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Personal Survival Skills: Life
At The Twilight Of Empire" By Michelle Fealk, Adriana Guillen, Colin Peacock, Sarah Rios, and
two anonymous contributors 04 November, 2008 Introducing The World We are a small group of students with diverse backgrounds and life goals. We
began this journey relatively uninformed about the impacts of peak oil and
other end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenarios, and our opinions differ as to
how accurate or biased those scenarios are. But we share a common interest in
personal survival as the chance of civilization collapsing increases, and we
wish to share our newly accumulated knowledge with others who are similarly
concerned about their own futures. This report is intended to serve as a guide along the path we have,
thankfully, already trodden and worn down, along with several thousand
scientists, conspiracy-theory crackpots, and average frustrated chumps as we
have come up against a world in turmoil. Specifically, we face an ambiguous
future in a world that grows increasingly dependent on oil even as global
supplies fall. We begin by briefly discussing the evidence behind peak oil and the
importance of crude oil to civilization. Then we review various scenarios of a
future that, perhaps thankfully, we cannot fully predict. We conclude by
discussing several areas of human life that we wish to continue participating
in after the fall of civilization: Water, Food, Shelter, Community, and Medicine.
We identify opportunities to access these wonderful components of society even
as the world as we know it is turned upside down. This report is not a comprehensive guide to peak oil, nor is it meant to be
anything but informative as it provides access to several articles, books,
websites, opinions, and other resources you might not find elsewhere. Unlike
other literature, though, ours is a personal account that describes possible
pertinent actions we can take in light of a future that is likely to be quite
different from the recent past. This report represents the culmination of an exciting and fun-filled
semester. We spent many hours in thoughtful conversation, appropriately
intermixed with pleasant absurdities and occasional field trips. We hope the reader
finds value in this effort, and recognize that, if nothing else, we are taking
action to create a future that we want to live in. And that is what really
inspired us to research this topic in the first place. Disclaimer This report reflects and assumes the belief that American Empire will fall,
like all empires before it. We envision a relatively sudden decline, but this
future is not certain. In fact, several peak-oil scenarios suggest otherwise
(see, for example,http://oilscenarios.info). Thus, the information in this
report is best interpreted as a set of suggestions based on the limited
experience of a few people who studied the issue within the limitations of a
single semester, from a particular perspective in a specific location. Not all
options discussed in this report are applicable throughout the world.
Obviously, it is the responsibility of each person to make educated decisions
about his or her future. All websites were viewed in April 2008. Peak Oil and the Consequent Collapse of Civilization This section is adapted from the writings of Guy R. McPherson, particularly
Viewpoints piece in the
The bell-shaped curve applies at all levels, from field to country to
planet. After discovery, production ramps up relatively quickly. But when the
light, sweet crude on top of the field runs out, increased energy and expense
are required to extract the underlying heavy, sour crude. At some point, the
energy required to extract a barrel of oil exceeds the energy contained in
barrel of oil, so the pumps shut down. We have sufficient supply to keep the world running for 30 years or so, at
the current level of demand. But that’s irrelevant because the days of
inexpensive oil are behind us. And American Empire absolutely demands cheap
oil. Never mind the 3,000-mile Caesar salad to which we’ve become accustomed.
Cheap oil forms the basis for the 12,000-mile supply chain underlying the
warehouse-on-wheels approach to the “just-in-time” delivery of plastic toys
from In 1956, Hubbert predicted the continental Hubbert’s model indicates the world peaked in December 2005, according to Note that we have not passed the global peak for all liquids, which includes
many non-crude products (e.g., liquid natural gas, gasified coal, “oil” from
tar sands). Richard Heinberg expects this peak to occur in 2010 or 2011. But
apparently we have reached peak production of the master resource, crude oil. By 2018, Hubbert’s model predicts we'll be producing about 60 million
barrels per day, whereas the EIA forecasts global demand at about 110 million
barrels per day. The French investment bank Ixis-CIB forecasts $380 oil in
2015, so an estimate of $400 oil in 2018 is quite conservative. It’s pretty easy to foresee a collapse of the After all, no alternative energy sources scale up to the level of a few
million people, much less the 6.5 billion who currently occupy Earth. Oil is
necessary to extract and deliver coal and natural gas. Oil is needed to produce
solar panels and wind turbines, and to maintain the electrical grid. A vast majority of the oil consumed in this country is burned by airplanes,
ships, trains and automobiles. You can kiss goodbye groceries at the local
big-box grocery store: Our entire system of food production and delivery
depends on cheap oil. If, indeed, we’ve passed the world oil peak and if, indeed, a miracle does
not salvage civilization, it is easy to imagine that anybody who is alive in a
decade will have figured out how to forage locally. The death and suffering will be unimaginable. We have come to depend on
cheap oil for the delivery of food, water, shelter, medicine, and community.
Most of us are incapable of supplying these key elements of personal survival,
so trouble lies ahead when we are forced to develop means of acquiring them
that don't involve a quick trip to Wal-Mart. Matt Savinar’s website gives a broad and compelling overview of the fix
we’re in, and it debunks ridiculous ideas such as “deep” and “abiotic” oil, and
also hydrogen as a fuel. It’s worth reading the site’s breaking news every day. A quick read of Savinar’s site, especially in combination with the many others
dedicated to serious discussions of peak oil, supports these primary ideas: We
will not innovate or organize out way out of this crisis. Oil priced at
$100/barrel is no big deal, but the supply disruptions and hyperinflation
associated with $400 oil are another matter. Economic growth slowed to nearly
zero in the fourth quarter of 2007, during which time oil never hit
$100/barrel. Since then, it’s rarely been below the $100 threshold. This is wonderful news on many levels. Passing the world oil peak means the
world economy will collapse, thereby giving other cultures and species an
opportunity to persist a few more years. Economic growth is tightly linked to
extinction rates, so the forthcoming Greatest Depression is great news from the
other occupants of planet Earth. In fact, it is becoming increasingly clear that we will fail to voluntarily
prevent frying the planet beyond the point of habitability. But peak oil forces
us to stop burning fossil fuels, which might give us a chance, as a species, to
squeeze through the global-change bottleneck. Peak oil is the last chance for
our species, and many, many others with which we share the planet. Thus, for those of us who care about other species, or even about our
species, peak oil is good news. If you’re like most humans, you care a lot more
about yourself and your loved ones than about people you don’t know and
especially future generations. And that’s how we got into this mess. A partial list of the many books dedicated to this issue includes four books
by Richard Heinberg (The Party’s Over, Powerdown, The Oil Depletion Protocol,
and Peak Everything), two Kenneth Deffeyes (Hubbert’s Peak and Beyond Oil),
James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency, David Goodstein’s Out of Gas, and
Aric McBay’s Peak Oil Survival. Water in the American Southwest Finding water is not as easy as it seems. Currently, all we have to do is
turn a faucet or flush a toilet to see gallons of the stuff drifting by,
perfectly fit for any human use. But what would happen if that were not the
case? What if we had to find water, year around, and it wouldn’t come out the
tap? This section supplies answers to those questions more as we explore how to
find, store, move, and purify water in one of the driest places on Earth. We
begin with techniques that yield the most water returned for effort invested.
We do not discuss permanent rivers and aquifers because they are conspicuously
absent from the American Southwest. Considerable information about rainwater
harvesting, especially in urban environments, is provided in Brad Lancaster’s
excellent book, Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands. The time to dig a well is not when you’re thirsty Securing drinkable water undoubtedly will become problematic when the taps
stop flowing. According to the United Nations, humans need at least two gallons
of water per person per day to survive. For drinking, preparing meals, and
sanitation, four to five gallons of water per person per day are needed. Rain Rain is the most splendid and plentiful source of water in the Fortuitously, there are other more ancient and simple means of storing water
that are still quite viable thousands of years after they were built.
Prehistoric stone-lined pits are found throughout the American Southwest. Such
devices were built as water catchments for rain in areas far removed from
springs and perennial water sources. They were constructed from local
materials, which indicates the ease with which they can be copied (but not the
requisite intensity of labor). Springs and Seepages Water flowing naturally out of springs is incredibly easy to harvest and
serves as a high-quality water resource in the desert. However, these are few
and far between, they have been exploited for many generations, and they are
the focus of intense human competition to boot. It is almost as easy and much
less competitive to look for seepages (i.e., seeps) instead. Spring are
comprised of flowing water aboveground, whereas seeps are usually a rather
damp-looking bit of ground or rock that can be widened or dug out to supply a
trickle of water. To fully utilize these opportunities, one must learn the
animal, plant, and mineral signs that indicate these features. Most of the washes (i.e., arroyos) in the region are characterized by
distinct shrub mounds, circular areas of raised ground covered in low-lying,
and densely packed shrubs. These are often found in and at the end of washes
and arroyos. The shrubs channel water from their leaves and branches, down
their stems, and along their roots to saturate the ground below. These areas
typically are somewhat muddy and they require some effort to extract water from
the surrounding soil. However, the effort produces sweet compensation: a
draught of earthy, cool, and invigorating water among a seemingly completely
arid desert landscape. Riparian plants, water birds, and butterflies also serve as great indicators
of the presence of surface water. Riparian plants, especially cottonwood and
willow trees, require huge amounts of water to maintain, water birds reliably
lead observant naturalists to water, and butterflies sip all their water
directly from seeps in the ground. Local geology often provides excellent insight into where pockets of water
may occur. Limestone outcrops, for example, are known to hold considerable
water. Dousing also is a possibility that should not be overlooked. And while
dousing is simple in premise, it requires practice and forethought to use
productively and should be researched in its own right to be utilized fully. Condensation Water collected through condensation is perhaps the most inefficient way to
collect sufficient water to survive, and it likely is a zero-sum game when
conducted within the context of survival. Nonetheless, it is good to understand
the approach and it might provide short-term relief within desert environments. Solar stills are the most common tools for capturing condensation. Most
consist of a hole in damp ground, a container is placed in the center of the
hole, and a clear piece of plastic placed over the top of the hole. An indent
is pushed down into the middle of the plastic (e.g., with a small rock), and
the sides of the plastic are sealed with dirt. As the sun’s rays penetrate and
warm the wet earth, water evaporates out of the soil and condenses onto the
plastic. The resulting condensation forms droplets that collect in the
container. This effort is almost always a waste of time if an individual is
desperate for water because the amount of effort required to construct a solar
still generates more water loss – in the form of sweat – than is produced by
the still in return. Although we did not discover viable stills in our
research, other techniques that follow this principle could be developed or
researched. Nets can be draped in foggy areas, or any place with high condensation at
night. A container is put under the net, catching the droplets of dew that
condense on the net. This approach is more efficient than solar stills, but is
not useful except in certain mountainous areas of the southwest, and those are
often the most common areas of permanent water sources. Certain plants can be used to collect water from condensation, but again,
these are most likely in higher elevations and areas of the desert where
permanent water is likely to occur. Fruits, Vegetables, and Meat Eating plants and meat offers a very low water return relative to the amount
of water required to digest them, with the possible exception of melons and
cucumbers. It is possible to acquire about a fifth of total water via ingestion
in food, and doing so is important for personal health. Water Retention Growing plants is an intelligent way to retain water near your home. Growing
food, creating shade, and numerous aesthetic benefits are come from having an
efficient watering system in place. For example, unglazed terra cotta pots can
be buried slightly beneath the soil; when filled, the pots slowly release water
in the subsurface, where is can be accessed by plant roots more efficiently
water at the soil surface because of direct loss to evaporation in the dry desert
air. Lids placed atop the pots ensure minimal loss to evaporation, and the
porosity of unglazed terra cotta ensures slow release of the water into the
soil. Landscapes conduct water, and mulch retains rainwater by reducing
evaporation. It is important to study how water flows over the land and where
it ends up, even in city lots. Consider, for example, all the water lost to
overflowing city drains carrying noxious chemicals and oil from our roads,
driveways, and gutters into our rivers and ultimately our aquifers and drinking
water. Diverting even a small portion of that huge flow of water going past
city driveways would be enormously useful. Cutting out a portion of the curb
allows water to flow into the lower elevation of an urban lot where it can
provide otherwise unused water for plants. Treating Contaminated Water Contamination of water is classified in three ways: pathogenic
(disease-causing organisms), chemical (pesticides, industrial chemical or
naturally occurring chemicals), and physical (taste color and smell, but not
usually harmful). Depending on the region, drinkable water can be obtained from
rain, ground water, and surface water. Ground water can be obtained from wells
and springs and is usually free of pathogens. Ground water is traditionally
accessed by digging or drilling a well. For information on how to dig a well,
we recommend chapter two of Aric McBay’s book, Peak Oil Survival. Rainwater
also tends to be free from pathogens and chemical contamination. The best way
to collect rain water is by using the roof of a dwelling and collecting the
rain in a gutter system that leads to catchment barrels. More information about
building a rainwater catchment system is found in chapter 4 of Peak Oil
Survival. Water collected from rapids is better than pooled water because the
aeration kills many of the pathogens, but all surface water should be assumed
contaminated and therefore unsafe to drink. Knowledge of simple water-treatment
techniques is essential; below, we describe a few techniques commonly used to
treat questionable water. Straining: Use cotton cloth to screen large particles and organisms that
might be present in the water. Storage: Allowing water to sit in a covered container for 24 hours or more
will cause dirt to settle and also will kill many pathogens. Boiling: Boiling water at least five minutes will kill many water-borne
pathogens. Chemical disinfection: Pure bleach can be used to disinfect water. The
chlorine in the bleach can be hazardous to human health. Therefore it is
important not to use household bleach with fabric softener, or other additives.
The amount of bleach added to a liter of water depends on the concentration of
the liquid bleach: 10 drops of 1% bleach, 2 drops of 2-6% bleach, and 1 drop of
7-10% bleach. Solar Disinfection: This technique is especially applicable in the American
Southwest and similar locales. Place containers of water so they face sideways
in the sun for at least six hours. The best containers to use are plastic
bottles made of PETE (polyethylene terephthalate) or PVC. Distillation: Stills can be used to remove salt from the water. Stills can
be made using the sun or another source of heat (i.e., stove and fire).
Directions and diagrams for building a still are found in chapter 5 of Peak Oil
Survival. Water Filters: Conventional water filters are very convenient and can be
purchased before the fall. A few examples follow: http://www.nitro-pak.com/product_info.php? Additional methods of physical treatment, including construction of sand
filters and gravity-fed water systems, are described in Peak Oil Survival. Transportation Transporting water is essential for people who move through the region.
Water weighs eight pounds per gallon and the typical person requires at least
one gallon each day for direct consumption. Local containers that pre-date
modern civilization include animal skins, the callous “boots” left by
woodpeckers in saguaros, and gourds. Each of these containers must be sealed
with resin or some kind of waterproofing to prevent leaking, but each is
relatively lightweight and easy to produce. Conclusion Water can be found in a variety of ways, from digging underneath the
blossoming cattails in a wild cienega, to being captured from the very air we
breathe. In our opinion, the best characteristic about water in the American
Southwest is the ease with which it is produced simply by waiting. A late-July
thunderstorm fills local inhabitants with joy as a torrent of water three feet
high churns its way slowly down a desert wash, filling catchment basins and
roof runoff for an entire year’s usage, supplying the patient and clever water
harvester with more water than she could know what to do with. Food
Wild food will be available to skilled hunters. We recommend learning how to
trap and snare small game, and also to hunt with bow and rifle. Fishing and
netting are important skills for people who live near perennial water.
Gardening will also be an extremely important skill and source of food in
the coming days. Gardening is not easy, and it requires patience and
trial-and-error. We recommend you start now with collecting seeds and growing
food. Even skilled gardeners can learn much from Steve Solomon’s excellent
book, Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times. Food in the Southwest Finding protein in the southwest is easy. Simply point yourself toward the
nearest forest of prickly pear and cholla and track down the tastiest and least
elusive meal, the local pack rat. Although perhaps unattractive at first,
consider that indigenous people have been hunting and consuming packrats for at
least the last two thousand years, and probably a lot longer before that. They
are plentiful, easy to identify by their telltale detritus-filled and spiny
cactus-filled nests. They’re very simple to catch compared to a deer or rabbit,
and also very nutritious considering their diet is mainly grasses and seeds. And if that pack rat on a stick isn’t sitting so well, perhaps you need some
more fiber, sugar, and carbohydrates in your diet by harvesting, and drying, an
annual supply of saguaro fruit. Not only is it completely and utterly
delicious, reminiscent of rhubarb, strawberry, and a slight hint of creosote,
it is the single most durable food source you could possibly amass. It weighs
practically nothing when dry, can be mixed with acorns, packrats, and any other
miscellaneous herbs and spices you have to create the ultimate energy food,
pemmican. And if you decide the end of the world should have an appropriately
fatalistic party to accompany it, you can always use your stores (dried or
fresh!) to make a wonderfully alcoholic fruit beer, which incidentally
complements deliciously the entrée of roasted packrat on a stick. In addition to saguaro, the fruits of Organ pipe cactus, night blooming
cereus, pitaya (dragonfruit), prickly pear, and pincushion cactus are sweet,
red, and nourishing. They can be used to enrich your diet if you pay attention
to the time of fruiting in your local area. Acorns have been mentioned, and they are truly are big competitors for
saguaro fruit when it comes to the most plentiful and useful sources of food in
high-elevation deserts. Acorns can be eaten year around and they are great
sources of fat and carbohydrates, but you need to stockpile and possibly leach
the tannins from them, depending on the species. The tannins are toxic, especially
in fresh acorns, and acorns disappear quickly from the environment because many
animals know the great value that is found among the oak trees. Pack rats, cactus fruits, and acorns are perhaps the three highest-priority
native food sources in the American Southwest. They would appear to be
essential to the survival of those who choose to stay in the region modern
civilization falls. In addition to these “big three” source of food, there is a
plethora of knowledge, mostly forgotten, about living close to the Earth. Many native plants have berries and shoots, and nature holds in store wild
onions, tubers, pit-roasted agaves, corms, mushrooms, and strange-looking spiky
bits that are pronouncedly edible and, in theory, nutritious. Many books and a
few local people can provide assistance. We recommend starting with Gary Paul
Nabhan’s book, Gathering the Desert and other resources listed at
http://tucsonivores.wordpress.com/. And we recommend you cling with
considerable persistence to gossip, rumor, and innuendo that might lead to the
few remaining humans who have an inclination or two about surviving the
droughts, rampaging hordes of barbarians, and other bumps and bruises along the
journey of individual life after modern infrastructure fails. After all, the best
resources available to you are in the form of people who are, right now,
surviving off the land. They have been through the pain and suffering, the
toils and turmoil, the mouths full of cactus spines too small to pick out, and
many other challenges you should try to avoid if at all possible. Simply said,
learn from our many mistakes so that you have the best possible chance to
thrive. Shelter If you live in a city and you are able to leave to a less-populated area, we
recommend you buy, build, or occupy a durable home in a rural location. If you
possess sufficient financial resources, we recommend building an off-the-grid
house before power outages, food shortages, and mass hysteria become
commonplace in cities. If you are building a new house, pay attention to orientation: Simply
aligning the long axis of the house north-and-south will allow the dwelling to
stay warmer in the colder months and cooler in the summer. Consider using
building materials such as paper crete, adobe, or straw bale. Americans are
accustomed to living in large houses situated in subdivisions, but soon enough
we will have to live in relatively small dwellings without fossil fuels to heat
and cool them. They will be used primarily for sleeping and storing food. Personal Health Medicine We think most pharmaceutical products will be generally unavailable after
the empire falls because production and distribution of these products depends
heavily on fossil fuels. Because medicines currently available will decline in
efficacy, and then expire, alternatives will be needed. Innumerable natural
solutions are readily available in most locations. Because many resources will
be difficult to access within a few years, notably books and the Internet, we
encourage people to start making preparations immediately. Resources to find NOW The books, Where There is No Doctor and Where There is No Dentist are given
to Peace Corps members as manuals. These excellent resources can be purchased
at most major bookstores and online. Free versions are available online: Where There is No Doctor: http://www.hesperian.org/ Where There is No Dentist: http://www.healthwrights.org/books/WTINDentistonline.htm
Where Women Have No Doctor: A Book for Midwives: Natural remedy books are available for most regions of the Apothecary Herbs are the best direct alternative to conventional pharmaceuticals, which
suggests that learning about herbal remedies is critical. In general, several
different herbs can be used to cure a single ailment. However, usage and dosage
varies among herbs and even among individual people, so we encourage the reader
to start practicing soon and also to learn about herbs that are locally
available. After all, the days of acquiring herbs from the other side of the
planet are numbered. Ten herbs have been well-researched and have stood the test of time:
A guide to 55 herbal remedies also is useful:
Products we take for granted probably will be uncommon or unavailable.
Alternatives to menstrual pads and tampons are varied. We encourage use of
reusable products, and believe these products should be acquired soon. Reusable menstrual pads are similar to disposable pads, but they are
constructed from cloth and are meant to be reused. In addition to pads made by
hand, many commercial brands are available:
Menstrual cups are inserted into the vaginal opening to collect menstrual
fluids. They are safe, comfortable, convenient, and durable (a single cup will
last up to ten years). These cups require some time to become accustomed to
them, especially in the insertion and removal process. Several commercial
brands are readily available:
http://www.jadeandpearl.com/catalog/index.
Being able to make personal choices about a family is important today, but
such decisions will become even more imperative after the fall of empire.
Contemporary contraceptive options, even the most natural ones such as
sheepskin condoms, are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and do not offer
durable solutions. Once production ceases for the most common contraceptive
devices, such as condoms and contractive pills, there will be a need for other
alternatives. Perhaps the most conventional, yet durable, alternative for contraception is
the intrauterine device (IUD), which is available in copper or hormonal form.
The IUD is a T-shaped plastic frame (potentially surrounded by copper). It is
inserted into the vagina and prevents pregnancy for up to 10 years. More
information can be found at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/birth-control/BI99999/PAGE=BI00023.
Removing the IUD in the absence of conventional medical care represents a
significant obstacle to long-term use. Herbal contraceptives include the following: Wild carrot http://www.sisterzeus.com/qaluse.htm Queen Anne’s Lace seeds
Neem oil http://www.sisterzeus.com/neem_men.html
Wild yam
Pomegranate
Smartweed leaves
Apricot kernels
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
Additional information about contraceptives can be found in Rina Nissim’s
1996 book Natural Healing in Gynaecology: A Manual for Women and James DeMeo’s
2006 book chapter, “Contraceptive Plant Materials Used in Sex-Positive
Cultures,” published in Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse,
Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence, In the Deserts of the Abortion We suggest studying the following two websites first, because they provide
considerable information about the process of an abortion: http://www.sisterzeus.com/Pennyroyal.htm
and http://www.sisterzeus.com/PregT.htm. Herbal abortive agents include the following: Cotton Root Bark http://www.sisterzeus.com/cotton.htm Angelica/Dong Quai
Black Cohosh
Blue Cohosh http://www.sisterzeus.com/BlueCoh.htm Evening Primrose (Oenothera hookeri)
Parsley
Pennyroyal
Location and environment A durable community must be adapted to its location. All members must have
knowledge of the natural ecological systems in the area. This attribute is
particularly important for sustainable harvest of natural resources and
agricultural subsistence. However, geo-political dynamics can determine
available resources. For example, every community will need the fundamentals of
life support – clean water, clean air, food, and shelter – which can be
influenced by geological and political conditions. Ultimately, the location and environment of a community will determine its
fate. Today, urban areas are the ultimate manifestation of cheap oil and what
it has done to our society. City dwellers are gridlocked, far from nature, and
living as consumers. Most cities in this country are not designed to support
their populations when the oil stops pumping. Despite recent “green”
initiatives, cities are still likely to become death-traps as our nation’s
petroleum-fueled infrastructure collapses. Many have predicted unimaginable suffering and death as modern cities fail.
We can look to our ancestors as examples of great civilizations past, as
empires that fell as resources ran dry. As we approach a similar fate, it is
likely to be people who maintain their communities in rural locations that have
the best chances of surviving. Way of life Our notions about standard of living will change as resources become scarce.
Living within the means of one’s natural environment forces one to accept a
different standard of living from today. This will replace economic status as
the basis for defining standard of living. Lack of resources will result in
despecialization, which likely will restore lines of connection and
responsibility that link everyday acts to the real world. Intra- and
interpersonal communication skills will dictate how individuals fit into
communities.
Education and technological innovation are primary drivers behind the
success of a durable community. These characteristics shape the structure of
the community. Promoting creativity and innovation will provide communities
with tools to face unknown challenges in a world without access to fossil
fuels. Through education and innovation, a durable community ideally will find
solutions to alleviate their dependence on fossil fuels, curb exponential
population growth, and overcome myriad obstacles associated with maintaining
civil order. Cuban history offers an example of the many challenges faced and solutions
implemented by this island nation faced in the wake of the decline of the
Individuals within a durable community must emphasize tolerance and
neutrality toward others. The Mennonites provide an example of a group of
people who built their communities based on peace, simplicity, tolerance,
service, and mutual aid (see, for example, http://www.mennoniteusa.org/). The
object of a durable community is not to take advantage of other’s natural
resources but to live within your own. However, this raises the question of how
to respond when others may attempt to conquer your own community. The stronger
a community is, the more power it will have when faced with a rivalry or
attack, and therefore the more options available to the people of the
community. Violence is a fact that we must face, and our response to it will be
a personal decision each person must make for themselves and their loved ones. When faced with the looming shadow of what peak oil will bring to our lives,
is easy to become pessimistic about the future of our lives. At times it is
overwhelmingly dismal to attempt to comprehend how the choices of prior
generations will affect the fate of all life on Earth. However, to quote one of
our heroes, Edward Abbey, “sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.”
We proposed action as an antidote to despair.
A directory of registered intentional communities: An urban example of an intentional community, Sonoroan Cohousing, Sustainable
Our Outlooks and Approaches Colin Peacock believes that the almost certain and predictable future is
designated mainly by our past actions as a species, in which case, collapse of
modern civilizations would seem inevitable, and perhaps practical. However, the
future being unknown until it is created, he actually sees this as the greatest
opportunity for our species to transform our relationship to the environment,
spurred by our realization that the cosmic toilet is flushing and we are going
down with it. And Colin personally believes that to survive is natural. Does he
believe the world as we know it will end? Yes, and many times over before he is
dead. However that does not mean suffering in the world will be any greater
than it is today, and perhaps it will even be less, as he has stated, that
humans will survive and continue to fight for what they want in their lives
regardless of the odds. Specifically, Colin, refusing to lose hope in a
seemingly hopeless and anti-life society, continues to fight for the last best
chance for the North American grizzly’s survival, and perhaps in small part,
our own redemption, by promoting the importance of creating wildlife corridors
between Adriana Guillen is planning for the worse, but hoping for the best. Upon
graduation in May of 2008 with a degree in Business Administration, she will
move back to Sarah Rios is planning for two futures. She will graduate with a degree in Veterinary Science in December of 2009 and hopes to apply her education to the betterment of animals. Lacking a financial fortune to build an off-the-gird property, she will continue to enrich her knowledge of survival skills by continuing to learn how to garden, harvest rain water, and gain traditional knowledge about medicinal and edible plants of the Sonoran desert. While she is fearful what the future might bring, she remains hopeful that the survival skills she is learning will help her and her family what lies ahead. http://www.countercurrents.org/fealk041108.htm |
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