather Jefferies said...

Berries is good.

CG said...

I have to admit that the "we have to die of something" is a pure me comment. I figure that most people don't get that however: I'm glad you did.

And berries are good. I got another quart of gooseberries yesterday, and near a gallon of our own blueberries. The kids are shelling the peas today that they picked yesterday, and the haystack is over our heads.

barefoot gardener said...

You got my vote!

Miranda said...

Sounds like what Ron Paul has been saying all along....

arcolaura said...

Amen to all of that. I took some paying work for this summer and it has turned my life insane. And the esteemed town council says I must mow ... say, you mow for mulch, right? My lawn looks like standing hay right now. How late can I mow it, and not end up mulch-seeding my garden down to Kentucky blue grass? How do I know if the seeds are viable yet? Yeah, I know some weeds are okay, but creeping grasses are just too much for me and my veggies.

CG said...

I differ with Ron Paul (and with Obama and W and McCain) in that I actually do believe in borders.

Arco, we have mowed for mulch but I sold the mower last year I think it was and now we only have non-motorized scything which we're putting up into haystacks. If you see seedheads, I wouldn't mulch with it. Maybe you could babysit someone's sheep for a few days?

You know what I wonder? What ARE people doing when they go to the grocery and prices have gone up so much? And what do they do when they see that in a few months they will not be able to pay their mortgage? Because the best I can tell, people pretty much go on the same and don't change. They figure, fun for today, plastic for tomorrow, someone else will pay for it. Some of that can be explained by people not seeing that they have more options than they think, but not all of it.

arcolaura said...

I think I could enjoy being the town shepherd. But I don't know if there are any sheep within 50 miles of here. I think I'd have to get my own.

A chicken tractor would help, too.

But for now I'm going to try the mulch. The heads are there, but I think the grass is actually just starting to flower. And if I get a lawn, well, I can deep dig it and turn it back into garden - I've done it before.

CG said...

well, there are a couple things with mulch. One is that weeds that grow in mulch are generally easy to pull out. And two, you can always just mulch over any weeds again.

Wendy said...

I live across the street from a house that some family from Florida uses as their summer home. I know they're from Florida, because their SUV has a Florida license plate.

I just can't even get my brain around that.

CG said...

if you've ever been in Florida in the summer, you'd get it. Not a place to be. I think the YaYa Sisterhood book captured that HOTNESS pretty well -- certainly made me want to visit their creek!