http://powerdownblog.blogspot.com/

The Power Down Blog - Because the American Lifestyle is VERY negotiable!

This is a blog to provide ideas and support to Americans who see "powering down" as the most effective route to peace and justice in our time.

Powering Down is NOT about being ineffective or weak. Quite the opposite.

Powering Down will make you healthier, wealthier, and more effective at influencing others to follow your example.

The term "power down" comes from Richard Heinberg, to give credit where credit is due. His web site is http://www.richardheinberg.com/

Vice President Dick Cheney said, "The American Lifestyle is not negotiable." What he meant by that is the the high energy use per capita of the American people is something that is worth maintaining even at the cost of war, even at the cost of 3,000 American soldiers and 655,000 Iraqis (as of December 31st, 2006).

WHAT? The right of Americans to drive gas guzzlers is worth mass killing, and the millions of grieving family and friends of Iraqis and Americans? It's worth the poisoning of the earth with Depleted Uranium? It's worth trillions of dollars of debt for our grandchildren?

NO FRIGGIN' WAY! If that's the price of the American Lifestyle, my answer is NO, NO, a trillion times NO!

I am in my late 30's, and I registered as a Republican on my 18th birthday, but when the Republicans became about committing MASS SCALE ARMED ROBBERY AND GENOCIDE just to keep driving SUV's and muscle cars, I went permanently into opposition.

Since my 20's I have always resented how it's so necessary to own a car just to live in America. For about a year I lived in Boston with no car, on 210 dollars a week and loved it. My transportation bill was exactly 72 dollars a month (in 1995) for a Boston "T-pass." This covered buses and trains, and I loved it! I budgeted my life down to the penny.

Eventually Boston became too expensive even for me. I couldn't afford the rent, and had to move back to the burbs and start feeding the automobile parasite once again.

I got married, and when it was time to buy a house, I insisted on one with a little extra property so I could do a large enough home garden to (as much as possible) feed my family without the supermarket. My other blog, http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com is about this topic in particular. The short summary is that it requires 10 calories of oil to make one calorie of food, and that's before you truck the food to the supermarket, before you power the supermarkets with electricity, and before the consumers and supermarket workers drive their cars to the supermarket. After all that, it's got to be more like 20 calories of oil per calorie of food.

I always loved long distance bicycle riding and dreamed of commuting the 19 miles to work and back on a bicycle, but I could never keep it up because conventional upright bicycles left me with a chafed, sore butt and thighs (too much information, I know). I commuted 19 miles to work a few times on my upright touring bicycle, but it was too painful.

I always wanted a recumbent bicycle, but could never afford it. How silly! I spend thousands of dollars a year to own and maintain a truck, but I couldn't afford a 600 dollar bicycle.

I finally got one. It's a BikeE, which is a company that was bought out by www.easyracers.com, and it looks something like this:

Getting this bicycle inspired me to start this Power Down Blog. I cover the 19 miles to work and back in perfect comfort, if not perfect safety. The ride takes about an hour and 20 minutes, and it's a spiritually uplifting experience every time. My mind clears of worry and stress, and of course there's the "runners high" of endorphins. I don't really exert myself too hard, except when I have to get up the hills, but it still comes out to be quite a vigorous workout all the same.

The bike is quite a conversation piece on the road and anywhere I stop. Working class folk who are falling out of love with their SUV's and muscle cars ask me about it, and take a surprisingly sympathetic view of the power down philosophy, and an equally surprisingly unsympathetic view of Dick Cheney's "American Lifestyle is not negotiable" quote.

Really, how can they not? They've been feeding their gas guzzling 666 Beast Mobiles throughout their working life, they aren't happy about the expanding waist line or their contracting finances,and they have a gnawing sense that something is horribly wrong about the American Lifestyle. The moment someone DEMONSTRATES an alternative, a light goes on.

So, to summarize.

1. The Power Down Blog is based on the known psychological phenomenon that people become politically active not when they are down and out, but when their life begins to improve and they begin to feel empowered. Therefore, it all starts with helping people improve their immediate situation. It begins with changing how people make money and spend money -- to be thriftier, to save money through sharing and through re-localizing their economic life. This will change their cultural life, and this will change their political outlook. I don't care about conservative or liberal, I only care about being against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and being against the Slave-Consumerist System. Outside of this, I don't care at all about your politics or lack thereof.

2. Carpooling/Car sharing because it's unlikely that we'll be able to completely eliminate cars at this point.

3. Get recumbent bicycles and use them whenever possible. Bicycling will create better physical health, which will make people feel more powerful and capable, thereby igniting a spirit of revolt against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.

4. Gardening and relocalized Community Supported Farming (see my blog http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com ) -- this will give people something to do during the spring, summer and fall that gets them outdoors and away from the television, this will save them a few thousand dollars a year on their food bill, this will employ more local hobby farmers and provide badly needed side income, and increase their health and feeling of empowerment against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.

http://powerdownblog.blogspot.com/

The Power Down Blog - Because the American Lifestyle is VERY negotiable!

This is a blog to provide ideas and support to Americans who see "powering down" as the most effective route to peace and justice in our time.

Powering Down is NOT about being ineffective or weak. Quite the opposite.

Powering Down will make you healthier, wealthier, and more effective at influencing others to follow your example.

The term "power down" comes from Richard Heinberg, to give credit where credit is due. His web site is http://www.richardheinberg.com/

Vice President Dick Cheney said, "The American Lifestyle is not negotiable." What he meant by that is the the high energy use per capita of the American people is something that is worth maintaining even at the cost of war, even at the cost of 3,000 American soldiers and 655,000 Iraqis (as of December 31st, 2006).

WHAT? The right of Americans to drive gas guzzlers is worth mass killing, and the millions of grieving family and friends of Iraqis and Americans? It's worth the poisoning of the earth with Depleted Uranium? It's worth trillions of dollars of debt for our grandchildren?

NO FRIGGIN' WAY! If that's the price of the American Lifestyle, my answer is NO, NO, a trillion times NO!

I am in my late 30's, and I registered as a Republican on my 18th birthday, but when the Republicans became about committing MASS SCALE ARMED ROBBERY AND GENOCIDE just to keep driving SUV's and muscle cars, I went permanently into opposition.

Since my 20's I have always resented how it's so necessary to own a car just to live in America. For about a year I lived in Boston with no car, on 210 dollars a week and loved it. My transportation bill was exactly 72 dollars a month (in 1995) for a Boston "T-pass." This covered buses and trains, and I loved it! I budgeted my life down to the penny.

Eventually Boston became too expensive even for me. I couldn't afford the rent, and had to move back to the burbs and start feeding the automobile parasite once again.

I got married, and when it was time to buy a house, I insisted on one with a little extra property so I could do a large enough home garden to (as much as possible) feed my family without the supermarket. My other blog, http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com is about this topic in particular. The short summary is that it requires 10 calories of oil to make one calorie of food, and that's before you truck the food to the supermarket, before you power the supermarkets with electricity, and before the consumers and supermarket workers drive their cars to the supermarket. After all that, it's got to be more like 20 calories of oil per calorie of food.

I always loved long distance bicycle riding and dreamed of commuting the 19 miles to work and back on a bicycle, but I could never keep it up because conventional upright bicycles left me with a chafed, sore butt and thighs (too much information, I know). I commuted 19 miles to work a few times on my upright touring bicycle, but it was too painful.

I always wanted a recumbent bicycle, but could never afford it. How silly! I spend thousands of dollars a year to own and maintain a truck, but I couldn't afford a 600 dollar bicycle.

I finally got one. It's a BikeE, which is a company that was bought out by www.easyracers.com, and it looks something like this:

Getting this bicycle inspired me to start this Power Down Blog. I cover the 19 miles to work and back in perfect comfort, if not perfect safety. The ride takes about an hour and 20 minutes, and it's a spiritually uplifting experience every time. My mind clears of worry and stress, and of course there's the "runners high" of endorphins. I don't really exert myself too hard, except when I have to get up the hills, but it still comes out to be quite a vigorous workout all the same.

The bike is quite a conversation piece on the road and anywhere I stop. Working class folk who are falling out of love with their SUV's and muscle cars ask me about it, and take a surprisingly sympathetic view of the power down philosophy, and an equally surprisingly unsympathetic view of Dick Cheney's "American Lifestyle is not negotiable" quote.

Really, how can they not? They've been feeding their gas guzzling 666 Beast Mobiles throughout their working life, they aren't happy about the expanding waist line or their contracting finances,and they have a gnawing sense that something is horribly wrong about the American Lifestyle. The moment someone DEMONSTRATES an alternative, a light goes on.

So, to summarize.

1. The Power Down Blog is based on the known psychological phenomenon that people become politically active not when they are down and out, but when their life begins to improve and they begin to feel empowered. Therefore, it all starts with helping people improve their immediate situation. It begins with changing how people make money and spend money -- to be thriftier, to save money through sharing and through re-localizing their economic life. This will change their cultural life, and this will change their political outlook. I don't care about conservative or liberal, I only care about being against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and being against the Slave-Consumerist System. Outside of this, I don't care at all about your politics or lack thereof.

2. Carpooling/Car sharing because it's unlikely that we'll be able to completely eliminate cars at this point.

3. Get recumbent bicycles and use them whenever possible. Bicycling will create better physical health, which will make people feel more powerful and capable, thereby igniting a spirit of revolt against the Armed Robbery in Iraq and against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.

4. Gardening and relocalized Community Supported Farming (see my blog http://locallygrownct.blogspot.com ) -- this will give people something to do during the spring, summer and fall that gets them outdoors and away from the television, this will save them a few thousand dollars a year on their food bill, this will employ more local hobby farmers and provide badly needed side income, and increase their health and feeling of empowerment against the Slave-Consumerist Growth Economy.

When you get a new person in your area, the VERY FIRST THING to do with them, is try to find a way to save them money with car sharing and/or car pooling, and at the same time, appeal to a visceral anger at the massive profits of the oil companies, while they pay through the nose for gasoline.

There's anger at high gas prices; USE THAT ANGER to push car pooling and car sharing. Describe pictures of them car pooling, and oil company executives tearing their hair out.

Explain to people that their infrastructure is designed for massive oil use, and that the worst fear of oil company executives is a fundamental culture change (hat tip to Jan Lundberg) away from the private automobile, which averages only 5 mph nationwide anyway.

Sure, there is some inconvenience in having to share a car. Ask people to do the math of what they spend on their car, and see if sharing might be worth the money saved.

Americans have lost the habit of trusting one another and sharing. Challenge people to try it again. Make sure you get a lawyer to write a car sharing contract -- contact me if you need one, my wife is a lawyer. Some tight knit religious communities do car sharing, and they always have a new car that they trade in every two years. So you aren't dealing with unexpected breakdowns, and if there is a breakdown, it's under warranty. With car sharing, there should be ZERO unexpected expenses. You are warrantied and insured to the hilt.

If you have 4 or 5 people in your area, give this a try. I don't have enough people locally yet to do this, but you can be sure I will when I do.

Dear Residents of Windham County, Connecticut:

The great advantage of organic farming and "permaculture" is that in the long run, you can produce food at a far lower cost than Factory Farming.

If you have sunny, well-drained land but are stuck with hard, clay soil, it will require an up-front investment in some sort of soil amendment, whether it's (free) leaf compost from the Willimantic dump, or (free) horse manure from a local horse farm.

One thing I do is gather bags of leaves from the neighbors in the Fall, and mix with horse manure I get from a horse farm.

If you need dozens of yards of leaf compost and/or horse manure, and you are in Windham County, you are in luck. A friend of mine who is an organic farmer and car mechanic who is located in Windham, Connecticut, owns a large pickup truck with a dumper attachment. We can work out how much you will likely need based on the quality of your soil and the size of your garden, and you can get a load or two a week until you have what you need. We will have to work out the price with the owner of the dump truck, but it will be cheaper than buying your own truck, if you don't have one.

And if you do have a pickup truck or dump truck, I can show you how and where to get free leaf compost and free horse manure (not counting the cost of gasoline and vehicle maintenance -- the stuff itself is free). Both the compost and the manure have been used in our gardens for 3 seasons now, so we know it's good stuff.

I have been looking for ways to obtain manure without traveling to horse farms and to the Willimantic dump, however. This is the next step to adapting to the post carbon life.

My solution has been to fence in large areas that will be future gardens, and to put chickens and rabbits in there. So long as your neighbors don't complain and zoning allows it, raising small animals is doable. The trick is to make a LARGE PEN right away. Don't make the mistake of a little pen. Figure on using at least 300 feet of fencing, preferably more. Make at least two pens, one with the animals, one for the garden.

The chickens and rabbits will quickly denude the land. You'll be surprised what a dozen animals can do to a quarter acre! There won't be a weed in sight. And when you move your animals and put in your garden, it will be lush and rich. Get a soil test in case you need to balance the NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). I have potatoes growing in a former chicken pen, and they are massive. A Vermont farmer recommends rotating chickens and Jerusalem artichokes. Contact me and I can tell you more about Jerusalem artichokes, or look up the article at www.energybulletin.net

As always, contact me with questions, or if you would like to participate in the Northeastern Connecticut Sustainability Project.

Dear Residents of Northeastern Connecticut, and the border areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts:

Our primary goal as an organization is to find ways to work together and eliminate unnecessary and wasteful redundancies -- and the private automobile is the first target.

Keep track of your automobile expenses some time. Think how much money you would have if you didn't have to single handedly support an automobile. Imagine cutting those expenses into halves, or thirds, or even fourths.

What do you really need your car for anyway? You need to get to work, to go get groceries, and perhaps to go to some sort of recreation on weekends.

The American consumerist and individualist lifestyle tells you that you "must" have the "freedom" to take your car anywhere, anytime, without having to coordinate or share with others.

All I ask you is to count the extra money you pay for this privilege, and ask yourself if it's worth it. You can still use a car, but you might have to coordinate and cooperate with one or two or three other people.

Do you have a broken down old car that frequently causes unexpected and large expenses? If we manage to do car sharing with 3 or 4 people, we will only get new cars under warranty and insured to the maximum, and trade them in after 2 years. This is the way tight knit religious communities do car-sharing, and they save a bundle of money. Of course, they share between 10 families, but even 4 families sharing one vehicle will realize great savings in cost, and all car expenses will be predictable.

Cutting the costs of private automobile is the "low hanging fruit" of the American family budget. Do the math, and get in touch with me at foodnotlawnsct (at) yahoo.com especially if you are located in Windham County, Connecticut.