Future Anxiety: Become Survivalist, Or Write My Novel While the Lights Are Still On?

[tyellas]

rednikki had this thoughtful post about peak oil. Here are my thoughts about potential future resource crises.

There is a lot of future anxiety floating around lately. Peak oil and climate change - we're talking about them directly, yes. But I see anxiety between the lines, in the seams and cupcake liners, in lots of other places, too.
* Avoiding scientific reality through creationism.
* Fashion that is either romantically retro or painfully futuristic, as if catapulting us into the future right now is a promise that there will still be resources when it arrives.
* Turning towards small-scale craft, almost inevitably with purchased material, as a way to gain some empowerment and meaning.
* The contradictions of enjoying gourmet food while it's still available (will images like this be the porn of the future?) even while trying to adopt a zig-zagging locavorism. We can't eat that, it came from too far away, it's bad! What's that? The local version results in three times as much carbon dioxide? We can't eat that either!

New Zealand does not see itself as a refuge from these troubles. We are still highly productive, agriculturally; our climate will remain livable after global warming. Yet we still imagine taking a hit due to peak oil, rising food costs, and general fears about the future. Still, here, I am, theoretically, better equipped to anticipate a difficult future than many.

Despite this, when contemplating the future, my ignorance looms like a vast cloud. Things could go in so many directions. I fear the worst, yet I can't help but hope, even as this adds the fear that I am unrealistic. I wish I knew what might happen, or what I might do if things get "bad". What is this "bad"? Being crabby and housebound for days on end? Food and gas lines? Food and gas riots? Never eating chocolate again? Never going on an airplane? I feel the fragility of my social privileges as a woman and a feminist, of my social networks because I'm single. And I'm wary. Because if things do get "bad", we need to beware the seduction of someone, an authority, who says they know the answers, that they can give us what we need, if we just go along with them. Resource uncertanity will probably make fellow citizens - the kind of people who vote for George Bush twice - receptive to this.

If the worst is coming - when the worst hits - I'm going to be old. Not young. I'm going to be at least middle-aged, if not an old woman. I'll feel the cold in my bones; I'll need glasses yet again; I'll probably have arthritis. Unless I train like an athlete, I'm not going to be at a peak of strength, even if I'm reasonably healthy.

This is not a death knell. If I had the choice between lots of 35-year-olds that I know* and my 72-year-old Greek stepfather as a crisis companion, I'll take the 72-year-old. He knows how to shoot, forages wild food, and is a skilled home butcher. He has two advantages that we can all cultivate: he's tough, and he knows useful things. But my days are not without their limits, and my experiences learning to sew and pickle have showed me that these desirable skills take practice. Do I spend my time and energy to learn things that would help me in this theoretical future, or do I turn towards my artistic and aesthetic goals? Would I feel sorry, and gnash my teeth over wasted opportunities, if instead of writing a novel I buried myself in a Kapiti valley focusing on natural antibacterial soap from local resources...and the world turned out OK?

I would like to see people relax about "locavore-ism" and think more about what they're eating overall, and not wasting food. I would like to see more people trying more vegetables, especially cold-weather-friendly ones, eating more vegetarian meals, and eating cuts of meat that aren't boneless prime. When was the last time you ate a home-made stew? Or ate cabbage, kale, or chard? Think about the children you know: would they eat these things? Or not?

This year, I am going to take small steps. Please don't suggest any of these to me in the comments unless you also post a photo of the kale, cabbage, or chard you are going to eat. The media right now is full of these suggestions; you have probably received them yourself; and too much advice, however well-meaning, is annoying. However, feel free to empower us all by sharing what you're actually doing, yourself. At La Casucha de Tyellas: insulation improved? Check. Lightbulbs replaced? Check. Lights off and appliances off at socket when not in use? Check. Using car less? Check. Buying less stuff? Check. Home heating from a renewable source? Check. Growing some food, and learning how to get better at it? Check. I'm even going to eat this chard from my garden tonight.


Since the future isn't here yet, I'll be cooking some boneless chicken breasts too.

* Granted, here in NZ, I know many capable 35-year-olds - I'm thinking specifically of lots of software programmers I've worked with.