I love my transition book group. Where else can you have a completely serious discussion about poo and what to do with it if water and sewer services are disrupted? Where else can you talk about toilet paper, paper alternatives and bidets and which are more ecologically sustainable? All this in a coffee shop as we are enjoying various coffee drinks, hot chocolate, muffins, cookies and other treats.
We discussed chapter four of our year long reading of Making Home by Sharon Astyk. The chapter is about whether or not to adapt in place, or move elsewhere and the various things that one should consider while making this decision. The goal when deciding where one will live when adapting to a world of climate change and scarce resources, is to be able to handle whatever comes your way whether it is ecological, economic, political, or energy related.
Some people will not have the luxury of deciding whether or not to move for various reasons whether it is family or money or something else. If relocating is not an option and you are in an area that is say, prone to flooding, you need to sit down and figure out a plan for where you will go when there is a flood. How will you get there, what will you take with you? What happens if you can’t go back to your house for weeks? Or ever. That kind of thing.
If you are living in a place that it might not be a good idea to be in ten years from now, like a house on the beach, then you will probably want to move sooner rather than later. If you have children you will want to think about whether or not there is a future for them in the place you are currently living. If you have elderly parents to care for and they live far away and you need to drive several hours or fly to see them, you may want to move closer to them or move them closer to you because transportation is going to get really expensive. If you hate the place you live in and are only there because of a job, if you have a connection to some other location, if you are in a community that has strict rules about what you can and can’t do to your property or values keeping up with the Joneses and conspicuous consumption over sustainability, then you might want to live elsewhere.
If you stay put or relocate, there are things to consider about rural, suburban and urban living. The question changes from where do you want to live to how do you want to live. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Rural living will mean greater isolation. Transportation will be expensive and difficult. You will need to grow much of your own food and be handy at living without access to resources and services you may have been accustomed to when you were able to drive an hour or two to the city. People who have been used to living in the country – farmers, homesteaders, etc – will do just fine. But people who bought a huge McMansion and commuted an hour to the city will likely find life in the country is more than they are prepared for.
Living in a city will require economic flexibility. Jobs might be hard to come by or short term so one will need to be able to create or take advantage of opportunities as they arise. There will be food, but because it will have been grown elsewhere, it will be expensive. One should be prepared to supplement by growing food of their own as much as possible. There will be infrastructure breakdowns and cities will likely become even more crowded as people are displaced from elsewhere. Most likely there will be great wealth disparities and an informal economy will develop. You’ll want to be sure you have skills or knowledge or resources you can use to trade.
Suburbs will have some of the difficulties of rural life and some of urban life. Large houses might become unaffordable to maintain so people will likely find themselves sharing their home with extended family or others – a more communal living and pooling of resources sort of situation. But because houses are larger, there is opportunity for people to run businesses out of their homes/garages. And because suburban lots are also bigger, there is space for growing a substantial portion of one’s own food. However, if you live in one of those “bedroom community” type burbs where grocery stores and other services are far away, where your job is far away too, then you might find it difficult to get by.
Astyk says that no one place is inherently bad or better. What matters is you — your skills, your adaptability, and whether or not you are willing to live in the way that a place might require you to.
If you are super rich, you are apparently making plans to move to New Zealand or buying underground missile silos or islands where you can escape from the hungry hordes you helped create. While the rest of us are trying to figure out how to build personal and community resiliency, the super rich are building self-sustaining personal habitats with swimming pools and armed guards. Thing is though, they won’t be able to run and hide away forever.
When I originally finished reading the Astyk chapter I was a bit depressed, feeling like no matter where I live I will end up being poor and hungry. But one of the great things about talking with people about it is understanding that it isn’t all doom and gloom, that I know more things than I thought, that I may have some work to do, but I am resilient and pretty good at figuring things out. Most importantly, I am not alone. I have friends and neighbors, a community of people who want to work together and help each other live a good life now and in the uncertain future.
When the future is presented like that, it IS rather daunting, isn’t it? But I expect we’ll reach that point incrementally giving us at least a bit of time to adapt. While food scarcity is nothing to look forward to, more communal living and more gardening actually sound quite nice to me.
I am hoping that the motor-car is replaced by donkey carts, and all the carparks could become meadows for communally owned donkeys to frisk in. You could drive to work with your colleagues in a shared cart and than spread the poo on your vegetables when you get home. I have occasionally considered writing up this plan in detail and submitting it to my local council but I fear that the time has not yet quite arrived.
I don’t really care about the super-rich, let them hide in their bunkers and wish they were jauntering about in donkey carts.
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Helen, Things will not happen all at once, but the point of the book is to start getting ready now because later, when the oceans are rising and gas prices are rising, it will be too late because it will be more expensive and a more drastic adjustment.
I like your donkey cart idea! I’m planning on cycling but it would be nice to have a donkey too 🙂 And yeah, the super rich are going to be so jealous of our donkey carts!
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Oooh, cycling too! With little cycling carts. It’ll be great. I’m thinking that most of the donkeys would be communally owned, so it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t have room to keep your own donkey.
When I think of our life I feel a bit trapped because there’s not a lot that we can do to change – we already grow quite a lot of our own food, and we’re tenants so can’t do much about the house in which we live. Also Belgium is perhaps not the ideal place to live as an entire whole as most of it is so low-lying, we’ve pretty much all had it. Perhaps we should start building a large boat… Do you think that you would move, or adapt to conditions where you currently live?
At least I’ll have enough books… 🙂
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Yes! I have little fantasies of having a bike trailer for hauling groceries and other supplies. 🙂 I like the idea of communal donkeys! That way everyone doesn’t have to have a personal barn and pasture to keep them which, if you live in a city would be unrealistic.
An ark, you need an ark! 😀 Though I suspect all of Belgium will not find itself underwater. At least I hope not for everyone’s sake. I used to think I needed to move out to the country but my husband and I have decided to stay where we are in the city. Bookman has multiple sclerosis and needs access to health care that might be difficult to get in a rural area. We are planning to get solar power on the house and make other adjustments in order to begin adapting.
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It is very wise to think about Climate Change when thinking about where to live. Though in my opinion it was never a good idea to live in a Flood Zone, these days especially, it seems like one s best not living there.
Of course, there are a lot of other considerations when choosing a place to live in a changing world. As you mentioned, having to one’s community is vital. It might be the most important consideration.
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Brian Joseph, yes, and people should be thinking about it now. I just don’t understand why anyone would buy a beach condo in Miami these days! I agree, community is one of the most important considerations. the super rich might think they will go it alone in their bunkers but being alone with only paid staff to serve you is not the way to go.
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This sounds like a fascinating book group. As my husband and I consider where to live next, after many years in one home, these are important aspects to consider, and I don’t hear them discussed enough. I’m taking some of her predictions/projections which are mentioned here with a grain of salt, as climate change is complicated, and its impact will vary depending on so many different factors. I agree we need to re-focus on building strong communities and growing our own food, absolutely, and also living with much less.
There are people who are “super rich” who are doing a lot of good and seeking to effect change for the better. Some I suppose are building their underground fortresses, or just looking out for themselves, but I don’t like to hear people lumped together in this way; it polarizes and can undermine the source’s credibility. We are going to need everyone’s wisdom and resources to solve these problems.
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Valorie, agreed, climate change is complicated but there is plenty of science and strong projections available about how different parts of the country will be affected by changing weather patterns and rising oceans. Buying a house in the desert or in Miami would not be a good idea.
Of course there are people who are super rich who are doing good things. It is the super rich who are not, the ones buying the bunkers, the article is about. It does not say all super rich people are doing this but has quotes and interviews, etc with the people who are. It is a long and carefully written article from the New Yorker which I would call a pretty reliable source 🙂
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Oh, Stephanie, I was talking more about the book, which sounds fascinating.
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Ah, got it! I was confused because Astyk doesn’t talk about the super rich in her book 🙂 The book is really interesting and provides lots of things to think about!
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Im fairly certain that wherever I lived if it required me to be self sustaining I would be in real difficulties since I’m not a practical person and neither is my husband. Making a decision where to go in order to respond to climate change is one aspect – but the other problem for me is where it would be safe to live given the volatility of the world right now. New Zealand might sound good but it’s not that far from North Korea…..
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BookerTalk, safety on a geopolitical level is impossible to figure out, one just never knows. One a day to day level, there are positives and negatives no matter where one lives. Having a community will to look out for each other is the most important thing I think. And you still have time so you could start working on those practical skills 🙂
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Have you read Where the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs? A very touching comic strip tale of a husband and wife trying to follow government instructions for preparations in the event of a nuclear war
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No I have not. I will have to look that one up! 🙂
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You know a future like that makes you seriously wonder how prepared are you? We are all so comfortable in our cocoons that books like this jar you in harsh reality. But I agree with you as long as you have friends and a community to support one another, we will survive such circumstances! Also never ever lose hope on mankind’s infinite ability to adapt and hang on when chips are truly down!
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cirtnecce, no one knows what the future holds exactly, we can only guess, but we can also prepare to make the best of any given situation. No doubt there will be plenty of things we never thought about but I’m hoping for that ability to adapt like you mentioned 🙂
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Well that sounds very daunting indeed, I must say. I have been thinking a lot lately about the choice to rent, especially as my job is starting to seem less transitory and more sort of permanent? But I also don’t want all the hassle that comes with home ownership, par-tic-u-lar-ly the whole lawn maintenance mess. MOWING. CANNOT.
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Jenny, it’s a big decision and there is a lot to think about, that’s for sure! Having a house doesn’t mean you have to mow. You don’t need a lawn 🙂
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Adaptability is an important element to help one stop stay put and discard the always moving-on notion. And then there’s the rootedness element too. Sometimes even things aren’t that satisfactory but one stil chooses to stay
for memories’ sake. That sure has prevented me from even just throwing away stuff. Lots of them. 🙂
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Arti, there are lots of reasons to stay and lots of reasons to go, we all have to make our choices and then live with them. Astyk does talk about “investment” in a place or situation and what to think about in terms of whether the investment is a help or a hindrance. Hehe, I hear you on keeping things for the sake of memories! I think we all do that in one way or another 🙂
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I must say I started to feel depressed after reading the first couple of paras of your post. But, it all sounds like sensible stuff to think about. I was intrigued by the rich people moving to New Zealand. I have been thinking we should move in my with brother in Tasmania. We will be getting hot here I think. But while my parents are here I wouldn’t move so we’ll just have to use our ingenuity and skills to manage the life we have here. Scary but.
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whisperinggums, I know, it’s a lot of miserable stuff to think about. yeah, I don;t quite get the New Zealand escape plan but the article indicates that folks in New Zealand aren’t exactly pleased to have all these rich people moving in. You are right, “scary but” is how it goes. In a perfect world we wouldn’t even have to be thinking about this stuff, but as the climate keeps warming and as we get closer to peak oil, it is going to be harder and harder to move or make adjustments so I am glad to start thinking about it now while also hoping some sort of miracle will happen and it will all have been for nothing.
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We do need to think about it I agree.
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This is something I think most people have not thought much about and it is quite sobering but a practical exercise to do! It does feel less overwhelming to approach the problem in a group setting–maybe less scary to know there is a community of like minded people thinking about it. I know I am thinking of ways to pare down my own life and possessions. Of course I think a lot but so far have not done much about it. Better to think and plan now than be stuck if something really bad happens!
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Danielle, no, I suspect all those people who are eager to buy a beach condo in Miami have not thought about it at all, or if they have, they have decided they won;t be alive when things get bad as though sea level is going to rise all at once. Yes, as a group talking about it it does make it less overwhelming and feel more like, hey, I can adapt and be ok. I am ll for planning ahead! 🙂
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