AN INTERESTING FAMILY
While relaxing from the strain of designing a religion without any divine assistance, I bumped into an interesting Finnish family on the internet. They are relatively unique in their sustained effort to live a self-sufficient life.
I first made their acquaintance at https://www.notechmagazine.com/
which led me to an article about Lasse Nordlund,the father of the family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasse_Nordlund
That in turn, took me to a manifesto he wrote in 2008. http://www.ymparistojakehitys.fi/susopapers/Lasse_Nordlund_Foundations_of_Our_Life.pdf
The manner in which he deals summarily with the fundamental issues of contemporary world civilization impressed me greatly.
Here's a taste. I believe it was translated from the Finnish.
Contrary to common presumption, we did not manage to make energy collection
in primary production more efficient by the use of technology, or by a sophisticated division of labour. A tractor pulling a seven-bladed plough may look efficient, but it collects food energy a lot less efficiently than a person working by hand in a garden – when we take into account the energy and working time inputs more broadly than just for the individual farmer. To figure this out, we must assess how much energy it takes to collect primary energy indirectly, in a mechanized way. The results must be compared to the energy input that would have been necessary if we had collected the same amount of energy manually, using only simple tools.
Additional photos of the family can be seen here: https://phmuseum.com/thujanen/story/forest-family-e41091207e
I suppose one of the reasons I find his writing and their accomplishments so impressive is that they address a big question which will also be raised by LUCKISM®, the religion I am developing.
The question is whether "progress" has gone too far or moved in the wrong direction. That's the shortest way to say it. If "biotics" are "outsmarting" our antibiotics, if global warming is jeopardizing normal patterns of animal life, crops and habitations, if nuclear weapons are out of control, if humanoid corporations are subverting democracy, if artificial intelligence is making us obsolete and subservient, if we are hallucinating about nesting in space before cleaning our nest on planet Earth; then perhaps it is time to reevaluate our behavior and the principles which guide it.
Nordlund seems to center his analysis on energy, showing that we are way out of balance in what we use and misuse in order to get what we need in life. Indeed, current events, such as the surplus of oil as a cause of global economic distress seems to be a sign of some perversity in the economic system. Shouldn't an abundance or surplus of an essential commodity be a cause for rejoicing?
He seems to have taken a position originally in which electricity, metal and even domesticated animals were eliminated as unnecessary or even antithetical to a balanced, self-sufficient life. He has modified his approach somewhat but it will still seem extreme to most people.
I suppose he would say that going "cold turkey" or even "lukewarm turkey" seems extreme to a drug addict. But I don't want to put words in his mouth. That's what I will say when, as I expect, LUCKISM® leads to a reappraisal, modification or even rejection of some of the areas in which we mistake unhealthy addiction for social progress.
I have to say that, to the extent dominant religions and "isms" fail to address the destructive behavior of Homo sapiens, or even exacerbate it with divine or secular justifications, they are defective and in urgent need of correction.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment