I worked for a week manually preparing a lawn for my mum , was dead tired but my mind rehashed the book I was reading, among other things....most of the time though I don't work at all and take a minimal sum of money to live in a cheap country while looking after my kids and occasionally tending a huge garden and watching wondering about the world working itself to death for something they can continuously print more of... at least I contribute minimaly to the problem, I love non forced manual labor it's very Zen , you should try it someday, like making your own vegetarian cheesburgers I'm sure it'll seem all the tastier for not having used some underpaid soul to perpetuate the destructive fast food industry....
There's what's called stochocracy or as Wiki calls it Sortition , but I think it needs to take the whole population into account, depending on where you live.
and using a polling system where even 20% of yes to a proposal (be it local, regional or national) allows a limited trial to go ahead... as to the larger question as to why our political masters are out of touch..power corrupts, vested interests and economic predominance in a society based on printing money to pollute the planet and producing a processed lifestyle.. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition#:~:text=In%20gover....
I don't know where to add this question without it seeming off subject, but seeing as we're heading into spring, seeing Germany has quite a wealthy economy with a good QOL, that many if not most workers get 5 weeks of holiday, the chip shortage is leading to slowdowns in the automotive industry etc etc... why doesn't the government just go cold turkey, give people a month or 2 free holidays while drastically reducing public lighting, telling businesses to stop heating their premises at night etc ... I mean we had a dress rehearsal 2 years ago with the onset of Covid, this would be easier as people can still go outside it'd befor a good cause and probably give a boost to domestic spending .... also curious I heard a lot of gas is used to make fertiliser... of course it's over-simplification but maybe a lot of that fertiliser is used to grow grain, corn to feed the meat industry....so maybe eating fewer bratwurst would be a healthy, ecological and ethical step which would send a f...U to the rest of the world saying we too can think outside of the box :-)
I don't know where to add this question without it seeming off subject, but seeing as we're heading into spring, seeing Germany has quite a wealthy economy and QOL, that many if not most workers get 5 weeks of holiday, the chip shortage is leading to slowdowns in the automotive industry etc... why doesn't the government just go cold turkey, give people a month or 2 free holidays while drastically reducing public lighting, telling businesses to stop heating their premises at night etc etc... I mean we had a dress rehearsal 2 years ago with the onset of Covid, this would be better ,for a good cause, probably give a boost to domestic spending and send a f...U to the rest of the world saying we too can think outside of the box :-)
While I was there this winter, I saw huge new plantations of dates? or palm (oil)? in the western desert sucking up the underground aquifers....fields with cows grazing there... also they're probably growing wheat....doesn't look sustainable but what do I know about the politics of economic corruption.... bread is dirt cheap, it being a bit more expensive might lead them to improve their diet somewhat... I mean their dates are fabulous...
"There's zero evidence to believe that this will be the case"
Well I guess it depends on the regulatory framework, imo it's the constructor lobbies pushing such a narrative... in more developed societies where cheap labour isn't so available rental has become the norm...of course one could also argue that high real estate prices mean the rich and unscrupulous can hide and flip huge amounts of ill earnt gains... but it doesn't have to be so...
Are there housing cooperatives in the US?https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_cooperative
But in a way if the rental prices were to stay reasonable (say it was a non profit running the schtick) isn't a great way for as many people as possible to share a limited ressource? Maybe property is like golden handcuffs, nice but locks you down...again it's more a western thing as we in the east tend to buy cash down... Though I would like to see some company buying out the inner city ground floor space of some of the banks or insurances that ghostify my town and inject some fun rental people instead
Is there any chance someone could bet on the Swiss franc being undervalued to the extent it's central bank would have to accept a 1/1 parity with the euro... are there other similar cases of ("collusion") of individual entities that have outbet government policies to this or further extent?
I beg to differ, all people have a right to self determination...ideally on a local (village) level. I'd actually like people to question the meaning on countries and what they project with the never ending question of "where are you from" I come from a mixed background and look forward to where I'm going (which is much more interesting )
Countries imo are a colonialistic power grab by political elites who want to fill their pockets and freeload on the questionable idea of cultural identity (Slovakia...etc) not that it doesn't exist but it's often a bit racist or very local...
Anyway afaik Tibet was invaded...
I'd recommend the sauna as an alternative... I'm really interested in the homestead movement and one thing thats promoted is the rocket stove, I've often wondered how such a design might work out if you used it for cooking while using the residual heat for a hot "sauna" wall in the next room...
I'd just like to correct you, nowhere did I mention WFH... I actually meant 2 months "holiday" at the moment there is talk of work 4 days get paid 5... Besides it kind of happened during Covid..
There is a movement in France, called "decroissance" (less growth) and really we should be imagining it in terms of reduced energy consumption by all means and increased human value...
I could go on and on but one thing strikes me, ATM in Switzerland people are obligated to pay for health insurance, they have one of the lowest corporate tax rates, yet 400$/per month is usual... it just feeds the managers....(besides being what I spent in a month)
I agree with the main argument, I question the means to get a higher standard of living. ATM it seems like rather than sustaining people we're sustaining their management by and for corporations... it seems like multiple layers and huge inefficiencies to get that QOL you speak of... I mean after all isn't leisure the mother of philosophy ?
We treat time as something we don't have enough of...(not surprising as routines tend to contract the perception of time )
We treat humans as disposable, when they have more knowledge, experiences, social contacts the older they get...
We revere money more than empathy (moreso in Western Europe, some developed countries or among those "who have")
I'd suggest it's all a play by the politicians to remain in power, rather than let people decide (if they weren't working so much to sustain real-estate, rental, health care)
We need to replace them by choosing them at random... I believe the term is Stochocracy
Yeah I spent 2 months in Egypt, 400$ per month including flight and visa, that may seem extreme but it's very cheap. IMO if Europeans took advantage of cheap doctor and dentistry and fresher products while taking a couple of months off work (unpaid leave) it would also give a big economic and social impulse...
Besides learning arabic a language used by a big fraction of humanity including many Europeans was both enlightening and fun :-)
Couldn't we encourage people to take converted container ships to the middle east, ie Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco or South America to enjoy an enjoyable warm "winter" ? All that heavy "German" industry producing cars and other such stuff could take a break too... like during the initial Covid outbreak, skies would be clearer... Also how about using our shit producing plumbing system to provide a lot of biogas.... Adversity is the mother of invention... I'm just glad that so far it's been a warmish February... but I sure as hell wish this serves as an example for an enlightened future when we stop buying stuff from autocratic regimes like MBS and China to get them to change... but one can only dream that the geriatric leadership realises that it can save the planet from burning up and not give in to Putin (ironically his name means "little" in Romanian)
Curious, what you think these are? I am "European" and probably have such disagreements, it doesn't necessarily make me incompatible... diversity is great...I mean look at the advantages it's already brought (even if the f.. politicians enjoy "playing" with it) I'm personally for integration not assimilation ...
But are we not then taking the slippery slope of an infantilisation of society? surely we need to round the sharp edges, but eliminating danger, you do away with adaptability, reaction time, self responsibility, fun.... I rollerblade on the road, some people drive dangerously just because they don't like I'm not following the rules...
Also was just in Egypt, I highly enjoyed jaywalking there, less so being a car/minibus passenger , saw what looked like 6 year olds on motorcycles with their friends, kids driving cars, preteens at the helms of trucks...were there more accidents? maybe not, dunno, maybe the lack of alcohol is a reason... but ultimately I agree huge zones with no cars in cities, more space, cleaner air, less danger...
Probably anecdotal but I've noticed my kids when they were babies would noticeably calm down when I rumbled my voice in the deeper tones, maybe the cavemen of old cooing the kids in situations of danger attracted more attention in a matriarcal society?, or maybe the "beat box" quality of the lower tones just helped with music, dancing
Umm, what is the CO2 cost ? Oh I forgot, the world is burning up, but it's buisness as usual...
I do appreciate the discussion, though , it's justsad to see a lack of concern for real existential worries...
I dug it all by hand :-) :-) except for the inverted swastika and a small "pond on the extreme left part of the land...
I think the willows will have exacerbated the forms, but mostly I just laid down wood, grass, dug trenches and put the earth on them (a bit like hugelkultur) and slowly widened, deepened the trenches.. there's a river running paralell and I dug a wide trench paralel to this hoping to use the river to irrigate occasionally... it's very meditative "work" perfect for mulling a book over :-) :-) if you use the link provided by a poster below and go on streetview, you'll even be able to see I carved out the word UBUNTU :-) :-)
Wow that was fast, did you find it using "la blaisance" and the D949 as references? I should have scrubbed those :-) or did you use other more esoterical methods... could I ask you to kindly take down your link and let hackers be hackers? Cheers
Help in ...selling it as land art, the goal was to make a garden in the style of permaculture, pfaf.org , plants for a future is a good example of stuff I wanted to plant, it's transformed pasture land into an "ecotopia"... ultimately it was a productive use of my time as while digging it manually I processed a lot of reading material in my head and had a healthy lifestyle. I think creating such gardens could be a matrix for (young) people as you create ongoing wealth that can be increasingly harvested over the years (there are more than 10kinds of willow planted on it, raspberries, mint spreading more each year ...
I bought some land over 10 years ago, it's about 2 hectares, water runs through it and I wanted to make a garden, so I started digging, would sleep on site for a couple of weeks then return to civilization... eventually I planted it with fruit trees and comfrey and stuff and just left it to it's own devices... there's an inverted swastika like you see on some churches in india, an @, and a bunch of other motifs.. at one point I thought of selling it as land art, but no idea how to go about it... I'll give a cut to anyone who helps me though :-) :-)
https://imgz.org/iRe6wg3Z/https://imgz.org/i9UEvZca/https://imgz.org/i8zESSAw/
I travel freeloader style, ie as cheaply as possible, atm I'm on 10$ a day in Egypt for the last couple of months, half of which is spent on a place to sleep. I walk, hitch and pay for public transport out of big cities, or if possible travel 3rd class with the locals.
My point is that , learning the language, meeting the people, seeing their reality, enjoying the weather (while Europe is stuck in the cold) , feeling lucky because someone stops to give me a lift is a total mind fuck and I mean that in a good way...
The inherent chaos of roughing it and having time to contemplate the beautiful vistas with no one around , the Milky way, the generosity or animosity is a reality check which helps clear the cobwebs from the mind and sharpens critical thought....
I agree with one poster that people don't take enough time to travel, I personally would like to connect more with and help locals in my specialities (music, gardening) and hate what the tourist industry has done, is doing to the environment (cheap jobs for the locals, wasted ressources on "short term" infrastructure, huge amounts of waste and garbage)
I personally think that to combat climat change it would be great to see swathes of the poorer European population, chill out and/or travel(for 2-3 months)in the empty tourist resorts or villages of the southern hemisphere, thereby hitting several birds with one stone : having experiences which lead to increased sensitivity and hopefully more empathy , not needing to pay the high prices for heating their homes , having a well deserved holiday as part of the "proletariat", hopefully sharing and learning to be more "open minded"
I'm not sure of the math but unless we are very lucky and CO2 sucking or free energy fusion technology has a huge breakthrough, the world will, is, burning up and the best solution would be to get as many of those who can afford democratically to stop work to do so, thereby creating a net CO2 reduction (ie work and all the energy consumption work entails + transport and supermarket logistics+ heating and useless paper advertising weekly supermarket discounts (-) travel by boat and cheap living) in warm countries ... we saw this with the advent of covid....
On a side note, reading HN is the best , it downloads fast and caches for offline reading...also I just came across a wonderful book called "Dancing with mosquitoes" by Theo Grutter , totally recommend.
Come to a rainbow gathering :-) but seriously,try hitching, sleeping outside in your sleeping bag, traveling in "3rd world" countries.... learning spanish while hitching south America or visiting/helping in communities in NZ... maybe a change of direction, more manual, like gardening, helping, might help... on a cynical level , life is pointless , but like a Hollywood film occasionally there are poignant parts that make you glad you were there...
Hey I was driving those in the Swiss Army, 2dm's they were called and a lot of fun once you got the coordination right, it's over 30 years ago... here in egypt I've seen preteens driving such trucks which brings a thought and suggestion, why not come to less "developed" countries to do such things on your bucket list... though I'm sure even your government doesn't have ubiquitous oversight in your "outback" so probably no need to leave your "island" :-)
We could, biogas digestors are a thing :-); we do plumbing is a highly paid profession and people waste enormous amounts of ressources (think of all that water we waste!) to take a crap in "the right environment" even though imo "Turkish" toilets provide a better position for bowel evacuation...