– a combination of simple living, anticonsumerism, DIY principles, self-reliance, sustainability, and applied capitalism

The Master said: “Ci, do you take me as someone who reads a lot and memorizes it?”
Zi-gong replied: “Yes, isn’t it?”
The Master said: “No, I use one thread to tie everything together.”

– from the Analects of Confusius

Have you ever noticed that what used to be called citizens or workers are now called consumers? Have you ever noticed that the solution to our economic problems is to give people money to go out and buy something?

Our culture lives the story. The story is based on a man taking power to rule the world with full rights to take fruits, herbs and animals to eat. This idea might have made sense 5000 years ago, but now our demands are so great that we not only eat food, we also remove other lives to build houses, roads, golf courses.

“How is it possible for me to walk 20 kilometers from where I work and my colleague walks 20 kilometers in the other direction. Then we will build big houses together in the middle of the forest. And we will build roads and cars, and each day we will get into our cars and spend 2 hours each day driving to get back to work. We can build an entire economy on this concept and thus create more job opportunities.”

Humanity currently controls 60% of the biosphere. This number cannot go to 100% since no one knows how to make a completely self-contained system (the space station still needs to be serviced from time to time). This worries me.

Our culture is based on consumption and accumulation but we have forgotten why. It used to be that wise people saved resources such as grain, wood, water, iron,… for a rainy day. Rainy days happen whenever the schedule is too busy. One of the difficult aspects is the farmer’s inability to move his land. If the plant fails, he better have a backup plan. When resources are naturally abundant there is no need to conserve.

Today we live in the most technologically advanced civilization in the world. It is not difficult to list all our achievements, but let me mention just one. Today we wear shoes higher than those of kings five hundred years ago and we only pay $29.95. This is due to advances in technology, transportation and trade. It’s really amazing. However, culturally, we are no more advanced than a bunch of bronze age farmers. So what do we do? Even though we don’t collect grain, we still fill our homes with 15 pairs of shoes, 25 suits, new furniture (which we replace every time a new catalog comes out), 2 TVs, 3 computers, and enough tools to equip a small. auto shop though we use a screwdriver and maybe a hammer a few times a month.

With our amazing advanced financial systems it is no longer necessary to hold all these things. So there is another solution that can be called ecological capitalism or ecocapitalism. Ecocapitalism uses advanced technology at our disposal to complete work that used to take days in less than an hour (think of knitting a shirt by hand versus machine).

One thread ties it all together
In our country it is possible to choose quality over quantity. It is possible to work to produce enough for a lifetime of environmentally conscious use in just five years. This should happen to any productive environmentalist who does a speech.In order to change and improve culture we must change people culturally. In order to change individuals we must first change ourselves. I’m generally against telling people what to do and what not to do as a decision. Instead I try to show that it is possible by setting an example that I hope we should emulate.It all starts with reducing one’s environmental footprint. Buy used rather than new. A used house does not require new land or resources to build. A used car has already been built once and does not require additional factory services and raw materials. It makes more environmental sense to buy a used Hummer than a new Prius. The same goes for furniture. Develop a taste for quality rather than novelty. Get antique furniture rather than new plywood. Even in my lifetime I have noticed that the furniture you buy these days is not nearly as durable as it was 20 years ago. Buy quality over price. It will quickly become clear that this strategy is much less expensive in the long run.

By reducing one’s environmental footprint significantly below that of one’s neighbors it is possible to save a lot of money. This money should be invested in tools. The tools of this world are not pitchforks, shovels, plows and hammers. Our instruments are financial instrumentssuch as bonds and equities (stocks), which represent claims on instruments and a share of the instruments’ products. This leaves the tools in the hands of professionals, craftsmen, etc. where he is more successful than in the hands of individuals.

It only takes five years of hard work to collect enough funds or product requests to live a sustainable life. This does not at all mean that one should live as a typical consumer with only small plywood furniture, small plastic coat hangers, small plastic dishes, and small plastic toys. Instead it means carefully picking high-quality items that last (thereby keeping costs down) while making careful decisions about price, utility, and aesthetics.

If more people take this up we will start to see small factories producing endless miles of plastic. We would see the emergence of cars built to last a hundred years. Since people are no longer running around trying to fill their growing houses with cheap trinkets, people can have more time for friends and family or discuss projects or research how the world can be made a better place.

So who’s with me?

First posted 2008-02-03 07:38:07.