THE NEXT STEP

Wouldn't you say, keep the world economy going for long enough? Obviously, keeping the world economy going, just going, means infinite growth on a finite planet. We're somewhat clear that this cannot be done. Meanwhile, there are essential industries needed to support a degree of civilization. And I would think that 1) identifying those essential industries, and 2) tracking the supply chain and socioeconomic arrangements to allow for those industries would be the next step. 

Barbara,

Thanks for digging into the subject of money. What you say sounds good. 

My response to Gail just now, as to the virus-related missing links in the economy, links that might remain.

"Wouldn't you say, keep the world economy going for long enough? Obviously, keeping the world economy going, just going, means infinite growth on a finite planet. We're somewhat clear that this cannot be done. Meanwhile, there are essential industries needed to support a degree of civilization. And I would think that 1) identifying those essential industries, and 2) tracking the supply chain and socioeconomic arrangements to allow for those industries would be the next step."  

Gail's blog clarified (or even introduced) for me tha concept that money was a representation of future energy supply. There is no use for money when there is no energy supply to back it up.  Beyond  that I'm pretty much lost. 

The C virus (CV) is shutting down decisive parts of global economy. Nothing like this economic system ever existed before, where it is networked over the entire globe. Gail's blog talks about a Leonardo Dome made of sticks that lean against each other in a complex and precarious way. Remove one stick and the whole structure collapses. So, OK, maybe. But I would think humans are ingenious enough to  insert a supporting stick or two before the removal of that problem stick, preventing the dome from collapsing. 

Since the proposing of the Leonard Dome meme I hear talk about the periphery being able to collapse while the core remains: Venezuela vs USA. Or some refer to countries being thrown under the bus--Syria, Yeman, Libya, so on and so forth. So what does that mean for the Leonardo Dome idea? And even so, there are no homeless people on the streets in Venezuela whereas they live under every overpass in the SF Bay Area.

So I'm with you that innovation and creativity are an important missing element of the global discussion. 

So what's to be done? We cant wait for some perfect clarity to emerge, and need to attend to little things right under our noses that we can perhaps influence. 

The trouble I have most are cultural ideas. They operate like groups and spread a large network od support systems that indoctrinate and browbeat or coerce the average person into compliance. It's almost impossible to think straight in the resulting war of muddled paradigms. 

But still I don't sit and twiddle my thumbs. I harp on a few patterns that my (extremely good) intuition has illuminated. A scattershot sample would include the following:

- Land (including place) is more important than people. People emerge from and are dependent on land, and not the other way around

- Aesthetics are the most useful guide: "Truth is Beauty, and beauty truth," or whatever it was Keats said.

- The poor needs close to 100% of our social attention. Yes, a rising tide lifts all boats

- We got into the mess we're in by throwing things, places, peoples, cultures and languages away. We must stop doing this

- Children are the new slaves to run energy on. Historically, energy depended on human slavery, morphing into fossil fuel slavery (on which we now ENTIRELY depend, while it tanks along with it correlated economic system.

- Substituting children as the energy source doesn't mean cruel or stupid forms of coercion; it's just that there might be no other energy source that allows ANYONE to survive.

But I could go on forever. It should be clear why I can't separate the human endeavor from anything else. And why nobody listens to me.

CV TIMELINE

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-social-distancing-over-back-to-normal/608752/?fbclid=IwAR0m4dCM2mA16hm8mfrHUL1KpdbW81YuOMeVdg5mKuWW11A4p8brs8fDtCQ

JANET PATMORE

With my usual tech disability I'm struggling to find images and figure out  how to paste them with text as for publication. So please pardon the mess as I send this unfinished jumble to you. At least it's a start. 

So's not to be too unfocused, I'll share a minimal list of project areas I see to foster: They don't take money but instead planning and cooperation.

hospital beds

architecture

education

hospital beds

Trevor Burrowes

architecture

- separate vertical flats may be better for social distancing, views and access to sun

architecture

- social distance and view/sun access are among the advantages of making the rooms go up vertically  

school children 

- school children are the front line for the alternative economy that we have no choice but to build

- alphabet--they must learn to write on the lines (my 8 yr old grandson seemed incapable of this, ans his mom would rather stay blind to the deficiencies in his writing. motor skills)

- they can create bricks and other elements for cardboard construction

bricks

- you cut cardboard into the dimensions of brick flat size. 

- you paste the flat cardboard together to attain brick thickness

- you plaster cardboard bricks together just as with regular bricks

- they should have good thermal values, and can be used in less permanent ways than regular bricks

- children can participate in construction--like cutting the cardboard with scissors to brick dimension

VITAMIN C

• Trevor Burrowes It's very hard to find C in the stores these days. The General Store, if affordable, could consider ordering some in bulk and rationing it?

  • Like
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  David Pittis replied

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• 

  Sarah Targett Wadleigh We buy the 3 lb jar of Sodium Ascorbate and keep that on hand at all times.

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    Trevor Burrowes Did you get it online?

    1

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    Diane Senior https://smile.amazon.com/Nutricost-Pure.../dp/B00ZVNCXOM/

    

    AMAZON.COM

    Nutricost Pure Ascorbic Acid Powder (Vitamin C) 2 LBS - High…

    Nutricost Pure Ascorbic Acid Powder (Vitamin C) 2 LBS - High Quality, Gluten Free, Non-GMO

    • Like
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    •  · 3h
  • 

    Sarah Targett Wadleigh We order the now brand sodium ascorbate from Lucky vitamin

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    Sarah Targett Wadleigh Dr berg says saurkraut is loaded w vit c

    1

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for further study

Bill Gates could have been the evil force in my dream that was using Bill Clinton as its tool

https://www.facebook.com/An0malyMusic/videos/1523511527824585/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDkwMDM0OTY1MzpWSzo1OTIxNzUyNzgwMzk0ODk/?multi_permalinks=592175278039489&notif_id=1585223588224427&notif_t=group_activity

OIL, COVID-19 AND THE ECONOMY

Trevor Burrowes

6 hrs · 

Gail Tverberg says:
March 25, 2020 at 6:00 pm
We really need some good studies of the share of people with antibodies for COVID-19, and look at what true infection rates look like.

I think that it is way too clear that keeping the economy closed for months on end collapses the world economy, and leaves far more those with COVID-19 dead.

Reply

GERMAN FUNDING

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/german-bailout-50-billion-1815396?fbclid=IwAR38MyrufOTZdD7uaU3WXuCDepD4fPr_eXrkNEPjj5qeZFV0odU0EskvFeM#.XnvEgKR2dHk.facebook

If the entire Turquoise Trail is to be an art project based on nature, and not a place to sprinkle unrelated art over, it could use some funds.

Bridgette, because you are there (and some like me are not) you can get a much clearer picture of what is possible. The owner seems like a nice and positive owner of an historic property. Unfortunately, I'm not able to find such a person in SAB from this distance. Because you have a high level of understanding of preservation issues, you are able to turn on a light that a positive owner can use to guide them. With the blessing of the Internet, we are able to spread the word globally about an example of preservation...anywhere. I will look for funds for Malcolm House, even if the focus is SAB. It's critically necessary to document every process, every conversation, every detail. So if we can help Lucea (?) we will indirectly be helping SAB. But could you possibly get the Malcolm House owner to drive in a couple tiny nails to that portico feature? It would grease the wheel for getting grant money later. Do you have this man's phone number of email address? All you need is a ladder, a hammer and two nails. I'm sure he hasn't thought that such a simple measure is important. This false understanding is ABSOLUTELY FATAL to preservation. The littlest positive thing matters.

JAMAICA IS AFRICA

Trevor Burrowes I ratcheted up what I understood of the relationships we're dealing with globally. If we are free (or relatively free) to chart our own course, we are free to designate Jamaica as an African nation within a provisional African unity. As an African nation equal to any other, we would be as entitled as any other to set the rules for that unity. If we can therefore set an example of African independence, then other African nations are free to join us. In this way, as Jamaica goes, so goes whatever we term "Africa." I'm sure we can do better with independence if we work at it. And that means all of us.

RICHMOND HILL

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200177637994519&set=a.2906440710954&type=3&theater

ANGLOPHONE AFRICA

China has seen significantly set back, although they're stumbling to rise again with their nefarious intentions and awesome power to hurt. My very very passionate concern is "the US-UK bloc". I am trying to position Jamaica (an English speaking UK Commonwealth nation) simultaneously within the the US-UK bloc in a strategic and intelligent way, as well as in (primarily) the Anglophone African continent. It isn't the original reason for my interest (pronounced since the 60's) to preserve British colonial architecture in Jamaica, but that would restrain China's drive to remove this heritage and leave us even more psychically damaged, and dependent on them. We are an anglophone African people with a British colonial heritage. That's ground zero. If we're lucky, we have centuries to go on from there. But we mustn't lose more territory to foreign investors or for foreign-owned villas or hotels. What I see the need for is radical, radical conservation and preservation, requiring absolutely no demolition of anything. New development must, among other things, focus on the poor, and be unobtrusive, and must fit in with the old and the natural. This focus provides a great deal of industry that, together with food production and fishing, should keep Jamaica on the straight and narrow for the foreseeable future. The US-UK bloc must help us in this endeavor, and if they fail to do so, they could very well face the future you predict.



I'm afraid I won't be up for more panelist work. I had higher expectations from the group--finally, people who talk to each other, keep the thread going, and one would have hoped, actually DO something. So I've been proven again to be just a dreamer, like my teachers at Knox always labeled me. Barking up the wrong tree once again. Send in the clowns! Beyond that, Aduku's version of reality is too different from mine to warrant further discussion. It's tantamount to taking a person's entire hard fought life lessons and throwing them down the toilet. No thanks.

ROD

Trevor,

I appreciate your zeal to preserve the scenic quality of hwy 14. 

Even your comments about the new art installation at Bates Wilson’s place seemed unjustified, as if you just like to complain about things for the sake of complaint (that was my impression).

Why does wanting the public to access nature that isn't unnecessarily dotted with the human presence complaining?

 I’m sure you have your reasons (of which I’ve read and considered), but I’m having trouble sinking my teeth into them as they seem trivial to me. 

need for sacred places

need for a respite from human presence 

economy

rural as opposed to suburban is the purpose for the scenic byway

Above you say, “ land development is the fundamental force driving climate change”

But in actuality, it’s overpopulation that is the root cause.

But do have proof that you are right and I am wrong?    

People are breeding like bunnies without any consideration of the long term effects of climate change and resource management.

While this could be true, does it make my claim untrue. People could be breeding like bunnies, etc. at the same time that development remains the fundamental cause of climate change. 

One theory is that the suburban development that is enabling more room and more privacy is the vehicle for the development of nuclear families. Otherwise, you have more people living in tight spaces or with parents, thus inhibiting marriage and procreation. That could be one of many reasons, among various places, for high birth rate. In Third World places that have poor governance or social safety nets, people breed to ensure that surviving children are there to help them in old age. 

THAT needs all the attention, but no one wants to talk about that. In fact, culturally, it’s taboo. 

In fact, people have been talking about it for a long time. Paul Erlich, famously, since the 60's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb

In a different way, Al Bartlett addresses the subject. As far as I know, Bartlett makes more of a mathematical case than a polemical one. Not sure. I've watched a video here and there and seen some blog posts on him.
 https://www.albartlett.org/   

Additionally, you quote zoning laws to justify your stance against Louis’ project. But we have to consider that the zoning laws put into place never considered a housing crisis. Those zoning laws need to change in order to provide housing for the people in our community. 

I have a long history of advocating for housing that zoning enabled and could have effected but for stupidity and greed of decision makers and developers (who turn out, de facto, to be the major decision makers).

I’m not a fan of what Louis is doing there. I even asked him if he would be willing to consider building those units for affordable housing, but he was firmly against it (and for some good reasons). It is my opinion that his units there will not in any way junk up the town or ruin anyone’s experience in nature as they pass by. 

There are some of us--a minority opposed by a very easily manipulated and uninformed "majority" IMO--whose experience of nature it would ruin. At an MLA meeting where French sought support a couple years ago, the nays and yeahs were nearly split down the middle. 

I’m sorry, but I just can’t get behind you in preventing his project. I have affordable housing to build in order to provide those pushed out by gentrification to be able to stay in the town they love and where they are loved. 

As you say yourself, French doesn't share your anti gentrification views, but I do. Only, as I've said, there's more than one way to address gentrification, in the way that we can walk and chew gum simultaneously. 

Hope you can see where I’m coming from...

I do (while I think you so far don't see where *I'm* coming from). :-)

Cheers,

Rodney

On Mar 22, 2020, at 5:39 AM, e. <trevoroche@aol.com> wrote:



Hi Rod,

Your name flashed up on my computer screen yesterday, but when I looked for a message, I found none. If you didn't send a message yesterday, no problem. My article below portends to the north end of town. I'm trying to get clear the lay of the land at the south end. Cheers.

 MADRID, LAND USE, CLIMATE CHANGE, VIEWS, THE COLLECTIVE, AND THE TURQUOISE TRAIL

By Trevor Burrowes

At the northern edge of Madrid, there's a parcel of land on a hillside, with two small sheds at the bottom.  It is a county-zoned lot, so is not subject to the guidelines governing Madrid's zoning plan. County rural zoning only allows one main house and one smaller second unit for every 40 acres of land or less. This parcel of land is only three acres big, and so a previous claim by the owner that it was a "hardship" not to have the right to instal five small houses (in addition to a larger main house) on the property was a stretch. If the zoning allows one house per 40 acres, how do you justify six houses per three acres? 

The owner is talented, and has tasteful and relevant ideas for building design in the context of an old mining town. For that and other reasons the proposed buildings would function as a de facto extension of the planning area of the village of Madrid. But is a de facto extension of Madrid northwards in the best interest of the village or of the Turquoise Trail? That, however, is less of a legal than a philosophical issue at this point. Many issues surrounding an outcome would include water, tourism, planning, sense of place, safety, etc.. (Safety is one of the most pressing: the land is located on a curvy stretch that has recently seen one fatal accident). And those are issue Madrid should be discussing among its citizens. Are we to lose our surprise village where you turn a corner on the high desert highway, and come up on a tiny stretch of shangri-la?

THE TURQUOISE TRAIL

SCENIC CHARACTER: A scenic route is more about land than buildings. Scenic views are being continually lost, through-traffic doubles and triples, an unnecessary highway interchange gets built without a word of public concern. Large government facilities creep down from the city, light pollution escalates. Development's storm drains, roads, septic systems, paving, increased industrial stuff take fossil fuels to mine, manufacture, transport and install. The system of growth through building runs exclusively on fossil fuels. That appears to be widely overlooked. 

UNRECOGNISED CLIMATE DRIVERS

The situation is bleak. People who should know better use their voices for spreading falsehoods about climate drivers that keep the public distracted.

Getting rid of regional grassland--to facilitate development in our case-- is said to release as much carbon into the atmosphere as clearing an equal amount of forest. None of our human caused global warming was independent of buildings on the land, even if they merely generated chainsaws or bulldozers to cut down forests and dig up grassland. But building goes on as though it could have no possible adverse consequences.

Land development is the main driver for our economic system. Economic growth depends on land development. Economic growth must continue forever (to avoid collapse), so land development must continue forever. But infinite land development on a finite planet is impossible. It seems reasonable to conclude that land development is the fundamental force driving climate change, and that blaming the latter exclusively on fossil fuels abuse is blaming only a symptom of basically flawed ideas of civilization and the planning supporting it.

THE DOT AND GROWTH

A powerful ally of progress is the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which constructs and manages state highways such as ours. Since the religion of growth pervades all academic institutions, DOT officials are apparently trained to foster growth. Growth, as I said, means development. Since the DOT has done everything in its power to facilitate growth through its program for 14, it's no surprise that two southern counties adjoining Highway 14 have plans to build in excess of 50 thousand units of housing each. Why is it so hard to see that were these development to go through, that would put thousands more commuters on our roads than at present, and that this could only be considered due to DOT policy? 

RECOMMENDATIONS

The lot at the north end of Madrid can be an example for planning and development along the Madrid to SF stretch of the Turquoise Trail. When Madrid comes together over a cause, it is a very powerful force. A successful campaign to stave off gravel mining at La Bajada Mesa was run by a Madrid local. Another local was successful in stopping dangerous through traffic by gravel and cement trucks. If Madrid comes together over that north end lot, it will make a decisive difference to the planning and design elsewhere along the highway. Those who care about the visionary solution to the lot will set the direction for the landscape of the entire region. The following are mechanisms for ensuring a win/win solution to the north lot. Some of these are within the current planning programs for the county: 

LAND SWAPS: The county already permits land swaps, and many swaps have been made within county. County staff surely know how to do them. In Madrid there is land owned by organizations and individuals that could be used for land swaps, allowing the owner of the north lot to build legally, and less destructively, elsewhere. 

TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS (TDR): A TDR can protect open space on a lot by selling the right to develop it to developer entities elsewhere. To my mind, it isn't as intuitive as a land swap, so I would need a meeting with county planning staff to iron it out. But TDR's are in common use all over the country. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transferable_development_rights

WHY ARE VIEWS IMPORTANT?

If we needed to stop the march of climate changing effects, it's reasonable to suggest that a viewshed left the way it is confers a measure of protection against the growth of warming indicators. The views the way they are will have a measurable area of continuous landscape functioning as a carbon sink while being aligned with heat island protection, wildlife corridors, checks on urbanization, etc. It stacks a combination of benefits ranging between the spiritual, economic and ecological. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Small, hidden housing behind buildings that are now visible, using existing roads, could supply additional income for property owners, and affordable low income housing. (Market housing might best be located in Santa Fe City through land swap and TDR mechanisms.) Such housing could reinforce cost saving and ecological objectives along 14.

PRIORITIES ABOVE CLIMATE CHANGE

It isn't climate change that could take us down first; it is more likely to be pandemics that disrupt our just-in-time, globally networked economic system, where the pandemic combines with disruption, deprivation, panic to bring our system down. Climate change is working at a slower pace, and we could have time to alter our system such as to stop exacerbating climate change and becoming more resilient to it. Protecting viewsheds through more thoughtful and selective development that can ensue from the north lot development issue would be one means toward that end.

RERFERENCES

https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/building-permits-an-indicator-of-growth/article_128ed7ff-65ac-5f2c-9284-5587f6d81d5d.html

We need grid "inertia," I'm hearing. Renewables would seem to offer potential refinements to make the existing grid work in less harmful ways. It then would be the icing on the energy cake, not the cake itself.

Grid inertia: why it matters in a renewable world Oct. 2019 Renewable Energy World