I focus a lot on the developed world, because the 20% or so of the human population that lives in the developed world account for most of the ecological destruction brought on by the hyper-consumer lifestyle. So, what about the other 80% or so of the developing world? Many of the people in developing countries are work slaves to the developed world – a harsh reality for sure, but sadly true. The workshops in the developing countries pay paltry wages (often less than a US $1/day) with long hours and few worker rights, to make products for sale in the developed countries – a direct consequence of modern globalization since the 1980s. And the crazy thing is that many of the poorer blue-collar workers in developed countries, especially the USA, earn minimal wages with few worker protections as well. It’s the ‘Walmart Effect’ (The high cost of cheap prices) (see link) and emphasizes the rapid dissolution of any remaining community cohesion in the developed world, and the continuing economic enslavement of the developing world – a new kind of colonization by global economic forces.
For decades now I have pondered the ways that humanity might change the trajectory of how it lives. I had long hoped that the developing world would bypass the hyper-consumer model embraced by the developed world. But economic colonization and a mass-media effort to promote the consumer lifestyle has simply trapped most developing countries in the hegemonic and hedonistic nightmare (note I avoid dream) of material-consumerism. Initially I also had a vague hope that populations in the developed countries would make good ecological choices. While ‘environmentalism’ that has been pushed since the 1960s, it has really stalled as global economic forces remained rigidly in control.
As regular readers of this blog will know, I do have solutions, but they hinge on humanity making different choices. In a single phrase, ‘it is all individuals making the choice to live well in a place.’ My five items are the basis of this idea. Indigenous peoples knew this well – they had to because their ability to thrive hinged on it. They didn’t have the technology to compensate for living badly. So, their whole philosophy of living revolved around living well in a place.
Ecosystems are highly-tuned biological systems that adapt and respond to the vagaries of climate and geological events. The interaction of all the species creates dynamic flows of resilience. Even in cases of catastrophic events, the natural world grows back through successional stages to create climax ecosystems – flourishing and dynamically interacting multitudes of species. Until the industrial revolution, humanities ability to cause ecosystems collapse was limited to the areas in which they lived. To live in opposition to the ecosystem was tantamount to ensuring societal collapse. We have plenty of examples throughout human history.
Inappropriate technology has now brought humanity to the edge of multiple global ecosystem failures. This is not a scare factor – just the obvious we like to ignore. The planet can, and will, recover from whatever humanity does. It’s as I have often said, “it’s not about saving the planet, it’s about saving humanity from itself.” Our greatest problem is complacency, and the really flawed belief that a brand-new technology (or more) will come out that allows us to keep living a hedonistic, material-consumer lifestyle that still exceeds the carrying capacity of the planet (the number of people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental degradation).
Let’s revisit my 5 items again that also define how we live well in an area. Item number one: Mindfulness. I have spent many posts on this item. This is completely within our ability now. Nothing to figure out. Just a choice to be mindful on how we treat each other and the natural world with respect. Stay with hate, mistrust, fear of the other, fear of scarcity, and total disregard of the natural world, and the outcome for humanity is unchanged. Items number two and three: New Economics and New Metrics. These two go hand-in-hand. I already mentioned the Walmart Effect at the start of the post – an obsession with obscene profit generation to the detriment of everything else is a sure-fire way to ensure our species fails. Or a descent into a dystopian hierarchical controlled feudalism (think Hunger Games) is also a high possibility.
If we choose individually and locally to make the choices to develop coherent community we once enjoyed before the market economy dominated our lives, then a sustainable future is in our hands. This starts with two essentials, item number four and five: Food and energy resiliency. If we control our basic food and energy systems then our communities remain free and resilient. Corporate industrial farming (Big Ag) is wrecking our ecosystems and global health. Who knew that food could be weaponized so effectively. Instead of measuring crop yields as a successful harvest, we must measure yield compared to soil health and human health.
It takes about three years to recondition an industrial farming field back to an organic one. Organic farming yields are then comparable to Big Ag, and the reduction of toxic pesticides in the food is a step towards sustainable agriculture. Soil in Big Ag fields is depleted of soil organisms – it’s literally just lifeless dirt – thereby requiring artificial fertilizers. This also means many trace elements necessary for biological health are also missing. Yes, we get food, but it is less nutritious than organic food. If we keep the basic food production local and preserved locally, we get a healthier community (less sick-care industry – Big Pharma wouldn’t like that one) and a healthier local ecosystem. One metric that would ensure this, would be to measure biotic organisms per cubic unit of soil. Quite simple really. We could insist on it even with our current food system – enforce measurement of healthy soil and you change the game completely. But that would mean the collapse of Big Ag (and Big Pharma) and they might complain. Rather than collapse the systems, go locally organic and Big Ag will diminish on its own. And I haven’t mentioned the Big Food processing industry that is in bed with Big Ag and Big Pharma.
Going with locally organic farming means we get control and have healthier populations and ecosystems – a quiet revolution. Then the corporate behemoths (and their political puppets) either support our decision and go completely organic, or they go extinct. If we make organic soil and food the primary metrics and not monetary profits, the focus completely changes. How you choose to spend your money makes a statement, but how you provide your basics locally, eliminates the hierarchical control. Corporate survival might force the system to become more B-Corporation focused – transformative rather than exploitive.
Transform ourselves and transform the world. But it all starts with us – as sovereign individuals and local collaborative communities. However, when we start to develop personal and community gardens, the massive disruption will hit a large group – the individual farmers who are caught in the Big Ag economic web. Big Ag and corporate owned farms make lots of profit, individual farmers do not. Industrial farming takes a lot to run, especially on individual farms where many farmers are barely breaking even, let alone getting rich. When you break out to localize, start conversations with your individual farmers in the area and encourage them, both physically to go organic and also financially – create CSA’s (Community Supported Agricultural – see link) and collaboratively share the risks and burdens of going it away from Big Ag. CSA farmers (and their equivalents around the world) need community support throughout the farming year to transition to sustainable and organic farming. Remember, it can take three years for a farm to recover from industrial techniques and to get the soil conditioned to being biotically productive again – all part of the great healing. Farmers are already intimately connected to their land. Getting them spiritually connected (if not already) is a step in their education during the disruptive period.
Supporting local farmers for sustainable agriculture becomes even more crucial as feedlots start to disrupt. Many industrial farmers grow crops specifically for feedlots (especially corn and soy), so getting them to transform into organic farming will need community support and encouragement – and lots of communication. It may be a quiet revolution but it will have lost of pushback from the corporate giants. You might not immediately feel it at the community level, but famers certainly will. Lots of CSAs already exist, so farmers willing to make the transition can find help and lots of information and help from fellow farmers already working the transformation.
To Be Continued …………………
0 Comments