Small is beautiful

 

There is increasing evidence that market growth cannot continue for much longer.  We are running out of resources and the population is growing too large.  So where to we go from here.

 

We need to start moving toward a sustainable economy, rather than a growth economy. 

 

Just as we talk of buying food locally, we should focus on shopping for all of our things locally.  Not just locally in the sense of “in my backyard,” but locally as in produced here, resold here, or repurposed here.

 

Support guilds, co-operatives (co-ops), and micro producers.  These are also called boutique businesses. 

 

This view was first expressed by E. F. Schumacher in his book, Small is Beautiful.

 

Guilds

 

A guild is an association of people in the same field.  In the middle ages there were guilds of artisans and craftsmen and guilds of merchants.  When mass production was developed, it put the craftsman guilds out of business.  Now these guilds are making a comeback as the market has developed for handmade or small production items.  Many of the artisans and craftsmen of these groups specialize in customized production.

 

Other forms of modern guilds are the Screen Actors Guild, The Writers Guild of America and most real estate firms. 

 

Some medical and dental groups are guilds, sharing testing equipment and business services.  The Bar Association in most states is also a guild in structure.

 

Co-ops

 

Co-ops can be either consumer based or business based.

 

An example of a consumer based co-ops is the food co-op where the members buy in bulk and divvy up the items among the members.

 

Credit unions are a good example of a business based co-op.  They often charge less for loans, pay a higher rate on savings, and support community activities.

 

Many insurance companies are co-ops.  Rates are usually lower as any surplus is used to offset the rates of the members.

 

Art co-ops help artists have a gallery experience at a reduced cost.  The art you buy there may be worth a great deal some day.  Develop a critical eye, start your collection early and buy consistently.

 

You can learn more about co-ops at www.cooperateusa.coop.

 

Finally, invest in sustainable businesses.  When buying stocks, consider reducing the percentage of growth stocks or growth funds in your portfolio .  Instead, look for strong dividend paying stocks.  They are less volatile and generally keep pace with inflation.

 

Prepping and permaculture

Prepping, or being prepared for disaster, is a big topic now. 

 

 

Download full size copy at www.prepperlink.com

 

Depending on where you live, you might prep for a variety of natural disasters, like hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, tsunamis, floods, or volcanic eruption. 

 Then there are manmade disasters, like the nuclear leak at Three Mile Island or the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Many of us prepare for smaller disasters, however, like enduring a power outage or being trapped in a highway drift during a snowstorm.

At the high end of the prepping movement, there are individuals preparing for the breakdown of society.  Some are moving to remote locations and setting up mini farms to ensure a steady food supply.  These people would certainly benefit from the agricultural principles of permaculture.  But, how might they benefit from adopting the broader scope of permaculture?

They would have to form a community (zone 2) of like minded people to leverage their position.

The nucleus of this community needs to be set in place before the disaster. 

 Microcurrencies might provide a small community of people with a medium of exchange, to facilitate bartering of goods and skills.  This should be developed before hand in order to build up trust in the system.

 A community first aid station could handle small emergencies or provide ambulance service to a city hospital.  By addressing this need in advance, a building could be converted and powered by solar, with battery backup. Arrangements could be made to train people to staff the facility and a system established to compensate them from the farm produce or by microcurrency. 

Shared educational responsibilities would provide children with a larger pool of knowledge than just home schooling.  This might entail a rotating schedule, much like a Cub Scout Den Meeting.

Ideally, each homestead should have solar power and battery backup.  For those who don’t or can’t have a personal solar power system,  community solar or wind installations could be set up to provide a charging station for batteries used to power electric tools, tractors and rototillers.

So preppers have a lot to learn from permaculture, but do permaculturists have anything to learn from preppers?

There are well over 100 prepper blogs on a variety of subjects.  Here you can learn to store and preserve food, manage your water supply, treat human and animal illnesses, and a host of other things that everyone might need at some time.

 At one extreme are people who are prepared to live as hermits to escape the ills of a dysfunctional society.  At the other people are thinking of ways to form communities after a social breakdown.  There is a wide range of thought in between.

 I think both would benefit from reading the thoughts of each other.

Zone medicine

 

Today’s subject is medical care.  This is a hot topic right now, because costs are going up faster than the rest of the economy.  If we think about this in zone theory, we need to think of small and intermediate solutions to the problem.

 

First aid clinics come to mind.  Many problems are small like colds or flu.  Some are intermediate like large cuts or broken bones.  These could be handled at a first aid clinic, where a doctor is resident, but only called if necessary.  Neighborhood screeners would make a determination whether or not to use a clinic or go to a hospital.

 Childbirth could be managed with midwifery.  Visiting nurses could handle home recovery programs.  In-home care could replace assisted living.  At home hospice is on the rise.

We are beginning to see the emergence of telemedicine, where the patient is monitored with a telephone or internet link.  My wife’s pacemaker is monitored this way.  Unfortunately, there is no standardization and different medical groups are implementing systems incapable of communicating with each other.  This is an area where government intervention would work wonders.

A gray area is also emerging.  People are doing holistic medicine from their homes or on the internet.  These involve naturalistic and herbal remedies, special diets, and physical programs such as yoga or massage.  Some of these people are very knowledgeable, but many are passing on folk remedies and practices that may be dangerous if misused.  Some form of control is needed here.  The internet is populated with both well managed and knowledgeable references and with snake oil salesmen. 

I see the future of medicine as a frontier area that needs both innovation and management. 

What do you think?