Culture & Behavior

“Possum Living” author steps out of the shadows

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In the late ‘70s, at the age of 18, and with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed wrote Possum Living about the five years she and her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. Known for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to live frugally while keeping up a middle class facade, at the time of its original publication, Possum Living became an instant classic. Following her success as an author, Dolly Freed grew up to become a NASA aerospace engineer. She aced the SATs with an education she received from the public library and put herself through college.

Gaviotas: Village of Hope

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We first learned about Gaviotas, the legendary sustainable Colombian village, in 2004, while working in our home state, New Mexico. The two of us helped found a group called La Mesita, “the small table,” composed of three educators, a renewable energy scientist, a water-rights attorney, and a community organizer. We decided to start a project that would involve teenagers in organic agriculture and renewable energy in Ribera, a rural village in the north of the state. We believed that reviving northern New Mexico’s agricultural and cultural traditions could help the region confront both its environmental crises, like unsustainable water use, and its deepening social problems, such as rural drug abuse and teen pregnancy.

Riddles in the Dark

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One aspect of the predicament of industrial society too rarely grasped is the impact of the end of the age of cheap abundant energy on labor costs, wages, and standards of living. In a world where everything is scarce but people, many of the most deeply rooted economic assumptions bid fair to be stood on their heads, with results few of us are prepared to face.

Productivity Plunges

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A Bloomberg poll of leading US economists found that 79% were “shocked” or “dismayed” by the recently-readjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor productivity in the United States plunged by 13.8% in 2010. Asked how they felt about the corresponding sharp decline in U3 unemployment – from 10.1% to 6.3% – 31% of these economists said improved employment numbers were “welcome”, but 88% considered the correlation (between falling productivity and falling unemployment) “counterintuitive” or “irrelevant”. All agreed that the top priority must be to return to increased productivity and healthy economic growth as rapidly as possible.

Skills and Materials for Post-Petroleum Economies

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Margot McDowell is a sail maker and seamstress in Anacortes, Washington. She has a counterpart here and there in the region, such as a woman in Port Townsend and a woman in Bellingham. Considering the number of sailboats and ongoing demand for more sails and sail repair, these sail makers barely comprise a local industry. This is because the great majority of sails are made in Taiwan — made out of Dacron, a petroleum product.

Green: Deep, Wide, and High

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“Green” is the color of the day. Not only on Earth Day. I Googled “Green Products” and got … 150 million hits … “Green Jobs” (153 million) … “Green Politics” (94 million) … “Green Living” (84 million). You get the idea. We’re awash in green, not to mention awash in greenwash. The word is so ubiquitous, as Michael Pollan once wrote about “sustainability,” that “the whole concept is in danger of floating away on a sea of inoffensiveness.” Can “green” mean anything useful?

There and Back Again – The Opening of Cornucopia LLC

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Dear theoildrum.com readers. Many of you may have wondered about my absence here over the last 6 months or so. Suffice it to say that I’ve had a sea change of understanding about both our situation and on the opportunities it presents. As such, I’ve made some career change decisions, which Kyle and Gail are allowing me to share with you here (based on my prior efforts at TOD). Starting May 1, I have accepted an offer from Goldman Sachs to become a Managing Partner in a new energy and resource hedge fund where I’ll be one of three people responsible for security selection and risk management. Details, and the story of how I came to ‘see the light’ on resource depletion opportunities are below the fold. Basically I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Say it loud: I’m childfree and I’m proud

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Here’s the dirty little secret that we’re never supposed to say in mixed company: There are a lot of perks to childfree living, not to mention a lot of green good that comes from bringing fewer beings onto a polluted and crowded planet. [Also, Stephanie Mills video on her decision to remain childless]

Courtship, Cooperation & Negotiation: What Darwin Got Wrong about Human Emotions

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Many social critics in the Peak Oil community are fond of saying “Men do what they do driven by the desire to please women.” But what if that notion is just plain wrong? Is there power in the narrative that redirects our energies away from helpful pursuits believing that such strivings are “against the laws of nature?”