Category: low-footprint living

The people with the least to lose from the disruption of the status quo have the most power to change things. And the most to gain from such change.

The people who have the most to lose from a change in the status quo, and the most to gain from keeping things just as they are, not only can’t be expected to be a force for meaningful change, but can be expected to put up a huge roadblock against such change.

Which is why we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for governments and corporations to change things.

Many climate activists are asking if we need to escalate our action to include actual destruction of property and disruption of business as usual. Right now, some activists in Australia are blocking coal-bearing trains from reaching the world’s largest coal terminal.

Some sources (coal terminals operator) say the disruption has been minor; others say it has wiped millions of dollars from Australia’s economy in days.

Regardless, the activists face 25 years in prison. While I applaud their courage and commitment, I would hate to see a bunch of young people get sent to prison while business just keeps up as usual.

One of my heroes, Mahatma Gandhi, emboldened the everyday Indian people to shake off British colonial rule and become self-reliant. He encouraged people to make their own salt (an illegal action against the colonial monopoly) and weave their own loincloths. This was part of a larger movement to boycott all British goods.

We might have to resort to civil disobedience to stop the destruction of the biosphere. But if you’re not quite ready to risk your life or submit to a prison sentence, that’s OK. In our consumerist colonizer society, just refusing to buy stuff is tantamount to blockading a port or dismantling machinery — without legal penalties.

In modern-day consumerist colonizer society, one method of disobedience available to just about everyone is to disobey the twisted consumerist culture norms. Simply stop buying as much stuff as possible from large distant destructive entities. The power of this non-buying is often overlooked.

Disrupting a coal shipment is powerful for sure. But ultimately the producers will find a way to get it to market, to the consumers who are demanding it.

What would be really powerful is if that coal got to market and found no buyers! Don’t think it can’t happen. We can’t all boycott everything, but we can boycott enough to put a big dent in business as usual. We have the least to lose, and the most to gain.

Really our best hope is to address the demand side. I see it as analogous to the war on drugs.

P.S. A few days after I wrote this post, someone shared the following quote in a discussion about our excessively busy and money-focused culture:

“In modern times the ultimate act of civil disobedience is being content with little.” — Einzelganger

Further Reading:

• “The case for a more radical climate movement: Author Andreas Malm on the failures of climate activism and the need for escalation” (Sean Illing, vox.com).

• Thread on Gandhi and civil disobedience started by Mike Hoag in the Transformative Adventures group.

• “Gandhi’s manner of dress and commitment to hand spinning were essential elements of his philosophy and politics. He chose the traditional loincloth as a rejection of Western culture and a symbolic identification with the poor of India. His personal choice became a powerful political gesture as he urged his more privileged followers to copy his example and discard — or even burn — their European-style clothing and return with pride to their ancient, precolonial culture. Gandhi claimed that spinning thread in the traditional manner also had material advantages, as it would create the basis for economic independence and the possibility of survival for India’s impoverished rural multitudes. This commitment to traditional cloth making was also part of a larger swadeshi movement, which aimed for the boycott of all British goods. As Gandhi explained to Charlie Chaplin in 1931, the return to spinning did not mean a rejection of all modern technology but of the exploitive and controlling economic and political system in which textile manufacture had become entangled. Gandhi said, ‘Machinery in the past has made us dependent on England, and the only way we can rid ourselves of the dependence is to boycott all goods made by machinery. This is why we have made it the patriotic duty of every Indian to spin his own cotton and weave his own cloth.’ The image of the emaciated, almost naked, and obviously nonviolent Gandhi hard at work at his spinning wheel had an electric effect on millions in India and across the world. He was hailed as the father of Indian independence, and starting in 1931, his traditional spinning wheel became the primary symbol on the flag of the Provisional Government of Free India.” (“Spinning for India’s Independence“; Theodore M. Brown, PhD, and Elizabeth Fee, PhD, in American Journal of Public Health.)

• Einzelganger’s website: “The author behind the pseudonym Einzelgänger is a lover of wisdom in the widest sense of the word. He has been studying Stoicism, Buddhism, and Taoism since 2013. His interest in the meaning of life led to him obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies and a master’s degree in Religious & Ritual Studies. He approaches this project mainly from the viewpoint of a scholar (or just out of curiosity and willingness to study), exploring a wide range of different topics and presenting them to you through his own lens.”

When I was a kid taking swim lessons, the instructors taught us to use the backstroke or sidestroke as a “resting stroke.” A way to take a break from the more strenuous swimming stroke, which was usually the crawl.

In parts of my daily routine, I find there are natural “resting strokes” as well. I’m learning that the menial little chores I used to find annoying or tedious (such as taking out the trash, tidying up the contents of my canvas carry-all sack, putting air into my bicycle tires, reattaching a fence-board that’s become detached because the old screws rusted out) are actually a deep refuge. A “resting stroke” from the more challenging items I’ve chosen to take on my To-Do list; the things I consider my actual work. Preparing for a radio show; putting together a lecture for a permaculture design class; composing an email to suggest ways for my city to reduce its carbon footprint or mitigate heat; making a plan to speak at a meeting; writing a blog post; writing fiction — that sort of thing. Tasks that force me to stare down the abyss, confront self-doubt, sit in the discomfort of the unknown.

The fact that these menial little tasks like finding more cover-matter for the compost pile have to get done is like a mandatory break from the hard stuff. The hard stuff is ultimately my heart and soul, and I would never want to shirk it. But the itty-bitty tasks I have really come to appreciate as a sweet place to get centered, recharge, unhook from mind-exertion.

Of course, Buddhism and other religions have always counseled humans to be mindful in the present moment. I love the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chödrön, to name a couple of spiritual thinkers whose writings have helped me more fully appreciate the here and now.

But this “resting stroke” realization I had recently is like a whole new level of appreciating the present moment. I think I’ll keep it!

Instead of a call to arms … A call to arts!

“What is called for here is a special kind of love for the world, the love of those who discover the sublime value of life because they are about to lose it. For we are on the verge of losing this most precious and beautiful of worlds, a miracle in all the universe, a home for the evolution of souls, a little paradise here in the richness of space, where we are meant to live and grow and be happy, but which we are day by day turning into a barren stone in space.

“So a new existentialism is called for. Not the existentialism of Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, negative and stoical in spirit, but a brave and visionary existentialism, where as artists we dedicate our lives to nothing short of re-dreaming society. We have to be strong dreamers. We have to ask unthinkable questions. We have to go right to the roots of what makes us such a devouring species, overly competitive, conquest-driven, hierarchical.”

(From an article by Ben Okri, “Artists must confront the climate crisis — we must write as if these are the last days”; in The Guardian.)

On a personal note, I am taking an online class in architectural drawing; thinking it might help me draw super green vegetation-covered apartment buildings and urban streetscapes of my imaginings.

Frugality is power. Growing at least some of our own food; doubling-up to reduce housing costs; avoiding car ownership or at least minimizing driving; minimizing household energy use; getting clothes and furniture from thrift stores or curbside. I always knew this but learned it on a deeper level when I went through years of living on 7k-10k a year, self-employment income, before taxes.

I am also at the same time working to change the rigged system that is trashing the planet and creating untold human suffering. But as long as the system is as it is, frugality is one of the best ways for a person, household, and community to get out from under the thumb of parasitic and usurious entities. And take control of their lives and livelihoods!

It’s also how to dismantle the corporations that profit by trashing ecosystems and indigenous economies. Not to glamorize poverty — I would like for everyone to have their basic needs met without having to struggle. But, if you have to pinch pennies, don’t think of it as deprivation; think of it as mastering valuable resilience skills, and squeezing the profit margins of corporations that are draining the life from your community.

Christmas is coming. For many people who are trying to practice de-growth and disengage from the consumer treadmill (and free themselves from having their houses and garages jampacked to the rafters with unused stuff), gift-giving holidays can bring anxiety.

For those whose families are big into gift-giving, a short note might help. Or it might not! But if you feel strongly about this, you could try writing a short note. I wrote this as a possible example after someone in one of my groups was looking for guidance on how to convey to her relatives that she and her husband don’t want holiday gifts:

Dear Family: Christmas time is approaching. For many reasons, we are no longer celebrating the gift-giving aspect of Christmas. For those of you living nearby, we hope we will get to spend time together with you, simply enjoying each other’s company. We’d love to have you over for coffee, drinks or a meal. We could play some cards, play board games, tell stories, or do a puzzle together. For those more geographically distant, let’s enjoy each other’s company in a similar manner by Zoom.

(Some people may still end up giving you stuff — but you have made your wishes clear. Just quietly give the items away, and take joy in knowing that someone who really needs them will use and appreciate them.)

Have you succeeded in conveying to family or friends that you don’t want material gifts? Have you been able to do it without hurting your loved ones’ feelings? And do they abide by your wishes? If so, please help others who are on the same path by sharing what you said/did that worked!

Some people in the rich industrialized world have gotten way too comfortable with the idea that we can’t possibly cut consumption enough to live on renewables. Do you consider nuclear to be an acceptable option? I do not.

It’s probably no news to people in the USA that consumers here are being battered by inflation. (I assume things are just as bad or worse in other countries. But people in the USA have tended to be insulated from the worst of world conditions.)

One of the beat ways to deal with inflation is to minimize consumption; cut out whole categories whenever possible.

Google is our friend, as are various anti-consumption groups on social media. Formulas for making our own household cleaners, bath products, etc., abound. As do tips for minimizing our household energy consumption. Making or mending our own clothing, furniture, and so on. And although most of us have to buy food, most of us can grow at least some of our own. And we can avoid or cut down on foods that have gone way up in price.

In some cases, supermarket prices are rising enough to be more on a par with farmers’ market prices. This is good news for local farms and for our health.

Americans used to be known for thrift and ingenuity. We can be again. Thrift is a skill that can bring great joy and help us reduce the power that advertisers and big corporate entities have over us.

Inflation can be alarming and upsetting, especially for those who’ve never before lived in inflationary times. But, you can handle it. Double up; make do; tighten up; get really focused on the things that are most important to you.

One thing that’s still cheap or free is online classes. Over the years I’ve availed myself of more classes than I can count. Right now I’m taking a class in architectural sketching, so I can get better at presenting my ideas for integrating nature into the built environment.

Have you taken any good classes lately? What would you like to add to your knowledge base or skillset today?

(Also: YouTube videos. And library books!)