03-07-2008, 04:51 AM
Hi All, thought I'd toss out an idea.
It's been my observation that there is a real groundswell of people, who , worried of the forthcoming economic crisis, the ever-tightening supply of fuels of all sort, and the looming specter of global heating, are desperately searching for a place and a way of living that hopes weather these threats, at least as well as one can. I'm one of those, and I've come to Hawaii in many ways as an ecological refuge, looking for one of the last places to make that last stand. Obviously, I'm not alone in that, and the Big Island in particular does indeed provide a unique opportunity for those rightly concerned with these issues. However, I'm very concerned that many are biting off more than they can chew, and the task that faces one who wants to live that lifestyle of self-sufficiency is much more complicated than many think. As well, the idea of the "off-grid" life--or whatever--has become fashionable, and there's an awful lot of "alternative" stuff out there, slick products, marketed to these well meaning people, which is simply unsustainable consumerism of another flavor. So I offer this conversation, prefaced with the assertion that I want the dialog to be rigorous, and demanding of integrity, but not contentious. In other words, we've got very short time to learn to live in a meaningful and effectually low impact manner, and we don't have the luxury to indulge in silly whims or bad ideas.
As well, I'm not interested at all in discussing the issue of the if/when of these topics--economy, oil, climate. If you're in denial about these issues, or whatever, please, let me hook you up with freinds of mine who are desperately trying to sell property in Southern California, as I'm sure it will be a deal once the economy rebounds.
So, issues. . .
The main issue at hand is how to live in the most low impact manner possible. In many ways the single greatest indicator of impact is cost--as cost is a representation of the fuel/materials involved in ones lifestyle. So, low impact must mean affordable--and certainly gridless living is better than off grid, if you catch my point.
As well, low impact means ecologically low impact as well. This involves manners of living that disturbs the existing natural environment in the least way possible. This is another much more complicated matter than people give credit, but we face a situation where clearing of any sort is really inexcusable, even for noble ideas like "organic farming" or what have you. . .biofuels, etc. Again, we must not get sidetracked by the slick products and agendas, but find a new way of living that doesn't rely on these notions.
Lastly, we in the developed world need to be very sensitive of the situation we're in: having scarfed off the best of the world, the majority of its resources, and have enjoyed its wealth--poisoning the atmosphere, we're now in the position of assuming the moral high ground basically telling the rest of the world, most of which still lives in desperate poverty, to never ever develop. Nope, no burning coal for you people. . .let's keep your little country as this nice little park for we fat cat tourists. This humanitarian issue of massive importance has more or less been overlooked by the ecological community, and unfairly and self-servingly so. Hawaii, in many ways, for we off islanders by birth, is perhaps one of those places, and we must be very sensitive to those people here who unfortunately live in poverty and near third world conditions.
Anyway, I thought I'd flick this topic out there and see where it goes. I'm very interested in meeting local people of like mind at the very least.
Thanks
Jay
oarclub@hotmail.com
It's been my observation that there is a real groundswell of people, who , worried of the forthcoming economic crisis, the ever-tightening supply of fuels of all sort, and the looming specter of global heating, are desperately searching for a place and a way of living that hopes weather these threats, at least as well as one can. I'm one of those, and I've come to Hawaii in many ways as an ecological refuge, looking for one of the last places to make that last stand. Obviously, I'm not alone in that, and the Big Island in particular does indeed provide a unique opportunity for those rightly concerned with these issues. However, I'm very concerned that many are biting off more than they can chew, and the task that faces one who wants to live that lifestyle of self-sufficiency is much more complicated than many think. As well, the idea of the "off-grid" life--or whatever--has become fashionable, and there's an awful lot of "alternative" stuff out there, slick products, marketed to these well meaning people, which is simply unsustainable consumerism of another flavor. So I offer this conversation, prefaced with the assertion that I want the dialog to be rigorous, and demanding of integrity, but not contentious. In other words, we've got very short time to learn to live in a meaningful and effectually low impact manner, and we don't have the luxury to indulge in silly whims or bad ideas.
As well, I'm not interested at all in discussing the issue of the if/when of these topics--economy, oil, climate. If you're in denial about these issues, or whatever, please, let me hook you up with freinds of mine who are desperately trying to sell property in Southern California, as I'm sure it will be a deal once the economy rebounds.
So, issues. . .
The main issue at hand is how to live in the most low impact manner possible. In many ways the single greatest indicator of impact is cost--as cost is a representation of the fuel/materials involved in ones lifestyle. So, low impact must mean affordable--and certainly gridless living is better than off grid, if you catch my point.
As well, low impact means ecologically low impact as well. This involves manners of living that disturbs the existing natural environment in the least way possible. This is another much more complicated matter than people give credit, but we face a situation where clearing of any sort is really inexcusable, even for noble ideas like "organic farming" or what have you. . .biofuels, etc. Again, we must not get sidetracked by the slick products and agendas, but find a new way of living that doesn't rely on these notions.
Lastly, we in the developed world need to be very sensitive of the situation we're in: having scarfed off the best of the world, the majority of its resources, and have enjoyed its wealth--poisoning the atmosphere, we're now in the position of assuming the moral high ground basically telling the rest of the world, most of which still lives in desperate poverty, to never ever develop. Nope, no burning coal for you people. . .let's keep your little country as this nice little park for we fat cat tourists. This humanitarian issue of massive importance has more or less been overlooked by the ecological community, and unfairly and self-servingly so. Hawaii, in many ways, for we off islanders by birth, is perhaps one of those places, and we must be very sensitive to those people here who unfortunately live in poverty and near third world conditions.
Anyway, I thought I'd flick this topic out there and see where it goes. I'm very interested in meeting local people of like mind at the very least.
Thanks
Jay
oarclub@hotmail.com