Greetings and salutations all my friends and acquaintances. This weeks sermonette comes to us from the gospels of Liz the Phair, Oily midnight and of course they who might be giants. Humor aside, I have been mostly lurking here since before the elections, as I have been snowed under with work, and find the philosophic side of the DailyKos community much more interesting, and well darn it, important than the party politics. As some of you know, I am a farmer and sustainable energy guy in western MA, if you need to know more, read the archive. I have built up a bit of vitriol over the past number of weeks, and have allowed it to simmer, and condense into something approaching rational thought, and now beg permission to share it with you.
Let me begin by saying I've missed a bunch of you, and you know who you are, and a special shout out to Orange, come back soon, my Sundays aren't the same without you...Now with all due apologies to the vegetarians, down to the meat.
It's nice to be liked
But it's better by far to get paid
I know that most of the friends that I have don't really see it
That way
But if you could give 'em each one wish
How much do you wanna bet?
They'd wish success for themselves and their friends and
that would include lots of money
Liz Phair "shitloads of money"
Lets face it, the only thing that matters in our current culture, is money...It's gone from being a medium of exchange, to the primary determining factor in what we dream, how we measure our achivements, and most tellingly how we view ourselves and those around us. I don't have a solution to this, but somehow feel that this Meme- we can only accomplish works if they present an immediate and forseeable return on financial investment- as the primary flaw in american culture, not just conservatives. Perhaps our sin is participating in the game at all, especially those of us who recognize it is a zero sum endeavor. Equally likely, I'm just spewing sour grapes, I know I become deeply resentful when someone who owes me 10,000 dollars drives past in a new truck. I try to console myself with the thought that my need is more important than their ego, but the fact remains, I am placing a dollar value on myself and the work that I do. It's probably Utopian to think that thiongs could ever be otherwise, but there must have been a difference at one time, if only of degree, or our history would not include any accomplishment that didn't have a predetermined ROI, and we would not be putting on a pedestal historical figures that didn't make "shitloads of money".
But that's not the world we live in. I design and install sustainable energy systems...solar (thermal and PV), Biomass (wood, corn, manure), Wind....And aside from not being paid on a regular basis (My company will officially be out of business last thursday, barring a miracle), some people are buying systems...and maybe 5% are buying them to reduce global warming. Another 10 percent are buying them to reduce foreign dependance (oil)...the over-whelming majority are pricing these systems (not buying yet...) to save money. If you give them a ROI greater than 2 years, you are (very politely) out the door. I'm almost positive that we used to value self sufficency, community, and ethics higher than doller value, but I've been mistaken before.
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
Midnight oil "beds are burning"
As anyone who has attempted to work in sustainable energy will tell, even more pervasive than lack of payment, or a fixation on ROI is the NIMBY. Most often portrayed as "democracy in action", or "Us against the monster corporation", it is proving to be THE largest impediment to any local or regional energy solution, or even individuals trying to contibute to energy independence. NIMBY'ism represents a trend or phenomena that all of involved in sustainable energy (or agriculture) are being physically, emotionally and economically stifled by. Whether you work in biomass, wind, solar, or waves, any attempt alter to the status quo will absolutely destroy the life of someone, or far worse, destroy their property values. Whether you live in an urban neighborhood, or your nearest neighbor is miles away, lighting up a wood or corn furnace, or putting up a wind turbine is a guarauntee that someone will be sure that your only intention is to diminish their health or quality of life. I probably bring this on myself, advocating as I do distributed, small scale, sustainable energy systems under local ownership and control: A culture used to centralized generation with wide scale distribution gets very comfortable with confining pollution, danger, and inconvenience in the neighborhoods of those who have no economic choice but to accept that which is foisted upon them. I'm afraid I must disagree with those that see NIMBY'ism as democracy in action. NIMBY'ism is one of the most potent forces preventing us from attaining energy independence, and local and regional control of energy and food production and sustainability. I truly believe we have to start thinking and considering the good of the region and community (and planet) over that of individuals. I guess where I am going with this is --- NIMBY'ism is never a good thing, and certainly not something we can afford in a world of diminished energy, and ever increasing atmospheric carbon. We need to recognize and acknowledge that NIMBYism is not improving a situation, or finding an answer, it is an attempt to avoid finding a solution to a problem. Maybe that's how we distinguish between it and honest concerns, one way tries to find a solution, the other tries to prevent any solution or compromise---JUST GET RID OF IT....
Back to the Farm...post rant (and please forgive me)...No Snivilin Farm, barring a miracle, will probably join the ranks of the 30% of small farms in Massachusetts projected to fail over the course of this coming year. Fortunately for the average citizen in the short term, this will go completely unnoticed by every-one other than local food advocates. While various organizations lobby for a bandaid, to allow farms to survive another year, the inexorable downward spiral seems to be well past the tipping point for many of us. As farmer try to do more with less, maintenance and improvement give way to paying the mortgage, and you find yourself doing things that are personally dangerous, not because you have no solution, but because you can't afford the time or money (the almighty dollar again) to implement the solution. Farmer's in general (and terri and I specifically) have reached the point in the game where our openents (corporate ag) and their servants (the government) have said check...fight as we might (and we will) the words "and mate" seem inevitable to many of us. Well, I have just been informed that the purpose of this enforced day off (Terri called my appointments for today, and cancelled me working when I crashed physically and emotionally earlier in the week) is to finish the estimates that I have promised to various people. I don't usually abandon a diary after posting, but may have to do just that....will check back in on comments as time allows.
Namaste'
Farmerchuck