The ‘cheap-energy mind,’ as Wendell Berry called it, is the mind that asks, ‘Why bother?’ because it is helpless to imagine — much less attempt — a different sort of life, one less divided, less reliant. … The best we can hope for is a greener version of the old invisible hand. Visible hands it has no use for.
A show of hands… visible hands. Could it really be that simple?
Three times this week, and everyone knows there is magic in threes, I’ve been reminded of the usefulness – or lack thereof – of hands. The implication has been that, increasingly, our hands are receiving less of value to do; were they to be asked to grapple with a physical necessity, they wouldn’t know where to start.
Well, now, that’s an exaggeration, you say; and you may be right. Sort of.
For many of us, though, our hands have been directed to the limited but reputedly purposeful activity of pushing papers and buttons. By these actions, fortunes are made (and lost), groceries purchased, romances begun, maintained, and even severed. Our relationships to time, money, work, place, and even one another have become increasingly disembodied — the connection between action and consequence has eroded noticably for many in this hands-off world.
As “The Long Emergency” begins to unfold, it’s becoming evident that we’re going to need to relearn to use our hands to do immediately useful work, become more self-reliant and less dependent on the marketplace to sort things out. We simply don’t have time for that kind of sorting on our hands anymore.
Is it possible that we might deconstruct our sleight-of-hand present just enough to render the work of the future tangibly real? What would it look like, the work of visible hands?
Let’s begin with a handshake: an agreement between bankers, investors and citizens to infuse the community with the community’s own wealth; to invest in the social, physical and technical infrastructures that allow communities to sustain themselves and flourish. Imagine the projects: community-generated wind, hydro and solar power, biomass; community gardens; energy retrofits for homes and businesses. Local entrepreneurs backed by local philanthropists who themselves will benefit from the local result. Let’s break a little ground, secure land for farming and sustainable forestry. Enough with the McMansions already — let’s create affordable, walkable communities – and protect the environment at the same time. This is about building locally-relevant infrastructure from the ground up, linking ourselves and our lives to “place,” and giving people work they can look forward to and see the results of their doing long after the work is done.
Moving right along, and I do mean that literally, let’s re-imagine our ways of getting around and redefine our needs for doing so. Let’s get some enterprising young people behind the wheel of a jitney, help them open a bike shop, train them in bicycle repair and safety. “I’ve been working on the railroad…” — well, now you can! We’re going to need more than a few hands to make that vision a reality. We’re also going to need to electrify some of our transport. To make that work, we’ve got to ramp up renewables — and learn to curb our driving needs. See “walkable communities,” above…
A friend of mine liked to say that everything in the world is born of accident or necessity. Not sure into which category he’d place the rising numbers of hungry people in the world; were he still alive, he’d no doubt rip the ethanol lobbyists to shreds. He’s not here, so it falls to us to do the right thing — come on, let’s get our hands dirty. Let’s grow some FOOD in our own back yards! And while we’re at it, let’s support emerging efforts to share food knowledge with everyone. These things can and must be taught, learned, and experienced. Gardening is not a pastime for the privileged; it’s a survival skill as well as a soothing balm for the weary soul. It’s also a hands-on opportunity – a responsibility even -for every school, every family education program, and every health department to better children’s lives. When we have a hand in where our food comes from, every cell in our being benefits. Feeding ourselves is a significant part of the template for healthy individuals, communities, and ecosystems, reducing our need for long-distance food transport and lessening the burden on the global food supply posed by ethanol and its ilk.
This future doesn’t sound too glamorous, you say; where are the iPods? Well, perhaps it isn’t glamorous. But neither is the unending unemployment and social unrest that accompany an economic depression. Better to use our remaining fossil fuel resources to “tool up” for the future, and hold as realistic a view as possible about what that future might be. The New Deal involved a lot of hands, and they weren’t just pushing buttons. We don’t like to admit it, but this Long Emergency may turn out to be similar in its demands.
Richard Heinberg’s recent Vermont visit re-emphasized the futility of approaching the end of the fossil fuel era by sinking remaining money, time and resources – ours and our grandchildren’s – into the current energy and transportation infrastructure (not to mention resource wars). We are suffering from “a failure of concept,” as someone said after Richard’s talk. “There are so many solutions, if only we would start!”
Climate change makes powering down necessary; peak oil deems it inevitable. Let’s grasp this looming challenge before it becomes an unmanageable tragedy. Who wants to join in the greatest challenge of our times? Business leaders? Decision makers? Time to join the rest of us. Time for a show of hands.
This is Annie Dunn Watson in Essex, Vermont, and I’ve got to go shovel the manure…
