Gisela from www.350.org asked me what I thought would work better than a carbon tax. I don’t think we need to wait for big government to save us. Actually, big government is part of the problem. Here is what I came up with. I just wanted to share it with you:
What would happen if everyone had their own garden in their front and back yard? What would happen if the family ate all summer long out of that garden and put away food for the winter? What would happen if people traded between households and helped the people they knew didn’t have enough?
What would happen if we started building our houses out of only local materials, so the houses would look different all over the world? What would happen if we powered these houses with local resources? What would happen if we slightly changed the way we lived to reduce our energy consumption? What would happen if we lived in small homes? What would happen if we got rid of laws and bylaws so people could make these changes?
What would happen if we all started eating herbivores (cattle, buffalo, sheep, etc) fed only on pasture? What would happen if only occasionally we ate omnivores (hogs, chickens, etc) mostly fed on pasture but needing additional grain and legume feed? What would happen if we cared about how animals were treated even though we are planning on eating those animals?
What would happen if we all started eating only organically produced foods and stopped buying industrially produced foods? What would happen if we cared to know where our food came from and wanted a relationship with our farmers?
What would happen if we stopped buying stuff we don’t need? What would happen if we stopped buying junk and only bought items that could last a lifetime and be given to our children? What would happen to the world if we each found out what was truly enough?
What would happen if we thought about everything that we don’t produce ourselves? What would happen if we wondered about how an item is produced and what the true costs are to the people who produced it and the true costs to the environment? Would we still have the urge to buy?
What would happen if we started to think about our waste stream? What would happen if we became aware of how our “medicines” and “cosmetics” that we use and throw away are poisoning other animals and ourselves? What would happen if people really had to deal with the garbage produced by their own household consumption?
What would happen if we could heal ourselves of most illnesses and not need the care of doctors and the medical system? What would it be like to not have 40 people standing outside a medical clinic hoping for help?
What would happen if we all lived near where we worked, and our work places were safe and healthy? What would happen if women who decided to have children could stay with their children instead of having to go back to work and ship their children off to be raised by strangers?
What would happen if people became aware of how much “raping and pillaging” of the environment and of oppression of people occurs so we can have a nice fat gain in our portfolios? What would happen if everyone realized their high paying job with all those benefits was causing suffering for others?
What would happen if we discovered that we were actually slaves of a system that was progressively destroying the world while enriching the few? What would happen if people decided not to participate in the above?
That’s what “we” could do but I would never want to participate in a system that would “force” these changes on my neighbors. If we are going to change the world it will be through raising the consciousness of people not through oppressive laws which have gotten us where we are now. Einstein said:“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Love, Caroline
If living in a tiny house appeals to you please see The Tiny Life: Tiny Homes, Tiny Living.
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.”
Michael Jorgan
