The Story of Stuff

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Reviewing Monetary System Post.

We were reviewing some of the posts a few days ago. This is a continuation of that review.

Here is a song by Ryan Harvey to enjoy while you read this post
Click here to play the song.


Understanding our Monetary System, demonstrated how the whole financial system is a rigged game with those at the top in control of the strings. Most people see no choice but to engage in this game despite the unbalanced playing field. However one can minimize their reliance on the established overwhelming control of the monetary system by following several methods.

Most of us grew up in the age of mass media. We have been conditioned, since we were children setting in front of Saturday Morning Cartoons ( for younger ones 24 hr cartoon networks ), to respond to advertising. Large Corporations have spent billions on research and campaigns figuring out what motivates us to make that purchase. Today's commercial usually has little to do with the product, or if you need it. It's all about image and subtle psychological cues that are proven to make us feel that we need that product.

The first thing we need to do to stop being pawns in the big money game is to regain our free agency and stop making impulsive buying decisions based on psychological manipulation. Most of us are unaware what is truly motivating us when we make a purchase. This is easier said than done.

First, don't buy anything unless you have weighed and considered it thoroughly. Don't try to stop your addiction to products all at once, but try to change where and how you buy products at a reasonable rate that doesn't cause you distress. An example would be to move from high priced, carbonated, brand name, beverages to tea or water. Then to move to a brand of tea that is organically grown and produced by a small coop, or grower, or wild harvester. Check and make sure all the products you buy are responsibly produced and that you are not contributing to sweat shops, unfair trade practices, or environmental degradation.

Then set yourself up to grow and produce your own tea. Most of the people forget that all the raw resources for the products we consume come from our planet. You can often produce it yourself, or at least find the small responsible producer or cooperative who has a hard time competing with corporate giants and literally help change the balance in their favor.

Continue to educate yourself on advertising tactics and corporate trade practices. I will try to do my part to help with that by linking to good information on the internet.

Stay away from borrowed capital, especially credit card companies. I did away with my credit cards long ago. The interest and fees on those things having risen to rates that were illegal and considered loan sharking just a few decades ago. They are designed to trap you into a cycle of never-ending lifetime payments.

We have all been conditioned to believe that things and objects will bring us fulfillment and happiness. If i could just have that next new shiny thing life will be so much better. In fact if you set back, relax, and try to remember the happiest times of your life they usually have little to do with things, and more to do with sharing time with loved ones and enjoying natural surroundings.

Simplify, get rid of all those things you thought you needed. You will be surprised how much more peace of mind you have not having to worry if someone is going to break, or steal, that gold plated whatyamacallit.

My posts Peace Pilgrim and Moneyless in the 21st Century profile individuals who have made or are making fine examples of how to minimize involvement in the monetary system. Most of us, myself included, aren't prepared to go to these extremes. That may be due to a lot of fear and conditioning we have accumulated. We can however simplify our life by refining and reducing our consumptive tendencies.

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A Van-Dweller at Duke

Photo by Ken Ilgunas

Ken Ilgunas lives in 15,000 dollar Ford Econoline Van at Duke University.

'Living on the cheap wasn't merely a way to save money and stave off debt; I wanted to live adventurously. I wanted to test my limits. I wanted to find the line between my wants and my needs. I wanted, as Thoreau put it, "to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life … to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms."'
http://www.salon.com/news/pinched/2009/12/06/living_in_a_van?source=newsletter

Very good read. You'll have to close the popup add that opens before you can enjoy his well written story.

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Preparing for Climate Change

"On the 'top' is a photograph of Muir Glacier taken on August 13, 1941, by glaciologist William O. Field; on the 'bottom', a photograph taken from the same vantage on August 31, 2004, by geologist Bruce F. Molnia of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

According to Molnia, between 1941 and 2004 the glacier retreated more than twelve kilometers (seven miles) and thinned by more than 800 meters (875 yards).

Ocean water has filled the valley, replacing the ice of Muir Glacier; the end of the glacier has retreated out of the field of view. The glacier’s absence reveals scars where glacier ice once scraped high up against the hillside. In 2004, trees and shrubs grow thickly in the foreground, where in 1941 there was only bare rock."
http://nsidc.org/data/glacier_photo/special_high_res_muir.html

Climate change can best be understood as increased energy in the earth's overall atmosphere. While this means warming in the overall planet average many places may actually experience temperature drops due to the complex nature of global weather patterns. Climate change will disrupt rainfall amounts, ocean currents, air flow patterns and more. It can be hard to predict the change on a local geographic region due to the many factors involved.

Overall, storm frequency and intensity will increase. Plant growing zones will fluctuate. Insects and diseases spread by them will migrate. Environmental constraints on invasive species will be changed. All of these phenomena have all ready taken place to some degree and will increase as climate change increases.

Preserving and stocking food is an important precaution, even when one is not facing global change it is prudent to be prepared in this area. Food self production and independence could become an important factor in ones survival. Understanding and identification of changes in local flora and fauna will become a more valuable skill. Water caching and collection are important topics to understand. Storm shelters will become more important. Flooding and mudslides require a more careful selection and knowledge of local terrain. Changing one's lifestyle to require fewer things, and to produce more of the things one needs, is beneficial not only to one's personal survival but, as more people adopt this outlook, to the survival of the planet.

Most of these precautions, although mentioned briefly here, have been or will be covered in more detail in the posts of this blog. A good way to get ahead of the curve is to educate oneself on the effects and consequences of climate change. A web search will provide a plethora of information on the subject. A good place to start to find regional, as well as global, information is from the two links provided below.

"The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change is the leading body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences."
http://www.ipcc.ch/organization/organization.htm

"The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The USGCRP began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606), which called for "a comprehensive and integrated United States research program which will assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change."
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/download-the-report

Have a good blog action day.
Official Google Blog: A green tour of the Google campus

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Moneyless in the 21st century

"In such a soil grew Homer and Confucius and the
rest, and out of such a wilderness comes the Reformer eating
locusts and wild honey."
Walking by Henry David Thoreau

"Night falls, the stars wink, and after an hour, Suelo tramps up the cliff, mimicking a raven's call—his salutation—a guttural, high-pitched caw. He's lanky and tan; yesterday he rebuilt the entrance to his cave, hauling huge rocks to make a staircase. His hands are black with dirt, and his hair, which is going gray, looks like a bird's nest, full of dust and twigs from scrambling in the underbrush on the canyon floor. Grinning, he presents the booty from one of his weekly rituals, scavenging on the streets of Moab: a wool hat and gloves, a winter jacket, and a white nylon belt, still wrapped in plastic, along with Carhartt pants and sandals, which he's wearing. He's also scrounged cans of tuna and turkey Spam and a honeycomb candle. All in all, a nice haul from the waste product of America"

"Soon smoke billows into the night and the cave is warm. I think of how John the Baptist survived on honey and locusts in the desert. Suelo, who keeps a copy of the Bible for bedtime reading, is satisfied with a few grasshoppers fried in his skillet."

http://men.style.com/details/features/full?id=content_9817&

Suelo is a 21st century philosopher. He has lived without money since 2000. He is 48 yrs. old and usually can be found in the summer months living in a cave in Utah.
Listen to the following BBC interview with Suelo.




There is a short documentary on Suelo at one of his friends sites. Just click on the link Documentary under "Moneyless In Moab (2006)"
http://www.everythingahead.com/watch.html


You can find Suelo's web site here.
http://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/
Be sure to read his FAQ's

Suelo's blog:
http://www.zerocurrency.blogspot.com/

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Understanding Our Monetary System

The Money Masters - How International Bankers Gained Control of America



This is a 3 hr. 35 min. documentary. I can't say I agree with all the political views presented in the video. It is, however, very educational and enlightening. This piece needs to be viewed by every citizen to help them make informed decisions.
After you watch the documentary come back here and continue below.


Did you think that was a fact rich, highly informative documentary? The information can be somewhat overwhelming. To help counter balance that info and help maintain that all important positive outlook one should watch the following short video.

Mali: Gift Economy



Check out their website at:
http://otherworldsarepossible.org/

For brax's response to this post see. brax peace: Reviewing Monetary System Post

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Foraging or The Earth Provides pt. 3

Photo Public Domain wikiCommons

Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of small, inconspicuous plants commonly called plantains. They share this name with the very dissimilar plantain, a kind of banana. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 cm (23.5 in) tall. The leaves are sessile, but have a narrow part near the stem which is a pseudo-petiole. They have three or five parallel veins that diverge in the wider part of the leaf. Leaves are broad or narrow, depending on the species. The inflorescences are borne on stalks typically 5-40 cm (2.25-15.75 in) tall, and can be a short cone or a long spike, with numerous tiny wind-pollinated flowers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago

Plantains ( Plantago major) often are found in lawns and lots. It is an inconspicuous plant that is often overlooked. The leaves can be eaten raw.

Photo by Martin LaBar on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlabar/314786264/

"In some human cultures, acorns once constituted a dietary staple, though they are now generally considered a minor food with the exception of Native American and Korean cultures. In Korean culture in particular, dotorimuk, acorn jelly, and dotori gooksoo, acorn noodles, are eaten by some on a daily basis."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn

Acorns must be dried, then soaked in water, replacing the water several times, to remove bitter taste. It can then be ground dried and used in place of conventional flour.

"I bring all the acorns home from collecting, and dry them in the oven at pilot light temperatures or very low heat. This is just to dry them and kill off bugs.

When I get around to it, I crack the shells off, and then I soak the shelled acorns in water. Generally, I soak the acorns for a few days to about two weeks, changing the water at least twice a day. When the acorns are no longer bitter, I grind them while wet through a meat grinder.

The coarse meal is then placed in cookie pans to dry in the sun or oven. When dry, I store in large jars in the cupboard. The meal is then used in place of wheat flour in recipes, or half and half in various recipes."
http://www.self-reliance.net/acorn.html

Photo from Mgmax on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgmax/2757555007/

Lambsquarter ( Chenopodium berlandieri ) is common in many areas from urban to countryside. It is also known as goosefoot, or pigweed. It is one of the more mild tasting edibles and is good eaten raw. Many people use it in place of spinach.

"Lambsquarters is a close cousin to spinach, but far, far more nutritious. It ranks right up there with Dandelion, Watercress and Nettles as one of nature’s nutritional powerhouses. It has a mild, green flavor like our domestic greens. In fact it is a relative of Swiss chard, beets and a few exotic garden greens like orach, all in the Chenopodium family."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambsquarter

Here's a short video from Shyguyx12 showing several edibles.

Urban Farms or Survival in the City

One of the easiest ways to reduce your cost of living is to start producing the things you consider necessities yourself. Even in urban settings there are things that can be done to reduce ones reliance on the system. From growing your own vegetables and spices, soap making, beer brewing, sewing, to making your own fuel for your transportation, many things you pay cash for can be made at home.


Here is an example, from ABC's Nightline, being set by a suburban family, the Dervaes, in Pasadena CA.





Check out the Dervaes website on urban homesteading. It has lots of tips and ideas for those on the road to self sufficiency.


Urban homesteading is not new, it was, in the early part of the twentieth century, the norm rather than the exception. As a youngster in the early 70's I sat at a table where everything on the table came from the yard that was in the city limits on less than a quarter acre of land. There was a shed with a stall for the milk cow and rabbit hutches and a chicken coup on the northwest corner of the lot. The southwest corner of the lot contained the house and a small front yard with a couple fruit trees. The eastern side of the lot was all garden with all the vegetables and spices that were familiar to a Midwestern boy, and a few that weren't.


First, through ordinances designed to "improve" community life, legislation forced removal of the milk cow, later the chickens had to go. By the 80's the city had remade the community into a place that required a greater reliance on processed foods, most times transported hundreds if not thousands of miles. Many cities have successfully propagandized it's citizenry to the point that should one get a couple chickens, or want a milk cow, there are immediately complaint calls from concerned neighbors to the proper authorities.


During the great depression many families helped feed themselves and made few extra dollars by selling eggs, milk, and fresh vegetables from these urban farms. The current economic crises doesn't offer many that option due to rigid zoning laws and their enforcement. It is, however, a good time to try to counter these ridiculous infringements on personal freedom and the rights of self sustenance. Economic hardship, combined with the growing public awareness of environmental impacts and the green movement make this a good time to reverse some of this community legislation.



There are urban farms spring up like mad all across the country some are facing these bureaucratic obstacles head on. Check out:

Bad Seed Farm in Kansas City Brings Urban Farming to the Next Level

Nature boy, eden ahbez

eden or ahbe as he was known to his friends, played the piano at the Eutropheon in the early 1940s. The Eurtopheon was small health food store and raw food restaurant on Laurel Canyon Blvd. The owners of the Eutropheon were John and Vera Richter. The Richters were followers and promoters of a German philosophy, Wandervogel, who's adherants wore long hair and beards. They also ate only raw fruits and vegetables. The followers of the Richter's became known as nature boys.

Eden said that he had crossed the country from New York to California 8 times on foot. Eden married Anna Jacobsen. They had a son. The family slept out under the stars, spending many nights in Griffith Park.


Sometime in 1947 eden handed the music and lyrics for a song he had written, Nature Boy, to Nat Coles manager. Nat performed the song live and the reception prompted him to record the song. Eden had to be located to close the deal. Eden was finally located living under the first L in the Hollywood sign in the Hollywood hills.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return"

eden ahbez    Nature Boy

eden on racism

"Some white people Hate black people,
and some white people Love black people,
Some black people Hate white people,
and some black people Love white people.
So you see it's not an issue of black and white,
it's an issue of Lovers and Haters."`
eden ahbez
http://www.shadowboxstudio.com/edenahbez.htm

Anna, eden's wife died in 1963. Eden spent much of his later years living alone in a van. Here is a very interesting phone message he left his friend with a picture montage.

Slab City or The Slabs

Photo by ig9d9 http://www.flickr.com/photos/franz_ellers/3289453270/

Every year when the leaves loose their grip in the northern deciduous forests, and the cold wind starts sucking the green from the meadows and grasslands of the northern latitudes, a place in the southern California desert, just across the border from Arizona, begins to receive travelers. Slab City is an abandoned military base just outside of Niland, California by the Salton Sea. The military razed the buildings but left the roads and the slabs that once supported the structures.

About November the population swells from a sparse few full-timers to a few thousand residents. The year round residents number less than and hundred and are considered hardcore, as it can and does reach 120 F in the summer, . There is no electric service at the slabs, save solar panels and generators. No water service except tanks and jugs, many of these filled at a gas station or grocery store in Niland.

The place is littered with burnt out campers and bus shells from previous residents. Many people describe it as an apocalyptic scene. Despite this first impression it makes on city dwellers whose sensibilities have been entrained to the frequency and order of manicured lawns, the inhabitants of this community have a depth of connection that likely exceeds most of those more refined neighborhoods. Much time is spent conversing around campfires under the stars.

The Range is an open air stage, with lights and sound system, a hodge podge of bus seats, car seats, old couches and benches for the audience, where the locals entertain each other. The slabs also has a church, and several clubs.

A good video on YouTube called Slab City-USA.

Blog post on Slab City : Mad Max Meets Good Sam at The Slabs.

Desert Dutch has a great page on Slab City at http://www.desertdutch.org/

A page or two from the Slab City Christian Center

A recourse on Slab City would not be complete with mentioning Salvation Mountain and one of the slabs more endearing residents Leonard Knight. Salvation Mountain is Leonard's testament and tribute to his love for Jesus and his fellow humans. There are quite a few YouTube videos on Leonard and his mountain. Here is one.

Blog introduction

It is possible to live a happy healthy life without a mortgage or rent payments. Many today are, not just resorting to, but embracing alternative living arrangements that offers freedom from traditional shelter costs. Theses include but are not limited to tiny houses, cabins, RVs, Communal living arrangements, tepees, yurts, and tents.

Some of these involve a nomadic lifestyle that may not be for everyone, but certain individuals find a sense of freedom that they wouldn't give up for a million dollar mansion. We'll be looking at some of these people, their lifestyles, and their shelters.

We'll also look at lifestyles, and individuals living them, that might be categorized as homesteading or off grid living. There are people living in small cabins built without loans or mortgages and living well off the bounties of nature. Shelters made from natural materials from the surrounding terrain, caves, or scavenged materials and combinations of these methods will be included.

In today's commercial world many people forget that the earth is what supplies our needs. We will look at food. Cheaper ways of feeding ourselves a better diet. Methods of stockpiling foods. Foods that can be stored for long periods without spoilage, and the techniques used to preserve it.

The blog will discuss ways to incorporate some of these changes into your current living situation, or offer advice for those making radical changes by choice or necessity.

Lets begin by looking at an essay that offers great advice on enjoying a simpler life.

Walking
by Henry David Thoreau