posted by jim | March 17, 2010
See Homegrown (see their website at urban homestead) and many, many other environmental films at the D.C. Environmental Film Festival March 16th through March 28th. This family grows 6,000 pounds of food on 1/5 acre.
posted by jim | March 16, 2010
The Utopian Landscape-self portrait
I’ve been blogging for over a year, so happy new year. I like to think of Utopian Economics as a crossroads, of sorts. A place where high tech meets low tech, where people come from different places to produce abundance for their own benefit, their community, or their planet. I hope to encourage a cross fertilization of ideas, feral hybrids, and rabid adventurers amongst people who wouldn’t normally talk to each other. I encourage you not to think out of the box; I encourage you not to live in a box.
Your utopian economist,
jimcoli
posted by jim | March 6, 2010
I like this little film. It reminds me of the experiment my wife, Amy, and I started in the 90’s. We didn’t know it was an experiment at the time. I was renting a four bedroom house, two car garage in beautiful downtown Tyson’s Corner in Virginia for $500 (just $125 for each housemate!).
We had our wedding party gather wild flowers for our wedding, became vegetarians, hung up a clothes line to block out the view of a parking garage across the street, used a push mower on those parts of the lawn we didn’t let grow into garden, wildflowers, blackberry bushes, and to be honest: weeds. We tried to avoid chain stores and chain restaurants when we could because they destroyed locality (I hated going someplace new and finding the same old chain stores). We could walk to Gucci, Hermes, and the Tyson’s Mall if we cared to. We bought used stuff at thrift stores. We grew some food and scavenged enough berries and apples from forgotten apple trees to freeze and can them. When Amy moved in with me, we shared our space with the one remaining housemate and began investigating cohousing. We started a compost pile and we bought some worms to eat our garbage in the basement. One weekend I decided that we should go on an energy fast and we unplugged everything in the house accept the refrigerator.
(more…)
posted by jim | September 16, 2009
Photo by Jarrod Trainque
A moral code is a set of abstract principles; to practice it, an individual must translate it into …particular goals and values which he is to pursue. This requires that he define his particular hierarchy of values, in the order of their importance, and that he act accordingly. Thus all his actions have to be guided by a process of teleological measurement.
Rand smuggles teleological into an otherwise clear definition of a moral code. It displays both Rand’s brilliance and pettiness. She clearly states what a moral code is but by smuggling teleology into the definition she gets to define what the proper purpose of morality is.
Consider this statement by Rand: “It is much easier to acquire an automobile in New York City than a meal in the jungle.” Really? I suppose if you lack a certain sociological and anthropological (Rand loathed them both) and even economic knowledge you might make that statement. But more to the point, now you get to make hierarchical judgements yourself: a city dweller is superior to a jungle dweller (savage was a common epithet of Rand’s). Many people have and do live in comfort affluence in jungles and places we consider marginal because they have a technical knowledge and sophistication about the place they live in that we lack.
But really, this thinking just rolls over the humility that the 19th century taught us. Yes we do have to make moral judgements as Rand suggests. But if we are lazy thinkers, if we believe we can make judgements with absolute certainty and that those who disagree with us are evil or anti-life, we do it at our own peril. We diminish human creativeness, particularly in the area of morality. Consider another way:
“I would rather say that because morality appears to be a human invention, we should esteem it as we esteem such inventions as language, art and science. This esteem…does not mean uncritical adoration. Rather the reverse; I believe we express our esteem for the great moralist, poets, artists and scientists of the past by imitating their creativity rather than parroting their ideas, and by creating our own unique voices and visions and contributions to humanity’s accumulated wisdom and folly. (I always hope to add to our wisdom, but realize that the probabilities are that I am, just as often, adding to our folly.)”
Robert Anton Wilson; Natural Law: or Don’t Put a Rubber on Your Willy (Sorry this book is out of print).
Not surprisingly, what is left of the Objectivist empire realizes this is an important concept in the face of modern evolutionary thinking. Harry Binswanger has a book called The Biological Basis of Teleology Concepts. The book is rather low on my rather large book list. Here is a description of a Binswanger lecture on the 9/11 attacks.
The war on terror represents, not merely a clash of civilizations, but a clash of fundamental ethical premises: the premise of life and the premise of death. America was attacked, Dr. Binswanger argues, because it upholds and embodies the value of life, while its enemies scorn life and worship death.
What brilliant insight Dr. Binswanger brings to understanding 9/11! (I’m being ironic if you didn’t catch that.) Life or death ladies and gentlemen, or maybe something a little bit more complex than that? Maybe a lot more complex than objectivist philosophy is capable of providing.
posted by jim | September 3, 2009
photo by doug88888
The little perks mattered immensely and were a sweet tonic on what could otherwise be a mind-numbing journey. (With heavy traffic, the trip can last up to six hours.) But the more I rode, the more I understood the wider picture of bus travel. Overall, the industry has shaken its sordid reputation, emerging as a shiny chariot with a solid track record. The bus resurgence has been “a remarkable recovery of an industry,” said Joe Schwieterman, a professor of public service and director of DePaul University’s Chaddock Institute for Metropolitan Development. “Intercity bus travel is back and is now part of mainstream travel.”
According to a study by Schwieterman, in 2007-08 the economic downturn, the spike in gas prices and airline cutbacks led the intercity bus industry to post “its biggest one-year gain in service in a half-century.”
Credit goes mainly to the new convoy of buses, which appropriated the Chinatown model, then gave it a substantial upgrade. This new species offers curbside pickup and drop-offs, cheap fares, clean restrooms, express service, online reservations, free WiFi and loyalty programs. Neither Amtrak, currently exploring WiFi service on trains, nor my car can make such declarations.
The bus fares undercut Amtrak and, depending on the number of passengers, personal vehicles. One-way fares on the train start at $49, compared with $1 to $30 on the bus. As for my car, Townsend determined that gas for my make and model would add up to $43.78, plus about $20 for tolls. The buses also earn hugs from carbon-emission watchers. According to such experts as Schwieterman and the ABA, one bus can potentially eliminate 55 cars from the road. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ “Getting There Greener” guide notes that a couple can halve their carbon output by taking the bus and leaving their hybrid car in the garage.
@ Back on the Bus: D.C.-N.Y. Travelers Line Up for Low Fares, High Value.
posted by jim | August 27, 2009
photo by gruntzooki
Ayn Rand’s books, I hear, were voted second in influence only to to the Bible in a 1991 American poll. I’m not at all surprised. If you’ve never heard of Ayn Rand and come across someone who has you are bound to be baffled, amused, fascinated, or just as likely, pissed off. Those captivated by Rand’s work find they look at the world in a completely new way and she has inspired so many Utopian Capitalist visions that I find it necessary to cover her here. (more…)
posted by jim | June 10, 2009
photo by EraPhernaliasVintage; some rights reserved.
Here in the Mid-Atlantic region ripe mulberries are dropping to the ground and the black raspberries are about week from their season. These two plants found in places disturbed by humans-often where wood meets grass or trail-are my favorite summer fruits. Mulberries besides their wonderful flavor and varieties from white to pink to black (although some trees are just tasteless) contain the polyphenol resveratrol. The best mulberries will fall off the tree as you touch them and stain your fingers. I love to eat them while I’m out biking on hot, sticky afternoons; or to put them on my breakfast cereal. My wife hoping to make a jam instead made a syrup for our pancakes (they are low in pectin). One easy way to collect a bunch is to lay down plastic or a cloth (you don’t mind getting stained) and shaking the tree branches. The ripe ones will fall to the ground.
Not everyone likes Mulberries fresh, but fresh black raspberries (I have found pink ones on occasion) are a treasure. But don’t eat them all fresh, bake some in muffins. The flavor and aroma is incredibly intense and you will weep when the brief season is over. Black raspberries are nearly as rare as morel mushrooms to find commercially.
One last thing (I know its hard) but sacrifice a few to the gods or least the birds. I have a large rock out back where I put some of the best berries to be carried off by the birds so they might spread my favorite berries close to home in their most excellent fertilizer.
Enjoy a free lunch!
posted by jim | May 11, 2009
Worldbike Slideshow: Bicycles as a tool for Development from Ross Evans on Vimeo.
Too often I think bikes and other alternative technologies are seen as something for the third world. When infant formula companies give away powdered milk and sabotage low tech breast feeding in third world countries there is outrage, but the truth is they do it in first world countries, too. We need these kind of bikes in Flint, Michigan, as well!
Check out the open source ideas of worldbike.
posted by jim | April 22, 2009
William James, father of American psychology, tells of meeting an old lady who told him the Earth rested on the back of a huge turtle.
“But, my dear lady,” Professor James asked, as politely as possible, “what holds up the turtle?”
“Ah,” she said, “that’s easy. He is standing on the back of another turtle.”
“Oh, I see,” said Professor James, still being polite. “But would you be so good to tell me what holds up the second turtle?”
“It’s no use, Professor,” said the old lady, realizing he was trying to lead her into a logical trap. “It’s turtles-turtles-turtles, all the way!”
-Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising
So whether you believe Global Warming is real or false, whether you believe the earth was formed 10,000 years or 4.5 billions years ago, whether you believe you are star stuff or god/ess stuff, whether you believe the earth is a fertile ball floating in black space or on the back of a turtle, I wish you a happy Earth Day–that is, if we can keep it.
photo by mao lini; some rights reserved.
posted by jim | April 21, 2009
My first experience with Youth Hostels was a hostel in San Francisco. The door on the address had a sign suggesting we check at a local bar if no one answered. Someone did answer our knock however. My wife and I followed him up to a room and to be honest the thin mattress on the floor didn’t look appealing-never mind the cats that went scurrying from the room. On a recent visit to Colorado I couldn’t help notice the write-up on a youth hostel in the town where we were staying it sounded a lot different from our first experience but my wife was unmoved. But we’re both reconsidering after taking a read of this New York Times article on Youth Hostels. Hostels are more family-friendly, more age friendly to older travelers, and you no longer have to feel like you need to enter carrying a heavy back pack.
The world of hip city hostels, who cares if your room has nothing but a bed (often a bunk), a simple bath (a shower with no bath products) and a small cupboard with no hangers? Common rooms, meanwhile, are often minimally — but stylishly — furnished with Scandinavian-style sofas and tables.
Countering the lack of amenities, there is usually an eclectic bar, a 24-hour Internet cafe with Wi-Fi, group tours around the city, entertainment (D.J.’s, live music and karaoke nights), kitchens where you can make your own meals or a restaurant where you can buy one — all providing a built-in social life for travelers.Hostels across Europe have undergone a transformation over the last decade. “There has been serious quality improvement in the hostel movement,” said Johan Krüger, head of communications for Hostelling International, a consortium of youth hostel associations in over 80 countries that operate more than 4,000 hostels.
“Though hostels have always had the big shared dormitory-style rooms, we are now seeing more demand among travelers for double or single en suite rooms,” Mr. Krüger said, adding that hostels had grown even more popular in the midst of the recession. In 2008, Hostelling International had a 14 percent increase, to 1.4 million bookings, on its Web site, www.hihostels.com.
@ In Europe, Hostels Branch Out From Young Backpackers – NYTimes.com.
Check out these other sites for additional information:
hostelbrokers, hihostels, and hostelworld.
photo by kokorowashinjin; some rights reserved.