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Where we are & how we live is going to be a real problem. Before the time of
Oil people lived close to their food supply and within a
Community that could meet all their needs through trade. There were cities
but they tended to only hold a few thousand people because
they could not get any larger. They were limited by the size
of the agricultural land around them and how far a horse and
cart could travel to bring perishable foodstuffs to city
markets. Transport was expensive and uncomfortable. Energy
was scarce and the available land was required for the
growing all forms of energy be it firewood, food or
construction materials. If the population exceed this
natural "carrying capacity" of the land then the population
simply stopped growing. A balance was
kept. The sun could only bring each person so much energy in
a day. Only so much of that energy could be captured in
the food to support hungry mouths.
So? How did we grow to where we are today? We raided the
piggy-bank. We dug up buried sunshine. Once you
start pumping out the historical revenues your population
goes into solar debt. The sun cannot replenish that energy
at the rate you are using it up. Prior to human
populations there was no intelligent life to dig it up.
So it stayed in the ground for millions of years. Like money
in the bank. You can earn money and spend money but if you
need more money, one day, you go to the bank to draw on your
savings. You can only do this so many times before you have
to start borrowing from somewhere. Our fossil fuel energy-bank was VERY
full so we have been drawing down this credit for a VERY
long time. We thought it was a bottomless pit of energy free
for us to exploit. In reality we just borrowed it from future
generations
Like moths around the candle flame the human race flocked to
this new energy. It was released in engines working in
factories. The economy exploded into growth stimulated by
this new energy. People left the land to work in the
factories and ever since then the land has been depopulated
in favour of the big cities. Self-reliant Communities with
short supply routes came a thing of the past. This process is happening
today. Children leave for the "bright lights of the big
city" all over the world, all of the time. The new fuels
made it possible to grow more and more food with less and
less human power. This food could be transported further and
further. Food became plentiful freeing the people to leave
the food sources far, far, behind them. The same was true
for every product you can imagine from soap powder to wall
paper. It just came from somewhere else. Anywhere else. It
no longer mattered where. China is a good bet today.
Every third world shanty town is testimony to this effect.
The energy in the city is so seductive people will live in
utter squalour just to be THERE rather than in
self-contained sustainable communities or in the country. What
can the land and communities offer? Insecurity? Poverty? There is nowhere to
go, nothing to see, it is boring. Dull. This demographic
shift is all a result of our use of Fossil Fuels. When the
energy curve is reversed the reckoning will come. Energy and
food systems for cities may collapse. Suddenly the countryside
and its small communities,
with all of its biomass potential, will start to look very
tempting again.
The
land-to-city migration will finally be reversed. The final step for every Carbon Cutter might be
to relocate somewhere more sustainable. Somewhere where
there is adequate land, water, sun and wind to meet a
Community's needs.
Of course not everyone can move to the
country nor should they need to. There is often enough land
in & around small towns to sustain the inhabitants. This is where
the power of community comes in. We will no longer be
disconnected from the supply chain. We will become the
supply chain. What we need will come as a result of dense
network of local trade for local people using local money.
People will become re-acquainted with their neighbours
again. Local shops will open. The High Street revitalised.
Out-of-town shopping centres will dwindle and die.
Shopkeepers will know their suppliers. Food will be fresh
and free of contamination. Children will learn at local
schools. Forgotten crafts will come alive. Crime will no
longer pay. It may not be totally idyllic but it will
sustain the people in a fossil-fuel-free environment.
Welcome to the revolution. Climb on board. |
