I think community is the most underrated and most difficult to achieve in this permaculture/homesteading/self-reliance thing. Both from practical considerations (maintaining a road for two people vs a village, sharing meat from a big animal vs storing, etc) and social needs. Ask me how i know. We are a nucleus family homesteading and we are so glad my wife's family is within driving distance. The plants and animals will grow with some physical and mental efforts, but try putting a group of people together...
I tried to make a one-time donation but the website doesnt accept anything from Malaysia. Do you have a thai bank account? Or other options?
I know, right? I personally don't know of any intentional community that isn't plagued by a host of issues, from passive-aggressive behavior (see comment by Andrea P above) to power games and favoritism. We moderns somehow forgot how to form (and MAINTAIN!) communities along the way.
But, then again, life is not meant to always be harmonious, and from what I've read conflict is pretty much inevitable to a certain extent. The ethnographic record of various hunter-gatherer societies shows similarly ubiquitous bickering, complaining, jealousy, arguments & fights, etc. I remember one instance in Colin Turnbull's "The Forest People" in which a man hits his wife, who consequently picks up a burning log and breaks it over her husband's back. Only then do the people intervene - and by the evening everyone is happy again.
Conflicts are staged in the center of community life, the entire band participates (e.g. shouting approval, ridiculing troublemakers, pulling people apart once things get too physical), and usually things return to normal afterwards. Frequent infighting seems to be inherent to us humans, so the goal shouldn't be to avoid conflict, but *to deal with it in an efficient and fair manner when it arises.*
I think that all human emotions are useful & appropriate in their respective settings, and I don't buy into the whole New Age/"Eastern Spirituality" thing about "positive" and "negative" emotions (the latter of which ought to be avoided & suppressed to "avoid harm" and "suffering"). Every emotion needs to be expressed, or else we suffer the psychological long-term consequences of bottling up our feelings. Anger burns fiery like a bushfire, but it often burns out just as fast.
One major difference between modern & traditional communities is that foragers still depend on each other for their survival (which modern humans don't, they have money to pay strangers and are thus not dependent on any individual), so it is in everyone's best interest to reconcile quickly after fights. You actually need your neighbors.
Moreover, in our individualistic culture people often cling too fervently to abstract concepts & beliefs, so much so that they are unable to live with other people who think slightly different. Certain vegans are an example that immediately comes to mind, who vehemently refuse to cohabit with everyone who doesn't share their exact beliefs (no matter how outlandish).
And, if everything else fails, foragers can simply pack up their things and move to live with a different band for a while - the ultimate conflict resolution strategy, and one of the main reasons why their approach works so well, even for fairly extreme examples. In our sedentary society (and with all the stuff we own) this is simply not an option, so neighbors have to stay put and things escalate easily.
I hope that as we can rely less and less on money (and thus strangers), we will automatically find ways to resolve petty conflicts, or simply let differences be differences and bygones be bygones. If you actually need one another, the human connection weights more than any disagreement. One of the friends we have in the area has some quaint views and says some weird things sometimes, but we simply let him have his moments, because we do actually need each other for certain things (he has a truck and we help him pruning large trees), which is more important for both of us.
I love how much people in Thailand value family, but combined with the novel forces of capitalism, even that can become toxic. So the gambling/alcohol addiction of an elder may be silently tolerated, so as to not upset "family harmony" - even though it might be detrimental to the whole family over time.
Kudos for having family close by, that's a privilege we're still lacking. Can be worth a whole lot.
And thank you so much for the intention to make a donation! PayPal is a bit weird in this part of the world, and I also couldn't use it if I didn't still have a German bank account. I do have a Thai account as well, but to be honest I'd feel a bit bad bothering you if it's so difficult... Have you ever used Wise?
I have also tried to donate and had the PayPal thing give me some sort of error message, once recently a once a while back. Is this common or do you typically receive things from there?
That's weird, indeed... I do receive donations via PayPal every now and then, so (fortunately) at least for some people it seems to work! Thanks for trying, anyway ;)
Не враховуючи війну, в нас поки все набагато краще...Але турбує водна забезпеченість..
Наш колодязь має стовп води близько 2 футів з діаметром 2,5 фути...і це не поповнюється швидко.
Всі рослини виключно на дощі та опадах, тому в цьому році урожай буде значно менший(через осипання, та дрібноплідність). Але перевага горіха в тому, що він зберігається довше року і ми зробили резерви для такого періоду, разом з іншими заготовками навіть в разі повного знищення урожаю, в нас вдосталь їжі.
Більшість пенсіонерів (⅓ населення країни) живе за $1,5-3/день. Так повсюди, і скорочення будуть відбуватися і далі, поки заможні будуть вичавлювати останнє, в намаганні зростати.
Thank you so much for your comment, I always enjoy reading your perspective and experiences.
Yes, it seems that people in "developing countries" have yet to learn the lesson that we can't win the War against Nature, whereas places that have been colonized for centuries or millennia (like the US or Europe) have learned some hard lessons along the way - which is why certain conservationist practices are mandatory by law in those places.
Nobody cares about a fishing license in Thailand, because people never thought they'd ever run out of fish! Same goes for logging, and even littering. Until very recently, all waste here was completely biodegradable, so it was no problem to throw everything behind your house.
Development & Progress happened way too fast in this part of the world, and people simply didn't have time to adapt. It's a real tragedy.
I'm glad to hear you're doing fine, though, and I wish you JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT of rain. (I almost said "plenty," but considering the crazy climate I might regret those words later 😄)
Loved reading your catch up news on recent events. You're doing it tough there after some extreme years. Don't be surprised if a few more manageable seasons turn up soon.
Thanks, I'd like to think that as well. I remember the two years after the 2016 El Niño as being relatively mild in comparison, so we are still carefully optimistic.
But, then again: we said the same thing last year - and so did the Dust Bowl farmers, year after year.
it is surreal to wait for things change enough to wake people up. like, how bad does it need to get??
I worry, though, that -
a. in the medium term, the "updated paradigm" could look like blame and hostility instead of enlightenment (I live in an "intentional community" where some neighbors have been monitoring others' package deliveries to shame them for consumerism- as if that will change our fate, when really it's a way for them to project anxiety)
b. in the long term, Taker culture is so stubborn that it'll continue to insist "we could've made this work IF ONLY we'd implemented fusion energy (etc) sooner", never recognizing the spread of "development" as the core problem. It sets itself up for those kinds of excuses
Thanks for sharing your thoughts - reasonable concerns, for sure. As Shane has recently commented (on another essay), maybe we are the only people who will ever really "wake up" to the situation, and maybe we have to make peace with that fact. I mean, surely there's more people who will change eventually, but more out of need than out of conviction. Those were the guys that rebuilt civilizations after previous collapses and let themselves be enslaved again.
We're also currently in overshoot, so there's simply no way that all 8 billion of us are gonna make it. Those that realize last don't have the best chances, I fear.
Regarding a), I definitely share your concern. Petty stuff like that happens all too easily among many of those struggling to cope with what's happening. It's easy and somewhat rewarding to play the blame game, and we tend to dislike & criticize in others what we don't like about ourselves. But I also think that, ultimately, observed reality will become a pretty strong argument in and of itself. As long as we can convince folks around us that the underlying reason why they can't maintain the standard they've gotten used to is simply resource scarcity & climate change (and not China, Saudi-Arabia, Colombia or Bolivia for not giving us their resources, or the Republicans/Democrats for "restricting our freedom"), we're on the safe side - you can't go to war with those!
If people need a scapegoat, it might be time to finally serve those pesky billionaires (et al.).
I definitely agree with point b) as well. There will be many people trying to spin this story, but after a few decades of scavenging, scraping by and subsistence lifestyle, the new generation will have other concerns than the fancy dreams of some distant, obviously dysfunctional past. To the youngsters, they will sound like raving lunatics with their strange talk about the Internet of Things and our mission to go to Mars.
And I can see how much of that will simply lose its relevance over time. How to fix any high-tech gadget without spare parts? Why bother when there's no cheap energy? Why keep hard disks if you have no means of reading the data on them? And, in the long term: why talk about farming if the weather doesn't allow for regular harvests, and why settle down when we have to follow the food?
I fear it will be the marginalised who will have the fury of our hemorrhaging civilisation projected onto them. The scapegoats. History shows that when times get tough, the desperate crowds start picking up pitchforks.
Great article, your perspective on collapse is fascinating because you have actually taken the jump towards trying to “unplug” from the system.
I find it ironic you mention your habits doomscrolling, as someone who has literally the same lived experience of reading those articles (yours) or writing one myself.
Though I find writing it to be somewhat therapeutic/help me put down the thoughts. I find avoiding doomscrolling and the attention it robs from my current blessed present to be infuriating.
——
From the center of the empire (Middle America) it’s becoming noticeable here as well - just from changes in the weather pattern but the specifics vary regionally. For example, the heat and smoke gives it away in Colorado but the fast formation of storms gives it away in Florida.
However people aren’t making the connection with the food supply like agricultural farmers are probably.
So much of your experience resonates with the path we are walking here, especially the 'waiting' for the next layer of climate unravelling and the constant surprise from unexpected (and often devestating) changes in the weather. Building community is vital to surviving this, so I hope you find your way. Know you don't have to be 'friends' with everyone in your community ... that's a role for friendships ... you just have to find ways to connect and build shared understanding between the people geographically close to you. It's hard, I know. But it's important.
I think community is the most underrated and most difficult to achieve in this permaculture/homesteading/self-reliance thing. Both from practical considerations (maintaining a road for two people vs a village, sharing meat from a big animal vs storing, etc) and social needs. Ask me how i know. We are a nucleus family homesteading and we are so glad my wife's family is within driving distance. The plants and animals will grow with some physical and mental efforts, but try putting a group of people together...
I tried to make a one-time donation but the website doesnt accept anything from Malaysia. Do you have a thai bank account? Or other options?
I know, right? I personally don't know of any intentional community that isn't plagued by a host of issues, from passive-aggressive behavior (see comment by Andrea P above) to power games and favoritism. We moderns somehow forgot how to form (and MAINTAIN!) communities along the way.
But, then again, life is not meant to always be harmonious, and from what I've read conflict is pretty much inevitable to a certain extent. The ethnographic record of various hunter-gatherer societies shows similarly ubiquitous bickering, complaining, jealousy, arguments & fights, etc. I remember one instance in Colin Turnbull's "The Forest People" in which a man hits his wife, who consequently picks up a burning log and breaks it over her husband's back. Only then do the people intervene - and by the evening everyone is happy again.
Conflicts are staged in the center of community life, the entire band participates (e.g. shouting approval, ridiculing troublemakers, pulling people apart once things get too physical), and usually things return to normal afterwards. Frequent infighting seems to be inherent to us humans, so the goal shouldn't be to avoid conflict, but *to deal with it in an efficient and fair manner when it arises.*
I think that all human emotions are useful & appropriate in their respective settings, and I don't buy into the whole New Age/"Eastern Spirituality" thing about "positive" and "negative" emotions (the latter of which ought to be avoided & suppressed to "avoid harm" and "suffering"). Every emotion needs to be expressed, or else we suffer the psychological long-term consequences of bottling up our feelings. Anger burns fiery like a bushfire, but it often burns out just as fast.
One major difference between modern & traditional communities is that foragers still depend on each other for their survival (which modern humans don't, they have money to pay strangers and are thus not dependent on any individual), so it is in everyone's best interest to reconcile quickly after fights. You actually need your neighbors.
Moreover, in our individualistic culture people often cling too fervently to abstract concepts & beliefs, so much so that they are unable to live with other people who think slightly different. Certain vegans are an example that immediately comes to mind, who vehemently refuse to cohabit with everyone who doesn't share their exact beliefs (no matter how outlandish).
And, if everything else fails, foragers can simply pack up their things and move to live with a different band for a while - the ultimate conflict resolution strategy, and one of the main reasons why their approach works so well, even for fairly extreme examples. In our sedentary society (and with all the stuff we own) this is simply not an option, so neighbors have to stay put and things escalate easily.
I hope that as we can rely less and less on money (and thus strangers), we will automatically find ways to resolve petty conflicts, or simply let differences be differences and bygones be bygones. If you actually need one another, the human connection weights more than any disagreement. One of the friends we have in the area has some quaint views and says some weird things sometimes, but we simply let him have his moments, because we do actually need each other for certain things (he has a truck and we help him pruning large trees), which is more important for both of us.
I love how much people in Thailand value family, but combined with the novel forces of capitalism, even that can become toxic. So the gambling/alcohol addiction of an elder may be silently tolerated, so as to not upset "family harmony" - even though it might be detrimental to the whole family over time.
Kudos for having family close by, that's a privilege we're still lacking. Can be worth a whole lot.
And thank you so much for the intention to make a donation! PayPal is a bit weird in this part of the world, and I also couldn't use it if I didn't still have a German bank account. I do have a Thai account as well, but to be honest I'd feel a bit bad bothering you if it's so difficult... Have you ever used Wise?
I have also tried to donate and had the PayPal thing give me some sort of error message, once recently a once a while back. Is this common or do you typically receive things from there?
That's weird, indeed... I do receive donations via PayPal every now and then, so (fortunately) at least for some people it seems to work! Thanks for trying, anyway ;)
Не враховуючи війну, в нас поки все набагато краще...Але турбує водна забезпеченість..
Наш колодязь має стовп води близько 2 футів з діаметром 2,5 фути...і це не поповнюється швидко.
Всі рослини виключно на дощі та опадах, тому в цьому році урожай буде значно менший(через осипання, та дрібноплідність). Але перевага горіха в тому, що він зберігається довше року і ми зробили резерви для такого періоду, разом з іншими заготовками навіть в разі повного знищення урожаю, в нас вдосталь їжі.
Більшість пенсіонерів (⅓ населення країни) живе за $1,5-3/день. Так повсюди, і скорочення будуть відбуватися і далі, поки заможні будуть вичавлювати останнє, в намаганні зростати.
Тримайтеся, бо іншого виходу нема :)
Thank you so much for your comment, I always enjoy reading your perspective and experiences.
Yes, it seems that people in "developing countries" have yet to learn the lesson that we can't win the War against Nature, whereas places that have been colonized for centuries or millennia (like the US or Europe) have learned some hard lessons along the way - which is why certain conservationist practices are mandatory by law in those places.
Nobody cares about a fishing license in Thailand, because people never thought they'd ever run out of fish! Same goes for logging, and even littering. Until very recently, all waste here was completely biodegradable, so it was no problem to throw everything behind your house.
Development & Progress happened way too fast in this part of the world, and people simply didn't have time to adapt. It's a real tragedy.
I'm glad to hear you're doing fine, though, and I wish you JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT of rain. (I almost said "plenty," but considering the crazy climate I might regret those words later 😄)
Loved reading your catch up news on recent events. You're doing it tough there after some extreme years. Don't be surprised if a few more manageable seasons turn up soon.
Thanks, I'd like to think that as well. I remember the two years after the 2016 El Niño as being relatively mild in comparison, so we are still carefully optimistic.
But, then again: we said the same thing last year - and so did the Dust Bowl farmers, year after year.
Let's hope you're right!
it is surreal to wait for things change enough to wake people up. like, how bad does it need to get??
I worry, though, that -
a. in the medium term, the "updated paradigm" could look like blame and hostility instead of enlightenment (I live in an "intentional community" where some neighbors have been monitoring others' package deliveries to shame them for consumerism- as if that will change our fate, when really it's a way for them to project anxiety)
b. in the long term, Taker culture is so stubborn that it'll continue to insist "we could've made this work IF ONLY we'd implemented fusion energy (etc) sooner", never recognizing the spread of "development" as the core problem. It sets itself up for those kinds of excuses
Thanks for sharing your thoughts - reasonable concerns, for sure. As Shane has recently commented (on another essay), maybe we are the only people who will ever really "wake up" to the situation, and maybe we have to make peace with that fact. I mean, surely there's more people who will change eventually, but more out of need than out of conviction. Those were the guys that rebuilt civilizations after previous collapses and let themselves be enslaved again.
We're also currently in overshoot, so there's simply no way that all 8 billion of us are gonna make it. Those that realize last don't have the best chances, I fear.
Regarding a), I definitely share your concern. Petty stuff like that happens all too easily among many of those struggling to cope with what's happening. It's easy and somewhat rewarding to play the blame game, and we tend to dislike & criticize in others what we don't like about ourselves. But I also think that, ultimately, observed reality will become a pretty strong argument in and of itself. As long as we can convince folks around us that the underlying reason why they can't maintain the standard they've gotten used to is simply resource scarcity & climate change (and not China, Saudi-Arabia, Colombia or Bolivia for not giving us their resources, or the Republicans/Democrats for "restricting our freedom"), we're on the safe side - you can't go to war with those!
If people need a scapegoat, it might be time to finally serve those pesky billionaires (et al.).
I definitely agree with point b) as well. There will be many people trying to spin this story, but after a few decades of scavenging, scraping by and subsistence lifestyle, the new generation will have other concerns than the fancy dreams of some distant, obviously dysfunctional past. To the youngsters, they will sound like raving lunatics with their strange talk about the Internet of Things and our mission to go to Mars.
And I can see how much of that will simply lose its relevance over time. How to fix any high-tech gadget without spare parts? Why bother when there's no cheap energy? Why keep hard disks if you have no means of reading the data on them? And, in the long term: why talk about farming if the weather doesn't allow for regular harvests, and why settle down when we have to follow the food?
I fear it will be the marginalised who will have the fury of our hemorrhaging civilisation projected onto them. The scapegoats. History shows that when times get tough, the desperate crowds start picking up pitchforks.
Great article, your perspective on collapse is fascinating because you have actually taken the jump towards trying to “unplug” from the system.
I find it ironic you mention your habits doomscrolling, as someone who has literally the same lived experience of reading those articles (yours) or writing one myself.
Though I find writing it to be somewhat therapeutic/help me put down the thoughts. I find avoiding doomscrolling and the attention it robs from my current blessed present to be infuriating.
——
From the center of the empire (Middle America) it’s becoming noticeable here as well - just from changes in the weather pattern but the specifics vary regionally. For example, the heat and smoke gives it away in Colorado but the fast formation of storms gives it away in Florida.
However people aren’t making the connection with the food supply like agricultural farmers are probably.
So much of your experience resonates with the path we are walking here, especially the 'waiting' for the next layer of climate unravelling and the constant surprise from unexpected (and often devestating) changes in the weather. Building community is vital to surviving this, so I hope you find your way. Know you don't have to be 'friends' with everyone in your community ... that's a role for friendships ... you just have to find ways to connect and build shared understanding between the people geographically close to you. It's hard, I know. But it's important.