122 comments on Relocalization: A Strategic Response to Climate Change and Peak Oil
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Sadly, I don't expect everyone, or every place to make it. The practical challenges are enormous.
But I'd rather spend my time doing the best I can in a place I think has some chance. So I don't dwell on these topics much. Morale busters.
Over the long term, human population, both in density and geography, will realign with biological productivity.
So Jason, do you see relocalization as an unfortunate necessity leading to a life of poverty and disease but the best we can do; or as a positive opportunity to create a better quality of life than we have today?
Honestly, depends upon my mood, the day.
I have traveled to many places where people are essentially bound by the constraints of a local ecology and culture. Sometimes these places appear bleak and depressing, but most of the time life is quite good. They tend to envy me and the "stuff" I have with me, while I envy their access to nature, their strong sense of self and community, and their skill sets.
I was raised in the suburbs and have had access to all the high energy, luxury, I could want. But I am doing fine just figuring out the local landscape and learning how to farm. The intellectual, physical and emotional rewards and challenges are great and give plenty of meaning to my life. But it isn't totally real yet. The global system is still in place and working for me when I turn to it. Really hard to imagine doing without it and absent a major catastrophe I don't expect it to go away over night.