AdamB wrote:Not that it would matter much if you had chosen the path of REAL Green with the Amish folks though! You'd be sitting around, without any cable or internet, and you wouldn't even notice when they go offline.
I am using a local Amish to build my shop now. It has been interesting to see their style. They really have to be managed becuase they are set in their ways but accommodating. I am incorporating extreme insulation strategies that they have not done before so I have had to teach them some new methods. It has been interesting to visit their farms. They need a ride occasionally so I have been to their farms. These Amish actually use more modern stuff than one might think. Most of all they don't drive or operate equipment but they have plenty of power tools. They will probably save me 30% but they have also cost me more time managing the effort.
Keep in mind REAL Green is not TRUE Green. True Green is an aboriginal off the grid in a harmonious existence in balance with the earths systems. Not much of that anymore. When I was younger, I was an outdoor survivalist type when I could be. I would go offline as much as I could as a matter of discipline. I am getting older now so I am not interested in a tough life. REAL Green is much more about a localized focus of people and place. It is realistic and relative so it applies to anyone. It is behavioral first and foremost in regards to the embrace of a macro decline process. What this means is a REAL Green embraces a planetary decline and acknowledges humans are part of this. REAL Green finds a hybrid arrangement of the best practices and things of both old and modern. REAL Green combines the old and the new in the local to go low carbon locally. Low carbon generally loses its low carbon once it gets mobility so localism is a key.
I am very much a part of current events but mainly for enjoyment. I am not going to march or protest. I will tell my kids not to go to war unless it is in our local. I will spend my money locally if possible. I will support locals when I can. Yet, the realistic part of this is my people and place are delocalized as is most of civilization today so REAL Green says use to leave it. I drive and have vehicles. I occasionally fly places. I participate in consumerism. I am also obsessed with conservation and efficiency but again realistically. I am managing wildlife but also animals. I do gardens, orchards, and grapes. I use the global to turbo change my local and I attempt to lower my footprint in the process. It is hard to do but can be done.
I combine all this in green prepping which means I have all the prep assets needed for a crisis but I have taken it further with a green and prepped lifestyle embedded in localism. Properly scaled localism is more resilient and sustainable so a good prep lifestyle. I have no illusions my prep and my green might be consumed in a Mad Max or a abrupt climate event. I could lose all I have but REAL Green is about a journey not a destination. So basically, I am embracing the decline process the planet is in and mirroring it in my own life taking destructive change and finding niches for constructive change. A microclime is the result if somebody has chosen a good local to invest in. Local means people and place. So, choose the right people too not just the place.
This then becomes like a retreat in force. It reminds me of what the Germans did on the eastern front in WWII. The Germans were losing the war but often winning the battles as the slowly retreated across the vast expanses of the eastern front. In a similar way REAL Green retreats in force with high morale. The downsizing with dignity and in place means less affluence but more spiritual meaning. It is this spiritual meaning that is the key to embracing less. Spiritual meaning makes up for the loss of things. I could have a place at the beach but instead mess with animals and plants in a harsh environment. I am lucky to have the time and money so I am not going to act above others.
REAL Green is not concerned with comparisons and competition. It is local and individual. It is not a cult or religion. It is an add on like an Ap that can be included with your own higher power of meaning. It is about enlisting the planet in your support buy emulating its ecological succession. This is one of the reasons when I get criticism of REAL Green, I just laugh it off. It is not meant to be better than anyone. It is not self-righteous. It is instead humbled because the planet is the power it seeks to embrace. Many have powers higher than the planet with their faith. There are no issues with this. REAL green is more a disposition of action than a badge of achievement. This may all seem like a tossed world salad but the keep point to it is local and individual. Make of it what you want. It is open source.
