Post Oil Geography as a form of "Solar Rationing"
Sharon Astyk, an English scholar/parent who raises with her husband four young children on a small farm/CSA in upstate New York (and yet who manages what appears to be considerable time to productively research and write), has written a excellent blog article on rationing, it's history and applicability to today's (and tomorrow's) food and energy situation. The article is well worth reading and can be found here:
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/06/could-rationing-be-made-palatable.html
One of the major ideas that Sharon points out is the extent to which people have been and are willing to accept rationing when it is democratic/equitable in its implementation (i.e., applied equally, per capita, rich and poor alike). People more often than not are willing to voluntarily submit to rationing (aye, even ask for it) when it is done right, and even prefer rationing before it becomes necessary, before the shortages are in already happening, in order to provide more certainty in access to important things like food. If done democratically (i.e, equitiable), rationing, especially voluntarily, is the "right thing to do".
What I have been proposing/suggesting through my limited blog articles thus far is a similar idea. I am suggesting that we need to learn to live within the Earth's limits, such as climatically imposed by the Sol and the atmosphere. Learning to recognize what solar input we have, and the limits to each area's water and soil capability, and then adjusting to live within those limits, is the same as voluntary rationing. It is the right thing to do. And within a given geographic area, the situation equally applies to rich and poor, young and old alike, as we all receive the same sunlight. Learning to live within those natural limits now will be better than "mandatory" rationing that eventually Nature will impose on us later when we use up the easy non-renewable resources.
Cheers from Dubuque,
Kevin
(who hopes he might be able to write more often than he has lately...)
http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/2007/06/could-rationing-be-made-palatable.html
One of the major ideas that Sharon points out is the extent to which people have been and are willing to accept rationing when it is democratic/equitable in its implementation (i.e., applied equally, per capita, rich and poor alike). People more often than not are willing to voluntarily submit to rationing (aye, even ask for it) when it is done right, and even prefer rationing before it becomes necessary, before the shortages are in already happening, in order to provide more certainty in access to important things like food. If done democratically (i.e, equitiable), rationing, especially voluntarily, is the "right thing to do".
What I have been proposing/suggesting through my limited blog articles thus far is a similar idea. I am suggesting that we need to learn to live within the Earth's limits, such as climatically imposed by the Sol and the atmosphere. Learning to recognize what solar input we have, and the limits to each area's water and soil capability, and then adjusting to live within those limits, is the same as voluntary rationing. It is the right thing to do. And within a given geographic area, the situation equally applies to rich and poor, young and old alike, as we all receive the same sunlight. Learning to live within those natural limits now will be better than "mandatory" rationing that eventually Nature will impose on us later when we use up the easy non-renewable resources.
Cheers from Dubuque,
Kevin
(who hopes he might be able to write more often than he has lately...)
posted by Kevin Anderson K9IUA at 4:09 PM
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