brambleblog

Here's a simple truth, one that too many organizations and individuals are choosing to ignore...

The costs of energy and resources are increasing - permanently. Thus, self-sufficiency and renewable energy are neither gun-toting survivalist nor crunchy tie-died ideas... they are just smart business practices.

So let's cut to the chase. The more self-reliant an organization or individual can be with respect to energy and material inputs, the more viable and competitive that organization and/or individual will be. Classical economics teaches us that comparative advantage will inevitably determine specialization and exchange, and this axiom certainly holds sway in a low friction, open system (abundant energy at negligible cost) environment. But our world is shedding the cheap energy paradigm, and the new reality of finite resources and closed system physics is reversing the effect of global comparative advantage. Can this point be challenged? If not, then why are non-petroleum energy initiatives ridiculed and rejected? And why is said ridicule/rejection so often coming from 'conservative' politicians and pundits?

Please forgive this brief tangent... Why are supposedly 'conservative' interests chanting, "Drill, Baby, Drill!"? The very thought of tapping and depleting our remaining domestic fossil fuel reserves is in direct contradiction to the fundamental long-term security and viability of our country... proving that the "Drill, Baby, Drill" crowd are every bit as stupid as they look and sound. Perhaps this is just more evidence of the erosion of American principles (thrift, ingenuity, resolve, independence). Thrift and independence are dead. We now buy large and often, happy to borrow for that which we can not truly afford. Our independence naturally diminishes with every dime of debt we accumulate, individually and collectively. Ingenuity is alive and well, but it is more often demonstrated by immigrants - those who have come to this country to attain education and/or a livelihood. Resolve, too, is plentiful... but usually applied to selfish ends or the execution of poor judgment and misguided strategy. In fact, modern American resolve resembles stubbornness - an inability to think rationally or compromise... we are now 'resolved' to accomplish many bad things... the wrong things. Let us hope that new american leadership behaves more like an eagle and less like an ostrich. End of tangential rant.

Yet in the midst of this national collapse of principle and sound judgment, one can find strange bedfellows and reason for optimism. When a staple hippie mantra (renewable energy) also proves to be smart life and business practice (self-sufficiency), perhaps we are closer to one another (and to our country's founders?) than we presume. It is indeed time to meet your neighbors... we may find common ground where once a tall fence (of intolerance) stood. The coming "green economy" should provide ample opportunity for americans to demonstrate some renewed ingenuity, assuming we can move past superficial red/blue stereotypes that divide people who otherwise have far more in common than they care to admit.

-- MP