What Can Individuals Do?
Understanding of causality
If we live just for our own satisfaction and flawed perception of happiness, we will have little reason to make the sacrifices that we must make for humanity and all beings to allow them to survive in the future. Our only concern will be for “me” and “mine,” meaning our immediate family and close friends. As resources become increasingly scarce, and thus increasingly costly, we will become even more self-centered and selfish. The more the fear sets in, the more self-centered will we become. Unless our depth of understanding is profound and deep-rooted, we will be overcome by our fear and we will fight to survive, at any cost.
Those who truly understand causality know the importance of every thought, word, and action. Our every decision will have consequences. Whenever we take more than our fair share, we are taking from another being. The suffering we cause others will come back to us.
We will pay the terrible cost for our indulgence.
As George Monbiot wrote in Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning , “…the connection between cause and effect seems so improbable. By turning on the lights, filling the kettle, taking the children to school, driving to the shops, we are condemning people to death. We never choose to do this. We do not see ourselves as killers. We perform these acts without passion or intent.” [1]
Behavior Change
Our parents worked very hard with the hope that our lives would be better than theirs. For many of us, our lives would appear better because we have more “stuff” and enjoy a broader range of experiences. But it is not enough for us. We are locked into behavior we seem unable to change. It is as if we are wearing blinders as we forge ahead determined to have one last final orgy of self-indulgence.
We have grown so used to our comforts that the thought of having to wash our clothes by hand, of walking more, of growing and then cooking—from scratch!—our own food seems like a return to the dark ages. Our expectations have far outrun the ability of our finite planet’s resources to supply but we seem unwilling or unable to adjust to this reality.
The truth is that we have unthinkingly made many wasteful decisions regarding electricity production, transportation, and housing. George Monbiot calculated that the developed world needs to cut carbon emissions by 90 percent. Using the United Kingdom as an example, he shows how this is not impossible. Not knowing whether we will be able to make a difference by cutting back, we still need to try.
Changing Perceptions
“[M]uch of what is required…is simply coming to terms with the notion that a radical change in your way of life is not the same thing as the end of the world. I think many people tend to associate the two—we have always been wealthy and comfortable and lucky here in the west, and the loss of some or all of those things seems like a disaster of unimaginable proportions. But it doesn’t have to be—that’s a way of thinking we can choose to discard, recognizing that those who live less comfortable lives often value them equally.” [2]
Relocalization
In the United States, food travels an average of 1500 miles to reach the consumer. On average, supermarkets keep only a three-day supply of food in stock. Small, locally owned stores have gone out of business, unable to compete with the Walmarts of the world. With globalization, manufacturing jobs have left the developed countries and gone overseas where labor is cheap, often because workers do not receive health or other benefits. In many countries, small farmers have gone out of business, unable to compete with government-subsidized agribusiness.
As energy prices continue to climb, the distribution of food over long distances will break down. There will be no guarantee that when we go to the supermarket there will be enough food for everyone. The solution is relocalization. Not only is it an economic solution, this is also a lifestyle solution. Agribusiness may be good for the companies but it is not good for consumers. Food transported 1500 miles loses much of its nutrition. But food that was picked yesterday and bought today at the local farmer’s market is nutritious and so much better tasting. Organically grown and sustainably raised, it is good for the consumer, the farmer, and the environment.
Energy also needs to be provided on a local basis. Moving energy over long distances requires many resources. Peak energy means we will have much less access to the fuels we thought would last forever, or at least as long as we want them. But as resources dwindle, we will need to focus our lives much closer to home. Soon, our personal sphere of existence will be very small if we are to combat global warming by reducing carbon emissions. The fleeting concept of the global village will become a memory as our new priority becomes energy conservation. Long-range travel and cheap energy will soon be a thing of the past.
The upside is that we will build community as we get to know our neighbors, do business with local people, and grow much of our own food to provide food security. We only have to think back to the images of the people in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina to know that we need to depend on ourselves and our community.
[1] Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning , George Monbiot, pg. 22
[2] “Casaubon’s Book”, Sharon Astyk, March 22