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The End of the Beginning

December 5, 2011 - First of all, let me recommend the November 30 show of Radio Ecoshock (http://www.ecoshock.org/) to you.  Alex Smith interviews Allan Savory, about whom I wrote in my Oct. 31 blog.  Savory talks about the impact, and future, of Holistic Management.  I thought it was a very interesting show.

It really does begin to look as though the only solution to the human race choking to death on its own filth is the potential for economic collapse.  Depending upon whom you read/listen to/trust, the utter decimation of the European fiscal system is very much in the offing.  Standard and Poor's announced this evening that 15 European countries are being considered for a status downgrade.  Fifteen!!!  Much to the surprise of many, Germany is included in that less-than-august company.  According to Ilargi at Automatic Earth, the absolute minimum required for a bailout would be 25 trillion dollars, and that really would only constitute a start.  In short, it can't be done.  They're too far gone.  To remain abreast of this increasingly distressing situation, I would suggest you listen to Max Keiser at http://www.maxkeiser.com/.

So let's connect a few dots: assuming the EU - as currently configured - bites the dust, they will be unable to buy (import) products from other nations.  This would impact all the other major economies in the world deleteriously.  Among these are China, Brazil, and the United States.  While the U.S. and China could conceivably become each other's best customers, there can be no doubt that the world's largest economy - yes, the EU - would exert considerable drag when it falters.  Because both the US and China are also financially strapped, it might not be long before they joined the EU.

A world which consists largely of moribund economies doesn't need transportation, i.e., trains, planes, and trucks to move products from here to there.  All manner of conveyance pollute the air.  So does the actual manufacture of said products.  Unemployment would skyrocket, and people couldn't afford to travel or shop.  The proof of the pudding is that pollution decreased a whopping 7 per cent in the United States in 2009, the worst year of the recession.  While that could in no way be considered a sufficient decrease, years of such declines could only serve to benefit all of us.

For instance, how would you like to live in a world where the cancer rate is falling precipitously?  Farmers are already deeply in debt because of the cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.  They might have no choice but to go organic, and that would mean consumers would no longer have to ingest poisons!  In fact, this is already well underway in some places.  For example, developers in New York City, no longer flush with cash, have put hundreds of projects on hold.  You'll never guess who's putting that land to good use.  If you guessed vegetarian restaurateurs, you hit it right on the money.  Not only are they gardening organically, but their greens and other goodies are portable, having been planted in crates.  When the time comes to find a new home for them, moving will be a manageable matter.  If the restaurant closes, the neighbors might use this gourmet garden as the launch pad for their own movable feast.

If you prefer, how about we conjure up a world which repurposes and recycles, rather than throwing things out?  If you can't afford a new thingamajig, ask a resourceful friend to help you fabricate something out of what you already own.  Then there's sharing, maybe by means of a local tool library.  Bartering?  Since we've all got too much to begin with, trading it away sounds distinctly painless, especially if we receive something we really need in return.  Thrift stores and antique shops will do a land office business, in the future.  Start mentally preparing yourself for all the changes that lie ahead.  Many of them will, believe it or not, make for a better world.

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