Vandana Shiva: "Occupy Your Life"

Here in the U.S. we so easily lose sight of it, thinking we have to have a “job.” But vast numbers of people around the world (as well as most of our ancestors) didn’t earn their livelihood from a corporate paycheck. As we move into a more Resilient local economy, the concept of “jobs” will probably become an antiquated concept. Of all the things Vandana Shiva said, the comments that had the biggest impact on me personally were in the final question of the night, during the Q&A portion of her public talk. Someone asked “if you could say something to the Occupy movement what would you say?” Vandana Shiva flashed her brilliant and embracing laughing smile, a smile that hooks right into your heart and you can’t help but feel the connection. She replied: “I’d tell them, Occupy your Life.”

Article here.

Mission

Regenerating the Sustenance Economy of the "Developed" World.

Why?

1. Ecology - Effective management of the environmental commons is best achieved via local, decentralized, and democratic means, and requires people to understand the capacities and limitations of their environment, which is best achieved experientially [insert Vandana Shiva's inverted triangle here].
2. Citizenry - Responsible citizenship and wise decision-making begins with knowing where our sustenance comes from and how it is sustained.
3. Household Economy - The economics of small family farms and intergenerational households are far more resilient in the face of economic booms and busts than isolated, single-family households.
4. Regional Economy - Strong regional economies depend on people being producers as much as consumers.
5. Pleasure - Providing for one's own and one's family's sustenance is immeasurably satisfying.

One thing I learned in grad school

Good intentions doesn't grow food; actually doing what works grows food.

Jean Pain and the Power of Compost

Jean Pain's technique for heating water, creating methane for cooking, generating electricity, and compressed gas for vehicles, all from brush pile or wood chip compost.

The website of the Comite Jean Pain demonstration site in Belgium.

Permaculture Activist article.

PDF of his book: Another Kind of Gardening.

Video of his methods in German with English subtitles:

Bullock Brother's "Cosmic Bob's Plan for Your Life"

Here.

Building the Infrastructre Base for Holistic Education - GVCS vs. Ad Hoc

If the goal is infrastructure for a holistic "school" nested within a resilient community, and the GVCS is a means of providing that, how does the GVCS stack up to an ad-hoc, pieced-together version of the same elements?

How much more useful would it be?
Strengths & Disadvantages?
How much more or less would it cost?
How much easier would it be to integrate the various pieces?

"Needs" in the 21st century

Maslow's heirarchy of needs:

The physiological basics are more easily met now than ever. The "safety" needs, however, and perhaps the "love/belongoing" needs, are more complicated. What does it take to feel secure in one's livelihood? In one's relative sense of security in the world? Secure in one's health and resources?

Well, the resources "necessary" to be a participant in the modern world have expanded in some ways and contracted in others. Clearly most people do not need to have the land, tools, and knowledge to grow their own food, but they do need access to the internet, electricity, health insurance, a cell phone. Of course, relying on others to grow your food to the extent that you forfeit all ability to do so is predicated on a so far reliable but rather dangerous assumption.

My question is mostly to do with what resources we would need to equip the 21st century person with in order for them to feel fundamentally secure and connected.

- food
- water
- shelter
- fuel/energy
- sanitation (bathing, "waste")
- clothing
- transportation
- computer
- internet & wifi
- cell phone & cellular service
- health care
- disposable income for travel

Now, what would it take to be able to produce all this on a village scale? Add to the above: tools to make and repair everything needed. That's fundamentally the project of the Global Village Construction Set.

The GVCS doesn't tackle health needs. Would a community train its own doctors and nurses? What about specialized medical technology? These could be purchased by regional cooperatives, but these costs are, of course, some of the highest costs of modern life. Without a disposable income, how can an individual or family afford to utilize specialized medical technology even in a regional center?

Similarly, internet and cellular technology relies on networks, and someone has to lay the fiberoptic cable or put up the transponders. What sort of organizational form would arise to manage this? And what about roads, bridges, and other infrastructure? Local is good, but local to the extent that mobility is drastically reduced is a recipe for provincialism.