tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post1703190826898576238..comments2024-03-16T09:24:45.474+01:00Comments on 22 Billion Energy Slaves: Making an Iota of DifferenceJason Heppenstallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-47465657251858609312013-05-25T00:54:19.743+02:002013-05-25T00:54:19.743+02:00It is a great feeling when you've found the pl...It is a great feeling when you've found the place where you can adapt in place. My American inner-ring suburb is pretty good, too, though radically different from your rural village. Mousehole, hunh? How apropos! Iota by iota, it does add up.Adrian Ayres Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11057583835126786240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-22050716810002535402013-05-24T15:09:19.864+02:002013-05-24T15:09:19.864+02:00I try not to listen to Today - I get all depressed...I try not to listen to Today - I get all depressed and end up shouting at the radio! Still, interesting to hear that Mr King is changing his tune. I've read a few of his articles and they don't stand out in my memory.<br /><br />I think the idea is slowly seeping into the mainstream. I saw Nicole Foss (from The Automatic Earth) being interviewed on prime time news in New Zealand the other day. The presenter did well to control her incredulity, but it's worth watching - this is the link: <br /><br />http://www.3news.co.nz/NZ-urged-to-develop-economic-plan-B/tabid/369/articleID/298840/Default.aspx<br />Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-11515483575457432062013-05-24T15:04:12.947+02:002013-05-24T15:04:12.947+02:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-83236557608248475802013-05-24T15:02:54.238+02:002013-05-24T15:02:54.238+02:00By the time I got there the council workers were o...By the time I got there the council workers were out in force with their strummers and mowers! I had to look further afield for my dandelions, but got them in the end. Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-16538670436858253702013-05-24T15:00:43.101+02:002013-05-24T15:00:43.101+02:00Agreed. Everything is reborn from one nanosecond ...Agreed. Everything is reborn from one nanosecond to the next. To think that our individual free will has no direct effect is the start of the slippery slope to nihilism and despair. We'll never know if our iotas made a meaningful difference to something, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.<br /><br />Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-89049179347852021892013-05-23T03:11:43.482+02:002013-05-23T03:11:43.482+02:00Millions of iotas- do make a difference, even if t...Millions of iotas- do make a difference, even if they are not coordinated or organized. I found Paul Hawken's book- "Blessed Unrest" helpful in accepting that this chaotic emergent response to our global trendlines is a powerful movement, and maybe it is better that it is comprised of bottom up individual responses. We've all seen small actions cause ripple effects, but how many other effects have gone unnoticed? Cummulative small actions are kind of the essence of the tipping point phenomenon. If we were able to tote up all the tiny individual interactions that end up causing a state change, it wouldn't be surprising at all. Unfortunately, we can't so we will continue to get surprises, some good, some bad.<br />In the mean time, I will continue to take steps to a low energy lifestyle, assuming it will not be for naught.Steve Carrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11706114439618856525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-48554491683498829472013-05-22T11:47:57.904+02:002013-05-22T11:47:57.904+02:00Did you happen to listen to the Today programme on...Did you happen to listen to the Today programme on R4 this morning? It finished up with an interview with Stephen King; not the novelist, rather the chief economist of HSBC. He was plugging a book, granted, but his message was that growth in the Western world is essentially finished, because the factors leading to post-WW2 growth are now absent. There was a lot going on in my kitchen at the time so I couldn't hear the presenter's response that well - but I got the impression it was rather incredulous... Still, the fact is increasingly seeping out into the mainstream that the party's over...Bogatyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12254141523264011919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-49869021833854862112013-05-21T23:06:50.550+02:002013-05-21T23:06:50.550+02:00Finding like-minded people is so important and so ...Finding like-minded people is so important and so difficult. Cornwall seems to be a good choice though, I love the sound of 'The Shed'and wish we had one.<br />Foraging is so fulfilling, along with making something out of nothing. I have been looking at the fields full of dandelions and thinking I need to get some recipes for something tasty from them. There are so many this year that I can't bear to see them go to waste :)<br /><br />Judyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00371314706811756465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-52538881938166633812013-05-21T13:13:50.647+02:002013-05-21T13:13:50.647+02:00Nice article. Thanks.Nice article. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-83763012305212945432013-05-21T11:34:23.686+02:002013-05-21T11:34:23.686+02:00I'll second the importance of a good pub! When...I'll second the importance of a good pub! When I came back to my home town here in rural Wales after many years living overseas, my networks were pretty much all gone. We have a couple of very good pubs, though, so I made them my 'third space' and over a couple of years, realise that I've got to know judges, ex-directors of major listed companies, a senior combat surgeon, solicitors, lecturers, teachers, electricians, house painters, plumbers, plasterers, carpenters, truck drivers, and a stonemason, amongst others. That's not including the various people of unknown occupation who are important because their families have been here so long...Bogatyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12254141523264011919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-8264575617321143782013-05-20T23:45:53.554+02:002013-05-20T23:45:53.554+02:00Thanks for the tip, Phil. I was indeed going to st...Thanks for the tip, Phil. I was indeed going to store it in the airing cupboard of the house we are renting, which also currently houses several hundred of my books!<br /><br />Elderberry is a definite this year, but alas the slugs ate my rhubarb, so there will be none of that.Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-88440684133713704362013-05-20T23:41:17.013+02:002013-05-20T23:41:17.013+02:00Just a word of caution on dandelion wine, it can b...Just a word of caution on dandelion wine, it can be explosive stuff so make sure you don't stash it anywhere near anything you value. I speak from bitter experience, my wife wrecked my book collection after a house move in which the books in a box ended up next to fermenting dandelion wine. The bottles that didn't explode were very tasty. My other favourites are parsnip, elderberry and rhubarb.Phil Espinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03291438294869499059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-67225829622344341872013-05-20T21:43:43.154+02:002013-05-20T21:43:43.154+02:00Hi Ed. It was a take-home-point from the talk. As ...Hi Ed. It was a take-home-point from the talk. As society has become more atomised and commercialised, former public spaces have been invaded and turned into pseudo-public spaces. Here in England the pub has traditionally been a social institution -literally a public house - where everyone is more or less equal. You can go and stand at the bar and read a newspaper, and maybe speak to people you don't know. Many pubs have been at the heart of the community.<br /><br />Over the years, that has all changed. Loud music has encroached on conversations and it's getting harder to find anywhere without flat screen TVs on the walls blaring out sports, news, MTV etc. Places have become 'BYOFs', meaning 'bring your own friends', further eroding the concept of a public space. They lure people in with 'happy hours', big screen football matches and other gimmicks, with the emphasis being on heavy drinking and hedonism.<br /><br />Luckily, for me at least, there are still plenty of decent public places here in Cornwall (along with plenty of awful ones). But then it's that kind of place. Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-88266789709128570442013-05-20T21:34:06.220+02:002013-05-20T21:34:06.220+02:00Mark - I have similar memories. My father made us ...Mark - I have similar memories. My father made us tramp around the countryside looking for fruit and elderberries, which we then de-stalked, squashed etc for him to make batches of wine that would last a year. He even made his own sticky labels for the bottles - 'Chateau Heppenstall' if memory serves.<br /><br />As for the hyper-consumption thing I think you are right - it was not there and then suddenly it was there (although I'm 10 years younger than you, I still remember the 70s). If there was a button that could be pressed and it would all disappear again, would it be a wise idea to press it? I think not - things will have to go back to something recognisably similar to how there were bit by bit i.e. catabolically. <br /><br />Good luck with the wine!Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-25065600489427056672013-05-20T21:28:02.829+02:002013-05-20T21:28:02.829+02:00Hi RE. Been a bit busy of late but I'm plannin...Hi RE. Been a bit busy of late but I'm planning to get back into the groove as time permits!Jason Heppenstallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886109260870545074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-11602154351760012582013-05-20T21:21:17.219+02:002013-05-20T21:21:17.219+02:00"It's exactly the kind of place that I ha..."It's exactly the kind of place that I had been missing during my years in Denmark and, I was to learn, the kind of participatory open place where you can chat with the locals that's been heading towards extinction in recent years."<br /><br />I realize this isn't your point, but what's the deal with that. I've noticed the exact same thing over the last dozen years.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-37636684859017283572013-05-20T18:46:07.114+02:002013-05-20T18:46:07.114+02:00Lovely, thank you, and thanks for the fine picture...Lovely, thank you, and thanks for the fine pictures over at your other place. I made 10 gallons of home brew yesterday, now that the house has warmed up a bit for the fermentation. Been doing it for a few years now. So easy to do, and it's much better than I remember it being when my Dad used to do it way back when. Growing some of my own hops as well, and plan to try making a mugwort beer this fall.<br /><br />I was talking to my wife this morning, about how so many huge changes have happened, bit by bit, just in our lifetime with regard to consumption/corporations. I'm 52 and still remember a somewhat simpler time, with less of every human interaction being commercialized. It really ratcheted up in the 80s, but the 60s and 70s were very different from today. The point is that this economy which we think is so unchangeable grew up over not that long a period through many, many individual actions by buyers and sellers. There was no big 12 month project to hyper-consumerize the world. And it will come apart again, probably as the buyers stop buying and the sellers stop being able to make money. So, every action counts. Making your own stuff and only spending money that stays in your own community I think is one of the best things we can do right now.<br /><br />Good luck! Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5584699251999622098.post-19126571009562885252013-05-20T07:25:14.164+02:002013-05-20T07:25:14.164+02:00Follows the latest theme on the Diner, goes up thi...Follows the latest theme on the Diner, goes up this week. You need to write more Jason.<br /><br />REReverse Engineerhttp://doomesteaddiner.orgnoreply@blogger.com