[p2p-research] if you have time ...

[Franz Nahrada]

Tightening the belt? - consider it a healthy diet!

Michel has asked me to shortly discuss an essay or condensed talk called
"A Message to the Nearly Converted" by Jason Bradford which appeared in
the Oil Drum, an website devoted to "Discussions about Energy and Our
Future".

In this essay he starts with noting that we are also in an "obesity
crisis" and that this crisis could be described as a complex interaction
of organic failures like the death of a person that had lived a very
unhealthy life. Economic growth can be compared to obesity. There is still
a large cognitive dissonance in society between accepting the idea of the
disease but still living within it. The "economic relation with nature" is
still unnoticed.

"We have to repay our debt to Bank of Nature. This sounds scary, and is a
huge project, but ultimately we have no choice so let’s not whine and
delay. Let’s take it on as a great adventure, a thrilling challenge. Our
success or failure is going to hinge on our attitude. We need to take
control of the circumstances instead of being passive and expecting
someone else to solve the problems we create each day by the way we live."

He describes the incredible story of a "soccer mum" who turned into a
promotor of a transition town initiative, and how this has acted out on
the daily life of herself and the kids:

"These days, our kids dash home from school eager to get started on
planting, or raising seedlings, or canning tomatoes, or drying pears. They
hop on their bicycles and ride through the neighborhood, giving away extra
lettuce, tomatoes and berries from our garden. Their little acts of
sharing build community. Neighbors drop in with gifts for our kids – like
an old tub to wash carrots in, a blueberry bush, a jar of pie filling,
pumpkin seeds, and a recipe for granola bars. My children have become
self-appointed ambassadors for this urban homestead lifestyle by talking
about it to our neighbors and their friends, and using it as the subject
for school writing assignments and projects."

The message is of the kind we utterly need: adressing the issue of
dramatical change of lifestyle is much easier if we consider it as a way
of doing sports or exercise and combine it with the understanding of the
necessity to do the transition at the same time and take joy in the
losses. Spot an opportunity for everything loss!

The central meme is that of changing jobs, and its a good message to us
that are in the p2p business: the new jobs will not be provided by the old
employers.

"Another great option that widens the circle is to start a business. This
may sound funny from someone telling you the economy is never going to
rebound. While the economy we have now will shrink, we do need something
sustainable to grow in its place. Because of financial instability and
expensive oil, I see a process of decentralization occurring. Whereas in
the past factories in China and Taiwan could be relied upon to deliver,
that won’t be the case in the future. Small local shops or regional
factories can be amazingly productive at building the new products we will
need to take care of basic needs like developing sustainable food,
shelter, energy and water systems."

We will be in need of a large host of tools. There are few businesses yet
to fill the need, and that means opportunity:

"Can you go downtown where you live, walk into a store and purchase a
solar oven or a cargo trailer for your bike? Can you test-ride an electric
bike? Will a local contractor readily install a rainwater harvesting
system for your home, or a gray water wetland that irrigates your yard? Do
you have a local seed company that tests and packages cultivars for your
bioregion? Is anybody making prepared foods like soups and stews using
local, seasonal ingredients? I hope you are seeing some potential by now."

There are new jobs and there is potential. It is basically local, and its
basically built therefore on global cooperation. Preparing for the local
renaiscance might be the largest and the last global market in history.
P2P is there in many forms: from renaiscance of commons - based local
economies to global sharing and development of information and designs,
backed by enterprises who know how to be really economical.