The practical manifesto of one of the founding fathers of DIY, ecology, sustainability, alternative education, economy, and democracy, independence frThe practical manifesto of one of the founding fathers of DIY, ecology, sustainability, alternative education, economy, and democracy, independence from Big money, abundance, and a better, brighter, fairer future.
To have the smallest ecological footprint by producing most of the essential things needed for living alone or in cooperation with others in sharing economies was always a big thing, it´s how humankind rolled for tens of thousands of years, before agriculture and cities brought the absurd idea that some owned all land and enslaved the people this way by having to work for them because of taxes, interests, debt, or simply torturing them to death if they refused.
By not being part of a self-destructive, illogical, endless exponential growth consumerism cycle, people don´t only find independence by owning land, not lose money by paying rents after the mortgage is acquitted, but find sense and inner meaning by doing things they love, that keep them going, and activate their flow systems. After realizing that close to all products that aren´t reasonable for basic needs, work, creativity, knowledge, or entertainment, are trash, independent communities are closer than ever before to becoming autarchic.
Tribes didn´t have much fancy tech when they wandered through the ice- and warm ages, but the knowledge of the elder, given to the next generation, now lost forever and getting lost each second as the last torchbearers die and indigenous people are forced to leave the stolen land they lived on for thousands of years and vegetate in slums. Hippies and alternative communities of the last century had the one or other technical advantage, but with 3D printers, nano- and biotechnology, and computer science, software, and the internet, the dawn of a new age has begun. Imagine what all that enlightened young specialists will build together and without stupid restrictions and limitations of outdated economic, political, and democratic models.
It speaks for itself that the idea of holism (and publications like the Whole Earth Catalogue) are so extremely underrepresented and ignored, as they show that close to all of our current societal models are bonkers. Talking and thinking too much about it would lead to too many unwanted realizations, understanding interconnections, and finally the truth of the necessity of a post scarcity economy.
Brand offers realistic solutions, focuses on hard science without fatalism or downplaying, shows how to optimize cities with the main focus on technolBrand offers realistic solutions, focuses on hard science without fatalism or downplaying, shows how to optimize cities with the main focus on technology, alternative tax and subsidy models, and the 2 most essential parts of biotechnology and nuclear energy. Not to forget geoengineering aka terraforming.
He is pro nuclear power and GM crops, 2 topics avoided and hated by the green movement, but essential for a change. Until sustainable energy can produce enough ultimate power, nuclear is needed and much less problematic regarding climate change than fossil energy like coal and being against genetic engineering is so stubborn and ignorant that there is no adjective to describe it. Both topics are reasons why I switched to a more a neutral position (don´t worry, I am still a leftist), am just pushing ideas of great thinkers such as Brand and promoting activism, but warning everyone of participating in the wisdom castrating and mindcrippling stupidity of any political ideology.
The green politicians make no difference between extremely safe, modern reactors with permanent repository sites such as the ones build in Scandinavia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkalo_... and just keep repeating how nasty anything nuclear is. Do they think a few toxic wastelands are worse than a runaway greenhouse effect that makes the majority of the landmasses uninhabitable or aquatic? The worse problem is that they, just like the ones who use faith as an argument, are against any unnatural genetic engineering, delaying one of the most important technological innovations, the ultimate milestone for all life sciences, the key to stopping world hunger, possible immortality. They think that because it feels unnatural to them, they have the legitimation to delay the development of crops that could save hundreds of millions of people from malnutrition, starvation, and death.
Of course, there is still much more unbelievable destructive potential in the neoliberal form of how international energy companies and agro conglomerates operate and a change to a sustainable ecosocial business model with a Keynesian post scarcity economic model has to come as soon as possible, but with demonizing the 2 key technologies to make such jumps possible, no consensus can be made. Why should companies try to adapt to such unrealistic, for everyone counterproductive, dangerous ideas that worsen the whole situation for everybody with less food and no electricity?
I can meanwhile fully agree with everyone who is bashing the green parties, as they could have found strong partners in the nuclear lobby, food giants,… who would be very interested in greenwashing themselves and showing that they are really willing to change to a more sustainable business model. If they would have been courted with Brands´ logical, intelligent, and realistic arguments, a solution could have already been found, but instead, the pseudo alternatives are as ignorant and stubborn as the conservatives they are bashing all the time and do as much or even more harm than the companies could do.
And yes, I am so arrogant as to say that I have certain N word privileges https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... because I have seen and experienced the idiocy of these wannabe hippies live as part of the movement for nearly 2 decades until much reading made me see their mentality as so destructive that I couldn´t bear it anymore, resigned with the insight that everything coming out of politics is poisoned and run by bigots, and changed to NGOs and activism instead. I guess Brand must have had a similar epiphany before deciding to write this book.
What shocked me the most is that, the more books I read and the more I realized that leading politicians are unable to build wisdom by just absorbing the essentials of a few dozens of books with ideas worth spreading and having the courage to not be opportunistic yes-men, they aren´t even realizing how onesided, antiquated, and anachronistic they have become. Yes, companies are greedy, but at least they are not that unable to adapt to new circumstances and meanwhile I see more hope coming out of the economic sector and the civil society than anything out of this pseudo democratic farce.
This is one of the best collections of ideas for sustainable change, if it would be used as a blueprint for future politics, many problems could easily be solved.
Mario the lone bookwolf
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