Hi, again, folks, this time from Soggy Seattle. Now that the snows have stopped and melted off some, our rivers are doing something they don’t usually do until Spring. Imagine that’s familiar to a lot of you folks about now.
All in all, we’re handling it real well and so far, mostly without the help of the federal government. The Army Corps of Engineers has been activated to help out, and if necessary, Governor Chris will call out units of the Washington State National Guard in dryer places. As close as we all are in this region, it won’t be a big call out. Most of our daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, cousins, et al will already be where they’re needed.
Yes, there have been tragedies associated with this and our time of mourning will come. Right now, we’re still rescuing the living. We do, however, truly appreciate the concern expressed from those in other parts of the States, Canada and abroad. Compassion is not lost on us. And we do remember far longer, those who stood by us in hard times than we ever will those we attracted during good. Thank you, then, eh?
Well, so far, I’ve evaded every editorialist’s annual responsibility to predict what’s in store for us the rest of the year. As some of you know, I’ve done that in years past and did last year, as well. Alas and alack and stuff, I’ve found out I’m not as good at it as I once was. Like Grandpa Seamus used to say, "If you can’t remember the cards, time to get out of the game."
So this year, I’d like, instead, to share with you what I HOPE happens?
I’d like to see economics shift from national to regional to serve first local markets and then the rest of the nation. I realize that in order to do that, we’re going to have to scale back some but we’re already seeing the precursor to that in certain businesses like Subway adjusting their prices to their consumer base. Seems to me that’s the kind of flexibility necessary right now for any of this to work.
Each region of this nation has something unique for "export". Each region in this nation is capable of economic independence by appropriately using its available resources. Every region has universities doing research in everything from environmentally appropriate agriculture to integrated energy sources to alternative transportation.
The historical precedent for the shift is there. And every civilization, present and past, has gone through the same evolution. America moved from the predominantly agrarian to the highly industrialized and into the technological. The scientific and technology communities have not failed us. Our own greed did. But both communities are still there as resources.
I had the rare privilege, during the late Seventies, to read a ‘novel’ entitled Ecotopia. That small book and it’s prequel and sequel, talked about a regionally environmentally appropriate, stable state economy. Despite some of its Swiftian overtones and its premise that for Ecotopia to fully evolve, it needed to secede from the Union (Why am I seeing a smile of the faces of some of you who live below the Mason Dixon, north of Monterrey, California or in Quebec province now?), it works from a technological perspective.
Ecotopia, as a regionally adapted model, was and is both plausible and possible, certainly more now than when the books were written, some three-plus decades ago. An article in one of last month’s editions of the New York Times seems to support that contention, as well, by the way.
Perhaps as a sidenote, I also had the unforgettable experience of meeting the author, Ernest ‘Chick’ Callenbach. He was also at that time, the editor of the University of California’s Film Quarterly. He was a man of the arts, with an appreciation for and an understanding of appropriately applied technology. A soft-spoken, gentle man, he was also the father of two sons he did not want going to war.
So another thing I hope for this year is that there will be a renewed interest in his books as a viable resource. I’d like, as well, for some soft media attention to be focused on him for his ideas in these regards. In my mind, in times like these, he’s one of our best thinkers. And he’s not going to be around forever.
I also hope, as much for my own region, as for others, that we take another look at "land use". I’d like to see us go back to the earliest studies of the Pacific Northwest and, because I live here, the Puget Sound. We superimposed our needs on this land and at first, I think that was okay. But when we grew too large by cutting down too many trees, etc., we ultimately ended up ~ have and still do ~ spending more on disaster control (which never really works here), disaster mitigation and disaster victim relief than we would have if we’d just sited ourselves more appropriately.
There seems to be this stubborn streak in some of us that makes it okay to get washed away and then rebuild on the same flood plain without, apparently, much thought to moving to higher ground. Grandpa Seamus would have accorded them that right under the U.S. Constitution but he would not have paid one dime in taxes to support, enable or perpetuate that particular brand of foolish thinking or behavior.
Most of all, I hope we remember that we got ourselves into this and if we really want things to be better, we will work together to get ourselves out. Several blogs ago, I issued a call for ideas in these regards and I’m renewing that call again.
Rusty
P.S. I want to take this opportunity to express my personal appreciation for the response I received from this last blog about Samantha and what she’s going through. I owe particular gratitude to another Native American, fellow Northern Californian and Vietnam veteran, Mr. Tom Two Crows. Thank you, Chief. I passed the word along.
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