Lots of bright minds in DC and other places are coming up with all kinds of plans to “Save the Economy.” Well, folks, here is where I get not only alternative but down right gloomy.
I don’t think the “economy” that we have developed over the last century or so can be saved. I don’t think it can be saved because it is inherently unsustainable. Why do I believe that? Who am I to say such a thing? I’m a regular gal. Slightly over educated, but not in economics. But I read all kinds of things from all kinds of places. I’m not the only one who thinks our present economy is doomed. As to why I agree that it is doomed, keep reading.
Our economy today is dependent on one and only one energy source. If you don’t get your energy from that then you don’t get, by our economy’s standards, “enough to do anything.” No, that energy source in not electricity. That is just how we use a lot of it. The real, the basic energy source is fossil fuel. Oh, here is where I might point out that even the uranium used in nuclear reactors is a fossil fuel, perhaps the oldest one, left over from the very formation of the planet.
That dependency on fossil fuel wouldn’t be quite so bad if we used them, and had always used them, in a wise and frugal manner. But we didn’t and with the outlook our economy insists we have in today’s society we never will. We use them lavishly and wastefully.
We are using them that way even though they are no longer cheap and easy to get. You’ve all read the horror stories about “fracking” as it relates to the process of getting oil or gas out of non-permeable shale. Want to know why we are only now finding out about this problem? Because until now the oil and gas folks didn’t need to do any fracking where people rich enough or close enough to a big city TV station could bitch about it. The only reason they do it where they do it now is because they have to. Why? Because there ain’t no more else where!
Yep, that is one of the big reasons the economy is, in my opinion going to go bust. We are running out of the stuff we use to make it go. Coal? HA! What they’d have to do to make that run your car or truck is way more expensive than gas is now. Yeah, it could power an electric car, but without a lot of filtering the smoke from the stacks would have us all suffering from COPD before long.
Then there is the basic outlook our economics has taught us to have. We deserve a raise just because we showed up for work most days and were generally on time. We think we deserve a raise even if the cost of living our life dose not go up.
Why? If we have enough to live on, enough to eat, keep reasonably warm in winter, cool in summer and stay dry and comfy when it rains, and friends / family to keep us company, why do we need more money? More stuff? Human nature? Maybe. Maybe not. Somehow I think our present wastrel life style has taught us this outlook. Now we throw out things even our grandparents would have repaired and kept using. These wasteful habits of ours are really rather new to our culture and will end it.
What to do, specifically what to do NOW to survive the end of oil and the modern economy? Start a sustainable food garden. Read up on Permaculture. Learn to walk again. Help any interested neighbors start their own gardens. Work with nature, not against it.
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Alt Op #31 Retirement?
There has been a big flap lately about the government ‘forcing’ people to keep working until they are older instead of letting them retire at 60 or 65. Got me to wondering.
Look how long we live now (baring the killer problems that can arise from obesity, tobacco, over indulgence in alcohol and drugs and the odd car wreck or drive by shooting) as opposed to way back when ever this age was selected for retirement. Way back then when the dinosaurs ruled the earth you were really old when you hit 60. You were maybe five to ten years max away from falling down dead from old age.
Now, 60 is the new 50! Or so they tell me, 40 is the new 30! By and large this is true as folks are generally healthier and more active at the advanced age of 60 or 65 than they were when the retirement age was set.
Retirement, according to Wikipedia, “is the point where a person stops employment completely.” Who really does that now? I’ll not go into the “who can afford to do that now!?” question. Even folks who can afford to just stop working completely usually find something else to do now days simply because they are not only still physically able to work but because they simply get bored stiff sitting at home and after a while even the ol’ fishin’ hole or the garden can loose it’s appeal especially on a constant basis. Personally, I’ve even gotten bored reading a few times. Might be because I’ve been having to re-read books because of not having enough extra to buy new ones but let’s not get into that. It is what the library’s for anyway.
The point I keep meandering away from is this: if you actually like your job, are good at it, and in good enough health to keep doing it, why the heck should you have to retire? Yeah, yeah, I know. To make way for the up and coming next generation with their new ideas and willingness to change. Ha!
My opinion is the main reason most employers want to dump older employee’s, and sometimes find reasons other than retirement to do so, is because they tend to make more money than the younger, fresh hires, and are also more likely to actually use the medical insurance the company may be providing. Indeed, it may only be the older employees, working under an old contract, that even have medical insurance in this day and age.
Frankly it may be time for us old farts, umm, I mean retired persons, to do something wild and wickedly wonderful. Even those of us who are disabled in one way or another. Maybe we should, as 60 is the new 50, start our own small businesses. What have we got to loose?
Yeah, I know. Our shirts, our homes, our IRA or 401k, maybe even our social security benefits or disability pay. Thing is folks, I’m not all that sure we’ll be getting those nice little (emphasis on that word ‘little’) government pay checks that much longer anyway. And with the way the economy itself seems to be headed, along with the price of energy, we may be loosing our shirts, homes and retirement plans anyway.
Why do I say start up small businesses? Because I really don’t believe many of the local and bigger businesses will hire those of us who are or are near retirement for much more than minimum wage. Of course minimum wage is better than no wage. However, I’m sure that most folks who’ve lived long enough to retire also have all kinds of ideas on how to do a number of things better, and they still have the energy to carry it off.
Having your own business has got to be better and more fun than being a greater at one of the big box retailers anyway. Doesn't it?
Look how long we live now (baring the killer problems that can arise from obesity, tobacco, over indulgence in alcohol and drugs and the odd car wreck or drive by shooting) as opposed to way back when ever this age was selected for retirement. Way back then when the dinosaurs ruled the earth you were really old when you hit 60. You were maybe five to ten years max away from falling down dead from old age.
Now, 60 is the new 50! Or so they tell me, 40 is the new 30! By and large this is true as folks are generally healthier and more active at the advanced age of 60 or 65 than they were when the retirement age was set.
Retirement, according to Wikipedia, “is the point where a person stops employment completely.” Who really does that now? I’ll not go into the “who can afford to do that now!?” question. Even folks who can afford to just stop working completely usually find something else to do now days simply because they are not only still physically able to work but because they simply get bored stiff sitting at home and after a while even the ol’ fishin’ hole or the garden can loose it’s appeal especially on a constant basis. Personally, I’ve even gotten bored reading a few times. Might be because I’ve been having to re-read books because of not having enough extra to buy new ones but let’s not get into that. It is what the library’s for anyway.
The point I keep meandering away from is this: if you actually like your job, are good at it, and in good enough health to keep doing it, why the heck should you have to retire? Yeah, yeah, I know. To make way for the up and coming next generation with their new ideas and willingness to change. Ha!
My opinion is the main reason most employers want to dump older employee’s, and sometimes find reasons other than retirement to do so, is because they tend to make more money than the younger, fresh hires, and are also more likely to actually use the medical insurance the company may be providing. Indeed, it may only be the older employees, working under an old contract, that even have medical insurance in this day and age.
Frankly it may be time for us old farts, umm, I mean retired persons, to do something wild and wickedly wonderful. Even those of us who are disabled in one way or another. Maybe we should, as 60 is the new 50, start our own small businesses. What have we got to loose?
Yeah, I know. Our shirts, our homes, our IRA or 401k, maybe even our social security benefits or disability pay. Thing is folks, I’m not all that sure we’ll be getting those nice little (emphasis on that word ‘little’) government pay checks that much longer anyway. And with the way the economy itself seems to be headed, along with the price of energy, we may be loosing our shirts, homes and retirement plans anyway.
Why do I say start up small businesses? Because I really don’t believe many of the local and bigger businesses will hire those of us who are or are near retirement for much more than minimum wage. Of course minimum wage is better than no wage. However, I’m sure that most folks who’ve lived long enough to retire also have all kinds of ideas on how to do a number of things better, and they still have the energy to carry it off.
Having your own business has got to be better and more fun than being a greater at one of the big box retailers anyway. Doesn't it?
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Alt Op 17
Decided I better get this thing written and sent into the Lone Oak Newsletter before either of us were blown away. This is Tuesday and the weather folks say that today this end of Hunt county is in an area where there is a good possibility of severe thunderstorms and twisters. Only good thing about that is we might get more rain. We still need rain.
I’m about ready to let the folks who want these kittens come and get them! The little beggars are running around like nut cases trying to climb the walls . . . Literally! Climb the walls. Not kidding here. Ever seen a kitten trying to climb a wall? To bad I don’t have a camera maybe I could win money from that TV show or at least get a t-shirt.
As for my opinions this week. Where to start? The economy?
The economy is supposed to be going up. HAH! The only thing I see going up is the price of gas which means I can’t go hardly anywhere. I might have to find a weight watchers meeting closer to home if this keeps up. Not to mention cut back even further on my trips into the Greenville Wally World. Of course the one in Quinlan is a few miles closer according to the Google maps thingy. Why do I even bother going there? Simple there are things I just can not get here in Lone Oak. Don’t get me wrong now. If I could get those things here in Lone Oak I might still go into the big G just to get the heck out of Lone Oak occasionally. Providing I had the extra gas to do so.
By the way if you are one of those “make lemon aide out of life’s lemons” kind of folks you might be able to turn this problem with gas prices into a business. Probably not a big one but one that might feed you. Cause believe me, while gas prices might go down again they will never go as low as they were a couple of years ago, or even last year. If they do they will not stay there long.
What kind of lemon aide could someone with the right skills make out of this gas problem? Especially here in Lone Oak?
The main reason I’d be going into Wally World or to the Greenville Farmers Market would be for fresh fruit or Veggies, folks! Y’all do realize that there is almost no place in this town where you can go to get a sack of potatoes, a head of lettuce, some ‘matters and onions, apples, oranges, pears, or other such stuff. Yeah you can get a few of those, in small quantity at the LOG, thank goodness (and get well soon Dorothy!). But they don’t and can’t carry a lot of those things at any one time. So there’s a way to make some money right there. Or at least set up a trading situation.
A Farmers Market would be great here in Lone Oak, I think.
Yeah, I know, I know. It’s been tried. But that’s what I mean about someone with the right skills. The skill would be to get the local gardeners to back the thing! Maybe agree to trade the fruit or veggies they have for fruit and veggies they don’t have, or to grow mostly one thing while someone else grows mostly another. Heck, I bet that if someone had a green house that could grow some things like maters and peppers all year they could sure nuff sell them round here. They could at least sell salsa.
But the skill I mentioned above is the most important part of the idea. Getting folks together to back the thing. Trouble is that just isn’t my skill. I know what my skill is. I’m the wild idea person. I come up with them. Just wish I could find somebody who could pull the crazy things off.
I’m about ready to let the folks who want these kittens come and get them! The little beggars are running around like nut cases trying to climb the walls . . . Literally! Climb the walls. Not kidding here. Ever seen a kitten trying to climb a wall? To bad I don’t have a camera maybe I could win money from that TV show or at least get a t-shirt.
As for my opinions this week. Where to start? The economy?
The economy is supposed to be going up. HAH! The only thing I see going up is the price of gas which means I can’t go hardly anywhere. I might have to find a weight watchers meeting closer to home if this keeps up. Not to mention cut back even further on my trips into the Greenville Wally World. Of course the one in Quinlan is a few miles closer according to the Google maps thingy. Why do I even bother going there? Simple there are things I just can not get here in Lone Oak. Don’t get me wrong now. If I could get those things here in Lone Oak I might still go into the big G just to get the heck out of Lone Oak occasionally. Providing I had the extra gas to do so.
By the way if you are one of those “make lemon aide out of life’s lemons” kind of folks you might be able to turn this problem with gas prices into a business. Probably not a big one but one that might feed you. Cause believe me, while gas prices might go down again they will never go as low as they were a couple of years ago, or even last year. If they do they will not stay there long.
What kind of lemon aide could someone with the right skills make out of this gas problem? Especially here in Lone Oak?
The main reason I’d be going into Wally World or to the Greenville Farmers Market would be for fresh fruit or Veggies, folks! Y’all do realize that there is almost no place in this town where you can go to get a sack of potatoes, a head of lettuce, some ‘matters and onions, apples, oranges, pears, or other such stuff. Yeah you can get a few of those, in small quantity at the LOG, thank goodness (and get well soon Dorothy!). But they don’t and can’t carry a lot of those things at any one time. So there’s a way to make some money right there. Or at least set up a trading situation.
A Farmers Market would be great here in Lone Oak, I think.
Yeah, I know, I know. It’s been tried. But that’s what I mean about someone with the right skills. The skill would be to get the local gardeners to back the thing! Maybe agree to trade the fruit or veggies they have for fruit and veggies they don’t have, or to grow mostly one thing while someone else grows mostly another. Heck, I bet that if someone had a green house that could grow some things like maters and peppers all year they could sure nuff sell them round here. They could at least sell salsa.
But the skill I mentioned above is the most important part of the idea. Getting folks together to back the thing. Trouble is that just isn’t my skill. I know what my skill is. I’m the wild idea person. I come up with them. Just wish I could find somebody who could pull the crazy things off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)