CSummer
05-01-2009, 01:33 AM
The movie, "Crude Awakening," offers a very good presentation of the reality of peak oil and the end of cheap fossil-fuel energy. There wasn't much about what real positive action could be taken, though, and to me it seemed rather pessimistic. There were images of oil booms and busts, auto industry ads from the 40's and 50's, and the facts and figures of decline. I highly recommend it for anyone who doesn't already believe that the "oil epoch" is quickly coming to an end and that without rapid and far-reaching changes, it will take down the entire industrialized world.
For those of us who accept the reality of this situation, the questions are: what can we do to prevent the worst effects of this enormous change? How can we prepare for the inevitable depletion of the oil supply? How can we do it far sooner than running out of oil would otherwise require so that we have a chance of preventing the worst effects of global warming?
I believe we need to see clearly how we got into this situation before we can see the way out. It's pretty simple: we did it by living as we do. And the way we live could be described as giving up our power and responsiblity to others - including unknown others - to meet our needs. This applies especially to our basic needs for food, shelter and energy. Unfortunately, the existing systems meet our physical needs very well - perhaps even too well, to the point of enormous waste. To a great extent, I believe this is because within our society (especially our typical child-rearing practices) our emotional needs are not well met. So we tend to focus overly and addictively on meeting physical "needs" that are learned or acquired as a distraction from our unmet emotional needs.
The way out is also simple (to state, at least): We need to take back - to reclaim and re-own - our responsiblity and power to meet our needs. Of course, if we do this only as individuals with very limited knowledge and access to resources, our chances of succeeding are not real great. We can, however, improve our odds greatly by coming together in communities of mutual support and working together to create sustainable systems by which our needs can be met.
If in the process of forming such communities, we give attention to the meeting of emotional needs, we may find that our physical needs are much less than we thought. We can release our attachment to those pseudo-necessities as we re-discover our true needs and find they can easily be met. Then the task of creating systems to meet these needs becomes much less formidable.
It also becomes easier if the systems we create emphaisize energy efficiency. One thing missing from the movie is the tremendous waste of energy by our transportation sector, which accounts for 70% of oil usage. Electric vehicles, for example, if properly designed, can be vastly more energy-efficient than those powered by common fossil-fuel powered engines.
We can also re-design our lifestyles for effiency. Living in an "intentional community" is, ideally, a way to live with minimum waste. I think of such a community as connecting people with each other, with a place and the "thing" (productive work) they do in that place, either individually or collectively. It is building relationships with our selves, each other and the natural environment that enable optimal use of our holistic awareness and creative energies to develop a way of living that works well for us and all other beings. We don't need to reject technology and return to the stone age. We just need to use technology more intelligently and appropriately - not as an end in itself, but to support us in realizing our potential to live peacefully and harmoniously together on the earth.
For those of us who accept the reality of this situation, the questions are: what can we do to prevent the worst effects of this enormous change? How can we prepare for the inevitable depletion of the oil supply? How can we do it far sooner than running out of oil would otherwise require so that we have a chance of preventing the worst effects of global warming?
I believe we need to see clearly how we got into this situation before we can see the way out. It's pretty simple: we did it by living as we do. And the way we live could be described as giving up our power and responsiblity to others - including unknown others - to meet our needs. This applies especially to our basic needs for food, shelter and energy. Unfortunately, the existing systems meet our physical needs very well - perhaps even too well, to the point of enormous waste. To a great extent, I believe this is because within our society (especially our typical child-rearing practices) our emotional needs are not well met. So we tend to focus overly and addictively on meeting physical "needs" that are learned or acquired as a distraction from our unmet emotional needs.
The way out is also simple (to state, at least): We need to take back - to reclaim and re-own - our responsiblity and power to meet our needs. Of course, if we do this only as individuals with very limited knowledge and access to resources, our chances of succeeding are not real great. We can, however, improve our odds greatly by coming together in communities of mutual support and working together to create sustainable systems by which our needs can be met.
If in the process of forming such communities, we give attention to the meeting of emotional needs, we may find that our physical needs are much less than we thought. We can release our attachment to those pseudo-necessities as we re-discover our true needs and find they can easily be met. Then the task of creating systems to meet these needs becomes much less formidable.
It also becomes easier if the systems we create emphaisize energy efficiency. One thing missing from the movie is the tremendous waste of energy by our transportation sector, which accounts for 70% of oil usage. Electric vehicles, for example, if properly designed, can be vastly more energy-efficient than those powered by common fossil-fuel powered engines.
We can also re-design our lifestyles for effiency. Living in an "intentional community" is, ideally, a way to live with minimum waste. I think of such a community as connecting people with each other, with a place and the "thing" (productive work) they do in that place, either individually or collectively. It is building relationships with our selves, each other and the natural environment that enable optimal use of our holistic awareness and creative energies to develop a way of living that works well for us and all other beings. We don't need to reject technology and return to the stone age. We just need to use technology more intelligently and appropriately - not as an end in itself, but to support us in realizing our potential to live peacefully and harmoniously together on the earth.